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 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
June 26, 2005 (788 days since war
ended)
Death Toll: 1,737 US - 89 UK -
>6,164? Iraqi - >17,300? civilians - 25 media
July 6, 2005 (798 days since war
ended)
Death Toll: 1,751 US - 90 UK -
>6,164? Iraqi - >17,300? civilians - 25 media
August 24, 2005 (847 days since
war ended)
Death Toll: 1,869 US - 93 UK - >>6,164?
Iraqi - >>17,300? civilians - 25 media
September
29, 2005 (883 days since war ended)
Death Toll: 1,928 US - 96 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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Betrayal
of Primary Pupils
Nearly
half of children leave school at 11 unable to master the 3Rs
By
Laura Clark - Education Reporter, Daily Mail, October 11, 2005
Nearly
half of children are still struggling with the three Rs (Reading,
Writing and Arithmetic) when they leave primary school, devastating
official figures reveal. A quarter of a million youngsters start
secondary school each year with such poor mastery of reading,
writing and maths that they cannot cope with the curriculum.
The
statistic emerged from the Education Department only after a request
from Tories. Ministers were accused last night of suppressing
it to cover up their failure to improve standards during eight
years in office. Tony Blair's most famous soundbite when he came
to power was that his first three priorities would be 'education,
education, education'. The Labour manifesto at the time declared:
'We must recognise the three Rs for what they are - building blocks
of all learning that must be taught better.'
In
that context, the disclosure that almost half of pupils start
secondary school without mastering them will be acutely embarrassing
for ministers. Results of national tests for 11-year-olds, published
by the Education Department in August, showed 84% passed reading,
63% writing and 75% maths.
But
what was missing, even though officials who compiled the report
wanted it published, was an additional statistic showing how many
passed all three. That
figure, it emerged last night, was just 56%. It only came to light
when a Tory researcher e-mailed the department to ask for it.
Ministers
have repeatedly asserted that youngsters need to meet the 'level
four' pass mark to cope with the secondary school curriculum.
70% of pupils who average that grade across the national test
subjects go on to get five good GCSEs at 16, compared with just
12% of those who do not.
Government
has poured millions into flagship schemes to boost literacy and
numeracy standards based around daily English and maths lessons.
But Ofsted reported only last week that thousands of children
were starting secondary school unable to read and write properly
because of poor teaching in one in three English lessons.
Opposition
politicians condemned unpublished figures as 'scandalous'. Shadow
Education Secretary David Cameron said: "This shows Government's
claim to have sorted out primary school education is completely
wrong. It also raises huge questions about the publication of
official figures, and why the government is covering up those
it feels uncomfortable with."
A
written response to the Tory request shows that DfES originally
intended to publish the figure. Nick Gibb, shadow schools minister,
added: "The Government should come clean with the final figures
and not try and hide the data."
Ed
Davey, Education spokesman for the LibDems, said: "After
eight years of Labour claiming to be the party of education, this
revelation is scandalous. Blair promised to address basic standards
but nearly half of children leaving primary school aren't able
to read, write and add up."
Margaret
Morrissey, of the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations,
hit out at the government's failure to release the statistic.
She said: "I don't think they should take everything like
this as a personal failure and because of it say 'we are not going
to tell you'. I think they should be honest and say, 'we believe
we have done our best and though it hasn't worked for these children,
this is what we are going to do for these children'. I don't think
it is a disgrace for them. But it will be a disgrace if they continue
to hide things because by hiding it the children don't get the
support they need."
Professor
Alan Smithers, director, Centre for Education and Employment Research
at Buckingham University, said: "This news is very disappointing.
The figures show that the major contribution to this low combined
figure is very low performance of boys in reading and writing.
We are allowing girls to charge ahead on the basis of their natural
ability and not doing enough to bring boys up to scratch at an
early age."
A
DfES spokesman said: "There has been no suppression of figures.
The skills necessary for children to master English and maths
are not the same, so it is not surprising that not every child
who is good at English is good also at maths. No Government has
achieved sustained improvements in primary results that this Government
has."
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