Calling England

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T19:53:00.001Z

Thanks for the follows, thanks for the comments, thanks for the debate and thanks to all my fellow bloggers. Here's to a peaceful, contented and prosperous 2012 for all of us. Yes, I know, I don't expect one either, but let's not spoil the moment :)

A Wise Man Once Said...

2011-12-01T19:49:00.006Z

There's been a bit of a personal meltdown here in Muswell Hill Towers in the past week so I'm going to put my blog out of its misery and close it rather than keep it on hold until the good times roll. Blogs are like children, they need nurturing and mustn't be left to fend for themselves.

If you're incredibly bored one evening you can check the archives to find out about smart meters, report-back computers in cars, the infrastructure, the cameras, the censorship, the arming of the police, what you can grow in your garden, what you can give to relatives and friends, what's approved and what isn't, and what's under global attack. If you're not already aware, you can read about how they did it and how we ended up with a one-party State that takes direction from an unelected foreign entity. You'll also find this:

from Dmitry Orlov and there's more HERE.

There are many good, independent blogs around; if I could give you only one piece of advice it would be to put on your thinking cap and read them (you'll find a good selection in the sidebar). You may not like the language but there's a truth in them that you won't find in the mainstream media.

When I began this blog I was startled to discover how behind the times the msm actually is, and how much they cover up with half-truths. The msm are enablers so if they tell you something, double-check it for yourself. If you feel the need to contribute to their comments sections: don't. They're always filtered and moderated, no matter what they say, so it's best to start your own blog. If you haven't checked through the Essential Links, it's worth doing that too. There's so much information on the internet that you only need to check into the msm now and then to see what they're reporting and how out of sync they are.

It gives me no pleasure to see what I've been predicting come about, and I'm nobody - I'm just someone who took the time to look at the political and financial world, check out sources and use my own judgement. You can do it too.

For our government and for the EU:
]

Well, that's it from me. Take care, thank you for reading and commenting and, DV, I'll see you on the other side of the barricade.

Oh yes, the Wise Man. He said: "So long, and thanks for all the fish".

Furedi: Renouncing The Politics Of Representation

2011-11-29T20:47:00.000Z

Renouncing the politics of representation

Extracts only:

"The tendency to depict democratic accountability as a deeply flawed, unpredictable thing is based on the belief that ordinary people lack the intellectual resources to deal with the complicated challenges facing policymakers. According to the traditional aristocratic version of this argument, since people will inevitably react against taking difficult decisions, it makes far more sense simply for someone else to take those decisions on their behalf.

In recent decades, this claim has been supplemented by a new thesis: that ordinary people are so misguided by the media or the church or some other institution that they simply do not know what is in their best interests anymore...

...Contempt for the intellectual and moral capacities of the multitude invariably leads many self-proclaimed ‘enlightened’ commentators to distrust the public. Such anti-public sentiments are often expressed by environmentalists, who regard ordinary folk as far too selfish or too in thrall to consumerism to vote for policies that will require them to make the kind of sacrifices that might ‘save the planet’...

...Thinkers who argue against democratic political accountability often assert that representatives of the people are far less able to deal with complex issues, certainly in comparison with technocrats and experts. Of course, every modern political institution requires and depends upon the advice and input of scientists, engineers and experts. But what the advocates of the current technocratic turn demand is not simply that politicians consider such advice, but that they defer to it, that they bow before the wisdom of the expert. In its more caricatured form, this technocratic turn assumes the character of an expert-dominated polity. So Joschka Fischer, the former German foreign minister and grand old man of the Green Party, has talked about the need for an ‘avant garde of the United States of Europe’.

Fisher’s avant garde would consist of 17 leaders of Eurozone countries who would de facto constitute a government of Europe. The main accomplishment of this scheme would be that ‘parliamentary powers of control would be taken along to Brussels from the European capitals’. In this way, the pretence of national accountability could be maintained while the brave 17 could govern Europe without the hassle of having to deal with political arguments and pressure. This proposed model of insulated decision-making is probably at the top of every EU technocrats’ wish list...."

A really good article worth ten minutes of your time.

H/t @WhiteWednesday

Sunday Reflection

2011-11-27T11:16:00.003Z

Oh, the irony! The Queen has become Patron of the Magna Carta Trust which is preparing to commemorate the signing of the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta in 2015.

FionaNUFC

GP: Brazil 1980

2011-11-27T06:38:00.001Z

Motorsports History TV

Final laps (8mins)

Germany Calling

2011-11-26T19:53:00.001Z

Germany has many of the problems that we do in getting people to wake up to what's happening. Karl Schachtschneider ('bless you') is Professor Emeritus in public and civil law at Nuremberg University. In this video he explains about the death penalty, military rearmament and debunks the EU's claim that it is responsible for, and promotes, peace in Europe. He warns his audience that, on the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty, the death penalty will be applicable in the event of riots, rebellion or facing the threat of war.

We're not alone but we need a pan-European movement to oppose the EU, perhaps we can then be called "Sour Little Europeans" by Cameron et al.

Here is Schachtschneider's wikipedia page and here is his website, if your German is up to it.

An sent Coe hamewart, tae think again

2011-11-26T18:33:00.001Z

An sent Coe hamewart, tae think again

"So the good news is that Historic Scotland has said "no" to the preposterous idea of massive Olympic rings being placed on our castle."

Scots wha hae!

UPDATE: MPs refuse to allow pics of 'Olympic heroes' to be beamed on to Parliament

What If?

2011-11-25T20:15:00.003Z

It's happening in front of our eyes. The mechanisms are in place in the form of loosely-worded, ever-changing and open to interpretation 'laws', regulations and directives. Thanks to the doctrine of spin, state education, a public sector that comprises more than 50% employment and a lickspittle media, we're truly fracked.

A tip of the trident to Fausty

What if Nigel Farage is our Ron Paul?

Threat Of The Day

2011-11-24T17:04:00.002Z

'It is necessary to force countries against their will.'

"Recent experience has shown that a member state normally wants to avoid a programme until the very last moment," he said in the EU capital. "This has caused the situation to worsen in the meantime both for the country concerned and for the whole euro area and increased costs to other member states and increased the financing needs as well. There are no volunteers for an EU-IMF programme...

... If the commission does not like what it sees, it can demand changes to the budget, as well as other mid-term plans a government may have for its economy...

... All eurozone states would also be forced to create independent fiscal councils - bodies of 'experts' unaccountable to parliaments - who would issue budgetary and economic forecasts. A country's budget would in turn have to be based on the reports of these fiscal councils.

For countries in deeper troubles and facing serious financial difficulties, Brussels could send teams of inspectors - akin to the 'Troika' monitors sent to member states that have received bail-outs.

The overseers could be sent to any state that the commission decides, even if the county has not requested any international assistance.

The not-so final word goes to Barroso:

Questioned by journalists over whether the moves do not insulate decision-making from elected chambers, commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he did not wish to engage in "philosophical debates".

The solution to the eurozone's fiscal nightmare is, unsurprisingly, the failed proposal the EU pushed for all twenty-seven member states: full fiscal union with budgetary oversight. Softly, softly...

I wonder how far this government's newly-created Office for Budget Responsibility meets the EU guidelines of "All eurozone states would also be forced to create independent fiscal councils - bodies of 'experts' unaccountable to parliaments - who would issue budgetary and economic forecasts."

It looks like the UK is ahead of the EU game, as usual, yet successive governments have the nerve to pretend to be 'eurosceptic' and want to repatriate powers from Brussels; we're in it over our heads and probably leading the way. Great Britain but, in particular, England, is the testing ground, the experimental zone, for one-world governance and coffee-coloured multiculturalism.

Source

PS: George Osborne's leaked letter click to enlarge:

Pic from @chadnoble

UPDATE: It was announced today that Italy's unelected government under Mario Monti, will also be creating an Office of Budgetary Responsibililty. It seems the EU think Osborne & Cameron have done well and will be rolling out the trial across euro-zone member states.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T06:31:00.000Z

To all American readers

Happy Thanksgiving Animations provided by MUDTRAP.COM

PMQs Video

2011-11-23T20:25:00.005Z

I'm sorry for the lack of PMQs this week; I just didn't have the patience to sit through it when I came home. On the plus side, I do have a rather lovely pair of earrings to show for today's venture and shopping beats PMQs hands-down any day of the week.

I'll add the usual 'toad/independent thinker' & 'topics raised' tomorrow when I'm feeling more kindly. It doesn't help that I've recently seen the House of Cards trilogy for the first time and it seems only too plausible. I don't know why I missed it first time round - I was probably out somewhere, being young.

UK Parliament

UPDATE:

Your MP: Toad or Independent Thinker?
Andrew Bingham, Con, High Peak; Richard Ottaway, Con, Croydon South; Anne McKechin, Lab, Glasgow North; Simon Kirby, Con, Brighton Kemptown; Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru, Dwyfor Meirionnydd; Edward Timpson, Con, Crewe & Nantwich; Malcolm Wicks, Lab, Croydon North; Mark Menzies, Con, Fylde; Chris Bryant, Lab, Rhondda; Louise Mensch, Con, Corby; Tom Greatrex, Lab, Rutherglen and Hamilton West; Alan Reid, LibDem, Argyll & Bute; Alan Whitehead, Lab, Southampton; Stewart Jackson, Con, Peterborough; Helen Jones, Lab, Warrington North; John Whittingdale, Con, Maldon; Gordon Marsden, Lab, Blackpool South; Stewart Andrew, Con, Pudsey; Jim Shannon, DUP, Strangford.

Issues raised:
Public sector strikes; turnout in strike ballot; women's unemployment rate; Brighton council tax increase; stalking; housing shortage/localism/planning; Northern Rock; enterprise zones; unemployment; public sector strikes; call for Inquiry into collapse of Arch Cru investment fund; cuts in military defence/police & Faslane; local authority contracts; Thomas Cook; NHS; TPA report on motoring taxes; new penalties/protection for War Memorials; Children in Need/Pudsey Bear; withdrawal from Afghanistan.

HANSARD

In case anyone was wondering 'Where's Wally?', here he is - in the BA lounge at Lagos airport on the 17th.

Pic courtesy of @eyespymp

The Pro and The Con

2011-11-20T20:53:00.012Z

The Pro:

Note the change of iconography (Cameron as Henry V, 'jousting', 'crusade', 'portcullis' - albeit with a Union Flag which didn't exist in those days - good old BBC) and tone.

Sopel: But isn't the real eurosceptic thing to do, which is what David Cameron and George Osborne will do is... to say 'we are fighting for Britain's interests within Europe and trying to get the best deal possible..."

After decades of reviling 'eurosceptics' the BBC is now carrying Cameron's torch that it's okay to be a eurosceptic and that we're no longer 'fruitcakes, nutjobs and Little Englanders' (even if you were Scottish, Welsh or Irish). They're still one step behind the rest of us who know full well that there is no chance of renegotiation within the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, or any of the treaties our governments have signed on our behalf.

I'm unsure who the two commentators were because I didn't watch the programme. One is called Sarah, who smirked as Farage answered a question, and the other, I think (going by his voice and, if it is him, he's put on a bit of weight and grown a beard), is James Somebody-or-Other, an LBC radio phone-in host who is so pompous and arrogant that he never lets others finish their sentences and always interprets their views - "What you're saying is..." "What you mean is...").

Here's the Con (Artist):

Britain will have to join the euro, says Michael Gordon Richard Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine

"People have no idea of the scale of money British banks are owed by European banks. If the European banks start going it will be our banks that are on the line, our government on the line."

Oh, I think we do have an idea; we do know. We know the scale involved and we know you will make us pay for it. We also know that our taxes shouldn't be used to prop up bankers or governments. Nothing should be too big to fail. The views of this failed and bitter politician are irrelevant.

Government has become far too big and unwieldy. The government's proposal to cut 10% of MPs doesn't go far enough - that's only 50ish MPs lost (maths isn't their strong point). You only have to look at the House during PMQs to see them fighting chunky haunch by well-fed jowl for a seat on the benches. They're all tucked in very cosily and those who fail to find a place must elbow for room around the Speaker's Chair or in the doorway, shoulder to chippy shoulder. Personally, I think it's become so rotten and corrupt that I'd like a clean break - slash it back to one MP for one County and re-build it from there. I don't think that proposition is any more ludicrous than the system we now have in place.

Added Value: THIS, from 2006:

Mr Cameron also condemned the "ignorance" of English people about Scots and Scotland and the "embarrassing" English insensitivity on matters ranging from the acceptability of Scottish banknotes to "the inevitable aggressive Glaswegian drunk" in TV programmes.
"If I become the prime minister of the United Kingdom, I'll never, never take Scotland for granted," Mr Cameron said.
He also pledged to take on "sour Little Englanders" who wanted rid of Scotland. "I'll fight them all the way," he said.

Well, at least the Scots weren't taken in by him.

By the way, I keep meaning to find the link but ... Voting rights in the EU are determined by the population count. Nod/wink.

UPDATE: Here's Heseltine talking about the great "European adventure". with an insert about the events of Black Wednesday:

Sunday Reflection

2011-11-20T09:53:00.000Z

"Arrival to the Oxford market": Anonymous (XIII century)
MLpossible

Jeux Sans Frontieres

2011-11-19T18:06:00.002Z

Immigration into the UK has hit ludicrous proportions and impacted on England in particular. I just want to put these two graphs and a couple of links here for the record.

The Daily Mail So, let's hear it for the three main political Parties, the Lib/Lab/Con con-artists who've been in office for too long and put us way up there with Bangladesh and Rwanda. And it's not over yet -

Cecilia Malmstrom, EC Commissioner for Home Affairs, writes:

"The EU needs to boost its relationships with non-EU States to better reap the mutual benefits migration can bring. Although migration is high on the European Union’s agenda, the Arab spring and events in the Southern Mediterranean in 2011 has highlighted the need for a coherent migration policy for the EU. That is why today the European Commission proposes to strengthen dialogue and operational cooperation with non-EU partner countries in the area of migration and mobility."

For anyone not yet up to speed on EU-speak, the 'Southern Mediterranean' is what used to be called North Africa.

The International Organization for Migration is one of the 'actors' it's working with. It was originally set up after the Second World War to help the displaced people of Europe. When it had finished, rather than say 'job well done' and disband, it changed its name, found itself another role and continued to grow.

There are also ongoing discussions with Russia about visa-free travel across borders.
*****

Another blogger (Kevin Townsend) has a quote from Peter Kellner (Mr Cathy Ashton) and this graph:

It isn't clear whether the voters were English or just people living in England. Yes, there is a difference and 'Yes', it does matter.
*****

THIS, by AN Wilson, is a great article. He takes apart education policies and the demise of our manufacturing base over the past decades and offers suggestions for revitalisation.

