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
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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'Complacent'
NHS fails to beat superbugs
By
Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor - The Independent, June 23, 2005
The
NHS is losing the battle against soaring rates of hospital infections
because of a combination of inertia and complacency, according
to a scathing report. Ministers, officials and NHS Trust managers
have failed to get to grips with the threat posed by bugs including
MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus)which are causing widespread
suffering, deaths and undermining public confidence, the Public
Accounts Committee says.
How
this Government has ignored expert advice
(as
detailed by the Public Accounts Committee)
1.
The NHS does not know how many patients have died of hospital-qcquired
infections. The widely quoted figure of 5,000 deaths is
based on US research from the 1980s. Evidence from a review
of MRSA deaths shows a 15-fold increase since 1992.
Recommendation:
Deaths from hospital infections must be identified on
death certificates & audit carried out by 2006.
2.
A figure of almost 1 in 10 hospital patients -9%, estimated
to acquire an infection while in hospital is at least
10 years old.
Recommendation:
Up-to-date information on current infection rates must
be produced within the coming year.
3.
Hospitals still lack a grip on the extent and impact of
infections other than MRSA which is limiting the NHS's
ability to tackle the problem.
Recommendation:
The department must expant mandatory national surveillance.
4.
Waiting-times targets can compromise infection prevention
and control. 7 out of 19 Trusts are still operating at
occupancy levels higher then the 82% level the Department
of Health said four years ago it hoped to get down by
2003-4.
Recommendation:
Trusts to reduce bed occupancy and avoid moving patients
too frequently.
5.
Good infection control, e.g. hand hygiene is still patchy.
Alcohol rubs have been rolled out across the NHS but sustained
compliance, especially among doctors, still poor.
Recommendation:
The Department must develop ways of tackling poor hygiene.
6.Despite
4 years of research, no national infection control manual
has been published, as recommended by National Audit Office
in 2000, with nationally accessible guidelines.
Recommendation:The
Deparment must establish evidence-based guidelines and
examples of good practice.
7.There
is mismatch between what is expected of infecton control
teams and the resources available to them.
Recommendation:
Directors of infection control should be surveyed to establish
what constraints they are under.
8.Despite
a pledge by the Dept. of Health in 2001 that the need
for isolation facilities was being addressed, only half
of trusts (56%) have assessed their needs and a quarter
have obtained the facilities.
Recommendation:All
trusts must assess their needs and draw up a timetable
for meeting them.
9.
1 in 8 infection control teams said its recommendation
to close a ward had been refused by its chief executive.
Recommendation:
Health Authorities must ensure these incidents are recorded.
10.
A matron's charter for cleaner hospitals and a model cleaning
contract for the NHS have been introduced.
Recommendation:The
measures must be evaluated by an annual survey to check
they are improving cleanliness.
11.The
design of hospitals can help minimise infection rates
Recommendation:
Health Authorities must monitor whether infection control
requirements are being complied with in new buildings.
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The
indictment comes a day after The Independent revealed a
second outbreak of a virulent new strain of
Clostridium difficile at
a hospital in Devon linked with 22 deaths. The new strain, Clostridium
difficile 027 is more virulent and harder
to eradicate than existing strains and is the cause of an outbreak
at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire which began 18
months ago.
Edward
Leigh, chairman of the committee, said the research on which the
estimates of hospital infections were based was more than a decade
old and the issue was shrouded in a 'fog of ignorance'.
"The
truth is that over the past four years there has been little serious
and effective action to combat hospital-acquired infection. It
is astonishing that poor ward cleanliness, lax hand washing practices,
a shortage of isolation facilities and high bed occupancy rates
still plague NHS hospitals. I welcome the fact that the department
has sprung into action with a raft of initiatives this year. What
I don't want is for this committee to return to this subject in
four years' time and find that the initiatives have not been translated
into solid progress," he said.
The
committee found 'a distinct lack of urgency' on key issues such
as improving ward cleanliness and hand hygiene. In NHS trusts
'conflicts with other key targets and priorities have continued
to stand in the way of improving prevention and control'. The
MPs commend the Government target to halve MRSA rates by 2008
but warns that this does 'not target the broader issue of multi-drug
resistant infections which have a wide range of risk factors and
require interventions other than improved cleanliness.'
The
Department of Health tried to open a chink of light in the gloom
by releasing figures showing that MRSA rates may have peaked and
are declining. The number of bloodstream infections with the superbug
was down 6.1% in 2004-5 compared with 2003-4, which cost the NHS
more than £1bn.
June
Kennedy, Health Minister with responsibility for hospital infections,
welcomed the 'helpful' report. She said the Government was the
first to introduce mandatory surveillance for MRSA in 2001 and
now had one of the most detailed surveillance systems for monitoring
MRSA and other infections in the world. Some hospitals had dramatically
reduced their MRSA rates but progress in cutting rates 'must happen
across the NHS', she said.
She
rejected suggestions that pressure to meet government waiting-times
targets was a factor behind high infection rates. "That is
an excuse, frankly. Some of the busiest trusts in the country
have done best - it hasn't affected their ability to reduce their
infection rates. I hear what they say but I have little sympathy
for it."
The
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, said: "This report
condemns the complacency and lack of action by this Government
in tackling hospital-acquired infections over the last five years."
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