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

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

STOP PRESS

1 in 10 is working past 65

By Sam Fleming - Economics Correspondent - Daily Mail, December 6, 2006

A record number of Britons are working past the official retirement age, it emerged last night. One in ten men are still in work after 65, while one in nine women are in employment beyond 60, a report from the Office for National Statistics showed.

More than 1.1 million pension-age workers remain in jobs - the most since records began - fuelling fears that many workers are being forced to work well into their sixties or face a life of penury.

Experts say the fall in the value of the state pension is partly to blame. It rose in line with average earnings until 1980, but it was then linked to inflation, which rises more slowly than salaries.

A £5 billion-a-year raid on retirement schemes by Chancellor Gordon Brown has also eroded people's savings. Widespread closures of company pensions are forcing older people to seek jobs.

Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman David Laws said: "Flexibility in retirement is to be welcomed for those who want it. The reality is that many work past the state pension age because the alternative is retiring into poverty. The collapse of many pension schemes along with massive increases in the cost of heating and council tax, means that for many people in their sixties a comfortable retirement is a pipe dream."

Yesterday's figures showed the number of people in company defined-benefit schemes slumped to 35% of employees in 2005, from 39% the previous year. In 1997, when records began, it was 46%. The average man's retirement age is now a record 64.2 years - the highest since records began in 1984, when most men retired at 63.7. For women it is just shy of 62, compared with 60 in 1984.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Phillip Hammond said: "Gordon Brown's annual £5 billion tax raid has forced more schemes into deficit and forced them to close their doors to new members, but on his watch public sector pension liabilities have soared to over £1 trillion. Since 1997, 60,000 occupational pension schemes have closed and 125,000 people lost their pensions. Britain has some of the weakest pension provision in Europe. The expanding over-sixties workforce has intensified the demand for jobs and pushed up unemployment."

The Department for Work and Pensions said: "Many people want to have the choice to work longer, which is why we introduced legislation to outlaw age discrimination. The fact that the number of older people in work is increasing faster than other age groups also shows many businesses are keen to harness the skills and experience older workers can bring."

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