If a Stoke pottery had taken on foreign workers in those days, it would have been considered mad - not for xenophobic reasons, but because everyone knew that British potters were the best in the world. The same would have been said in Sheffield about steel workers, or in Newcastle and Belfast about shipbuilders, or in so many other parts of the country...
...The working classes of Britain were the source of its power and wealth as a great trading nation. From them came the energy and resourcefulness which created our exports. And all over Britain, in working-class communities, there was a powerful sense of solidarity and community.

*****
Meanwhile, back at the EU, victory has been declared in the battle of the budget. The increase has been limited to "only" 2% . However,

"...while agreeing to limit their contributions to the EU budget to 129 billion euros next year, governments gave in to the European Parliament's demands to allow EU spending commitments next year to go up to 147 billion euros."

So they're going to have an increased budget of 129bn euros but commit to spending 147bn. That sort of budgeting explains why their accounts haven't been signed off for seventeen years.
*****

In other news Basil 'Dolly' D'Oliveira, RIP - a great cricketer, despite never playing for Yorkshire.

UPDATE:
See where the money goes: 'EU Budget at a glance'

Music

2011-11-18T22:26:00.000Z

A Week of Cockwaffle

2011-11-18T21:45:00.002Z

I used to apply the tag "cockwafflers extraordinaires" to any post mentioning EU hubris but I've been lax lately, mainly because there are so many of them.

TFIF is all I can say after a week like this. We're living in a time of lies and spin; a time of half-truths and evasions.

Apparently, it's Children in Need Night tonight. I used to donate but no longer bother since I discovered how much of the funds go in admin and consultants. I'd rather give it in the form of "Oh, I've cooked too much" or "I've bought too much" to the oldster next door rather than see it wasted on admin and consultants. It's spectacular to realise that, despite what we're going through, this programme will probably raise another £25m or so. We do it year after year, on top of our own charitable commitments, yet nothing ever improves for those countries and their children.

Globalised finance, globalised corporations, globalised consumerism, globalised big pharma, globalised government, globalised poverty, globalised need.

Like I said, TFIF. I'll leave you with this wonderful summation of today's events:

There is something about Germany that brings out in the British media some of its least desirable characteristics. And when you have in Volker Kauder, the CDU's parliamentary leader a stage Hun with all the sensitivity of a plank, and an IQ to match two short versions, you have the stage set for a perfect storm...

... But at least The Boy has been given a hearing, given his brief moment in the limelight, in a carefully stage-managed press conference, and sent packing, where he can prattle in his own time, to his own venal media, without wasting any more of everyone else's time.

As the post points out, it's nothing new. The fight isn't only against the EU it's against the placemen and the system of governance that's evolved in the past six decades.

I said to Spidey that being in a state of hope is a natural human condition: we hope the sun rises in the morning, that the moon shines at night and that we're free to raise and take care of our families without undue interference. So far, only the first two hopes have proved steadfast. I don't know who said the following quote but he/she was right:

Government has what it takes to take all you have

And they will. TFIF never seemed so hollow because Monday always comes around.

Cameron/Merkel Live Conference + updates

2011-11-18T12:56:00.014Z

On Sky News

Merkel: "Limited" treaty change for eurozone members only - as expected, they will do everything possible to avoid a referendum in Britain. A sentence or two about Serbia, Iran & Libya.

Cameron: Good friends. Many areas we are in absolute agreement. Countries must deal with debts and deficits. EU budget rise must be linked to inflation rate. Share same plan for EU growth - greater competitiveness, greater agenda for growth, greater deregulation. Agree that a strong, successful & sustainable euro is in all our interests. We can address, accommodate and deal with differences. Britain/Germany has a strong relationship and friendship. Will work together.

Followed by a few questions but it's pointless looking for any hint of truth in the answers. Cameron said no progress was made in discussions on the FTT/Tobin Tax. Merkel said no-one should pretend to be more powerful than they are. I'll post the transcript and/or video later.

I don't know what they mean by "limited treaty change" - a treaty change is a treaty change and any changes require agreement from all 27 member states. It looks like Cameron will be coming back a Chamberlain and not a Churchill.

Debt crisis live

UPDATE:

From Anoneumouse at The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

More cartoons at Muffled Vociferation & Max Farquar and, if you haven't visited already, I recommend Fenbeagle Blog for some great artistry and storylines.

Short video clips from the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian

Also, Markets dip as Cameron, Merkel differ on key points

That Island Mentality

2011-11-17T20:50:00.004Z

I've just been listening to the radio. I have to admit I sometimes switch off when Iain Dale comes on, not because I don't like him but because I have a 'thing' about voices, and his voice just doesn't agree with my neurons. His first topic this evening was, "Italy has an unelected government: Can this happen here?"

Despite the differences between the continent of Europe and the UK of GB & NI, I think it could. Europe, it's true, has been subjected to dictatorships in one form or another for centuries, for example Portugal, Greece, Spain & Germany. If you include Russia & its former satellites, and North Africa (the 'Southern Mediterranean') in the equation, as the EU does, that adds up, very uncomfortably, to a high number of people who really don't share our concept of democracy. In that sense, we are isolated as much by mentality as by the sea. We simply have no concept of dictatorship; Cromwell was the last dictator and there's no consensual collective memory of that period in history. As a nation, we wouldn't recognise a dictatorship or authoritarian government if it knocked on our door and demanded all our personal details, or allowed cctv and recording equipment in taxis, or if we were the most surveilled society in the western world.

However, the countries mentioned above all experienced dictatorships well into the 20thC and, let's be brutal, they don't know much else. On those grounds, the fact that a poll showing 78% of Italians welcomed the new corporate government where no-one has been elected and roughly half of them are professors and the rest banking apparatchiks shouldn't surprise us.

Seventeen is an unlucky number in Italy but that’s how many ministers there are. The last Berlusconi administration had twenty-three. Five ministries have gone. Twelve have portfolio responsibilities – including the economy, held by Mario Monti as caretaker – and five do not. Three women hold key posts (justice, employment and the interior) whereas there were six with Berlusconi. There are also seven academics, five doctors, a lawyer and a university lawyer. A banker, an ambassador, an admiral and a health law specialist are also on the list but no politicians.

So, Monti has slimmed down government departments, is intent on rooting out corruption and waste, and has booted out the lap-dancers and chancers. I'm beginning to think this EU take-over could work for them. One other thing these countries all have in common is a history of coalition governments or 'governments of national unity' - you can see where this is leading, can't you?

Despite our differences and animosity to foreign rule I think that if Britain were ever in the same turmoil as Greece or Italy, the majority would also roll over and accept it - not only accept it, but welcome it, because we've been conditioned, cajoled and controlled. We'd accept it until the scales fell from our eyes but, given how much we've endured from the EU over the years, I'm beginning to think those scales will need a pretty big whack to be dislodged. I think this is one instance when it's fair to say: "Think of the children," so, once again, here's that small prayer:

"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. " Thomas Paine, 1776.

Tweet

EU Heritage Labelling

2011-11-16T18:12:00.004Z

Be proud, citoyennes - or should that be 'comrades'? The motto of the European Union shouldn't be the laughable "Unity through Diversity" but the more appropriate, "What's yours is mine and what's mine's my own".

As if it weren't enough that our taxes fund this corrupt, shambolic, authoritarian, quasi-Marxist, pipsqueak of an outfit they've now decided on a logo for the EU Heritage labels fiasco (see above). Of course, it will be 'voluntary'. Voluntary in the same way that our membership of the Union is voluntary.

"The label will guarantee the unique European touch of selected sites such as monuments, natural, submerged, archaeological, industrial or urban sites, cultural landscapes, places of remembrance, cultural goods and objects or intangible heritage associated with a place."
...However "transnational" sites will benefit from special treatment, given their special symbolism for Europe's history. Member states will be allowed to apply for a "thematic" label for several national sites linked by a common theme.

Well, I'm sorry but they can just fuck the fuck off and then some. If they can get their heads out of their @rses for long enough they might be able to hear the rustling of the reeds at Runnymede.

(Pemf as usual. I was going to use an asterisk but you all know the word anyway.)

More HERE

A Little Light Relief

2011-11-16T17:53:00.002Z

Here's something nonsensical while we wait for the Cameron-Merkel meeting on Friday - and won't that be fun given Volker Kauder's intervention, to cheers from the German Parliament, today.
The Germans can't blame Britain .

While the EU construct is on course to achieve what it always wanted but remains deaf to the ramifications, I'm reading jokes. The last laugh really will be on them.

"Paul always wanted a pair of authentic cowboy boots so when he saw some in the sales he bought them and wore them home.

He sauntered proudly into the kitchen and said to his wife, "Notice anything different about me?"

Pauline looked him over. "No."

Frustrated, he stormed off into the bathroom, undressed and walked back into the kitchen completely naked except for the boots. Again he asked her , a little louder this time, "Notice anything different NOW?"

She looked up and said, "What's different? It's hanging down today, it was hanging down yesterday, it'll be hanging down again tomorrow."

Furious, he yelled, "And do you know why it's hanging down?"

"Nope. Not a clue", she replied.

"It's hanging down because it's looking at my new boots!!"

Without missing a beat she replied, "You should have bought a hat, Paul. You should have bought a hat."

Serendipity

2011-11-13T18:23:00.001Z

If you've ever had tear-filled eyes as Jenny Agutter cries, "Daddy, oh, my Daddy," and is swept up into her father's arms in The Railway Children, get the Kleenex ready.

Here's something from a blog, BabyBlueCafe, I stumbled upon. It's ten minutes of joy and tears.

"The song is Praan by Garry Schyman, based on Streams of Life by the poet Rabindranath Tagore.

"The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment."

Sunday Reflection

2011-11-13T11:00:00.002Z

Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.
Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.

A E Housman.

GP: Abu Dhabi 2009

2011-11-13T06:37:00.001Z

Those Washed-Up, Cried-Out, Spied-On Stasi Blues

2011-11-12T15:39:00.005Z

Yep, I've been to the doctor and he said that's definitely what I'm suffering from. He wrote me a prescription and said to go back in a few weeks if my symptoms hadn't eased. What he prescribed was "a weekly dose of riots and a change of governance."

Interestingly, he didn't advise a change of government; he thought that swapping one bloc of raging authoritarian job-for-life politicos for another wouldn't solve the problem. In short, ELECTIONS DON'T WORK ANY MORE. They used to, once upon a time. The country rubbed by after the war, we put up with austerity and rationing, mainly because of the sop of the NHS and child benefit payments, but the country has changed beyond recognition now. Now, everyone has the right to be offended but not to freedom of expression; everyone is equal in the eyes of the legislature, unless you're 'one of them' and can pay or circumvent the system; everyone is lectured, molly-coddled, chivvied and harassed into being a citizen worthy of The Big Society; we're all in it together.

My @rse.

If I thought one of my neighbours was spying on me I'd report them to the police for harassment.

THIS upset me so much this morning when I read it. How could they? How could they turn State informer? And they're not even being paid. I hope they're first 'onto the shuvvell' so they can join their heroes who first adopted this technique.

From The Morning Star, of all places.
Work from home: Easy Income

But it's alright; we're in safe hands and can go back to sleep:

A Home Office spokesman said: "The first duty of the state is the protection of its citizens, but this should never be an excuse for the government to intrude into people's private lives.

"This is why we are changing the law to restore common sense and prevent local authorities using surveillance for trivial offences."

If you believe that, phone me, I've got a bridge for sale.

Here's one of the 'essential links' in the sidebar: Big Brother Watch.

Roughly one in fifty adults collaborated with the Stasi in East Germany:

Frau Merkel was born in West Germany but grew up and was educated in East Germany. I've no idea why her parents moved; perhaps it's a story worth telling on par with the Milibands, whose Polish grandfather packed up and left for Russia where he fought in the Red Army before admitting defeat and defecting to Belgium (and thence onwards to Britain albeit leaving his wife and children behind - it was for the good of the cause, comrades).

Just to tip everything nicely over the edge, here's an archive of East German propaganda. Spot the similarities.

Image courtesy of Max Farquar, WBUH.

EUObs: Italian Bonds Shatter 7% bail-out Ceiling

2011-11-09T20:15:00.001Z

Italian bonds shatter 7% bail-out ceiling

It will be a painful shock for us all but it will be short compared to continuing our membership of the EU. We need to withdraw.

PMQs: Summary & Videos

2011-11-09T13:05:00.008Z

Cameron led tributes to Private Matthew Haseldin, 2 Mercian, who was killed in Afghanistan last Thursday.
***************************************

Not a rubber bullet in sight. The weapon of choice: the cane or umbrella.

Miliband used all six of his questions to ask about UKBA and immigration; he went on and on and on and ... ... round in circles, got no answers and had Labour's own record flung back in his face. He got nowhere. Cameron backed May & the Head of UKBA, and reeled off a list of 'achievements'. He even quoted Labour Peer Lord Glasman - 'Labour lied about immigration'. Miliband was trounced as usual.

Best, if you can call it that: groans from Con backbenchers when Bercow intervened about the noise and said last week's Youth Parliament was much better behaved.
Strangest: Cameron's support for the 19thC Chartist movement seemed out of place, particularly today when so many protests are going on in London. Anyone would think that the government hadn't just sanctioned the use of baton rounds against protesters. The movement has one parallel today: a petition of more than 5m signatures calling for voting reform was rejected out of hand by Parliament.

Your MP: Party Toad or Independent Thinker?

Julian Huppert, LibDem, Cambridge; Gary Streeter, Con, South West Devon; Lindsay Roy, Lab, Glenrothes; Edward Leigh, Con, Gainsborough; Gordon Banks, Lab, Ochill & South Perthshire; Peter Aldous, Con, Waveney; Gregory Campbell, DUP, East Londonderry; Andrew Selous, Con, South West Bedfordshire; Mark Durkan, SDLP, Foyle; Tessa Munt, LibDem, Wells; Christopher Leslie, Lab Co-op, Nottingham East; Tracey Crouch, Con, Chatham & Aysleford; Geraint Davies, Lab Co-op, Swansea West; Annette Brooke, LibDem, Dorset Mid and Poole North; Hazel Blears, Lab, Salford & Eccles; Karen Lumley, Con, Redditch; Cathy Jamieson, Lab Co-op, Kilmarnock & Loudon; Jo Johnson, Con, Orpington; Andrew Gwynne, Lab, Denton & Reddish; Alex Shelbrooke, Con, Elmet & Rothwell; Sir Stuart Bell, Lab, Middlesbrough; Bill Cash, Con, Stone.

Issues raised:
Job security/employment laws; RM 3 Commando homecoming in Plymouth; bonus payments for RBS; death of 2nd Red Arrows pilot/RAF Scampton; youth unemployment in Scotland; local school funding; Minute's silence on Armistice Day; marriage break-ups; no UK abstention on Palestine/UN; (closed question) winter fuel payments; publication of UKBA/immigration documents; FIFA/poppies; individual voter registration; rights for park home owners; parliamentary placement scheme/social mobility; GMB/union influence on Labour policies; unemployment in Kilmarnock; Italian bond yields @ 8% /eurozone; 34% youth unemployment in Thameside; FIFA/poppies; G20/EFSF/eurozone bail-out fund; structural re-negotiation of EU treaties.

