Everything you ever wanted to know about British politics but were afraid to ask...
With the British government in meltdown (for John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister, change meltdown to trousers-down), the headlines make interesting reading again. It occured to me, however, that many of you in the US probably know very little about our government (much as we probably know about yours). So here's a little thread in an attempt to change that for you.
If you want to know something about our politicians, who they are, what they get up to, what they should get up to and how we feel about them then ask here.
I hope that some of my British comrade Cellarites will join in - Jaguar, Limey and others.
To bring you up-to-date with all the fun we are having in UK politics at the moment:
1. Charles Clarke, Secretary of State for the Home Office (Prisons, Immigration, Law & Order, Terrorism and all those nice little things) has manged to oversee the 'loss' of up to 1,000 (probably more) foreign hard-line criminals. They should have been deported, but, oops, they got released back into the free world by mistake. Only a half dozen or thereabouts have so far murdered or raped or committed other serious crimes, so still plenty of time to catch the rest and bring them under control - if only anyone knew who they were.....
2. Patricia Hewitt (now nicknamed Patricia Blew-it), Secretary of State for Health keeps telling everyone she meets that our health service has had its best year yet. Hard to get people to listen when there is close to a £1 billion deficit this year, hospitals are closing wards and front-line staff are being dismissed (13,000 expected to go). Poor girl, she can no longer give a speech, she gets boo-ed off the stage by angry doctors and nurses.
3. Last but not least, John Prescott, who has been screwing his secretary. OK it happens, but he really shouldn't have preached about the need for this thing to stop a few years back. Was known as two Jags, because of his cars, but now, predictably known as two shags!
Not to forget the opposition:
David Cameron, new leader of the Conservative/Tory Party is keen to show us his green credentials in this age of global warming. So he cycles to work each day - sadly with his chauffeur driving his Lexus behind carrying a change of clothes. Oh, but he did get a photo taken of him on a glacier to help bring home the point. But sadly he had to fly there and create a few unnecessary extra CO2 emmissions doing so....
Anything else you want to know - just ask. I and my fello Brits will do our best to enlighten, I am sure - maybe not always the exact truth, but British politics will hopefully become a source of entertainment for a change.
Still afraid to ask, eh?
Well, the current state of play is John Prescott projecting slightly ahead in the resignation stakes - managing to hang on by his balls, one might say.... Charles Clarke looked as though he was going to take a clear lead but has reined back a shade (although it's difficult to understand how or why - maybe he's electronically tagged?). Patricia Hewitt is keeping her head down and maintaining a position at the rear of the field - no trophies likely for her as she is and things stand, but there's still plenty of ground yet to be covered, and the field could change round completely before it's all over - stranger things have happened.
It's almost as if the Prescott thing will take care of itself, or else the opposition parties are happy to let him wait on the sidelines - prolong the agony sort of thing. Tonight, guns are blazing from the Tories and LibDems unequivocably in Mr Clarke's direction...
Tomorrow...? We'll have to wait and see....
I like this, CF. It's very educational. I don't know enough to comment specifically, but generally it's nice to know that people are people where ever you go! I especially liked the one about David Cameron biking to work, HA!--please keep us informed about the UK--!
[SIZE="2"]Green Policy turns into Greenbacks...[/SIZE]
Oops! The EU Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme, meant to act as a device to limit and reduce the amount of carbon pumped into the atmosphere looks as though it has given power companies a £1 billion windfall profit instead.
It's a bit hard to follow, but essentially, firms had been given the trading permits free of charge by the government and their relative value is set by pricing the carbon available against a permit. Companies that produced low carbon output would be able to sell their excess to those who produce high carbon output and needed the extra capacity - overall it was hoped that the scheme would see carbon levels reduce as firms either used their earnings to improve emissions or saw it more advantageous to improve emissions rather than pay for extra carbon capacity without such change
Now the rapidly increased value of electricity has pushed the carbon value up and so those selling spare 'carbon capacity' have seen the price they are being offered soar - and they haven't had to make any investment at all in new technology to reduce emissions further to do reap this reward. Likewise those paying have the extra dosh to do so. A clear case of using the wrong device to achieve the desired result, and yet another example of a badly thought through, government-inspired cock-up. Our government has even been fighting to have the carbon limits raised, blissfully unaware of what was happening with the original scheme.
