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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Migrants
given £1m benefit in error can keep it. But Britons have
to repay £4bn
By
James Slack - Home Affairs Editor, Daily Mail, November 8, 2005
Migrants
have been wrongly paid £1m from public funds in a new tax
credit fiasco. Government officials last night ruled they could
keep the cash - even though they demand Britons replay up to £4bn
mistakenly paid out in a separate blunder.
Tax
madhouse
Comment,
Daily Mail, November 8, 2005
Introduced
for the best of reasons - to make work pay - the tax credit
system has nevertheless been one of the disasters of the
last 8 years. It rewards those who don't need it - paying
out to those earning up to £58,000 - while being
so fiendishly complicated that many of the most vulnerable
are unable to navigate through paperwork to claim.
Most
recently, it has been overshadowed by over-payments of
£4bn to often unsuspecting Britons, who have been
then left on the breadline - in some cases dependent on
Salvation Army food parcels - as the Inland Revenue claws
back the money. Many of those who were overpaid had tried
to tell the taxman that they were getting too much - and
were contemptuously sent packing.
And
now the final straw. Some 4,500 immigrants and foreign
students were wrongly paid up to £16,000 a year
in tax credits. But the Government has decided that unlike
the 1.9million British victims, they won't have to pay
the money back. Thus to crass bureaucratic incompetence
is added the politics of the madhouse.
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MPs
said the scandal raised 'serious questions' about political correctness
and double standards at ministerial level. The money was paid
to asylum seekers, foreign students, visa overstayers and other
immigrants as the introduction of Chancellor Gordon Brown's tax
credit system descended into shambles in 2003.
The
Government encouraged millions to apply, regardless of whether
or not they qualified. The idea was that nobody should miss out
through their uncertainty over eligibility, and officials would
weed out those who were not entitled to the handouts.
Staff
were so overwhelmed by the rush, they started to pay claims without
first checking if they qualified. This led to 4,500 foreigners
- subject to immigration controls and not entitled to the payments
- being mistakenly given up to £16,000 of taxpayers' cash
a year for two years.
The
blunder was finally uncovered last month but, instead of demanding
the cash back, officials have not written to migrants saying they
can keep it. The letter apologises for the payments now being
stopped. The Government said its rules say that because it was
the fault of officials they were paid any money in the first place,
it would b e unfair to ask for it to be repaid.
Critics
said this was in stark contrast to they way they have handled
overpayments made to Britons, legally entitled to receive tax
credits. Last year, families were 'overpaid' £2.2bn in the
benefit after payouts were not adjusted to allow for changes in
their personal circumstances. The bill is now believed to have
risen to £4bn.
Thousands
of families were hit by the Inland Revenue's ruling that - because
the overpayments were not directly the Government's fault - the
money would be clawed back by reducing future payments. As a result,
some were plunged into hardship and were forced to rely on Salvation
Army food parcels. To add to their anger, many previously tried
unsuccessfully to persuade officials that they were being overpaid.
Yesterday
Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman David Laws demanded
to know why the Government had presumed one group of people who
had been paid because of official errors could not reasonably
have spotted the Inland Revenue's errors, but that everyone else
should have done. He added: "This raises very serious questions
about the unfair treatment of the majority of families overpaid
tax credits over the last two and a half years. The Government
must now accept that everyone who was overpaid as a result of
official error over the last two years should have this money
written off."
Matthew
Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "The
tax credits fiasco is turning into a farce. The benefits officials
who hound hardworking British families to repay their debts are
kowtowing to political correctness by not holding these foreigners
responsible for their debts. Rules should be applied to everyone
equally otherwise the Government stokes resentment."
The
Revenue and Customs department said none of the immigrants had
done anything wrong by making an application. There is not suggestion
of any fraud, a spokesman said. Officials said that, in deciding
whether repayments were required, a 'reasonableness' test is applied.
This works by deciding whether a person receiving benefits should
reasonably have known they were getting money to which they were
not entitled. With the migrants, who applied in good faith, this
was not the case.
A
Revenue and Customs spokesman said: "In any case where HMRC
has made a mistake and the claimant can reasonably believe their
award is correct, we can and do overwrite the payment off."
Shadow
Home Secretary David Davis said: "If we had an asylum and
a tax credits system in this country that worked, then this fiasco
never would have occurred in the first place."
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