Followed by Statement on North Africa/Middle East by Sec of State, FCO, William Hague.

VIDEOS TO FOLLOW

The DUP Channel is quick off the mark this week. Here's Gregory Campbell and his question about 11/11:

More to come.

A taster on Chartism

PS Just a thought: If a petition in the 19thC can gather 5m signatures without the internet - what's gone wrong today? Some were fake or double-entries but, even so, a hefty proportion of the population must have signed it.

In full:

Hitler Got It Wrong

2011-11-08T19:47:00.002Z

Ireland, Greece, Italy and then Spain. No wonder we all make fun of him these days; what a lousy economist.

1688 And All That

2011-11-08T19:12:00.000Z

EU Referendum: 1688 And All That

WARNING: Graphic pic:

Mussolini & Clara Petacci - Mussolini with the symbol of office in his hand.

Fiction and Fact

2011-11-07T20:31:00.003Z

Otherwise known as That Was Then but This Is Now, aka "We didn't know before we took office." Here's a very perky, media-friendly Theresa May on March 6th this year.

"We're delivering all the promises we set out in our manifesto."
"We are tackling immigration... we've introduced the annual cap on non-EU economic migration."
"We are restoring civil liberties."

Nothing in there to suggest that UKBA might have felt free to leave our borders open to all-comers. Nothing in there about bringing baton rounds/rubber bullets to mainland Britain.

Now:

"We will never know how many people got through without proper checks."

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, this would have prompted a resignation. In that land no-one clung on and waited to be sacked; in fact it was a matter of honour to go before they were sacked. Usually, but not always, they tried to make amends by devoting the rest of their lives to charity, eg Profumo, or they just left their clothes in a little heap at the seashore, a la Stonehouse*, and disappeared. However, there's no honour, no integrity now in politics. If there were, they'd all examine their consciences and resign.

No Minister resigns for the big things these days. The expenses cheats were dragged kicking and squealing to the courts - and then it's a piffling sentence - but for the big, important stuff, the national security, that they get wrong, no-one ever takes responsibility. Even Fox has said he wants to make a comeback to the Front Bench once his mishaps with Adam Werrity have died down - in what capacity I don't know, since it's odds on that EUNavFor, EuroGendFor and EUAirFor will have overtaken us by then and any British Minister of Defence will be superfluous..

They betray us, they smile, and then they come back. We must stop voting for the LibLabCon con. (Keep an eye out for Party funding by the State aka taxpayer - do you want part of your taxes going to fund these misbegotten charlatans?)

Extract from Hansard:

Sheila Gilmore: Will the Minister tell us how many of those 5,200 staff are being cut from the front line of the border force?
Damian Green: The hon. Lady will know that later this afternoon my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will make a statement covering the issues that she is interested in. The reductions in staffing are not affecting the front line because we are improving the front line by, for instance, having airline liaison officers overseas. Over the past few years, that has prevented 60,000 people whom we did not want to travel from travelling in the first place. The use of facial recognition technology and e-gates also makes our borders more secure.

Topical Questions also makes interesting reading. What the answer boils down to is that the govt doesn't have a clue and it loves cctv.

Philip Davies: Of all the people who were arrested and convicted as a result of the riots across the country in the summer, what estimate has the Home Secretary made of the number who were arrested and charged through the police use of CCTV and DNA?
Mrs May: My hon. Friend is returning to topics that I know he has pursued for some considerable time. Obviously, there was significant use of CCTV. That is why this Government continue to support its use.

Changes to immigration rules laid before the House today

The changes will take effect on 28 November and will reduce the minimum age at which a person may be granted entry clearance or leave as the spouse, civil partner, fiancé(e), proposed civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner of a sponsor, and the minimum age at which a person may sponsor such an application, from 21 to 18 years. It will also delete references to a minimum age of 18 for entry clearance or leave as the spouse, civil partner, fiancé(e), proposed civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner of a HM Forces sponsor, and the minimum age at which a member of HM Forces may sponsor such an application. Guidance for those affected by the judgment will be published on the UK Border Agency website.

You already know what I think: I think we're well and truly fracked.

* I admit Stonehouse wasn't the personification of probity - cheat liar, philanderer - but at least he had the good grace to disappear.

UPDATE: On reading the words of Damian Green again - "that has prevented 60,000 people whom we did not want to travel from travelling in the first place." Leaving aside the "airline liaison officers overseas", I wonder if any in that figure were people prevented from leaving the country, for football matches, for example.

1st Time For Baton Rounds In London

2011-11-07T12:58:00.005Z

It was reported on the lunchtime news (LBC 97.3fm) that the Met will be using baton rounds/rubber bullets at the student demo in town this week. So far I've been unable to find any other corroboration but I see no reason to doubt the report; LBC are usually pretty fast & accurate with their news reporting.

This will be the first time that a police force has used rubber bullets in mainland Britain and is a fairly momentous step. I guess it puts an end to policing by consent and "the public are the police and the police are the public".

I'll add to the post as and when I learn anything more.

*****
It looks like it's Wednesday 9th - there's also a protest by London's cabbies in Trafalgar Square on the same day.
*****
And yet - Baton Rounds: Risks outweighed benefits
*****
4,000 Met police will be on duty to police an expected 10,000 students. It's confirmed that baton rounds will be issued. So, there we have it. Policing by consent has flown out of the window in Britain.

*****
An article has now been posted on the LBC website.

Shifting Ground

2011-11-06T18:45:00.004Z

It won't be long now before the threshold for signatures to e-petitions is raised. It is, after all, just a trial run to see how things go. I suspect things haven't gone so well for HMG and they're finding the e-petitions a thorn in their side.

E-Petitions, just like the promise of referenda, should be viewed as circumspectly as possible but, in the meantime, let's not delude ourselves that they will make an impact, change laws or alter the direction of travel.

If somebody hasn't already done so, it's time to choose a revolutionary theme for 2012 - I suggest the bars of this, from 0:30 on:

Alternatives are welcome, as always.

A Retrospective

2011-11-06T18:12:00.002Z

Avatar Farm

I've been looking at a couple of .pdf files on my hardrive and thought I'd upload them for anyone who's interested in case I have to reformat the laptop given the problems I've had with it lately. Some of it is old and there's nothing revelatory that we didn't already know but they give an indication of how long everything has been in the planning and they may be of use to someone. Other .pdfs are more current.

The Rules of the Game, 2003 "Forget the climate change detractors. Those who deny climate change science are an irritant but unimportant."
Saif al Islam's thesis, 2007, which was written with a little help from his friends and won him plaudits from the LSE.
Extract from Hansard, European Arrest Warrant, 2001 immediately prior to signing The Laeken Declaration.
Statewatch 2010: An assault on human rights and national sovereignty The EAW: "Vague & general provisions... the combined abolition of dual criminality and territoriality requirements represents... a fundamental threat to the rule of law..."
The Anglo-French Pond, 2008/9 "A Franco-British cross-disciplinary research programme: Towards a shared vision of management of a crowded multiple-use space."
Towards a more secure society & increased industrial competitiveness, 2009 Check out the Table of Contents - Acronyms 'R Us. Covers ADABTS, AMASS, and surveillance & control in general. Special mention for BeSeCu - "Human behaviour in crisis situations: A cross-cultural investigation in order to tailor security-related communication".
Summary of the European Commission's PNR proposals. Passenger Name Record/Passenger Number Recognition. More surveillance.
Letter from Andrew Duff to Buzek, President of the EP (Click to enlarge, as usual)

(Website of Andrew Duff, LibDem MEP)
Living Together: Combining diversity & freedom in 21st Century Europe, 2011
EU Commission spending on private jets, luxury hotels and drinks receptions, 2011. They're surely on a different planet.
Peter Oborne's: Guilty Men, 2011
Last, but not least: A positive vision of Great Britain outside the EU.

I hope this works - I've used Google Docs. Tomorrow I'll be checking out my Politics pdfs so take cover :-)

Sunday Reflection

2011-11-06T08:22:00.001Z

Quite by chance the second video has answered a question that's been bugging me for months: what's the tune the local ice cream van plays? I knew I knew it but I didn't know I knew it until I heard it - Swedish Rhapsody (@ 0.21).

A Catch-Up

2011-11-05T19:24:00.006Z

I'm having a 'just for the record moment' at the moment so here's a catch-up:

THIS completely passed me by when it was first published last month. Civitas is what it says on the tin - completely independent of Party politics or government funding and, on that basis, worth listening to. It helps that it's giving a message I like :-)

"As Europe's leaders gamble their nations' finances on saving the Euro, a new Civitas report reveals that the European Union is damaging Britain's economic recovery and sapping job growth. Time to Say No, by Ian Milne, shows that a break with the EU need not represent a drastic break with Europe itself. Instead, it will permit a pragmatic reform of trade and immigration relations. Existing international institutions can achieve this without the current burdens of bureaucracy in the EU. It will also revive democracy at home."

It's a press release (I didn't notice it being reported by the media) so only brief details are available. It goes on to highlight three areas - Norwegian, Swiss, Commonwealth - where Britain's 'leaders' can find inspiration for a more dynamic model of governance and it's worth reading. If nothing else, it will place you a few steps ahead of Britain's 'leaders'.

Another 'fact' that's repeated endlessly via media and government is that millions of jobs rely on the EU. Here's the truth from: FullFact:

Conclusion
Given this dearth of reliable information, we are left to choose between a dated estimate of jobs benefiting from EU-wide trade, but not necessarily dependent upon EU membership, and an EC estimate of jobs created across Europe, when looking at Mr Clegg's claim. Neither supports his assertion that three million jobs "rely directly" on the EU.

For facts on trade go to Autonomous Mind and reflect that our exports to the EU aren't 40% at all: they're a piddly 10%. Reflect also that exports and import figures for the EU include goods for onward transmission to areas out of the EU and on to the rest of the world.

In Norway, support for the EU is at its lowest point. In Iceland, Czech Republic and the PIIGS, people & governments are having second thoughts about this EU construct; an ideology which was founded in the dying days of World War 2.

Being an island nation, it shouldn't surprise you that 95% of trade comes via the sea.

Macedonia is upset.

Courtesy of twitter, @chadnoble tweets:

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. - Lao Tzu

If you want to see my response you'll have to join twitter, but, to be honest, I wouldn't bother unless you're prepared to be very selective about your followers and those you follow, otherwise you can end up with completely vacuous, inane, obscene twaddle. You can always be discriminatory of course, if discrimination itself has come to be seen as 'a bad thing'.

I give up - my laptop keeps crashing and I've just lost the links for this post for the third time - I'm sure you'll read it in the msm, eventually.

Here's Max Farquar's excellent video about the 5th November.

We know they lie, they know we know they lie, yet, still, we put up with it. The time is coming when the majority will see 'the whites of their eyes'. I leave you with this song, which is an anthem for me and this blog. You wouldn't know unless you keep checking in, but this video has been censored beyond recognition - the words remain the same:

On a personal note, it's true that I haven't been a happy bunny lately but I'm hoping that next week will see threads coming together at last (though not in a disingenuous Troika way) so the blog could be back to normal in a week or three, fingers crossed.

Two Years On

2011-11-04T21:21:00.000Z

"But if there is one political institution that needs decentralisation, transparency, and accountability, it is the EU.

For the past few decades, something strange has been happening on the left of British politics. People who think of themselves as progressives have fallen in love with an institution that no one elects, no one can remove, and that hasn't signed off its accounts for over a decade. Indeed even to question these things is, apparently, completely beyond the pale. Well, here is a progressive reform plan for Europe.

Let's work together on the things where the EU can really help, like combating climate change, fighting global poverty and spreading free and fair trade. But let's return to democratic and accountable politics the powers the EU shouldn't have."

All that glisters is not gold

Your Choice

2011-11-04T20:41:00.002Z

This:

Or this:

Ball Of Confusion

2011-11-04T19:59:00.007Z

I don't know if anyone managed to catch Newsnight last night - Kirsty Wark presented but I gritted my teeth and it wasn't so bad, mainly because of the interview with Liana Kanelli, a Communist MP in the Greek Parliament. Talk about a gutsy woman! I can't find a clip online but the programme is available on iPlayer and the i/view with her begins at roughly 8.30/32 and ends at about 13.25.

My confusion arises because I've always thought I was right-of-centre-ish-sort-of yet I agree with almost every word she said. The basis of her argument is that Greece would be better off out of the eurozone and, possibly, the EU itself. She attacked the unlimited credit and loans given by banks and the EU whereby the government was able to lie to the electorate about wealth and hiding from them the fact that that the hands of the government, the banks and the EU were filching not only their back pockets but those of their children and grand-children as well. Sound familiar? I think it just underlines the blurring of lines between Left and Right and how it's become people against Big State.

There was also a good i/view with Lee Hsien Loong, the PM of Singapore (17.43) where he praised the intent but criticised the lack of a plan. He almost laughed at the suggestion of bailing out the euro-zone: "They are past the White Knight stage now... No country is going to say 'I will sacrifice myself in order to put out somebody else's fire'."

All in all, it was quite an interesting programme. Something else that stood out, apart from all the rhetoric about gloom and Armageddon awaiting Greece and the eurozone itself, was the photo line-up. Between 18.55 and 18.57 note how the wide grin vanishes from Obama's face. Now you see it, now you don't.

Papandreou or, as he's apparently known in the trade, G-Pap (!) told the Franco-German alliance about the referendum on the 26th October so a show is being performed for the benefit of the cameras. In offering the Greek people a referendum and then reneging within 24hrs, he's outdone even David Cameron but anyone who thinks the Greeks will let this go is delusional. Not only does Greece have soup kitchens, increased suicide rates and rioting but Medecins sans Frontier and Medecins du Monde have moved in to take over basic hospital services.

As always, we should be looking behind the curtain. Why did Papandreou first tell Markozy about the referendum two weeks ago in private and why, when it was presented as news yesterday, were they so publicly outraged despite having had prior warning? I also wonder how long it will be before G-Pap is given a position within the EU Protectorate.

The Cameron/Osborne IMF rubbish has been covered elsewhere:

Witterings
Helen

On a different topic IanPJ has found this. It's a list of official sponsors of OWS - interesting reading and a timely reminder to always look below the surface to find those who finance and pull the strings. I wonder who's feeding #occupylsx now. The people outside St Paul's should be protesting against corporatism, not capitalism. If they did their homework instead of jumping on to any bandwagon going they'd know that. Some do but, as always, it's too fragmented and the message isn't getting through.