Nice to know they have everything under control.....
Sorry CF but I find this as depressing as reading Private Eye. Politicians shag around,they lie, they cheat, they manipulate everything to their own short-term ends. Bah!
My work... depressing!?!
I'll take to the bottle immediately (we have a nice Sauvignon Blanc sitting doing nothing anyway, and if I'm not quick Mrs CF will only down it all by herself!)
Equally sorry, but I find the antics of the politicians nothing short of farcical entertainment. No wonder they're situated so close to the Whitehall Theatre, home of Brian 'there-go-my-trousers-again' Rix!
[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][SIZE="2"]Local Elections on 4th May[/SIZE][/COLOR]
Tomorrow sees a large part of the country (if they have the will to do so) vote to elect local councillors.
Years gone by these elections used to be distinct from the main government of the country and you would see residents associations, independent parties and other 'non-political' bodies entering into the fray.
Nowadays, it is generally just a reflection of the government parties but operating at local level and dealing with local issues which are funded through a 'Council Tax ' system based upon the value of your house and the number of people resident in it. How much is this tax? Well, currently I pay £2,000 a year for what seems to be having my dustbins emptied and not much else - as I don't partake of any of the other srevices covered (education, policing, subsidised housing, libraries, road maintenance and so on). Clearly there are others who get more and pay less for the privilege - it's that sort of a system...!
So tomorrow we will see various Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates slugging it out across the country and the electorate giving their opinion on the current state of our government in their voting - because the local elections are now more to do with how we feel about the main government 's performance than the local issues they are meant to cater for.
So watch this space and see if Labour 's disastrous last ten days gets the reaction that many are predicting - a dramatic drop in the number of Labour held seats and wards in local councils.
Bad day it was indeed for labour. Lost control of the London boroughs to the Conservatives and lost 250 councillors overall. British Nationalist Party, known for its extremist right-wing views and policies, gained 11 seats, reflecting the electorate's dissatisfaction with the government's inability to handle problems with immigration and other sensitive issues. Main winners Conservative's though taking 40% of the vote with Labour at 26% and Lib Dems at 27%
Result has prompted an instant major cabinet re-shuffle by Blair.
Charles Clarke is sacked as Home Secretary - replaced by John Reid (seems to move rapidly from one department to the next before any mud sticks - has headed Health and Defence in last twelve months!)
Surprisingly John Prescott stays as Deputy PM but loses his department
Jack Straw goes as Foreign Secretary, being replaced by Margaret Becket - Straw becomes leader of the House of Commons.
Not surprisingly Gordon Brown stays as Chancellor.
No mention yet of Patricia Hewitt being moved....
Probably more to come - so will update later.
[HTML]The EU Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme[/HTML]Has the government, any government, ever come up with a scheme that the utilities haven't been able to turn to their advantage?
The upside of the soaring credits value/cost, is they may be willing to spend more on reducing carbon spewing.
Being only vaguely aware of the system and completely lost on the characters, makes it hard to follow.:us:
[HTML]The EU Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme[/HTML]Has the government, any government, ever come up with a scheme that the utilities haven't been able to turn to their advantage?
The upside of the soaring credits value/cost, is they may be willing to spend more on reducing carbon spewing.
Being only vaguely aware of the system and completely lost on the characters, makes it hard to follow.:us:
Setting aside the overhead of managing/policing this, I guess the permits should have had some base value linked to the price of energy at the time of issue. Trades would still be done at the market price, but the difference between base price and elevated price would be passed to a third party/body that would ensure that this element was used to improve emissions rather than see it go straight in the pocket of the company selling its spare capacity.
Otherwise it needs a re-think to uncover a better and more direct way of encouraging companies to improve/reduce emissions than relying on the current trading solution which now looks very flaky.
Looks like Prescott is going to be investigated by the police for shagging in his office during working hours! Also a growing band of critics wanting to know what he will be doing to justify his ongoing salary and perks (one paper rates these as equivalent to £800,000 per year), as although he keeps his job, he has lost all his responsibilities!
Meantime Blair refusing to respond to a growing army of MPs demanding he sets a timetable for when he will stand down as PM.
Adjustment to final figures for seats lost by Labour which ended up at 319 - while Conservatives gained 316 and Lib Dems gained 2.
