Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
|
Come
back Gilligan, all is forgiven. Penny Young, Diss, Norfolk,
to The Guardian, February 24, 2005
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
Power
cut, please
Labour's
pollsters have Tony Blair running scared, because they have
informed him that if turnout at the next election is below
50%, the result will be a hung parliament. This would be
good news for those of us who, viewing the damage inflicted
by recent governments, would like nothing better than a
Parliament powerless to do anything. Letter from Ron
Phillips, London W14 - Daily Mail 17/2/05
|
Tony
Blair's pledge cards made no mention of pensioners. Perhaps
they're the jokers.
Letter
to the Daily Mail from Brian Green, Daventry, Northants
- February 22, 2005
The
Guardian's Polly Toynbee says 'a profoundly nasty streak'
among voters worried about poverty, crime and immigration
might cause them to vote against the Government. Isn't
it time we replaced the present electorate with one more
to Polly's liking? Ephraim Hardcastle, Daily Mail,
February 24, 2005
Back
to the future
'Forward
not Back' is quite wrong: we must go back - back to clean
hospitals with more medical staff and fewer managers;
back to education with proven standards.
Back
to police on the street and solving crime; back to increased
employment in industry, back to ministers who stand up
for this country and back to democratic government. Then,
perhaps, we can move forward. Letter from S, M. Butler,
Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex - Daily Mail, March 23, 2005
|
E
X O D U S
What
an irony! It's because the Irish have cracked down on their own
travellers that they are coming here in record numbers to exploit
soft touch Britain
from
Fiona Barton in County Clare - Daily Mail, March 26, 2005
Patrick
Donna is in no doubt where the land of milk and honey is for Irish
travellers. Forced from the roadsides of his hometown, Anise in
CO, Blare, by new laws making trespass a criminal offence, the
father of four is hitching up his caravan and heading for the
Holyhead ferry to find more hospitable shores.
"I
will be heading straight for Britain this summer, and I will have
a lot of companions with me," he says. His friends, James
Galbraith and John Doherty, nod enthusiastically. They too, are
preparing to pack up their traps and 12 children and cross the
sea to a country about which they wax lyrical, convinced it will
provide a haven for their increasingly beleaguered lifestyle.
This
romantic vision of a better life over the sea is the starting
point for much of the anguish caused by travellers illegally occupying
sites in British towns and villages. Many have crossed the Irish
Sea - the numbers of travellers has increased by more than a third
in recent years - because the Irish government, unlike out own,
has got tough.
The
results suggest that legislation which outlaws travellers from
settling on land without permission is solving Ireland's problem
- by driving them out and over to Britain.
"In
England, travellers can come and go as they wish," Patrick
continues, smiling. "Money is easier in England because there
is more money there than here. There is loads of work in England.
Here, there is none. In England, there is no discrimination. They
are all nice people and you can pull from roadside to roadside
without trouble. We can travel freely."
This
is the message that has come back from those who have already
tested Britain's welcome, including Patrick's brother, Thomas.
But word has no reached the Donovans and Doherty's in Ennis about
the furious debate and protests surrounding travellers arriving
in Britain, secretly buying land and cynically flouting planning
laws. John Docherty, a 37-year-old father of seven, is astonished.
"Good luck to them. At least they are making an effort to
stand on their own feet. They are not sponging off the council."
Patrick,
a roguishly handsome 30--year-old, who rules his noisy brood with
random cuffs and sharp words, adds: "I know four families
who have gone already. My brother, Thomas, left Ireland last year
because he didn't want to stay off the road. He was frightened
he would have to put his kids in care because they had nowhere
to live. He went over to Wales and he says it is a better life
there."
Thomas
is not alone. Government figures show that the number of caravans
on unauthorised encampments and developments in Britain increased
by 38% from January 1997 to January 2004. There has been a sizeable
increase in the number of unauthorised Gipsy and traveller encampments,
rising from 3,499 in July 2002 to 4,332 in July 2004. Unlike trespass
law in Britain - which is dealt with through the civil courts
and can take years to resolve - Ireland's Housing (Miscellaneous
Provisions) Act 2002 makes trespass a criminal offence and gives
police powers to act within 48 hours without a court order.
Now
Michael Howard proposes to copy the Irish example and introduce
similar trespass legislation to stop illegal camps. The Mail visited
the Republic to investigate just how effective his proposals might
be - and to examine why so many Irish travellers seem to end up
in Britain.
