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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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
Nine
years ago the British people were sold a fantasy of clean
and competent government of principle and honesty. Its shiny
wrappings stripped away, the product now reveals its true
nature: Personal greed, arrogance, incompetence, shamelessness,
rash warmongering and an inability to accept - as is clear
to almost everyone else - that it is time to go. Editorial
- The Mail on Sunday, May 28, 2006
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November
16 2006 (1281 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 2863 US - 125 UK - >650,000? civilians - 25 media
November
29, 2006 (1294 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 2885 US - 126 UK - >650,000? civilians - 25 media
Cutting
the A & Es will save lives, claims Blair
By
Jane Merrick and Jenny Hope - Daily Mail, December 6, 2006
Tony
Blair claimed yesterday that closing dozens of accident and emergency
departments would improve patient care. The Prime Minister suggested
plans to overhaul casualty services - which could see one in four
A&E units shut down - would bring care 'closer to people'.
But
his claims were met with widespread disbelief from doctors leaders,
health campaigners and unions who said he had 'turned logic on
its head' by suggesting cutbacks would lead to improved care.
Mr Blair backed reports by health czars recommending a new three-tier
system - 'super A&Es@ for those with the most serious conditions,
local units for minor injuries and more patients treated at home.
Putting
truth in the casualty ward
Comment
- Daily Mail, December 6, 2006
Now
we have heard it all. Tony Blair solemnly assures us that
the best way to save lives is to close A&E departments
all over the country.
It's
not about money, explains Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt.
Oh no. "It's about saving more people's lives, its
about making care more convenient ... "
How's
that for standing the truth on its head and kicking it
in the teeth. Of course the closures are about money.
If funding were no object in cash-strapped bureaucracy
of the NHS, the Health Secretary would be talking about
upgrading casualty departments, not shutting them down.
To
make matters worse, the closures - targeted, in a typical
New Labour touch, on Opposition constituencies - come
at a time when patients increasingly depend on A&E.
Under their new six-figure contracts, many GPs no longer
work outside office hours. So where else can a mother
take a child who falls sick at the weekend? Does the Government
think we're all rich enough to call out private doctors?
But
it's no use trying to get through to Mr Blair. Retreating
into his fantasy world, he says: "I genuinely believe
the best is yet to come. More lives saved, treating patients
better and making sure that the NHS is the pride and envy
of the world."
Will
nothing ever cure the Prime Minister of his belief that
words are substitute for reality?
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Currently
the majority of people do not need to travel further than a few
miles to access their local A&E, of which there are 200 around
the country. But after the shake-up, a reduced number of units
- the 'super A&Es' - will have the facilities to treat serious
conditions, leaving patients with longer journeys for life-saving
attention.
As
part of an apparently orchestrated attempt to persuade the public
to support the changes, two reports suggested hundreds of lives
could be saved each year by centralising high-tech services and
having fewer all-purpose 'blue-light' hospitals.
They
insisted that the A&E changes were not about saving money
- even though many of those earmarked for closure have massive
deficits. In a speech to more than 100 Primary Care Trust leaders
in London, Mr Blair said 18.5million people went to A&E every
year, but only 10% were treated for major emergencies. Changing
the structure at a local level would actually bring care 'closer
to people' he said. He admitted the changes would be difficult
but claimed that the 'best is yet to come' for the NHS.
In
his report, Professor Roger Boyle, national director for heart
disease and strokes, said specialist centres could save an estimated
500 lives of people suffering heart attacks every year. As a separate
report, by Mr Blair's favourite think-tank, the Institute for
Public Policy Research, claimed that campaigns to save services
at local hospitals could cost as many as 1,000 unnecessary deaths
a year.
Among
units facing the axe is the Royal Surrey County Hospital A&E
unit in Guildford, where oncologist Professor Chris Marks is among
the majority of clinicians opposed to closure. He said: "Our
research shows that closing the Royal Surrey would double ambulance
travel times for many Surrey residents - hardly a recipe for better
clinical outcomes. Closure proposals are not being taken in the
patient's best interests."
Geoff
Martin, of campaign group Health Emergency, said: "Claiming
that closing local A&E departments, trauma units and intensive
care facilities will improve services turns all logic on its head.
People are fighting these closure in their tens of thousands because
they know that closing local services and increasing journey times
puts lives at risk."
Tory
health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: "Delivering the best
care to those with severe emergencies does not mean that we should
deprive the public of access to local emergency services."
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