Last but not least, MuffVoc points us to a new petition.

Greece:
Thousands of protesters have gathered
Live blogging, in English

In other news, life goes on: Blair's brother appointed to:

"The Joint Board of Appeal of the European Banking Authority, the European Securities and Markets Authority, and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority. The three organisations were established in January this year to supervise financial services in the European Union."

So, we're all in safe hands then.

PMQs: Summary & Videos

2011-11-02T12:53:00.003Z

"Hello Pot, meet Kettle."

A nasty and bad-tempered PMQs today. It could be my imagination but the Conservative backbenchers seemed to ask far more patsy questions than usual - priming Cameron to launch into positive spin about what the government has done. Philip Hollobone was the only Con MP who could reasonably be said to challenge Cameron when he asked about the population explosion and immigration.

Bercow (Hair by Wreck of The Hesperus) intervened quite a bit. At one point he called for silence saying "... it's called democracy and free expression." No, it's not; it's called a charade.

Your MP - Party toad or independent thinker?
Marcus Jones, Con, Nuneaton; Jason McCartney, Con, Colne Valley; Nigel Dodds, SUP, North Belfast; Alun Cairns, Con, Vale of Glamorgan; Helen Jones, Lab, Warrington North; David Evennet, Con, Bexleyheath & Crayford; Alistair Darling, Lab, Edinburgh South West; Philip Hollobone, Con, Kettering; Andrew Bingham, Con, High Peak; Mike Crockart, LibDem, Edinburgh West; Alan Whitehead, Lab, Southampton Test; Jonathan Evans, Con, Cardiff North; Katy Clark, Lab, Ayrshire North & Aran; Simon Hughes, LibDem, Bermondsey & Old Southwark; David Lammy, Lab, Tottenham; Graham Stuart, Con, Beverley & Holderness; Greg McClymont, Lab, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East; Jessica Lee, Con, Erewash; Thomas Docherty, Lab, Dunfermline & West Fife; Guy Opperman, Con, Hexham; Caroline Lucas, Green, Brighton Pavilion; Tim Farron, LibDem, Westmorland & Lonsdale; Clive Betts, Lab, Sheffield South East; Sir Peter Tapsell, Father of the House, Con, Louth & Horncastle.

Issues raised:
Public Sector pension reform; new legislation for cable theft; rising cost of fuel/winter fuel allowance; Labour front bench support for strike action; Coroner in military inquests; reforms to public sector pensions; urgency of G20 meeting & its agenda/Greece; immigration/breaking link between right to work/right to citizenship; smoking ban in vehicles/children; green technology/Scottish independence referendum; solar energy/community renewables programmes; foundation schools; dangerous dogs legislation; top directors' pay; anomalies in the back-to-work programme; fire services in rural areas; schemes to help small businesses; National Adoption Week; re-opening the Strategic Defence Review; per pupil funding/education budget; 'Robin Hood' tax aka Tobin Tax aka FTT; Britain's capacity to feed itself /food security/farming; new house building/planning; Britain's low borrowing rates.

Followed by a Statement on reform of Public Sector pensions from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander.

Jones - Evennet incl. Cameron -v- Miliband

Darling - Farron

Betts (No Sir Peter Tapsell)

LiarPoliticians

Sunday Reflection

2011-10-30T10:23:00.000Z

CBebenezer

GP: Buddh 2011

2011-10-30T06:44:00.001Z

The Bailout In Eight Minutes

2011-10-29T16:14:00.000+01:00

A quick round-up of what's been going on this week in video form:

On Clegg @ 6.36: "... as if by luck". My thoughts exactly.

Zlocke100

Say 'No' To ACTA

2011-10-28T19:18:00.000+01:00

"...the Commission proposes that ACTA be signed and concluded both by the EU and by all the Member States."

Pirate Bay

So Fractious!

2011-10-27T19:42:00.000+01:00

People seem so fractious these days: from the Southern Mediterranean to North Africa, from Northern Europe to the British Isles and on to America and Canada, there is just so much discontent at the moment. If you go on Twitter, that's virtually all there is, pouring in, all the time: unrest here, disquiet there, riots brewing everywhere.

Some people complain about social media networks; they say they're juvenile, frivolous and empty-headed. I'd say, well, sort out the people you 'follow' then. If you follow IheartBieber or Loveland4All what can you expect? GIGO = Garbage In, Garbage Out.

Did you know that there's apparently a video somewhere of Gaddafi being raped after capture? You won't hear that on the BBC or SkyNews. Or how about THIS? I posted about it having been developed back in 2009 but at the time the press release said there were no govt takers and treated it as a joke. My, how times change. As Hookie said in response to a previous post, we can't take anything for granted - and one thing's for sure, we shouldn't take for granted that government is benign.

Some people might think that those two bits of info are GIGO, but I think they're interesting and worth keeping an eye on. I might as well throw in these as well:

Yet another e-petition but this one is different in that it calls for the government to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
Nigel Farage claims he's heard whisperings of Conservative defections to UKIP.

It's cat/pigeons time everywhere at the moment and our little worlds are about to be rocked, mega-bigtime.

'No Such Undertaking Has Been Received'

2011-10-27T09:00:00.003+01:00

I wouldn't usually bother to defend a newspaper but the Daily Express came in for some flak on the radio this morning because of its front page, which the presenter threw cold water on. This is it:

The DE headline

Unfortunately the DE is right although, strictly speaking, it was Merkel who made the outrageous warning. It formed part of her speech made prior to the leaders' summit as she gave reasons why the euro must survive.

Merkel abandoned her usual cautious rhetoric warned outright of a war... "Nobody should take for granted another 50 years of peace and prosperity in Europe. They are not for granted. That's why I say: If the euro fails, Europe fails," Merkel said, followed by a long applause from all political groups.

"We have a historical obligation: To protect by all means Europe's unification process begun by our forefathers after centuries of hatred and blood spill. None of us can foresee what the consequences would be if we were to fail."

Here's some related reading that gives a fairly good overview of the bigger picture:

EU quietly seeks sweeping new legal powers
Germany makes Greece pay with sovereignty for new bail-out
Nazi jokes: Cartoons/art point at revived historical enmity
Riot Police deployed + barbed wire fencing erected on roads surrounding EU Council in Brussels
Brutal gamble to let others take the pain
Interesting photos: Cold shoulder for Cameron & fist fight in Italian Parliament
EP votes for 5.2% budget increase
EP votes to freeze expenses rather than cut
Clegg's wife rewarded with EU trade chief job

The next thing to look out for is the wrangling over treaty change and the sneaky methods that will be employed to present any change as "limited" and therefore avoid the need for a referendum.

UPDATE: Archbishop Cranmer has an excellent post with lots of extra detail.

Fighting Hard For British Interests

2011-10-26T20:12:00.000+01:00

PM meets with Kinnock's daughter-in-law

And can we please stop all this media talk about 'saving Europe'. It's about saving the EU construct and nothing else.

PMQs: Summary & Videos

2011-10-26T13:03:00.002+01:00

The cheering, jeering and barracking edition.

Miliband: Greece, Italy, recapitalisation of banks and an agenda for growth. 'Which powers and when' will they be repatriated? He also raised Clegg's statement that no powers would ever be repatriated while he was in government. He pushed the question of who speaks for the government, Clegg or Cameron. Cameron called him "a complete mug".

Did your MP speak?
Luciana Berger, Lab Co-op, Liverpool Wavertree; Bernard Jenkin, Con, Harwich & North Essex; Sir Peter Tapsell, Father of the House, Louth & Horncastle; Angela Smith, Lab, Penistone & Stocksbridge; Mark Pawsey, Con, Rugby; Sandra Osborne, Lab, Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock; Gavin Barwell, Con, Croydon Central; John McDonald, Lab, Hayes & Harlington; Duncan Hames, LibDem, Chippenham; Paul Blomfield, Lab, Sheffield Central; Karen Lumley, Con, Redditch; Gloria de Piero, Lab, Ashfield; Nadine Dorries, Con, Mid-Bedfordshire; Jeffrey Donaldson, DUP, Lagan Valley; Stephen Lloyd, LibDem, Eastbourne; David Hanson, Lab, Delyn; Mary MacLeod, Con, Brentford & Isleworth; Alison McGovern, Lab, Wirral South; Ed Timpson, Con, Crewe & Nantwich; Unknown, Lab, xxx? Harriet Baldwin, Con, Karen Buck, Lab, Westminster North; Andrew Bridgen, Con, North West Leicestershire; Jamie Reed, Lab, Copeland, Shadow Health Minister; Heather Wheeler, Con, South Derbyshire; Debbie Abrahams, Lab, Oldham East & Saddleworth; Tom Brake, LibDem, Carshalton & Wallington.

Topics raised:
Hillsborough; Merkel/EU/Clegg/treaty change; hysteria; regional funding; regeneration of the high street & housing; Stuart Walker murder; sentencing for drug driving; exploitation of QE by some banks; funding cuts to CAB; Sheffield Research Centre/GDP; pupil premium/national funding formula; women negative to government; incinerator in Mid-Beds/people against it; overseas aid/persecution of Christians; apprenticeship schemes; lack of prison places; female entrepreneurs; Hillsborough/release of police papers; fostering & adoption; report on gang culture; family friendly government; cutting numbers of PCSOs in Westminster; Localism Bill/planning/housing; NHS hospitals; free schools; NHS; two thirds of rioters had special educational needs.

Points of Order:
Bill Esterson, Lab, Sefton Central whinged about being called 'priggish' in a debate in Westminster Hall.
Kevin Brennan, Lab, Cardiff West whinged about Cameron's use of the terms "mug" and "bunch of hypocrites" during PMQs.
Greg Mulholland asked whether MPs could sign the e-petitions. Answer: 'individual members can make their own judgement on the merits of the case - no parliamentary propriety involved.'
Julian Lewis - amendments proposed to BBBC motions (as in Monday's referendum motion) should not be allowed.

VIDEOS TO FOLLOW
In the meantime, here's one from November 1990:

Thatcher -v- Kinnock

Also: Fifty years of PMQs

Today's PMQs:

Paxman: Who Is Bagpuss?

2011-10-26T09:00:00.000+01:00

From last night's Newsnight. This looks like another attempt at damage limitation from The Moggster, although he doesn't mince his words: 'If the LibDems want to hand more powers to Brussels they can leave the government and call a GE on that basis.'

Clegg: "Eurosceptics ... won't succeed as long as I'm in government"

Greece & The Euro: 'A disorderly default is now a high risk'

Rach Plays Chop

2011-10-25T19:05:00.002+01:00

One Of Those Days

2011-10-25T16:41:00.002+01:00

I meant to keep this for the Sunday Reflection, but, on reflection, there's no time like the present. As Charles Walker, MP, said yesterday: "If not now, when?"

Anthony Lorien

It isn't wrong to be proud of your country or to want the best for the people. "We are in your face," and we won't go away.

Help yourselves and spread it around.

Another Day, Another Time, In a Land Far Away

2011-10-25T15:52:00.002+01:00

The 25th of October, 1415. How inappropriate that Cameron should retire, wounded, on St Crispin's Day.

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING. What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
Make him a member of the gentry, even if he is a commoner.
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

(Shakespeare: Henry V, Act 4, Scene 3)

Well, I guess Cameron is one of those who "hold their manhood cheap". I doubt we'll forget the three-line whip he imposed against a referendum to give us a voice on the EU, for whatever reason he gives. Remember that it was a motion based on the petition on the website his government trumpeted as a voice for the people, prompted by more than 100,000 signatures calling for a referendum and he still imposed a three-line whip against it.

In truth there have been more petitions than I can count; today another eight or nine have been added to the website in light of the Commons vote but rejected on the grounds that "a petition already exists". There were also some calling for the whipping system to be abolished but they were rejected too since "this is Party policy not related to Government".

As always, we're too fragmented. Even I posted a petition, but it didn't call for a referendum, it called for a straightforward repeal of ECA 1972. The problem with that, I suspect, is that any repeal would be subject to scrutiny by European Courts and therefore dismissed - talk about the cat among the pigeons. We aren't sovereign and more people need to recognise that our Westminster Assembly is no more than that. The days of having an Executive and Legislature in the British Parliament are long gone. These petitions give us a semblance of democracy, nothing more.

As for Miliband, he can forget it too if he thinks Sarkozy "speaks for all of Britain" when he insults Cameron. No Frenchman will ever speak for the people of Great Britain & Northern Ireland and it was a very badly judged remark from Miliband. Cameron is an idiot - but he's the best idiot we've got at the moment and diplomatic protocol dictates, at the very least, civil manners. We Britons can insult our own leaders without foreign interference thank you very much, and we do it on a regular basis.

I'm afraid that the more I see and hear, the more I continue to believe that the only way we will truly regain sovereignty is via a revolt, feet on the street, mass tax withholding. How gutless are we, to let our elected representatives get away with this charade?

Here's Agincourt from the French point of view for those interested in the history.

Some Stonking Speeches

2011-10-24T23:57:00.002+01:00

Just a few videos from today's referendum debate. Some MPs seemed to lose their way and lost sight of the fact that the motion was whether to allow the British people a referendum on the EU, instead they began addressing EU points.

In the end it was Ayes: 111, Noes 483 - so 483 MPs who don't think the British people should have a voice on the EU.

Jacob Rees-Mogg

Frank Field

Bill Cash

Stewart Jackson

Thanks to LiarPoliticians for the videos - he's had a busy day.

There were plenty of others: Redwood, Shepherd, Jenkin, Walker, Baron, Carswell ... ... too many to mention - well done to all the 111: we won't forget.

UPDATE The full text of the debate is now up on HANSARD and it's well worth looking through. Ian Davidson (Lab Co-op) was another MP who made some excellent points and there are quite a few stinkers too - Eustice, for example, the Tory toad who tabled an amendment, abstained, so his career is safe. Aiden Burley was another one who made a fool of himself. Shouts of "drivel" were heard towards the end of his short speech. I think this is funny:

Mr Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab) rose—
Hon. Members: Groan!
Mr Deputy Speaker : Order. He has not said anything yet!

Here's the list of the Ayes:

Andrew, Stuart

Baker, Steve

Baron, Mr John

Bingham, Andrew

Binley, Mr Brian

Blackman, Bob

Brady, Mr Graham

Bridgen, Andrew

Brine, Mr Steve

Bruce, Fiona

Byles, Dan

Campbell, Mr Gregory

Campbell, Mr Ronnie

Carswell, Mr Douglas

Cash, Mr William

Chope, Mr Christopher

Clappison, Mr James

Cooper, Rosie

Corbyn, Jeremy

Crouch, Tracey

Cruddas, Jon

Cryer, John

Davidson, Mr Ian

Davies, David T. C. (Monmouth)

Davies, Philip

Davis, rh Mr David

de Bois, Nick

Dinenage, Caroline

Dodds, rh Mr Nigel

Donaldson, rh Mr Jeffrey M.