The
problem of travellers in Ireland is an old and thorny one. Traditionally,
travellers roamed the country during the spring and summer months,
stopping at 'halting sites' near towns. But in the Sixties, itinerants
were seen as a problem to be eliminated, and the Commission on
Itinerancy recommended that they be absorbed into the community.
Attitudes
changed over the following decades and 1998 the Irish government
introduced legislation which required every council to formulate
a five-year-plan to provide travellers with somewhere to live.
The Act gave travellers a say in the plans, and millions of euros
were put into creating halting sites for caravans and building
homes for travellers who wanted to settle off the road. But the
first five years of the national plan ended last year, and there
still seems no end of the problem. For, despite all this, the
number of travellers' caravans in Ireland is increasing.
Whatever
the reasons for the burgeoning population, travellers complain
there are not enough legal sites or council housing for them,
while others refuse to be housed because they cannot bring their
horses and caravans with them. So, with the carrot failing to
entice travellers off the roads, the government took up the stick.
The
criminalising of acts of trespass was introduced in 2002 and came
in the aftermath of a tense stand-off between a camp of 100 traveller
families on the banks of the River Dodder and the local authority
in Dublin. Patrick Donovan claims he and his fellow travellers
are being forced to abandon their way of life in Ireland because
the GARDA (the police) can remove him, his family and confiscate
his caravan within 48 hours of them parking on an unauthorised
site.
He
has experienced the new legislation first hand. Punishment was
swift and painful; he was jailed for six weeks, banned from driving
for 12 months, and fined 600 euros (£415)k for disobeying
an order to move his caravan. The prison sentence was lifted on
appeal, but he had to pay 100 euros (£69) to have his caravan
released from the police pound.
Patrick
is now part of a group action led by the Irish Traveller Movement
in Ireland's Supreme Court to challenge the validity of the new
law under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights,
the Irish Constitution and European Union and discrimination laws.
His out-rage at this interference in his way of life - a life
enjoyed by generations of Donovans and one he wishes to preserve
for his three sons and daughter - echoes round the barely furnished
home he and his wife Tina have rented for the winter months.
"I
am settled!" he spits with indignation. Sitting on an old,
shabby sofa, bare-chested and barefoot, he nurses his grudge against
the authorities he blames for putting him within four walls for
the first time in his life. It is true the Donovans have tried
to replicate their traditional way of life inside the house -
all six of them sleep in one room on mattresses, in a jumble of
bed-clothes. But this is not travelling.
"I
am heartbroken that I can't get in my caravan and go to Cork,
Dublin or Limerick, wheeling and dealing, buying and selling and
all. I love my life. I wouldn't trade it. I am a traveller. I
can't settle down in a house, like they want. I would go as grey
as a badger. The government is driving us out of Ireland by putting
us off the roads and into proper prisons - houses with high walls
around us to hide us from view. We can't even keep horses, which
is part of our culture. It's a disgrace."
The
concrete-walled compounds he rails against are part of a 12 mn
euro building programme undertaken in Ennis, the prosperous country
town of Clare, since 1998. Travellers have lived around Ennis
for generations and the town used to have an authorised 'halting
site' three miles outside its boundaries, large enough for 16
traveller families to park their caravans.
But
the notorious Battle of Drumcliffe in 1997 saw it closed down.
Frank Neyton, an Ennis town councillor, recalled: "Different
traveller families don't get on, and at Drumcliffe the halting
site was being run by one lot and another family came in from
Sligo and we had a battle on our hands. Knives and other weapons
were used and people were seriously injured. Local residents got
the site closed down by High Court order, but the travellers got
closed down through their own behaviour."
With
no legal site, travellers moved on to the verges, lay-bys and
any other bit of space they could find, including the grounds
of a psychiatric hospital. At Ballyala, a beauty spot on the edge
of Ennis, 20 caravans descended one night and stayed for six months.
Residents of the smart, detached homes overlooking a lake found
themselves with a very different vista in the morning.
One,
who declined to be named because of fears of reprisals, said:
"About 20 caravans came overnight and took the whole road
over. They destroyed the place, there were fires burning night
and day and horses grazing, with rubbish and old bicycles littering
the lakeside. It was very intimidating. We were burgled and three
young travellers were seen in the garden, but they were not charged.
They never are. It is only right they are moved on - I have no
sympathy for them."
