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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December
28, 2005 (959 days since Iraq war ended)
Death Toll: 2,172 US - 98UK - >>30,000?
Iraqi - 25 media
March
of the Quangocrats - Remorsely, we are becoming
a country run by a sinister elite of unaccountable, unelected
(and hugely expensive) cronies
by
Leo Mc Kinstry - Daily Mail, January 5, 2006
The
cynical deceit behind liberalisation of our gambling laws has
now been exposed, thanks to the indiscreet language of one of
the Government's placemen. In an astonishingly candid interview,
Peter Dean, £68,000-a-year Chairman of the Gambling Commission,
revealed that his organisation will take a liberal approach towards
regulation of the gambling industry.
Explaining
that he would refuse to intervene too closely with operations
of gambling companies, he further stated that an expansion in
the number of casinos was 'not such a very big deal'.
This
permissive touch runs against everything the Government promised
when proposals for the new gambling regime were debated in Parliament
last year. Back then, ministers gave continual reassurances that
the Gambling Commission would be a strong watchdog, presiding
over a tough regulatory framework. Yet, as Dean's words show,
that was nothing more than empty rhetoric.
However,
beyond the issue of gambling, what is most fascinating is the
way Dean's indiscretions have shone a spotlight on the corrupting
nature of Labour's quango-state.
Ultra-liberal
With
his breezy candour, he has shattered the myth that those in charge
of our public bodies are independent. Indeed, Dean's liberal attitude
helped him secure his appointment. He openly admits that, in advance
of recent legislation, he lobbied government on behalf of the
gambling companies.
The
truth is that we have now two systems of governance in Blair's
Britain. On the one hand, there is the democratic forum of Parliament,
supposed to hold the Ministerial executive to account. On the
other hand, far less obvious but arguably even more powerful is
the vast quango state, which now spreads its tentacles into every
area of our lives, dictating public policy and swallowing ever
greater sums of public money.
Run
by a huge army of political appointees like Peter Dean, this spreading
quango system is wholly unelected and is accountable only to ministers
and Whitehall officials, not to the public which has to pay for
its upkeep. This quangocracy is expected tamely to do the Government's
bidding rather than follow its own independent course.
In
practice, this means following Left-wing politically correct orthodoxy,
enforcing multi-cultural diversity, increasing state intervention
and expenditure and promoting an ultra-liberal attitude towards
sex, drugs, alcohol and gambling. Under
Labour, the quangocracy has grown remorselessly to reach out into
every field of civic life, from education and local government
to business and healthcare. According to the latest report from
the Cabinet Office, last year there were 910 central government
non-elected bodies, an increase of 71 on the previous year, employing
some 92,000 staff and spending £32billion a year.
This
sum represents a rise of £10billion in real terms since
Labour came to power. Yet even this central network is only a
fraction of the real quangocracy, which includes more than 10,000
local and regional bodies - many created by Labour. Bodies such
as the 376 so-called 'crime reduction partnerships', the eight
regional arts consortiums, the 39 New Deal for Communities Boards
and the 42 local Criminal Justice Boards. Research shows that
the Government has increased the overall annual bill for non-elected
bodies by £23billion.
And
much of this sprawling network is devoted to following Ministerial
edicts. So local businesses have to put up with aggravating interventions
from wasteful Regional Development Agencies which spend time and
money on self-serving advertisements or hectoring companies about
race and sex discrimination. Similarly, universities are lectured
by the Fair Access Regulator - a classic New Labour creation designed
to introduce social engineering into university admissions policies.
This
expansion of the non-elected state has led to the creation of
a new breed of quangocrat, well-rewarded by the taxpayer and all
to eager to impose the fashionable values of Blairism. Indeed,
there is an unedifying political symbiosis between the ranks of
the quangocracy and those of the Labour front bench. Many of this
new elite are directly linked to the Government. Indeed, last
July the public appointments commission admitted Labour activists
were three times more likely to be appointed to quangos than their
Conservative counterparts.
Influence
So
in the field of health, the National Treatment Agency, advocating
a liberal approach on drugs policy, is headed by Labour peer Doreen
Massey, a health education specialist of impeccable politically
correct credentials. Also, the Government's Advisory Group on
Sexual Health, which has controversially argued that children
as young as five should be receiving lessons in sex education,
is led by Baroness Joyce Gould, a former organisational director
for the Labour Party.
And
chairman of the grandly titled Commission for Public Involvement
in Health, which has 192 staff and spends £33.4million a
year, is Sharon Grant, the widow of Left-wing firebrand MP Bernie
Grant. Labour's political influence can be felt in every field.
Thus
the chairman of the British Library is John Eatwell, formerly
Neil Kinnock's economics adviser, while the head of the Environment
Agency, spending £824million of our money, is Sir John Harman,
the former Labour leader of Kirklees Council in Yorkshire who
now earns £89,000 in his role.
The
world of arts provides a microcosm of Labour quangocracy in action.
Lady Sue Woodford Hollick, Labour member, sits on the board of
the Arts Council, dishing out funds to the South Bank Centre,
which happens to be chaired by her husband, the Blair crony, Lord
Hollick.
Meanwhile,
£20million-a-year National Endowment of Science and the
Arts, is headed by Labour advertising guru, Chris Powell, brother
of Blair's Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell. Other trustees include
Tom Bentley, former adviser to David Blunkett, and Ruth Turner,
a member of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee.
Dominant
One
of the principal reasons that political correctness has become
the dominant creed of modern Britain is because of the sinister
influence of the quango elite. Despite having no mandate from
the public, these well-heeled place-holders haven't any compunction
about ensuring their Left-wing views prevail. In this spirit,
Labour appoints as the Director of Public Prosecutions Ken McDonald,
a human rights obsessive, a former colleague of Cherie Blair,
and as Head of the Prisons Inspectorate Anne Owers, another human
rights campaigner, former boss of the Joint Council for the Welfare
of Immigrants.
Neither
of this pair are likely to inspire any confidence in the robustness
of the criminal justice system. Nor is it reassuring that the
Health and Safety Commission, which has done so much to damage
business through its bossiness, is headed by former TUC official
Bill Callaghan.
Equally,
the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is under the control
of Lin Homer, former chief executive of Labour-dominated Birmingham
City Council, where Muslim-led immigration fraud has been rife.
The
quango elite spout platitudes about 'public service'. But in truth,
they have been more driven by implementing political ideology
than in serving the real needs of the public.
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