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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June
29, 2006 (1146 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 2529 US - 113 UK - >60,000? civilians - 25 media
June
20, 2007 (1481 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 3531 US - 151 UK - >1,000,000? civilians - 25 media
Being
a Scot 'will stop Gordon Brown getting into No. 10'
By
James Chapman - Deputy Political Editor - Daily Mail, July 3,
2006
It
is now 'almost impossible' for a Scot such as Gordon Brown to
become Prime Minister because of devolution, a senior Conservative
claimed yesterday. Shadow trade secretary Alan Duncan spoke out
as the Tories launched a new campaign to prevent MPs from north
of the border voting on legislation that applies only to England
and Wales.
Mr
Duncan said it was 'absolutely right' to stop MPs voting on issues
that did not affect their constituents.
"I'm beginning to think it is almost impossible now to have
a Scottish Prime Minister because they would be at odds with the
basic construction of the British constitution,"
he told the BBC's Politics Show.
"It
may be that the Labour Party have created this massive problem
for themselves and are now regretting it. We, the Conservatives,
have a majority in England. We have MPs from Scotland essentially
telling England what to do when they are doing the opposite in
Scotland, have no control of what they are doing in their own
constituencies in Scotland and are not in any way accountable
for the effects their actions have in England."
The
Tories are hoping to force a Commons debate later this month on
their proposals for 'English votes for English laws'. Shadow Cabinet
sources said that while the campaign will not mention the Chancellor
directly, it will embarrass him by focussing attention on the
growing influence of Scottish MPs.
Mr
Brown, Defence Secretary Des Browne and Home Secretary John Reid
are among the senior ministers who hold Scottish seats at Westminster.
It now takes only a small number of English Labour MPs to rebel
for Labour's 'tartan army' of Scottish MPs to become crucial.
Labour's
majority in England was slashed from 117 to 43 in last year's
General Election. That means that if only 22 Labour MPs in England
oppose a Government measure, the votes of traditionally loyal
Scottish members become critical. Labour has already relied on
Scottish votes to pass contentious legislation which only applies
in England, including two votes on foundation hospitals and two
on university tuition fees
On
tuition fees, Scots MPs who backed Government legislation were
accused of hypocrisy because the Scottish parliament, established
in 1998, had ruled them out there. A Bill introduced in the Lords
by former Tory home secretary Lord Baker would require the Speaker
of the Commons to prevent Scottish and Welsh MPs and peers from
voting on hills that did not apply to their constituents.
These
would usually be in areas such as health, education and transport
where power has been devolved to Cardiff or Edinburgh, but would
not apply to UK-wide legislation, such as defence, finance or
immigration policy.
A
source close to Mr Brown dismissed the Tory proposals. "It's
unfortunate that David Cameron's response to disappointing election
results in Bromley last week is to reheat this personal attack
on Gordon Brown simply because of where he was born," the
source said. "It's a profound betrayal of the principle and
traditions of the Conservative Party that David Cameron is prepared
to make it a party that represents England alone."
Lord
Chancellor Lord Falconer, also a Scot, claimed the idea of English-only
votes on English issues was 'lunacy', insisting it 'betrays the
Tories' total lack of understanding of our constitution.'
Liberal
Democrat Sir Menzies Campbell, MP for North East Fife (in Scotland),
warned: "A constitution is like a brick wall: if you take
out one brick without regard to the strength of the wall, it all
comes tumbling down."
Kirsty
Young denied yesterday that a 'Scottish mafia' had helped her
land the job as the new presenter of Desert Island Discs. The
BBC last week announced that the Channel 5 newsreader, from East
Kilbride, will take over the long-running Radio 4 show when Sue
Lawley steps down.
Yesterday
Miss Young said: "I know we Scots do have quite a lot of
good jobs, but all I can say is that I'm not part of some underground
Scottish group who roll up their trousers to give each other jobs."
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