A lot of unhappy Labour ministers at Blair's cabinet reshuffle and the Labour Party looking like it is cracking up badly.
All points to a rocky ride over the next few weeks and predictions of an almost inevitable outcome....
Oh, dear... oh dear...! Civil war a-brewing in the Labour Party. A large slug of Labour MPs have openly declared that they want our Tone to show his hand as to when he will stand down and also to set out a timetable so that it's not a last minute thing just before the next election.
Tony doesn't want to play yet and it's causing a good deal of friction - there's a lot of Labour MPs out there very nervous at the drop in Labour's voter share and eager to attack the problem at its core - which they see as being the Party's leader....
What do you think? - express your view in the poll above
Seems Tony is playing for time - he has taken a ' don't damage the party' line with his critics, and given them a promise that he will give time for his replacement to take proper charge before the next election - it's just, well, you know, not the right time now, when there's still so much to do and with stuff that's still ongoing....
Now where have we heard before...? Tony is famous for his stalling tactics and also for his ability to change his mind (and that's a polite way of saying it!). It will be interesting to see if sufficient Labour MPs swallow his message to prevent a showdown.
BTW, don't hold back giving your opinion above - I certainly put my two pennuth in on a lot of the US polls, after all....
Do people in Britain long for Winston Churchill to be reincarnated in the same way that people in the US long for Harry Truman to make a return appearance?
Do people in Britain long for Winston Churchill to be reincarnated in the same way that people in the US long for Harry Truman to make a return appearance?
Probably like you in US we just want someone who at least attempts to tell the truth and delivers results - instead of leaders and MPs who fabricate answers to satisfy their electorate without trhere being any substance to back up their rhetoric.
Also, much too much these days, our MPs are looking more and more after themselves at the expense of the public taxpayers - perks, pensions, expenses - you name it they exploit it!
And they wonder why the numbers who actually use their vote continues to drop...
There seems to be more going on behind the scenes than in front of the audience, but perhaps that should be no surprise.
While Tony played down the idea that he would set a timetable for standing donw per se, insisting that he would of course give his successor enough time to settle in, various meetings planned at senior level suggest that an agenda for his departure may become a reality - albeit that the details will be only for the ears and eyes of a select few.
This seems a disctinct possibility, as it is otherwise hard to see how he will silence the voices of those who want him out without something more than a vague proposal. Nevertheless, our Tone is a slippery character who has shown his supreme ability to wriggle his way out of many a tight squeeze in the past - so why should this be any different...?
Yes, Tony and Gordon are talking privately. This time around Gordon isn't so keen to take Tony at his word (seeing how often he has broken it in the past) and is demanding to have firm handover dates and a timetable in return for backing Tone's reform programme in the interim - or so informed sources say....
I moaned a few entries ago about the way our MPs line their own pockets, citing pensions as an example.
Interesting to see that Gordon Brown is reported overnight as having scored over Tony Blair about returning to earning's-related pensions increases for state pensions (withdrawn a good few years back).
Blair wanted this re-introduced by latest 2010 (yes, that long off), while Brown argued for a 2012 introduction based on cost and has won his way. Interestingly, this will be followed by an increase in the state retirement age for males from current age 65 to age 68 before 2050.
It's all taken years to agree on and I guess it all sounds a bit yawn-making in a way, being so far off before it is implemented, but you have to look at this situation alongside the way MPs dealt much quickly with their own pension problems.
Three years back they voted fairly easily and without much of a conscience to increase their final salary pensions so that they only had to work 10 years to get a pension equivalent to 25% of their final salary. Compare that to a member of the public working 40 years for 30% pension, and that these schemes, known as final salary schemes, have virtually all been abandoned by companies in favour of money-purchase schemes (which rely on stock market performance to define their value) anyway because of the overhead the final salary schemes impose.
Worse still, when the stock market crash two year's back hit the money-purchase schemes values the general public had to accept the decrease in the value of their retirement nest-eggs). Not so the MPs, who took a further £25 million from taxpayers to make up the shortfall this would have caused to their final salary schemes.
All fair there then!
PS - I forgot to mention the $5 billion per year raid Brown made on pension fund values in the private sector when he abolished tax relief on investment dividends...
I wanna' know where I can get me one-a' them wigs!
I wanna' know where I can get me one-a' them wigs!