Further
down the road, Dan Birrance, who runs the Lake View Shop, says
simply: "They were washing in the lake, washing their clothes
and their horses. Laws don't mean much to them. They ignore the
law and the law ignores them. It is desperate."
The
invasion proved to be the final straw for the people of Ennis,
who pride themselves on their triumph in the 'Ireland's Tidiest
Town' stakes. The town became the first in Ireland to wield the
trespass legislation and it has reduced the number of families
living on its verges and public spaces from 61 to practically
none.
As
a second line of defence, the council has also moved large boulders
onto many verges to prevent any further illegal camps, and on
the road to Tulla they are constructing a new, legal site for
the caravans and hoping the travellers can live side by side.
Last week, Ennis was on its mettle, hosting the World Irish Dancing
Championships.
As
hundreds of competitors arrived from America and Europe, council
workmen were hanging baskets of spring flowers on the picturesque
stone bridge over the River Fergus, and the last of the roadside
travellers were being swept out of sight by the local gardai.
Tommy
O'Donoghue, 30, his brother Willie and friend Patrick Doherty
have been living on the site of roadworks for a new bypass, hemmed
in by mud, ditches, rubbish and industrial machinery for the past
few weeks, but the law has caught up with them. "We would
love to stay here," Tommy says, oblivious to the appalling
conditions. "We can go to the local garage for water and
to the town swimming pool for the toilet and showers. But they
say we are blocking the road. We have to move on. We don't want
to go to Britain because we are born and bred here - but lots
of others are going."
Relations
between travellers and 'the settled', as they are known to the
community, are acknowledged to be at an all-time low. Frank Neylon
says: "People in Ennis thin the travellers get too much.
Some have brand new people-carriers and they get thousands of
euros in welfare benefits. It has got better in the town, thanks
to the new law, but we are nervous of moving the rocks off the
verges yet."
Patrick
Donovan says discrimination is at it s worst for decades and he
is angry that he can no longer get legal aid to bring cases against
local publicans who refuse to serve him. "I used to be able
to bring cases for free- I could walk into a solicitor's and get
a couple of thousand in compensation. Now, it costs me 1,500 euros
to sue, so I don't bother. Isn't it terrible what is going on
in Ireland? The government here has brought discrimination to
travellers."
Discrimination
is the buzz word in the community. Everyone invokes it with sheaves
of examples of slights and wounded feelings. And none see any
blame attached to themselves. It is the 'others', the minority
of 'toughies' in Dublin who have brought this calumny on the heads
of their rural cousins by illegally tipping in the city.
Patrick
is adamant that it will all be different once his is in England.
He says: "There is no discrimination once you keep the place
clean and give no one any hassle. The thing is to travel with
nice ones and you will always be welcomed. We are the quiet ones."
Patrick
shouts to be heard, but is drowned out by the voices of his friends
and the cacophony of a car radio playing at full blast.
|
Perhaps
Ann Widdecombe was right about Michael Howard, but it
should have been KNIGHT with a K, and he could have saved
us from the monsters Blair and Campbell - Letter to
the Dail Mayil from Les Fletcher, Rhos-on-Sea, Colwyn
Bay, Wales - February 18, 2005
After
a clear vote against them, we still got eight non-elected
Regional Assemblies. When we vote against the EU Constitution,
we'll get them anyway. Letter from P.Cove, Aylesbury,
BUCKS.- Daily Mail, January 31, 2005
THE
TIMES slavish support for the Government worries some
members of the paper's staff, not to mention any perspicacious
readers who are left. Political editor Philip Webster
was questioned about this when he addressed colleagues
as part of an in-house 'masterclass' exercise. Small wonder.
One of his Blair-worshipping subordinates wrote a news
story yesterday poo-pooing the row over Labours anti-semitic
poster mocking Michael Howard, saying it was merely £5million
worth of 'free publicity' for the party. Ephraim Hardcastle
- Daily Mail, Febrauary 2, 2005
Hold
the front page
Further
to BBC bias (Mail), very often on BBC Breakfast and Breakfast
With Frost, coverage of the morning papers is censored.
If the front page of the Daily Mail is critical of Tony
Blair and his Soviet-style Government, it is not shown,
although the front pages of all the other newspapers are
shown. A supposedly independent broadcasting body is acting
as censor for this Government - an absolute disgrace.
