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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July
18, 2007 (1509days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 3622 US - 159 UK - >1,000,000? civilians - 25 media
August
9, 2007 (1531 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 3683 US - 168 UK - >1,000,000? civilians - 25 media
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site has had 
visitors
One
million more patients have lost their NHS dentist
By
Daniel Martin, Health Reporter, Daily Mail, August8, 2007
The
number of patients denied access to an NHS dentist soared by more
than 1 milli0n after 500 abandoned the state sector last year.
The Government's chief dental officer admitted yesterday that
Labour's botched introduction of a contract designed to increase
the number of NHS dentists had had precisely the opposite effect.
Dr
Barry Cockcroft revealed that 500 of the 21,500 dentists previously
offering NHS treatment had refused to sign new contracts and were
taking only private patients, With the average patient list of
around 2,500, that would mean 1.25million had lost their NHS dentist.
The
Conservatives put the figure even higher, claiming that 1 4million
fewer patients are registered with an NHS dentist in England than
in the year before the new contract began in April 2006. The Conservative
health spokesman Andrew Lansley said yesterday: "NHS dentistry
has reached crisis point thanks to the Government's failure to
negotiate a workable contract.."
A
spokesman for the Citizen's Advice network said as many as two
million people were going without treatment each year because
they could not find a dentist taking NHS patients and could not
afford to go private. Liz Phelps added: "The shocking truth
is that despite all the assurances that the situation is improving,
there has been no overall increase at all in the number of patients
seen by NHS dentists in the first year of the reforms."
The
figures make a mockery of the pledge made by Tony Blair eight
years ago that everyone would have access to an NHS dentist. Dr
Cockcroft, the Government's most senior dental adviser for England,
suggested that patients with good oral health might have less
frequent than six-monthly check-ups, freeing appointment slots
for others. Some health experts have claimed, however, that lengthening
the gap between appointments could increase the threat of mouth
cancers and other problems.
In
a report on the first year of the new contract, Dr Cockcroft admitted
there were 500 fewer NH dentists in March this year than in March
2006. NHS dentists saw 47,000 fewer patients than the year before.
He added: "The numbers are significantly higher than the
18,000 dentists providing NHS services in March 2003."
The
new contract was introduced in 2006 to change the way dentists
were paid and increase the number who took on NHS patients. But
it has been beset by problems, with dentists claiming they were
not properly paid for the work they did. A recent survey by Which?
found that more than half of dentists had closed their door to
NHS patients in response to the new contract.
For
the first time in the history of the Health Service, dentists
are earning more from private patients than they are from NHS
ones. The dash for private patients has pushed average earnings
up 11% in the year to £86,000.
The
Liberal Democrats criticised the report as 'Orwellian' and 'a
total whitewash' for claiming the contract had improved services
for patients overall.
British
Dental Association chief executive Peter Ward said: "By the
Government's own admission, we now have fewer NHS dentists and
access to care for patients remains patchy. This is not a picture
of success and confidence. The Government must start listening
to the profession and patients if local commissioning is to provide
the services that local communities deserve."
Health
Minister Ann Keen said: "The local NHS now has, for the first
time, both a statutory duty to provide dental services and the
flexibility needed to develop services that fit local needs. In
many areas, patients are already seeing the results of this in
new or developed services."
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