You still have timeYou still have time
Now, you know that is not what I meant. :right:
Another great day for British politics - publication of the latest dossier on the 7/7 London bombings, and another list of failures and missed opportunities.
The plotters were under surveillance, but there was no cohesion by the MI5 of all the evidence they had on reconnaissance trips, phone numbers and activities of the four plotters that were deemed individually to have been only of minor importance and were never pieced together - if they had been the report concludes that the result would have been compelling.
And most noticeable by its absence is any attempt to show any hint of a relationship between the Iraq invasion and the 7/7 attacks.
Conclusion: no fault of the intelligence services for the outcome, but they must do better to prevent any repeat of mistakes made in respect of 7/7.
Hard to swallow when the IS have not been able even now to identify any of the masterminds behind the attack, and admit that the number of potential terror suspects has climbed from 250 2 years ago to 800 now - a number they are finding it hard to keep tabs on.
I have to admit I don't blame MI5 for 7/7, keeping track of that many people, working out which ones are bluffing and which ones have the balls & having the operational capability & manpower to stop things is not easy and god knows how many they've stopped but I'm guessing it's a few. it's quite likely there was no external 'mastermind' behind the attack or if there was, he's in the mountains of Pakistan, not bradford or finsbury.
Since this is all about british politics. Fuck David Cameron with a car exhaust, he's a pathetic green-washing piece of shit blue-blood tory with more spin and less substance than Tony Blair, no real policies & no political balls.
Well, I'm still undecided on how Cameron will actually pan out, but have to agree that he is somewhat Blair-like in his approach. But the fact that he has been the one to re-establish the Tories as a viable opposition must count for soemthing, and probably goes to prove the old addage that you need to fight fire with fire.
Editting to add: IMO there's more to the failure of preventing 7/7 than meets the eye. I would have expected MI5, by the very virtue of its name, to attack any directive with the military precision that the British forces have demonstrated in their operations in the past. The fact that they haven't suggests that they are under-resourced - both in numbers and with personnel in the right places with the appropriate skills. However, this is symptomatic of a government (and probably preceding governments as well) who are happy to make sweeping statements about the programmes they will initiate to appease their electorate, but who have no idea of the implications of same in terms of manpower and procedures and therefore fail to make the necessary resources (essentially funding) available to permit their plans to have even half a chance of success. Either that, or they have a hidden agenda - something I would not discount given the evidence of past shenanigans. Sadly, with this government, we have seen this approach repeated across one government department to another.
Blair is struggling to take the spotlight off the disasters of the last two weeks (ministerial problems followed by negative local election results), but has chosen an odd vehicle, namely the Human Rights legislation.
For 9 years the legislation has given criminals as much (some say more) consideration as their victims, to the extent that it has even been impossible to deport known terrorists. Now Tony wants to tighten the law to plug this gaping hole - given his lack of success in other areas where he has meddled, ther isn't much confidence in his ability to achieve this, and the cynics amngst us say that's fine now that his wife who runs a law practice that specialises in Human Rights has made her millions, and especially as Tony will be moving out of his job before too long. All too convenient.
Meanwhile the police are stepping up their investigations into the 'pay for peerages' debacle, as the circle of events draws ever tighter and closer to the Prime Minister's office....
Prescott, now with hardly any parliamentary responsibilities, still enjoys his salary and perks, despite public outcry, which isn't helping at all.
On a positive not (well, for Tony, anyway), the PM has presented Gordon Brown with the job of sorting out the Home Office - a nice poisoned chalice if ever there was one - if he fails or doesn't make satisfactory progress it will certainly damage his prospects of succeeding Tony, without a doubt...
Here we go again - unmitigated spin and fabrication. What is it this time? Why, immigration, for a change (not really...).
Now John Reid, he of the short stay fraternity, is in control of the Home Office, we are being subjected to his rhetoric. Well, after the farce yesterday of the Immigration rep being unable to answer any of the questions about numbers of illegal immigrants and progress in tracking them down, JR (how appropriate those initials seem) was bound to step into the breach.
So there are maybe/possible/perhaps (according to the think of a number, double it and take away the number you first thought of methodology of statistics gathering) around 400,000 illegal immigrants, but, of cousre, most of these were inherited by the current government as they are undoubtedly the offspring of the original illegal immugarnts that the last legislation failed to stop entering....