Dorries, Nadine

Drax, Richard

Engel, Natascha

Field, rh Mr Frank

Field, Mr Mark

Fullbrook, Lorraine

Godsiff, Mr Roger

Goldsmith, Zac

Gray, Mr James

Heaton-Harris, Chris

Henderson, Gordon

Hermon, Lady

Hoey, Kate

Hollingbery, George

Holloway, Mr Adam

Hopkins, Kelvin

Jackson, Mr Stewart

Jenkin, Mr Bernard

Jones, Mr Marcus

Kelly, Chris

Leadsom, Andrea

Lefroy, Jeremy

Leigh, Mr Edward

Lewis, Dr Julian

Lucas, Caroline

Lumley, Karen

Main, Mrs Anne

McCabe, Steve

McCartney, Jason

McCartney, Karl

McCrea, Dr William

McDonnell, John

McPartland, Stephen

Mercer, Patrick

Mills, Nigel

Mitchell, Austin

Morris, Anne Marie

Morris, James

Mosley, Stephen

Murray, Sheryll

Nokes, Caroline

Nuttall, Mr David

Offord, Mr Matthew

Paisley, Ian

Parish, Neil

Patel, Priti

Percy, Andrew

Pritchard, Mark

Reckless, Mark

Redwood, rh Mr John

Rees-Mogg, Jacob

Reevell, Simon

Robertson, Mr Laurence

Rosindell, Andrew

Sanders, Mr Adrian

Shannon, Jim

Shepherd, Mr Richard

Simpson, David

Skinner, Mr Dennis

Smith, rh Mr Andrew

Smith, Henry

Stevenson, John

Stewart, Bob

Stewart, Iain

Streeter, Mr Gary

Stringer, Graham

Stuart, Ms Gisela

Sturdy, Julian

Tapsell, rh Sir Peter

Tomlinson, Justin

Turner, Mr Andrew

Vickers, Martin

Walker, Mr Charles

Walker, Mr Robin

Weatherley, Mike

Wheeler, Heather

Whittaker, Craig

Whittingdale, Mr John

Wilson, Sammy

Wollaston, Dr Sarah

Wood, Mike

Tellers for the Ayes:

Mr Peter Bone and

Mr Philip Hollobone

Sunday Reflection

2011-10-23T11:03:00.001+01:00

Too Many Laws

2011-10-22T19:28:00.001+01:00

I'm not quite sure how my train of thought progressed to get to that heading* but there it is. Not only are there too many laws, there are too many conflicting laws which provide loopholes; loosely-worded law is the worst law of all and nobody knows better than the Labour govt between 1997 - 2010 and the Opposition (now the government).

The Laws of God and the Laws of Man.

Once upon a time the laws of God were taken as read, except by certain individuals we wouldn't want as neighbours. They seemed to work alright at the time:

I'm the only God
No graven images
Don't blaspheme
Keep Sunday special
Love & respect your mum and dad
Don't kill
Don't sleep around
Don't steal
Don't lie
Don't be envious

I don't know about you but I can lay claim to at least 70% of those. Actually, looking at them again it's more like 80% - perhaps I'm a nutter after all. The only problem is that they don't seem too difficult to adhere to - on my part it's mostly been involuntary because, by nature, I don't want icons of dead men hanging on my walls, I love my mum and dad, I've never killed anyone or stolen from them, I don't sleep around, I haven't lied and I wish my neighbours good luck. Add to that the fact that I won't shop on a Sunday out of sheer contrariness (fruitcake alert!) and I think that almost makes me an involuntary or unknowing Christian by default.

On the other hand, we elected friends, neighbours and countrymen to speak for us:

There's no codification of English Law so nobody actually knows how many laws, statutes, regulations or directives there are that now seek to control and limit our everyday life but you'll know it when you walk down your High Street and you'll recognise it when you receive a fixed penalty notice from your local authority or a knowing wink from your Community Support Officer who licks the tip of his pencil and flips open his notebook as he approaches you. Round and round and round we go, without meaningful change.

These are the laws of William the Conqueror:

One God to be revered throughout the whole realm; peace and security to be preserved between English and Normans
Oath of loyalty
Protection of the King's Peace
Frenchmen to pay "scot and lot" *
Live cattle to be sold in cities
Defence of French allegations of offences
Hold the law of King Edward
Freeman's pledge and surety
Prohibition on the sale of any man by another outside the country
Forbidding killings and hangings

So, laws to repress the population aren't a new Nu-Labour or Tory-Lite innovation by any means - it's just been a progressive subjugation of the workers, by which I mean taxpayers, over the centuries. The question today is, when is enough enough? When is ignorance, deliberately inculcated by the State, going to implode?

While we're talking about 'the law', have a look at this:

EU law is a part of English law. The European Union consists mainly of countries which use civil law and so the civil law system is also in England in this form. The European Court of Justice can direct English and Welsh courts on the meaning of areas of law in which the EU has passed legislation.

And this:

Since the English Civil War, the bedrock of the British constitution has traditionally been the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, according to which the statutes passed by Parliament are the UK's supreme and final source of law. It follows that Parliament can change the constitution simply by passing new Acts of Parliament. There is some debate about whether this principle remains entirely valid today, in part due to the UK's membership of the EU.

I think there's quite a bit of debate going on behind the scenes and if I were given a choice, which I'm not, I'd rather be governed by the laws of Aethelberht of Kent than Anointed of Brussels. Labels and laws will be the death of us. The authoritarianism of the State is choking us, not just as businesses and independent charities, but as people, as individuals in our own right. I hope for a Happy Ending but know that, as with all fairy-tales, it will only come by our own endeavour.

* Scot & lot (from Old French escot, Old English sceot, a payment; lot, a portion or share) is a phrase common in the records of English medieval boroughs, applied to householders who were assessed for a tax (such as tallage) paid to the borough for local or national purposes. They were usually members of a merchant guild. Before the Reform Act 1832, those who paid scot and bore lot were often entitled to the franchise. The expression used today originated from this time period. Members that did not pay their taxes "got off 'scot-free'".

* I remember now. It's been a

For The Record

2011-10-21T19:58:00.000+01:00

Amidst all the talk of front and backbench rebellions, three line whips and amendments, the e-petition which the Backbench Business Committee agreed to debate is:

Britain wants referendum to leave EU

Responsible department: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Daily Express is crusading to end Britain’s membership of the European Union. We want the Government to arrange for an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU either by means of an enabling referendum or directly so that the British people are once again placed in charge of their own political destiny. We would like this matter debated in parliament.

The petition doesn't call for debate about producing White Papers or repatriating certain powers over a period of years; it calls for a debate on withdrawal and an In/Out referendum. The way things are going, by Monday afternoon, we'll find MPs will be debating whether Auntie Mary's recipe for Stollen is better than Uncle Tom's wiener schnitzel.

Patience Is A Virtue

2011-10-20T18:18:00.002+01:00

Here's a song I've posted before. It seems a good day for it while our Leaders are congratulating themselves on a job "well-done". They should be reminded that, in the eyes of many people, they should go to trial. I'd happily dig their bodies out of a bombed-out hidey-hole and say 'que sera sera' but I'd rather they went to trial too.

I hope you enjoy the song; it was a Sunday Reflection ... the caveat is that it only applies if the people don't get to them first:

Dead Men Tell No Tales

2011-10-20T14:15:00.004+01:00

Pic from LBC97.3fm

Contrary to what we'll hear in all the acreage of news to follow, there are some Libyans who aren't celebrating his death. Many are concerned at the number of Islamists and al-Qaeda members in the National Transitional Council. We'll see. The only thing for sure is that Britain will be pouring yet more aid, in one form or another, into the country. Oh, there is one other certainty: the overwhelming majority of Libyans who have been given refuge in this country over the years will not bother going back home to create a better country.

PS First reports said he was shot in the legs; the second said "and also in the head". The pic above has been confirmed as authentic.

UPDATE: First reports indicated that the convoy he was travelling in was hit by NATO bombs, that he was found, with others, hiding inside a pipe, a fight ensued and he was captured alive. It's all very muddled, as you'd expect. Second report said said he was found in a house by NTC 'troops' and was killed a firefight. I guess this is one of those things where we'll never know the truth. All I know is that if Gaddafi had been captured alive and sent to trial, it would have been very embarrassing for certain people.

Thought For The Day

2011-10-20T11:23:00.000+01:00

Can anyone out there enlighten me, please? The thought that's going round in my head, and to which I have no answer, is this:

If, and I know it's a very big 'if', there should be a referendum on Britain's relationship with the EU, who will be allowed to vote?

Citizens from other EU member states who live in Britain are allowed to vote in EU and local elections, but not our General Elections. Will they also be allowed to vote in any in/out/shakeitallabout referendum?

If so, this would not only skew the results but be completely at odds with current policy for a Scottish Independence referendum for Scots only which precludes the Welsh, English and Northern Irish having a voice.

I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, but it's best to be prepared. Any thoughts?

PMQs: Summary + Videos

2011-10-19T13:15:00.002+01:00

Cameron led with a tribute to Rifleman Vijay Rai, Royal Gurkha Rifles, who died in Afghanistan last Saturday.
********************************************

Brief info on another half-hour at Cameron's Comedy Store - scheduled to run until May 2015 "come what may". Miliband didn't have his way on his first three questions about Fox & the MoD but managed to provoke frowns from Cameron & Osborne on the economy.

Did your MP speak?
Stephen Hepburn, Lab, Jarrow; Oliver Colvile, Con, Plymouth Sutton & Devonport; Julian Brazier, Con, Canterbury; Mark Durkan, SDLP, Foyle; Martin Horwood, LibDem, Cheltenham; Steve Rotheram, Lab, Liverpool Walton; Damian Hinds, Con, East Hampshire; Anna Soubry, Con, Broxtowe; Pat Glass, Lab, North West Durham; Neil Parish, Con, Tiverton & Honiton; Tom Greatrex, Lab Co-op, Rutherglen & Hamilton West; John Pugh, LibDem,Southport; John Spellar, Lab, Warley; Andrew Rosindell, Con, Romford; Gregory Campbell, DUP, East Londonderry; Adrian Sanders, LibDem, Torbay; Angus Robertson, SNP, Moray; Sam Gyimah, Con, East Surrey; Graham Stringer, Lab, Blackley & Broughton; Jason McCartney, Con, Colne Valley; Ian Austin, Lab, Dudley North; Robert Buckland, Con, South Swindon; Russell Brown, Lab, Dumfries & Galloway; Mark Pritchard, Con, The Wrekin; Michael Meacher, Lab, Oldham West & Royton.

Topics raised:
Supporting/sacrificing workers/Jarrow March; marine renewable energy; economy/BoE; Pat Finucane; house building/planning; Hillsborough; Help For Heroes; domestic violence; education/EMA; energy prices; carbon capture & storage; NHS management; sentencing for knife crime; EU referendum; Honours List of the fallen in Afghanistan; EU directive/diabetics/Dept of Transport interpretation; sale of Edinburgh Airport; education/independent school/academies; cuts to health/emergency services; Regional Growth Fund; sentencing for knife crime; 'Giving Voice' campaign; Fox & Werrity; fiscal union in eurozone undermining UK; statutory register of lobbyists/think tanks.

Followed by a Statement by Ken Clarke - Justice & Security Green Paper.

Hepburn - Hinds incl Cameron -v- Miliband

Soubry - Gyimah incl Cameron -v- Miliband Round 2

Stringer - end

All Together, Now

2011-10-18T13:21:00.001+01:00

If only! The protesters at St Paul's are being portrayed by the media as the usual unwashed, benefit-claiming/trust-funded trouble-makers and it's true that there's the usual appearance of the Socialist Workers' Party (!) and Anarchists United but it's more than that. There are people there who can see that this financial system isn't capitalism, that our liberty has been sold out, that our laws are repressive and that only the name of the government has changed. I'd be there too if my health permitted it.

If you haven't already done so, check out this post from OldRightie.

Btw, thank you to OR for choosing my caption as a winner!

Pro EU Conservative Nadhim Zahawi MP vs UKIP Nigel Farage - 16 Oct 2011

2011-10-17T08:22:00.001+01:00

Sunday Reflection

2011-10-16T11:22:00.003+01:00

TheClassicalFun

GP: South Korea 2010

2011-10-16T06:50:00.002+01:00

Synon: Euro-Parliament opens its own propaganda centre: and you're paying for it

2011-10-15T09:11:00.000+01:00

Euro-Parliament opens its own propaganda centre: and you're paying for it

The Parliamentarium finally opens its doors.

"Most revolting is a long dark corridor with a line of illuminated pictures which are part of a 'journey through time.' Run an 8-year old child past those and he will come out at the end imagining -- and that appears to be the purpose --that before the European institutions set up shop, the countries of the European continent could be nothing but a rubble-strewn wasteland.

Examples: just one picture illustrates Italy in the early 20th century, and that shows Mussolini's march on Rome. The Netherlands in 1949: a grim border post, with nearby propaganda insisting that 'transport across Europe was very complicated and had to overcome various bureaucratic obstacles.'

Amazing: this is an EU institution tut-tutting bureaucratic obstacles. Go ask the first small businessman you kind find about just what sort of bureaucratic obstacles the EU now puts up to him getting on and doing is business anywhere, much less across borders.

Then Poland gets two pictures to illustrate its history. First picture, 1939, Nazis. Second picture, 1943, more Nazis. Spain, 1939, gets a picture of Republican forces who were defeated by Franco. But the parliament spares the Republican forces any mention of their Soviet communist backing.

The United Kingdom finally gets a mention on this history wall, and this ought to frighten the wits out of any 8-year old you might be foolish enough to take to this place: London, 1941, shows children at Cosway School sitting in class wearing gas masks while a recording repeats over and over again: 'What in concrete and practical terms does the independence of nations mean in the world of today, a world of the closest economic and political interdepenence, which means the destiny of all mankind is indivisible.'

Berlin, 1948: a picture showing 'poverty and hunger.' Then -- hallelujah, which is the response we are supposed to have since what we are dealing with here is a temple dedicated to the cult of Europe -- a picture of a European Movement gathering in Brussels in 1949, 'a mass gathering in support of European unification.'

I looked pretty close but I couldn't see any acknowledgement that through the 1950s and into the 1960s, the European Movement was secretly financed by the CIA as part of its Cold War strategy against the Soviet bloc (hat tip as ever to Booker and North's The Great Deception for that research).

[...] Airlift, Marshall Plan, and on and on: you'd think the MEPs would at least find a spot in the 'dynamic sequence of individual environments' to put up a poster saying, 'Thank you, Uncle Sam.'

And on it goes, but I will end with just one more example of the way the EU institutions such as the European Parliament try to twist everything good in any of the dozens of countries scattered across the European continent into a product of 'Europe.'

