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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Shamed
hospital trust keeps boss's pay-off a secret
This
weekend it emerged that the Department of Health had failed to
take action despite knowing of failures at Maidstone and Tunbridge
Wells for five months.
By
James Chapman - Deputy Political Editor, Daily Mail, October 23,
2007
The
health trust at the centre of Britain's worst superbug outbreak
last night refused to say how much it has given its chief executive
in a pay-off. Rose Gibb is rumoured to have received between £250,000
and £400,000 despite a damning report on three hospitals
for which she was responsible.
The
Daily Mail requested the figure under the Freedom of Information
Act but trustees refused to release it. They claimed that publicising
the 'golden goodbye' would break the Data Protection Act, even
though they will have to publish it in their annual report next
year.
They
also claimed they would be breaching a confidentiality agreement
reached with Miss Gibb - meaning she could sue them.
Health
Secretary Alan Johnson has told the trust to suspend payment,
pending legal advice on whether he can order the trust not to
pay out. Legal experts doubt that he can do this.
Miss
Gibb resinged as £150,000-a-year boss of Maidstone and Tunbridge
Wells trust a week before a damning report found that at least
90 people had died of C.diff at the three hospitals she was in
charge of.
The
investigation found that appalling hygiene standards had allowed
the infection to spread like wildfire through the hospitals. In
all, the ward conditions contributed to the dealths of 270 patients
and the infection of more than 1,100.
Police
are investigating whether to charge Miss Gibb, or other senior
managers and board members, with manslaughter. Last week trust
chairman James Lee also stepped down. He had previously tendered
his resignation but it had been refused.
The
golden goodbye is know to be more than £100,000 and sources
say it could be as high as £400,000. This would be in line
with common practice that a person leaving such a position would
receive between two and three years pay.
AT
her £700,000 home near Cobham in Kent, Miss Gibb refused
to comment on her departure. The report earlier this month from
the Healthcare Commission said a shortage of nurses at the trust
meant showers and sinks in its three hospitals were filthy and
commodes were not cleaned.
The
trust was said to be so obsessed with meeting Government waiting-time
targets - and a huge financial deficit - that it took little action
on fighting the bug. Bereaved families described nursing care
as 'despicable' and 'sickening', with patients left lying for
hours in their own excrement.
This
weekend it emerged that the Department of Health had failed to
take action despite knowing of failures at Maidstone and Tunbridge
Wells for five months.
Geoff
Martin, of Londo Health Emergency, said the trust's refusal to
hand over the information was a disgrace. "We as taxpayers
have a right to know how much we are paying off senior managers
who have walked away from the carnage at this trust," he
said.
"The
families of those who died should definitely be informedk how
much money has gone into her back pocket. The Trust says this
is confidential, but they are required by law to publish the figure
in their annual report, so they should tell us now."
There
has been a history of high infection rates at the trust, which
was consistently among the 25% of authorities with the highest
rates of C.diif since surveillance began in 2004.
But
the Board was unaware of this and never even discussed it.
The
Date Protection Act is designed to protect private information
from becoming public. But it is incredibly complicated and many
companies hide behind it to keep information secret which should
be in the public domain.
If you have suggestions
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to the subjects listed, please contact the webmaster.