Letter from Peter Fish, Chippenham, Wilts. .- Daily Mail,
February 17, 2005
|
The
REAL NASTY PARTY- How
Labour is the true home of spite, bigotry and contempt for the
public
For
the health of our democracy, we, the people of the United Kingdom,
must find a way to force Mr Blair to resign
Such
defiance of the democratic process and the will of the majority
of we people of the UK, must be exposed by voters as a matter
or urgency, and not just in the two by-elections we have had this
July and the European elections in June 2004. But how can this
be done?
The
most effective way of getting our deceitful PM to resign would
be to mobilise the army of Labour MPs currently in the House of
Commons and get them to demand it, the loss of their seat to be
a penalty if they did not. All voters in Labour-held constituencies
need to write a letter along these lines to their local Labour
MPs:
|
Dear
Despite
his absolute and unequivocal assurances over the past year
of the serious risk to our security of Saddam Hussein's
'weapons of mass destruction', Prime Minister Blair
has admitted, that the threat was non-existent. For that
critical error of judgement and for his gross incompetence
in handling this very important issue, I ask you to take
immediate steps to ensure that Tony Blair does the honourable
thing and resign without delay..
I
would therefore be much obliged if you would propose and
help mobilise a Parliamentary vote of 'No Confidence' in
Mr Blair which, despite Labour's huge majority, would leave
the PM with no option but to resign.
If
I get no reply to this letter, I shall assume you will continue
to support Mr Blair as our Prime Minister. In such circumstances
I shall not vote for you in the forthcoming General Election.
Signed:
|
Simple,
non-violent, protest letters along these lines on a variety of
issues could be the basis for re-vitalising our democracy and
increasing voters' interest and participation in politics. Download
a printable copy of the above letter here.
There
is another way for the voice of the silent majority to be heard,
a voice that made sure broken promises would not only be revealed,
but punished in subsequent elections.
In
the year available before the General Election expected in 2005,
many topics are available as ammunition, each one asking questions.
A weapon for our purpose will be the results of Opinion Polls
in individual constituencies using ICM, NOP, Gallop, Mori
or YouGov.
Questions
suggested for this purpose are listed here.
CAST
YOUR VOTE ON A VARIETY OF OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES HERE.
Current
and prospective Parliamentary candidates of all Parties running
for election could share a platform at public forums in every
constituency. They would be presented with the results of
polls on this issue expressed by the majority of voters in that
constituency.
The candidates could be asked if their own views and that of their
Party manifesto corresponded with the polls, and if not, how they
intended to represent the will of the majority of local voters.
Local and National Press, Radio and TV coverage would be arranged
and the results published on this web site.
Here
is another powerful strategy for using your vote effectively in
the forthcoming General Election. Send your sitting and prospective
MPs a letter defining your requirements if they want your vote.
This example deals with the proposed
EU Constitutional Treaty.
Your
letters would end: "If you do not answer
this letter, I shall take it that you intend to follow the Government
line. I shall act accordingly in the forthcoming General Election.
Or
why not create a questionnaire that you send to all the candidates
in your constituency, getting them to give yes/no answers to questions
of your choice, and ending it with the same paragraph(above).
Download
a printable example of the questionnaire.
It
is high time for the people of this United Kingdom to stop allowing
themselves to be manipulated by politicians. We need our representatives
in Parliament to genuinely reflect the view of the majority in
their own constituency, even if this means going against their
personal and/or their party's policy. While they may argue their
case, hoping to change the minds of the majority in their constituency,
they should ultimately be obliged to reflect the majority view
of those who elect them.
It
will be argued by politicians of all parties that most voters
don't have the knowledge necessary to express an opinion on important
subjects at issue, and that our vote is a form of delegated democracy.
We should argue that it is their duty to ensure that we voters
do have ready access to such information as is necessary to form
an intelligent opinion. That, after all, is one main purpose of
Opposition Parties in our Parliamentary Democracy.
Most
important of all, such proceedings would rekindle in voters their
latent interest and obligation to cast their vote, knowing that
the candidate of their choice would be more likely to act in accordance
with their wishes. A much higher turnout in elections would be
the result.
Contact
your local Party Chairman. Gain his support for setting up public
forums in your constituency on these, as well as any other relevant
topics, well before the next General Election expected in 2005.
You should then, depending on the integrity of the candidate of
your choice, feel fairly certain that your view on any subject
being debated in Parliament will more accurately be reflected
by your representative in that assembly.