One room in the exhibition has a floor with a 200 sq m map of Europe -- for you Anglo-Saxons who are actually paying for a big chunk of this thing, that is 240 sq yds. The visitor pushes around a big battery-powered toy that is the size of a dustbin. He stops the dustbin on any one of a number of cities, and the screen in the top of the dustbin tells him what 'Europe' has done for that city.

Brace yourself, Edinburgh.

For a start, the city is called 'Edinburgh in the..."

Go read, and see how history has been re-written and our children's minds are being abused and manipulated.

How To Deal With The IMF

2011-10-14T02:05:00.000+01:00

The look on his face: Priceless!

PMQs: Summary

2011-10-12T13:12:00.004+01:00

Cameron led tributes to Lance Corporal Jonathan McKinlay and Marine David Fairbrother, who died in Afghanistan. The Repatriation Report: "We here at The Final Turn stood true and firm to see home these two brave young soldiers".
***********************************

Miliband led with unemployment figures - government policies not working. Once again, "every job lost is a tragedy for that person and that family". I can't believe how many times Cameron has trotted out that phrase. He should realise that endless repetition dulls the message and reinforces the impression that he is insincere.

Tetchy, rowdy, with two long lists of government 'achievements'. Neither of them listened to the other, neither addressed the issues, but this is PMQs so petty sniping is par for the course. Tellingly, there were plenty of jeers from the Labour benches when the TPA report on Union Leaders' stratospheric pay was raised.

Sorry, I forgot about Nick Clegg, again. Make up your own jokes.

Did your MP speak?
Sir Alan Beith, LibDem, Berwick-upon-Tweed; Sir Peter Tapsell, Father of the House; Nia Griffith, Lab, Llanelli; Lorraine Fullbrook, Con, South Ribble; Andy Slaughter, Lab, Hammersmith; James Morris, Con, Halesowen & Rowley Regis; Denis MacShane, Independent Labour, Rotherham; Richard Fuller, Con, Bedford; Andrew Miller, Chair, Science & Technology Committee/Lab, Ellesmere Port & Neston; Mark Spencer, Con, Sherwood; Pat Glass, Lab, North West Durham; Alan Reid, LibDem, Argyll & Bute; Keith Vaz, Lab, Leicester East; Esther McVey, Con, Wirral West; Alun Michael, Lab Co-op, Cardiff South & Penarth; Nick de Bois, Con, Enfield North; Kelvin Hopkins, Lab, Luton North; Simon Hart, Camarthen West & South Pembrokeshire; Jon Ashworth, Lab, Leicester South; Henry Smith, Con, Crawley; Steve Rotherham, Lab, Liverpool Walton; Christopher Pincher, Con, Tamworth; Margaret Ritchie, SDLP, South Down; Lee Scott, Con, Ilford North.

Topics raised (in order):
Women's State Pensions; calling for "the prosecution of senior British bankers"; Fox & Werrity; BAE/job losses; NHS cuts in his constituency; children in "problem families"; Ukraine/EU/stalinist show trial of Yulia Tymoshenko; business, not govt, creates jobs; closure of the FSS and loss of experience; welfare reform; ministerial code/Fox & Werrity; women's retirement age/pensions; "gender equality" in Royal succession; Miliband's "sinners & winners" in business; Fox & Werrity; mandatory sentencing for knife crime; Britain shd withdraw from EU fisheries policy; job creation in his constituency/banks' credit flow; youth unemployment/education system; TPA report on Union Leaders' pay; behaviour in the House on Tuesday evening/MPs pensions/Hillsborough; reintroduction of "rigour" into the education system; independent public inquiry/Pat Finucane; prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit.

Followed by a Statement on Northern Ireland.

Beith - Fullbrook (incl. Cameron -v- Miliband)

Slaughter - Ashworth

Smith - Scott

HANSARD

That's it - see you on Sunday.

Finished

2011-10-11T19:58:00.002+01:00

I've been going downhill faster than my opinions on the blog so I suppose it was only to be expected that there'd come a day when everything shut down. I'll try and stick with PMQs and the Sundays but, beyond that, I can't say.

My life used to be measured, not by coffee spoons or politics but by music and poetry. I've spent three years chronicling our venal Parliament and the EU, trying to warn about what was to come. It's apparent for all to see now but I still need to find a home, somewhere with a big garden and a big kitchen so I can grow and cook to my heart's content, with people to love and people who love me.

I think it was Twitter & The GV News that finally did it with an overload of economic and political info - that and still living out of two suitcases and sleeping on a sofabed with no access to a garden almost a year after coming home to England.

On the bright side, here's the RPA, conducted by Andrew Lytton playing Bach's "Sleepers Awake!" I hope we do.

PS - Still calling Harbinger!

Do You Want This?

2011-10-11T18:01:00.003+01:00

This was posted on YouTube yesterday and it's in French but I think we all know what "plus de governance l'Européen" means. It's no surprise that ratings and comments are disabled for all videos coming out of the EU these days.

Barroso appealed to European leaders to explain in their region and in their country how important this regional and cohesion policy is, underlining that the money invested through this policy "is not money for Brussels; it is money for the regions of Europe. It is money for the workers of Europe, money for the farmers, all those who want to have a future in Europe, money for the citizens of Europe, money for those who are unemployed and those who are afraid of being unemployed." He concluded by stressing that "this is the appeal I want to make to you so that we can work with our Member States and explain that there is no excess of regional policy in Europe, there is no excess of cohesion in Europe, there is no excess of Europe, on contrary what we need in Europe is more solidarity, more responsibility. We need in fact more Europe."

If you believe that, you'll believe anything and, as the old joke goes, Barroso may be appealing, but not to me.

I think the English expression I'm looking for is "Do one".

Wakey, Wakey

2011-10-11T09:28:00.000+01:00

This video was written, performed and produced by a regular reader at Max Farquar's. There's an invitation to spread it around, so get spreading:

Welcome

2011-10-10T21:53:00.000+01:00

My thanks to the latest person to join the gang for reminding me of one of my favourite songs. I miss my music - everything's still in storage.

A Bonus with Sam Moore.

Ayn Rand Was Right

2011-10-10T21:20:00.004+01:00

Here's Nurse with a dose of Soma

I haven't read her books for a quite a few years now but they made a big impact on me. The over-riding impression I was left with is that the warning of a society in decline comes when all the little things break down. It's an indication of corruption, not necessarily monetary, but in the strictest sense at the heart of governance.

Re-building old Court entrances because new vans are "too big". I know it might seem like a small thing, just £900m compared to the trillions that have been bandied about in recent months, but it's important. It's important as a symptom of decline, just like the fridge or tv that used to last a lifetime now last a couple of years if you're lucky. No doubt someone, somewhere woke up from a dream one morning and thought 'in-built decline = in-built renewal via in-built consumerism'. When will these muppets learn to stop messing around with what once worked very well.

Our English Bill of Rights worked well, so too did our Magna Carta. They're not working so well now with the encroachment of other values, other ideologies - each stealthy step takes us further from man's inherent freedom to be a man, an individual in his own right with responsibility for his own life and his own family. We've fallen so far and yet we don't seem to recognise it for what it is. Instead it's an intangible feeling that expresses itself in restlessness and good old-fashioned British 'grumbles'.

Grumbles aren't good enough, especially when they're mis-directed or hi-jacked by vested interests. You only need to read the papers or switch on the news to spot all the little glitches in society's infrastructure. They're the little things that leave you wide-gazed and open-mouthed - and there's always an element of truth in them, no matter how much other newspapers might denigrate them.

Since Cameron's Coalition took office I created a tag: 'Cameron's Britain', which followed 'Brown's Britain'. I think that's unfair to Cameron because it isn't his Britain, it wasn't Brown's and it isn't ours, it's someone else's - but I don't know what to call it. NWO is already taken and I'm reluctant to admit in print that we're a manipulated creation even though, in my heart, I know it's true. There's an in-built design fault - designed to fail in order to re-create in another image and keep us buying into the concept.

The concept this time isn't a toaster, a tv or a fridge, it's democracy. Cameron's suggestions for Big Society go nowhere near addressing what really needs to be done. If you like fudge but are allergic to nuts, you'll vote for Cameron or Miliband and not taste the corporatism or totalitarianism as you suffer anaphylactic shock..

Woad & Pitchforks At The Ready

2011-10-10T19:22:00.004+01:00

I really don't get what Cameron's doing. I suppose it's part of his 'nudging' Big Society - or, rather, the EU's 'nudging' Big Society; all part of the plan to give power to the people - sounds good on paper but doesn't work in practice. When I first heard Cameron's statement that we should guard our own borders my first thought was: 'Why are we paying UKBA,' and my second was an image of a line of woad-painted Angelcynn standing atop the White Cliffs of Dover with pitchforks and torches standing ready to repel boarders. I don't know who Cameron intends to appeal to, unless it's the already-nosy, curtain-twitching jobsworths.

Looking at his other points - forced marriages could be made illegal and a cash bond could be demanded from immigrants - it just strikes me that we've heard it all before. He'd do better to instruct the Police & Judiciary to take off the velvet gloves when investigating so-called 'Honour Killings' and also deal with the alien practice of polygamy within Britain. Today's statement seems to be yet more soundbites made in some sort of attempt to get people to take responsibility for their own lives. Great ethos, wrong way to go about it and essentially meaningless.

It's also confusing some people. On the radio, one chap said that fifteen years ago when he wanted to bring in his wife, he already had to fulfill strict criteria re her financial support and she had to learn English in India. Nobody raised the point that fifteen years ago we had a Conservative government and Labour had yet to open our borders to the world and his mother.

One other suggestion of Cameron's is to re-visit the so-called 'Britishness Test' for would-be citizens - those who want a British passport. I'd be surprised if this holds water since many of those educated by the State in the last fourteen years would also be hard-pressed to know the history of our Isles.

Keith Vaz, who charged us £75k+ for a London flat despite living in a £1.5m home just twelve miles from Parliament, and who ranked 43rd highest in expenses claimants in 08/09, said: "[This will] antagonise settled communities in Britain and enrage our allies such as India." He went on to say: "A more effective method must be found in order for immigrants to pay for public services." I'm obviously a penny short of a shilling this evening because I thought that's what taxation is for. If they pay taxes, they pay for public services, we all do - and then some. Vaz + Bandwagon = Vroom.

Let's hope these immigrants drive cars and want to park outside their own homes. That's a pretty good revenue-raiser for local councils, especially Barnet.

Wes thu hael doesn't sell woad or pitchforks - yet - but a visit is worthwhile - you can learn how to make your own.

The EU 2100 Strategy

2011-10-09T21:50:00.002+01:00

No, that's not a typo, it really does say 2100, ninety years from now. It hardly bears thinking about what sort of world we'll be living in - well, our children and grand-children at least - if the following is current thinking within the EU. The prayer for today has to be 'please let these f/tards implode - and make it soon'.

I couldn't find much online about Iulian Oneasca, the author of the document, beyond the fact that he once worked at the Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Bucharest and now works at the European Institute for Romania (possibly just a name change, a takeover of the Institute). He's a good European is Iulian. He offers his critique and advice to the European Commission on their strategies; he points out "the joys and delights" and he points out the pitfalls.

Pitfalls such as "empowering people." He likens it to a coin with two faces: "the ugly one has been exposed by the Swiss [...] banning the construction of new minarets across Switzerland, towards the end of 2009".

A new thinking and a fresh approach are required. Enhanced information and empowerment of the populations could generate positive emulations, provided that detrimental cultural heritage is filtered.

He goes on:

[The] EU needs a life-time horizon to reinvent itself, reshape humans and heal societal and institutional structures in which they operate.[...]. The passage from domination and exercise of force to global governance, the force of arguments and principles, is smooth and deliberate. This is the genuine Avatar2, the virtual projection that we are seeking for. It promotes a comprehensive approach based on the following three pillars:
Humans and Humanity, addressing Economy, Society and Well being;
Environment, aiming to Clean environment and Energy resources;
Interactions, Terrestrial or Cosmic.

Iulian is nothing if not ambitious, with a grand vision for future humanity:

There are sufficient reasons to consider social issues as powerful shaping forces, which Europe should not ignore:
a. Exclusion processes, which have developed over generations through various channels, such as cultural heritage, ethnicity or religious bigotry, are strengthened by economic deprivations.
b. The human’s cultural heritage is impregnated with germs of violence, intolerance and discrimination. [...] Adding to the exclusion, these threats may be accompanied and reinforced by resurgent nationalism and right-wing extremism that will focus on foreigners and immigrants.
Reinventing the human being may be the proper solution. It requires thorough and early interventions that may spread over a life time. EU should enhance forming its citizens and their civic spirit.

I told you he was a good European didn't I? And this is an example of the type of person they take their advice from. Where the heck did we go wrong?

I'll answer that for you - we went wrong by trusting our politicians: those members of society, our friends and neighbours, who said, 'vote for me and I will represent you in a democracy'. Well, they didn't, they haven't and they aren't. We're guinea pigs, fodder, pieces on a chess board, and they're playing with us, carrying out their little experiments. Their last experiment, with the economy and monetary system, has gone badly wrong but I doubt they care; it's just an exercise - they're on manoeuvres.

UPDATE: Do me a favour and someone, please, put me out of my misery:

Common Purpose is piloting a course for Libyans in the UK who remain deeply connected to the country, and want to make an effective contribution to Libya even if from afar.

Sunday Reflection

2011-10-09T11:50:00.002+01:00

GP: Suzuka 1988

2011-10-09T06:44:00.006+01:00

Gleanings

2011-10-08T20:21:00.004+01:00

Before I was side-tracked by buying a present for my eldest's girlfriend I was compiling a few interesting links to demonstrate how the world was flowing. Unfortunately, my i/n connection crashed and I hadn't bookmarked them :-) Once I'd pulled them up from memory, it then crashed again so ... here's what we're left with:

Belgium on the brink. Without a national government for more than a year, this EU member-state is fast becoming a testing ground and prototype for European federalism. Believe it or not, some people actually herald Belgium as a success. There's one big boss in Brussels (unelected) and many provincial governors: layer upon layer of governance and bureaucracy.

If your blood isn't rising already then you're not English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh. The lovely Belgians can go back to De Standaard and their moules frites with mayonnaise.

Perhaps Cameron thinks we don't notice; perhaps he's right. Q. When is the Freedom Bill not a Freedom Bill? A. When it increases the power of entry into people's homes.

A report from the joint committee on human rights warns that the measures contained in the 'freedom bill' actually create new risks to individuals' civil liberties.

The government is reviewing its existing powers of entry to private properties, including homes.

It is also proposing to authorise ministers to extend existing powers of entry and roll back safeguards, prompting criticism from committee chair Hywel Francis.

"The proposals in the bill are overly broad and give ministers carte blanche to change powers of entry as they see fit," he said.

