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
11, 2005 (741 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 1,610 US - 88 UK - >6,164? Iraqi - >17,300 civilians
- 25 media
May
31, 2005 (761 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 1,657 US - 89 UK - >6,164? Iraqi - >17,300 civilians
- 25 media
June
3 , 2005 (765 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 1,670 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
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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Read
more about Steven Moxon
£50,000
Hush
money for the visa whistleblower
By Matthew Hickley, Home Affairs Correspondent, Daily Mail, July
2, 2005
An
immigration worker who was sacked after blowing the whistle on
a visa scandal has been handed up to £50,000 to prevent
an embarrassing employment tribunal. Steven Moxon was dismissed
last year after exposing officially sanctioned abuse of immigration
rules by civil servants.
Another
cover-up
Comment
- Daily Mail, July 2, 2005
Murkier
and murkier, Just a day after the Government is forced
to reveal that 570,000 illegal immigrants may be living
here - a figure it cynically kept from the public in the
run-up to the election - we learn that it is spending
taxpayers' money on what looks suspiciously like another
cover-up.
Remember
whistleblower Steve Moxon? Last year he was sacked from
his job as an immigration official after revealing how
the Home Office was breaking its own rules by rubber-stamping
thousands of visa applications from Eastern Europe, even
though the papers wer obviously not in order.
So
desperate was the government to clear the backlog at the
time that it turned a blind eye to such obviously bogus
applicants as a one-legged 'roof-tiler'. The scandal forced
Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes to resign in disgrace.
But
what a price Steve Moxon paid. New Labour's spin machine
ruthlessly accused him of racism, just as it has smeared
and penalised other critics, from our envoy in Romania,
James Cameron - who also exposed immigration wrongdoing
last year - to Dr David Kelly.
And
now having traduced Mr Moxon, the Government hands him
up to £50,000 to halt his case before an employment
tribunal next week. So there will be no embarrassing evidence,
no further insisghts into immigration shambles, no more
exposure of dishonesty at the top.
Ministers
have got themselves off the hook by using our money. How
very convenient. How very New Labour.
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His
revelations prompted James Cameron, a senior British diplomat
working in Romania, to blow the whistle too. The row that followed
caused the downfall of former immigration minister Beverly Hughes.
After a five-month investigation, Mr Moxon, 49, was dismissed
from his £12,300-a-year job by bosses, who said he had breached
confidentiality rules.
He
was to launch a legal case for unfair dismissal on Money using
employment laws protecting whistle-blowers who act in the public
interest. The hearing promised to embarrass the Government, revealing
how civil servants were ordered to rubber-stamp visa applications,
and of Mr Moxon's futile attempts to bring his concerns to ministers'
attention.
But
days before the case was due to start, the Home Office has reached
a settlement with Mr Moxon. The deal includes a gagging clause.
The payout is thought to be between £40,000 and £50,000.
Mr Moxon said: "The matter has been settled on terms acceptable
to both parties, and such terms are confidential." A Home
Office spokesman said the deal was 'a proportional response to
the case'.
The
scandal erupted in March last year after Mr Moxon and other staff
at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate office in Sheffield
were ordered to rush through thousands of visa applications with
minimal checks to clear a huge backlog. His efforts to raise concerns
with superiors were unsuccessful. He was given a written reprimand
for spending too long examining cases he believed were clearly
bogus, and was ordered to deal with at least 15 cases per day
- giving only a few minutes to glance at each case.
By
going public, he exposed a picture of near-farcical chaos and
meaningless paper-shuffling at the directorate, which is tasked
with enforcing Britain's immigration laws and deciding who can
enter and live in the UK. He claimed both senior officials and
politicians had 'lost sight of the law they are supposedly working
to implement'.
Mr
Moxon told how a secret policy - Backlog Reduction Accelerated
Clearance Exercise - had let at least 25,000 Eastern European
workers into Britain with virtually no scrutiny. Many offered
identical 'business plans', with the men claiming they would work
as builders and the women as cleaners.
After
Mr Moxon's initial revelations, Mr Cameron e-mailed Shadow Home
Secretary David Davis, saying they were just the 'tip of the iceberg'.
He highlighted the cases of a one-legged 'roof-tiler', builders
who knew nothing about bricks and an 'electrician who had lost
his fingers in an accident'. Mr Cameron, a manager in the visa
and consular section of the British embassy in Romania was given
a final warning, a three-year block on promotion, a pay freeze
for a year and a ban on returning to his post in Bucharest.
Mr
Moxon was sacked for revealing official information without permission
and 'embarrassing ministers'. Lawyers from his union, the Public
and Commercial Services Union, believed his actions were covered
by the Public Interest Disclosure Act - the 'Whistle-blowers Charter'
introduced by Labour in 1998.
Last
night, Mr Davis said: "The fact the Government is prepared
to use taxpayers' money to settle out of court rather than fight
this in the public eye speaks volumes. It suggests that they were
wrong all the time."
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