So you can see where we are leading. Asked how many illegal immigrants were now being caught, JR's answer was that it was now more than the number making false applications (one has to assume that this means the number of false applications we know about, which could be, what, 10?), to which he added we are identifying around 1,000 illegals a month now - that being based on there being 2,500 in the last 3 months (minds you maths never was his strong point - I think it was Mr Reid who declared that there were only a handful of Polish plumbers in the UK - that's in spite of their having been an influx of 350,000 poles seeking work in the UK since Poland gained EU admission last year).
Believe me, it will get worse - and by that I means in terms of numbers and the accompanying rhetoric!
Time to man the lifeboats, methinks....
Tony just can't wait! No, it's not about his quitting as PM - that can ALWAYS wait. It's about the re-emergence of nuclear energy as a prime source of electricity generation for the UK.
There's an official study due to be completed and published in July this year, but somoone's told Tony that 50% of people interviewed in a recent survey now think Nuclear Energy would be acceptable. So why waste time waiting for the official answer. Tone's shown his hand already. No need to cosnider other options such as alterantive sources and improving efficiency in the way energy is consumed. No, Tony's convinced that NE is the way to go if emissions are to be cut by anywhere near the amount demanded.
Let's hope we've learned the mistakes of Iraq - the last time Tony forced his way over everyone else - and that we won't let him run roughshod over the many concerns that people have regarding the long-term issues of NE, and not least the negative legacy of spent nuclear fuel disposal.
Some believe he is just trying to wrong foot the opposition parties, to show a positive lead on the matter. There is of course
the little issue of one Alan Donnelly to consider, he being a lobbyist for the Nuclear sector and representative of major US company Fluor who are suppliers in this market, and someone who has given financial help to David Miliband, the Labour minister tasked by Tony to investigate the NE option (plus Tony himself has enjoyed the hospitality of Mr Donnelly as well).
Grey and muddied waters yet again....
Well, I tried to put it off as long as I could, but sooner or later the matter of John Prescott has to be covered.
There's been a lot of griping from oppositioin parties about Prescott's loss of department, but retention of salary and perks as a result of the Cabinet reshuffle.
The man with the money but no job is how it seems, and, given the exposure of his 'intimate office work' he's not exactly in anyone's good books.
But Tony is trying to beef up appearances. Prescott has value for him as a broker between the PM and Gordon Brown in respect off the eventual handover (if GB actually ends up getting the job, that is!), so Tony wants to keep on the right side of the man (why expose yourself personally to any backfire when you can set up a formidable firewall!).
Trouble is, nobody believes that all the other tasks that Tony has now said will be Prescott's responsibilities have any credibilty, and Prescott had a rough ride through his speech yesterday in parliament from all sides.
It remains to be seen if this one will continue to aggravate or that the old addage that a week in politics is a long time will hold true and the Prescott debacle will slip quietly below the horizon...
I'm forgetting Prescott already, myself. Mainly because of one Tony McNulty - a person it is easy to get to dislike instantly - who acts as a sort-of informed source for the activities of the immigration department (although his information is most times questionnable, and he's a great procrastinator as well).
Anyway last night on TV, McNulty stepped into the limelight to clarify the situation, which event probably caused instant groans in several quarters.
So what did he have to say?
Well the number of illegal immigrants in the country was about between the figures 310,000 to 570,000 (that's a relief!), and it would take about ten years to deport them all, with the amazing proviso that this was of course 'assuming that we can find them, and assuming that people aren't going away of their own accord'
Why ten years? Answer: 'Ten years, if you are saying 25,000 per year.' - hang on 25,000 x 10 = 250,0000 - didn't he just say the number was between 310,000 and 570,000? Doesn't 570,000 divided by 25,000 = almost 23 years?
Oh and of course: 'Remember too the illegal population as it is is multi-layered and segmented it's not just.. those climbing over fences.'
Well that clears that up then - I feel much better now....
Some hot news last night - Five illegral immigrants were apprehended last night. They were cleaning the Home Office!
Sadly, it's true...
Edit: Even worse than we thought - the office they were cleaning was the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in London - the department that's tasked with dealing with illegal immigration. Well, every cloud, as they say - at least they've found 5!