"This power needs to be limited to provide real protection for individual privacy, and existing powers of entry need to be examined carefully to reduce their scope and number."

We don't need a Freedom Bill; we don't need a British Bill of Rights - we already have them.

The man in demand, the man who owns much of the planet, the lobbying groups and the vested interests still has a criminal record. I can't believe this man still holds the position he does. Didn't he once brag that he made his billions on the back of Great Britain's Black Wednesday?

Shock! Horror! Hedge Funds and private equity make up 27% funding to Tories. Tsk. How awful, let's get a slot on Newsnight.

Oh! Wait a minute... Trade Union donations account for 91.3% funding to Labour. Oh well, let's not mention that.

Testing on live animals: It must stop. Sentient beings and all that.

There's been a record number of people evicted from their homes in Spain. This is pretty much how Greece was first reported.

Not the real thing: Olympics 2012. Sponsors accused of breaking "the spirit" of the games. Whoever negotiated the contract to win Olympics 2012 is a muppet if he couldn't foresee what would happen. We were warned last year to get out of London, close businesses and go on holiday.

Tony Travers, a transport expert at the London School of Economics, said: "It is hypocrisy for the Games organisers to issue an anti-car message which does not apply to the sponsors.

Ah well, Tony, some of us live and learn.

Are Green Tea supplements already banned by the EU? If not, they soon will be. Au Revoir, to Green Tea supplements in France. I assume this is all on the back of the EU demanding stricter regulation of non-BigPharma natural medicines. After all, why let people go out into woodland or meadow and find a dock leaf to cure an itch? Much better to prohibit picking the dock leaf and let BigPharma patent some artificial derivative and charge us for it.

Are you a journalist in America? Get ready to be told how to report about Islam. We're so touchy-feely here in Britain that you only have to look at our newspapers to see how we were one of the first to implement the edict.

Britain will comply with this, of course, but some member-states will not. There's a disagreement about battery hens. Once upon a time this is something our own government could have done but now we're just at a competitive disadvantage within the EU. It's "clearly unacceptable" says the EU Commissioner but nothing will change.

This one surprised me: the National Union of Farmers is supporting the Govt's new planning regs. I bet their President, Peter Kendall, has been on a Common Purpose course with his talk about smart farming.

"...speaking in Manchester this week, Mr Kendall said the planning reforms could help farm businesses increase food production by making it easier to get permission for the likes of new farm buildings, polytunnels and anaerobic digestion (AD) plants."

Lovely, can't wait. Think of all those subsidies they'll get and the cheaper food costs are sure to be passed down to us (1972 and CAP re-visited ad nauseam). Forget those rolling hills and infinite horizon meadows - let's have polytunnels instead.

Florida installs fingerprint scanners on school buses. Apparently it's because they can't keep track of children attending school. Whatever happened to the School Register? How many parents in Britain know whether their child is being finger-printed before entering the dining room or the library?

Syria warns Jordan not to participate in Turkish/Israeli "large-scale manoeuvres":

"If the Hashemite Kingdom lines up with Turkey and Israel and deploys extra troops on the Syrian border, Assad will order his air force to bomb Jordanian towns.
And if Israel intervenes to engage Syrian bombers, Damascus would launch surface missiles against Jordanian cities.
It was the second time this week that the Syrian ruler had threatened to punish an enemy with ground-to-ground missiles. Tuesday, Oct. 4, debkafile revealed that Assad had threatened to demolish Tel Aviv by missiles within six hours of an attack on Syria."

Russia and China veto UN Resolution re sanctions on Syria. They fear it will turn into an excuse for bombing, like Libya. Russia has a good deal on arms sales.

Sorry, I'm dashing for dinner now so the rest is short.

An in-depth report on Peak Oil, Climate Change and the threat to food security

The lies and the futility: Obama's "Millionaire Tax" Collected Over Next Ten Years Will Plug 4 Months Worth Of Deficit.

Unrest is spreading to Toronto. Taxpayers world-wide are unhappy at the way their taxes are being spent yet governments go on, regardless.

Bernard Howe-Hogan, the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has issued his first statement: "I will fast-track ethnic minorities". I bet he's been on a Common Purpose course.

More on Dexia An interesting video.

Let's finish with this: The nannied and pampered new generation.

Check this out:

RE-ASSERT OUR CONSTITUTION

Condell: The Great Palestinian Lie

2011-10-08T08:12:00.001+01:00

"Wasted generations of hate."

Four Trillion Euros

2011-10-07T12:17:00.001+01:00

That's the cost to taxpayers of bailing out the banking system since 2008. And Barroso didn't even blush as he said it.

The EU: "the most beautiful project in history". In ten years time the euro "will be stronger; members want to join the euro, no-one wants to quit the euro".

The UK & The EU: "It's the choice of the British people...if they want to stay we will be happy... no-one forces Britain... a Union that is democratic and free." "Leaders at national levels should assume their responsibilities."

UPDATE: Muffled Vociferation: Barroso & van Rompuy thought the EU would get the Nobel Peace Prize. Stop sniggering at the back! When you've stopped laughing, make sure your children know the truth.

All Take, No Give

2011-10-07T04:39:00.002+01:00

Following on from my earlier post about Cameron living in the past and addressing a nation that no longer exists, the following story is a perfect example of why.

Council bans blackberry picking

We're being coralled and taxed, herded and limited in action and thought. This government shows no sign of easing up on restrictive measures and the Grand Repeal Act, which, before the GE, we were told could be going through Parliament within weeks of them being elected, has yet to appear. The Enbeobee Syndrome is still rampant (New Boss Old Boss) and it's time this government was made to realise that the status quo just isn't good enough. All central and local government employees who have ever been on a cultish Common Purpose course should be taken to a secure establishment and de-programmed. All these made-up, spur of the moment rules are killing the country and choking us.

People of England - get blackberrying!

O, blackberry tart, with berries as big as your thumb, purple and black, and thick with juice, and a crust to endear them that will go to cream in your mouth, and both passing down with such a taste that will make you close your eyes and wish you might live forever in the wideness of that rich moment. How Green was My Valley

The taste of an English Autumn
Heaney: Blackberry-picking
The Urbane Forager

No Politics*

2011-10-06T15:25:00.001+01:00

The BoE has announced more QE, the ECB has bought bad bank debts that it can't afford and Cameron exhorts 'the nation' to pull together and adopt a Blitz spirit. The problem is that those people with the Blitz Spirit have long gone, Cameron. They've either died or fled abroad and all you have left to 'nudge' is a mish-mash of cultures and disparate people, particularly in London. I suspect he's thinking of the English when he talks in war-time metaphors but we're the Silent People, we haven't spoken yet, so have this to be going on with and dream on, Cameron.

Happy and I'm smiling,
Walk three miles to drink your water.
You know I'd love to love you,
And above you there's no other.
We'll go walking out
While others shout of war's disaster.
Oh, we won't give in,
Let's go living in the past.

Once I used to join in
Every boy and girl was my friend.
Now there's revolution, but they don't know
What they're fighting.
Let us close our eyes;
Outside their lives go on much faster.
Oh, we won't give in,
We'll keep living in the past.

Oh, we won't give in,
Let's go living in the past.
Oh no no we won't give in,
Let's go living in the past.

*I mis-spoke and will issue a clarification later.

Oh-Oh. Bank of America Protected By SWAT Team

2011-10-05T22:00:00.002+01:00

This is ba-a-a-ad news from SHTF Plan.

From what we can gather, according to eye witness testimony, St. Louis PD has barricaded the Bank of America building and is refusing customer access to deposits.

Apparently it happened in August. People write about similar experiences in the comments section. Bad news all round - and still not being reported in Britain.

H/t to @analiensaturn on twitter

Cameron: Conference 2011

2011-10-05T20:31:00.003+01:00

This is the longest video available at the moment. I'm probably being picky, as usual, but: "Please build something worthwhile for us and our children" doesn't sound like clear instructions and a clear objective to me. It sounds like open-ended meaningless waffle where he can just make something up as he goes along.

Edited to add this: 'Highlights'

Quentin Letts probably has the best article about the conference as he highlights the schmoozing that goes on. I'd like to see a return to Conferences of old when members could debate issues and vote in the hall rather than listen to tedious self-congratulatory speeches about how well a Party is performing.

The Daily Politics has the speech in full on BBC iPlayer

Full transcript HERE

The Knotted Cords Of Debt

2011-10-05T13:33:00.000+01:00

The knotted cords of debt

More about the Franco-Belgian problems with Dexia. It's not only PIIGS now.

Events Move On In Greece

2011-10-05T10:50:00.002+01:00

The so-called troika of the ECB/IMF & EU may think it's okay to hold off on giving Greece the next tranche of the bailout 'loan' but time and financial markets don't wait, not even for such important people.

The Greek Armed Forces have now entered the fray with retired officers taking over the Ministry of Defence and with the professional body charged with representing current Armed Forces issuing a warning that the 'military’s confidence in the “intentions of the state” regarding their pensions has been “shaken”.'

Amid a wider protest of some 2000 officers, around 300 stormed the building as the crowd shouted “down with the Pasok junta” - referring to the governing social democratic party.

As the article points out, this comes on top of protests by the Police force last week. If things continue as they are, and there's no reason to expect otherwise, and given the reputation of Greece's Armed Forces, it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that a coup could be in the offing.

EU Observer

******************

This morning's newspapers all seem to know what will be in Cameron's speech to Conference this afternoon. If it's true that he's telling people to pay off their credit cards and rein in their personal debt, he's setting himself up for a fall. No matter how sensible the advice, it isn't always possible and the press will be all over him this evening. When there are reports that many people are having to use the cards to pay utility and food bills comments like this will be seen as insensitive and out of touch at best.

As reported by the BBC, he will address the issue of the UK's deficit reduction by saying:
"This was no normal recession; we're in a debt crisis. It was caused by too much borrowing, by individuals, businesses, banks and - most of all - governments.
"The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That means households - all of us - paying off the credit card and store card bills."

New Statesman

UPDATE: According to the Daily Politics, that part of Cameron's speech has been re-written after gauging the reactions coming in. Instead of saying that households "should" pay off their debts, it's changed to households "are" paying off their debts. Subtle, eh!

How Far We've Come

2011-10-04T18:55:00.001+01:00

It seems we've come full circle - and not a little of that has to do with the subversion of our language. It's time to reclaim the word 'fascist' so here's a message for the totalitarians in the EU and in our own government. It doesn't matter how long it takes, you're on to a loser because you're going against man's innate spirit - you can't muffle or kill it:

Save Your Breath

2011-10-04T18:24:00.000+01:00

Save it for protests and demonstrations. It's been made clear that it's pointless signing petitions or writing to your MP and even more pointless commenting on online press articles - to mangle a phrase: The Shady's not for turning.

There's one thing that might make him change his mind and one thing only: feet on the street. We've been pushed and pushed constantly in recent years and despite the fact that this is what tptb want, with the CCA waiting in the wings, I think it's time we forced them to show their hand. A mass protest is called for - not the piddly 30,000 in Blackpool at the weekend but people from all sections of society, castle or cottage, should make their views known.

It's not going to happen. Those protesting at the moment protest at the lack of State intervention whereas I'd like one that protests at too much intervention. They say they want more Big Society and Localism but I don't trust it because it's an inherent policy of the EU. We're a mess and completely fragmented, no wonder they laugh at us and our feeble efforts to truly restore power back to the people.

The bottom line is they educate our children and we pay them; we pay for their schemes and policies. We need to find a lawful way to stop paying them and curtail their activities because what they do, they do with our money. Having said that, I feel the damage has already been done.

I suppose the question is, how far down this path do we go and is it worth the price to the individual? The cost will be high, not only in monetary terms: there's a chance that in the event of major mass unrest we'll see EUPol on our streets - and they're armed and immune from prosecution even if a protester dies. But - at least we'd know where we stand, and certainty and truth has to be better than what's fed to us at the moment.

If, like me, you dip into LBC97.3fm, you can't fail to notice how many foreign accents there are calling in now compared to previous years. Europeans are entitled to vote in local and European elections in whichever country they reside. We're f*cked. Sorry, but I can't put it more succinctly than that. At the risk of repeating myself, having a vote once every 4/5yrs isn't a sign of democracy; we've fallen so far from the concept that we couldn't recognise it if it bit us.

I won't bore you with past posts, or maybe I will, depending on my mood*, but the thing is that the signs have been there and been ignored. Can we really blame it on reality tv and a complicit media? If people wanted to know the truth, wouldn't they have made the effort to find out for themselves?

* Here's one, from 2009

And here's Cameron, still doing the hokey-cokey.

There's an old quote somewhere on the blog and I paraphrase: If there must be conflict, let it be in my lifetime, not my children's. We ignored it, we condoned it, we enabled it, we should pay and fight.

"A Kind & Compassionate Nation"

2011-10-04T08:19:00.002+01:00

So says Cameron about Britain. On the radio this morning he was asked whether it made sense to pour money into overseas aid when, this coming Winter, thousands of our own pensioners will die. Cameron's response was to list the free tv licence, winter fuel payments, restored link to earnings, and say that Britain was a kind and compassionate nation full of people who didn't mind their taxes going to strangers in a strange land rather than their own people.

This winter we need to be vigilant for our elderly neighbours, and we'll remember Cameron's words.

Pensioner poverty increasing
Something you won't find in Jamie Oliver's new cookbook: Dog food stew

Sound Familiar?

2011-10-03T18:08:00.010+01:00

Let's hope the French have more balls than the English: French history re-written.

Thousands signed a petition after lessons on the French Revolution were replaced by study of the African kingdom of Monomotapah, which many say they have never heard of. The Ministry of Education refused to be interviewed, but gave RT this statement:

“We are changing the school curriculum to reflect globalization. Monomotapah is being taught because it is important to have a view on other world cultures such as Egypt, China and India.”

Note also the quote towards the end of the video: "A new European Parliament report backs compulsory school lessons on the benefits of the EU from 'a very young age'."

"Political correctness" = Marxist critical theory. I'm posting these links and videos again, just because. Just because we really need to get the message home to people about what's happened.

Here's an old video and links from a 2009 post. The other video, about the Tavistock Institute, has been removed by YouTube:

Herbert Marcuse in his own words
Eight minutes on cultural Marxism (Removed)
Indoctrinating a nation through education & culture - Gramsci, Jack Straw's hero (Removed).
Willi Munzenberg: We will make the west so corrupt that it stinks
The awful inevitability of it all: Sarah Maid of Albion: The destruction of European culture

The British Bill Of Rights

2011-10-03T17:35:00.002+01:00

This government appears to be hot on handing power back to the people; what a meaningless phrase that is.

"I do agree that it would be good to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights. That was the Conservative policy at the last election. It is, I think, the right thing to do."

