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

WWW silentmajorityspeaks.com

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.

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

May 23, 2007 (1453 days since war ended)

Death Toll: 3432 US - 149 UK - >1,000,000? civilians - 25 media

May 29, 2007 (1459 days since war ended)

Death Toll: 3467 US - 149 UK - >1,000,000? civilians - 25 media

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A crazy waste of 16,000 doctors

Letter from Dr Keir Greenhalgh, Glasgow - Daily Mail, May 30, 2007

Implementation of Modernising Medical Careers is a continuing debacle and junior doctors are being treated appallingly. The new system has been abandoned too late. As of August, I and virtually all my colleagues have no idea what jobs we'll have.

I'm a paediatric senior house officer in Yorkhill near Glasgow, employed on a training contract for almost two years. I've just found out that I haven't been selected as one of only seven candidates to be given a specialist training contract, and am therefore still awaiting confirmation of my future in paediatrics and as a doctor at all.

I understand the need for competition and striving for excellence in the workplace and appreciate that the best people should always be selected for jobs, but neither I nor any of my peers or seniors - including consultants - see how any hospital will be able to function with so few staff as will be allocated jobs.

Maybe the Government intends to employ other doctors to fill the gap, but are they to be employed on non-training contracts? As yet, we have heard no details of this.

If this is the case, though, why would we choose to take up these posts, alongside people whose year of work will be recognised, working incredibly hard for many anti-social hours only to be able to say at the end of the year that no employer will recognise or appreciate this?

We enjoy doing our jobs. For most of us, they are the fulfilment of a lifelong ambition - which is why the politicians are now taking us for granted. The whole procedure has been ill thought out, poorly implemented and incredibly poorly communicated. It has given junior doctors a high degree of insecurity and no prospect of that ending any time soon.

My own morale is at an all-time low and this is echoed throughout the hospitals that my friends and colleagues work in. Current estimates are that there are 16,000 doctors, costing on average £250,000 each to train, facing the very real prospect of being unemployed in a month's time.

Insufficient public attention has been brought to this shambles created by the Government which will have an effect not only on thousands of junior doctors, but the entire community.

STOP PRESS

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