Gov't == :smack:
Me == :lol2:
Yes, it's not been a happy week for our Government - some of the things I haven't mentioned:
- Plans to replace 25,000 fully qualified police officers by cheaper less skilled and less-authorised local officers - police chiefs heavily critical of the plans
- Legal aid for prisoners facing parole boards has soared ten-fold since Human Rights Act introduced
- Plan (in last stages of implemetation) to merge 25 of the 43 police forces in UK, which has also been heavily criticised by police chiefs as it is counter-productive to improving local police relations, may now be scrapped because of its £600 million cost.
- Immigration officers, bent on achieving PM's targets for deporting failed asylum seekers are ignoring other issues, most damaging being the failure to work with police who detain illegal immigrant suspects - they just aren't responding, to the point that it has become so bad that police are now not bothering to contact them. All down to limited resources and the usual problem I have mentioned earlier - how the government continues to task its departments with ever-increasing objectives but fails to make appropriate resources available.
Trouble is no one expects the situation to cahnge for the better - rather the opposite...
Everything that I find wrong with british government is redeemed by one thing, to me...
They let people get married there.
I only just now saw this thread, CycleFrance. I must say it is very enlightening. Let me see if I can get this straight: 1,000 prisoners were accidently let loose on the people of the UK, and nobody knows who these prisoners are until someone chances to meet one in a dark alley some night. The unfortunate who survives such an encounter will be rushed by ambulance to an unstaffed ER because all the doctors and nurses have been let go in a cost saving measure. If the UK citizen is disabled by his encounter with said criminal, his pension fund will only keep a dog alive (just barely) while members of Parliment cavort in their offices with their secretaries and fly to exotic places to prove they're "against" global warming. Meanwhile the list of those who may have been responsible for 7/7 has grown to 800 (one wonders if they were members of the original group of 1,000 that hadn't gotten picked up yet). But not to worry because the UK is cutting its police force to better protect the people of Britain.
Errr... When do you expect the rioting in the streets to begin? Or are you Brits too well-mannered for that?
They don't riot, they just congregate on the sidewalks and grumble a bit to themselves looking mean... until tea. Tea trumps grumbling.
They don't riot, they just congregate on the sidewalks and grumble a bit to themselves looking mean... until tea. Tea trumps grumbling.
I'll have to think about that....:3some: :bitching: :3some: :morncoff:
I only just now saw this thread, CycleFrance. I must say it is very enlightening. Let me see if I can get this straight: 1,000 prisoners were accidently let loose on the people of the UK, and nobody knows who these prisoners are until someone chances to meet one in a dark alley some night. The unfortunate who survives such an encounter will be rushed by ambulance to an unstaffed ER because all the doctors and nurses have been let go in a cost saving measure. If the UK citizen is disabled by his encounter with said criminal, his pension fund will only keep a dog alive (just barely) while members of Parliment cavort in their offices with their secretaries and fly to exotic places to prove they're "against" global warming. Meanwhile the list of those who may have been responsible for 7/7 has grown to 800 (one wonders if they were members of the original group of 1,000 that hadn't gotten picked up yet). But not to worry because the UK is cutting its police force to better protect the people of Britain.
Errr... When do you expect the rioting in the streets to begin? Or are you Brits too well-mannered for that?
Yes, I think you've got that about right - except the rioting - that takes too much time out of the day - we prefer to have a good old moan and then carry on with our lives as if nothing happened - we even re-elected the guy who caused the problems in the first place - God!, imagine if YOU did that..!!
This must be beginning to sound as though I'm making it all up, especially after this next development. Hard to believe I am not, but believe you must, because it's all true...!
So what today?
Well, remember I mentioned about the 1,000 or so criminals let loose (you should do as Mari's just mentioned it again above)? In a rather surreal way the Home Office has managed to balance the books, so to speak.
How has it done this? It's managed to proclaim around 1,500 individuals as having a criminal record, when they haven't had one at all! All thanks to a cock-up by the Criminal Records Bureau, who, apparently mismatched innocents details with those of convicted persons when cross-referencing their details with information held on the Police National Computer.
An easy mistake to make and no one's fault really (at least that's what the CRB said, refusing to make an apology) - I mean, it could happen to anyone, couldn't it....!?