And what of the English Bill of Rights, already in existence but, to all intent and purposes, overturned by successive governments in recent years?

"The right thing to do". How many times have we heard that phrase spoken by a politician? And how many times has it meant the right thing for them but the wrong thing for the country?

'It's right that we remain a part of the EU; it's right that immigration levels soar; it's right that the English are Sour Little Englanders; it's right that Britain is broken; it's right that I'm right and it's not right that I'm wrong. I know best.'

By refusing to acknowledge that Britain's contempt for the EU crosses Party lines and generations Cameron has willfully signed his own political death warrant and I don't care. He's crossed the line this weekend and there's no turning back for him, or his Party in its current form.

When he next makes a promise, we will remember and we will laugh at him and ask him if he takes us for fools.

Osborne: Conference Speech

2011-10-03T16:48:00.000+01:00

All well and good. Presentation is improved this year, doesn't look too podgy, quite presentable. Pity it's meaningless since we're so restricted by the European Union.

Transcript

Strictly A Chancer

2011-10-02T20:17:00.000+01:00

Here's Max's take on Cameron auditioning for Strictly Come Dancing:

The Great Mind-Reader

2011-10-02T17:15:00.006+01:00

The Great Mind-Reader is also profoundly deaf. In this clip from today's Andrew Marr Show he says he knows what people want and that is 'not to leave the European Union but to reform it.'
I'd like to reform it - with half a ton of semtex.

There's no wonder UKIP is growing.

UPDATED: A better, more complete video.

Sunday Reflection

2011-10-02T11:49:00.001+01:00

Gerald Finzi: My Spirit Sang All Day

Sunday Round-up

2011-10-02T09:45:00.001+01:00

An EU referendum, Hague, Boles, Dexia collapse, Booker.

The Independent on Sunday:
Maude says opposition to new planning regs is "bollocks".
Tebbit: Cameron must escape Clegg's Never-Never Land.
'New Right' piles pressure on Cameron & Osborne.
Darling: Osborne will change course.

The Observer:
Sharp rise in food aid - to Britons.
The lengthening queues for food handouts.
'Hague has the aura of a prophet'. In that case, Hague makes prophets of us all.
Mandelson recruits Whitehall workers.
What the Chancellor saw. Struggling to dish the dirt.
Working for nothing: the truth about low pay.
Pinewood Studios: Celebrating 75 years.

The Daily Telegraph:
Theresa May: Scrap the Human Rights Act. Ooh, look! A flying pig.
Colonel Tim Collins to stand for elected Police Commissioner role. He'd get my vote.
Greece: slipping into the abyss. Drugs, begging and muggings.
Blair - Deripaska links revealed on climate change fund and Libya.
Govt offers "buy now, pay later" deal to developers
Hands off Our Land: turning England into a suburban sprawl.

The Sunday Times (£):
Hundreds of Police Stations to close to the public.
Planning guidance preventing billboards in sensitive countryside areas is dropped.
Govt drops key planning clause after £4m donation from developers.
Man who 'sold the world' advises "Buy guns and gold".
Bank of England ready to print another £50bn in QE.
Say goodbye to GMT, hello to Atomic Time.

The Sunday Express:
£42m Child Benefit is sent abroad.
£millions for digital tvs in cells and taxis to jail.
Someone should tell Goldie that the horse has already bolted.

The Mail on Sunday:
Cameron: 'Go easy on Ed'.
Keith Vaz and the belly dancer. (Included for lecherous look on Vaz's face).

Pretty pictures.

A Debate On An EU Referendum

2011-10-02T02:35:00.002+01:00

At the time of writing this (it's about half past two - don't ask) only the Mail on Sunday is running with the news that the House of Commons will hold a debate on whether to allow us a referendum on the European Union. The MoS makes it sound like a rather spectacular victory for the British public but its headline is misleading.

The decision to hold the debate was announced by Natascha Engels, Chairman of the Commons Backbench Business Committee; it will be a one-day debate at some unspecified time before Christmas this year.

There's a long way to go yet, and even if a referendum were given, I wouldn't be falling over myself in excitement, but let's see what's said this week at Conference, particularly in light of two other articles in today's papers (mind you, they are from the Observer and the BBC):

William Hague: "... governing with the Liberal Democrats is wonderfully refreshing". He also rules out a referendum on UK membership of the EU.

Nick Boles MP: "I hope that the Conservatives will be focused on what matters to the British public - which is growth, jobs and the rising cost of fuel, not our little petty obsessions."

********
In a Sunday Times (£) article the euro problems have now hit Belgium as Dexia, one of the biggest banks is in trouble.

"The eurozone crisis entered a new phase this weekend with France and Belgium racing to rescue a large continental bank.
"The countries’ finance ministers meet tomorrow to discuss the future of Dexia, one of Belgium’s largest lenders, with 35,000 staff and 8m customers in Belgium, Luxembourg and France. It has been crippled by the collapse of the inter-bank lending markets and large exposures to Greece."

********
Christopher Booker has an excellent article in the Telegraph:

"The story of the euro, as the supreme symbol of the lunatic drive to weld Europe together into a wholly undemocratic political union, is now entering its Nightmare Stage. People like Barroso predictably claim that the only way forward is more of the same: “more Europe”. We are witnessing the unfolding of one of the great archetypal patterns that shape human affairs, one we can compare to the story of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
"...In the case of the EU, there is no sorcerer. There seems to be no means by which Europe’s leaders can halt the chaos that now threatens to bring down the euro, much of the world’s financial system – and, ultimately, even the EU itself."

Friday Post

2011-09-30T18:03:00.001+01:00

Here's some sound advice to Cameron on his dealings with the EU. Sadly, I think Producus might be mistaking Cameron for a man with a pair. If he still has them, he's kept them well-hidden to-date since he's played the part of bag-carrier better than that of nemesis. But, we all live in hope.

Here's an extract - there's more and it's all good so pls go and read the whole thing.

"If you accept this assertion of imperial power over our Parliament you will be telling the British people that our constitutional democracy, our Parliament - and our Prime Minister - are meaningless, worthless, abolished, nothing more than 'heritage' baubles in a new and alienating national reality.

Be in no doubt that unless you defy Brussels over this, Mr Cameron, the British people will withdraw your mandate to govern, if that indeed is what you are now doing. Do not assume that you can escape the danger of this new challenge. You cannot, and we will not forgive you if you betray us over this.

The rule of law in Britain will be a thing of the past, for rule by law means government by consent. The British people have never consented and will never bow to dictatorship by foreigners, regardless of any treaty which your predecessor of bitter memory signed against our known will. But you know this, Mr Cameron, which is why you fear to give us a referendum on Europe. But perhaps there is another way which you may find more acceptable.

Mr Cameron, when I say you must roar Britain's defiance at the European Commission, I mean you must roar. On our behalf, as our Prime Minister. The whole country has to hear you loud and clear, whether you and you coalition friends find it politically convenient or not... "

Lovely stuff.

Civil Servants Stand Up To EU

2011-09-30T08:54:00.000+01:00

Don't get too excited - that's Greek civil servants, not British. The animosity the Greek people feel towards the EU shows no sign of lessening. Furious at fresh pay cuts and mass lay-offs, civil servants occupied the ministries of finance, development, labour, justice, health, agriculture and interior affairs yesterday and forced the troika to meet elsewhere.

Sometimes our "English reserve" and a stiff upper lip work against us - it makes us willing to put up with far too much. Stoicism in the face of adversity has its place but there are times when the country would be improved by some Mediterranean passion.

EC: Pay Benefits To All EU Nationals

2011-09-29T21:03:00.001+01:00

Now the EC rules Britain must pay full benefits to all EU nationals

My mistake, I thought we already did. While we're in the EU we can't restrict benefits to British people - everyone must be treated equally. It seems that this ruling applies to all and sundry, whether they come here looking for work or not.

What is perhaps most outrageous here is the EU's disregard for its own rulebook. Article 7(1) of the Free Movement Directive gives EU citizens the right to reside in another member state only if they have “sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State”. So clear are those words that even our Supreme Court, which tends to bend the rules in favour of immigrants and welfare claimants, threw out the case of an EU national seeking to top up her pension in Britain. Now, Eurocrats have effectively struck down that decision.

When the rules count for nothing, opt-outs are worthless. We opted out of the social chapter, but we had the 48-hour week imposed on us. We opted out of the euro, but we're being sent the bill for propping it up. We opted out of the border-free area, but we can't control who crosses our frontiers. We never agreed to a common European welfare state, but we're being dragged into one.

Just in time to receive the economic refugees being driven into exile by the EU's determination to keep the euro intact.

Strange, isn't it, how every reform the government wants to make is influenced and interfered with by the EU. I wonder if the government has noticed yet.

In effect, the ruling means that benefits cannot be denied to EU nationals without also being denied to Britons. Watch out for the comprehensive dismantling of our welfare state with everything put out to private tender. It's the EU.

An Unlikely Hero

2011-09-29T19:41:00.001+01:00

Some people dream of a place to call home, a garden to grow the veg and fruit and a quiet space to relax in with friends and neighbours once they turn eighty-five, but not Norman Scarth.

Looking at the video, it seems no press turned up to hear him speak on his release from prison; the interest just wasn't there but that's nothing new.

Norman quotes Paul Henry Thoreau: "In a state which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is in prison." He doesn't seem to hold out much hope for us: "33% of the British people are corrupt, 33% are brainwashed and 33% are spineless." I hope he's wrong: perhaps he's just a realist and I'm an optimist.

Get past the tub-thumping song at the beginning - Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein had a hand in it and it was sung by Nelson Eddy in a creaky film, but they're good sentiments for Norman. (R&H also wrote THIS, one of my creaky favourites.)

Norman's been branded a cranky old trouble-maker, but I wonder. It's against the law for recordings or photographs to be taken in a Court of Law but he recorded proceedings because his "hearing is poor". The Court hadn't given permission and, hey presto! he was in a prison cell before you could say Jack Straw.

Lord Justice Pitchford said Scarth "suffered from a delusional disorder, could be loud and argumentative, and was a conspiracy theorist". Well, that's half the people I know fhs.

The Contempt of Court laws need urgent revision. I assume the government will do this at the same time they make provision for Judges' sentences to be broadcast, live, on tv, with Bruce Forsyth and Tessa Daley announcing the sentence.

'Joe Public, you have made your case here well. You've talked eloquently and with passion and your lawyer has given excellent support. But... is it enough to keep you out of jail? Our judges have conferred and the answer is ... ... ... ... ... ...'

No More Pussyfooting Around

2011-09-29T10:50:00.002+01:00

It may have been ill-mannered to call the europrat an idiot, but that's mild compared to what opponents of the EU have been called in the past decades. Even Paxman joined in: "Mr Idiot in Brussels, would you like to respond?" It's time to call a spade a spade and a europhile who's up himself an idiot. Anyone who can't stomach being called an idiot is in the wrong job as an EU spokesman.

Oborne prompts EU spokesman to walk out:

Example of idiocy: "The euro is a factor of stability and prosperity."

John Redwood called it "a provocative performance by a representative of the EU".

JR also posts an interesting response to a question from a commenter. When asked why he backed Clarke and not Hague for Tory leadership in 1997, JR replies:

"Because he said I could make the party’s policy 'No' to joining the Euro and would be Shadow Chancellor to enforce and argue that line."

In 1997, Hague had not ruled out joining the euro.

UPDATE: The German Parliament has just voted 523 For, 85 against the EFSF and while all this is happening, what does our own PM Cameron have to say?

"[I am] very concerned about the use of single-use carrier bags and the effect that they have on the environment".

Up Against The Wall

2011-09-29T08:52:00.005+01:00

Nicolas Wilhelm Pieter Clegg has jetted off to Poland today where he will be giving a "major" speech calling on all EU member-states to be united, pull together and support the euro. Poland currently holds the rotating presidency and is fiercely europhile (it's one of the few countries doing well at the moment in terms of GDP and growth) so he can expect a warm reception.

Denis MacShane, former Europe Minister under Labour, was on the radio this morning speaking in support of Barroso and the EU's Financial Transaction Tax. He queried why people wouldn't want to pay a: "tiny, infinitesimal, small tax" to support the EU. This numpty no-nothing who thinks his opinions are worth listening to even got the current VAT rate wrong - he said it was 18%.

The FTT is being presented as "banker-bashing" and making financial institutions repay the taxpayers who bailed them out in 2008 but it's no such thing. It's being presented like that only to get the general population on-side - and they have the nerve to deride "populism" and call for more transparency. The ideologically warped construct of the EU was built and sold to the people on a packet of lies; it has never been transparent.

The City has long been the object of envy from Frankfurt and Paris who see themselves replacing London as the heart of global markets. Britain would end up paying 80% of the total take generated by this tax and it would severely hamper our recovery and put an end to any prospect of growth. We would be perpetually struggling. Let's hope Osborne & Co forcefully push the truth that this tax is an attack on the whole country, not just a little something (0.1%) between bankers, so that people, and the media, understand the big picture. No concessions!

"He made a call for more integration among EU member states, including greater political union and more pooling of efforts in the defence sector. To applause from many MEPs - but silence from the eurosceptic bloc - he urged national governments across the EU 'to show a bit more pride in Europe. I want to see and hear that pride in being European'."

It struck me while listening to this fine piece of propaganda how so many europhiles are happy to tell us how we are "afraid", that 'European citizens' are scared of what is happening, and that it us up to them, the EU institutions, to calm our fears and soothe us.

Words fail me, except to say that like millions of others I'm not afraid so 'bring it on'. Here's Nigel Farage's response and a blue card intervention from arch-federalist Andrew Duff:

Hague: "an historical monument to collective folly"
Merkel: still in denial ahead of today's vote
Barroso: text highlights of the State of the Union address

The last word goes to ZeroHedge:

"the euro is “practically dead” and Europe faces a financial earthquake from a Greek default"... “The euro is beyond rescue”... “The only remaining question is how many days the hopeless rearguard action of European governments and the European Central Bank can keep up Greece’s spirits.”...."A Greek default will trigger an immediate “magnitude 10” earthquake across Europe."..."Holders of Greek government bonds will have to write off their entire investment, the southern European nation will stop paying salaries and pensions and automated teller machines in the country will empty “within minutes.” In other words: welcome to the Apocalypse...

UPDATE (already!): This is one of the things that really gets my goat. Yes, he's entitled to his opinion but his status doesn't, or shouldn't, give him the automatic right to have his views published in a mainstream newspaper. Mind you, it is the Guardian. The only difference between him and me is that I have a blog and he's a well-known actor.

The Robin Hood tax: Cameron must tell the City to get on board.

And that's the other thing - STOP CALLING IT A 'ROBIN HOOD TAX'. That's simply not true and is deceptive. The only two contenders for the roles of King John and the Sheriff of Nottingham that I can see are van Rompuy and Barroso.