Well, at least the 1500 innocents don't need to worry about false arrests what with the police being cut back, right? To every cloud, there's a civil lining. :D
Well, at least the 1500 innocents don't need to worry about false arrests what with the police being cut back, right? To every cloud, there's a civil lining. :D
Well, if they can cut back on police and identify 1500 more criminals when doing so, looks like they could try to create some more to justify further cutbacks (BTW, the number just jumped this afternoon from 1500 to 3000!)
Tony 'I can speak for ages and tell you sweet FA' Mc Nulty (see entry a few places above) has resigned from the Immigration and Nationalities Directorate today - well, it's a bit of a job swap really. He changes places with Blair protege Liam Byrne who has been looking after the Police (been in that job for two weeks!).
So that should be interesting - someone with no track record grappling with the problems in Immigration and another with a track record we'd rather forget moving over to handle the Police.
Help!
Blair is desperate to find a legacy to leave behind when he eventually quits the PM job. It's proving difficult though - everything he has touched so far has backfired on him big time.
Latest contender: The City Academy Schools - a series of ultimately up to 200 elitist schools that are funded outside of the normal educational budget and have attracted sponsorship from big businesses.
Not looking too good at the moment however. The architect Lord Foster has been contracted to design nine of the schools which are costing an average of £32million each ( compared to a normal comprehensive which costs £17 million). And the teaching results aren't proving to be that fantastic either.
Time yet to see the situation change but it might take a bit longer than what he has left... especially when one teachers' union rep states about an academy in his location: 'We have known since the first academy was opened that they are extremely expensive. They are draining money away from the education service and undermining the provision of education throughout the area'
'Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime' goes the government mantra.
Shame therefore about the following crackdown on the horrendous crime of bio-degradable litter offences, as reported today:
A student is facing court prosecution after he discarded the banana skin that some youths had thrown on to his car windscreen by pulling it off and dropping it in the road. The incident was spotted by the local litter warden and the student subsequently received a fixed penalty fine through the post for £30 for dropping litter. The youths were not apprehended. He claims he tried to contact the council to try to talk some sense into what seemed a ludicrous fine, but could not get through. He was then surprised to receive amonth later the summons to appear in court. He says he has better things to do than use up valuable time to appear in court about something so ridiculous. Meanwhile the court has adjourned the case in order to gather more facts.
His offence follows two other convictions widely reported this year - the first against a woman who dropped a crisp/potato chip from her car window - fined £75, and the second on a boy who dropped an apple core which he had been carrying in his coat pocket.
Good to see how wisely the councils can spend the local taxes they collect and how diligently they track down and prosecute such hardened criminals.
And the governemnt wonders why the electorate find it so difficult to take them seriously...
Not often that John Reid (Home Secretary) gets my sympathy, but no sooner does he bare his soul and say he's going to kick some butt, than a couple of immigration managers let him down. They were involved in the way a convicted murderer on the one hand and a rapist on the other, and even a paedophile on a third hand, that had just been apprehended, should be treated by the courts in terms of their immigrant status. They failed to respond with the necessary information, and this had the result that the courts by law had to allow these persons to go free on bail....
If Reid had any hair left he would be tearing it out, that's for sure. The managers concerned have been moved from their posts (not easy to sack civil servants... nigh on impossible...)
The George and Tony show ran last night - interesting outcome
If we are to believe the feedback from US journalists then it seems that Tony's performance left his standing with the American public high. On this side of the pond, however, British critics view this further confirmation of support for Bush on Iraq as damning proof that the invasion was completely wrong.
The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith relented to pressure from Information Commissioner Richard Thomas, and finally published details behind his decision to judge the proposed (at the time) invasion of Iraq as being legal - he had changed his mind within 10 days of coming to the oppoiste conclusion.
He has always argued that his change of view was not the result of political pressure - the informnation now published leads one to a different conclusion.
This was the basis for Blair going to war and commiting British forces to undertake action. Dissentors and sceptics were looking for evidence of impartial advice, perhaps even consultation with experts on international law. They were left wanting. The only extra advice came from sources who had an interest in the decision going the way of supporting invasion. His additional sources turn out to have been Jack Sraw (Foreign Secretary and supporter of invasion), Sir Jeremy Greenstock (British Ambassador to the UN), the US government and even Tony Blair, all of whom advised that for invasion a further UN resolution was not necessary - what a surprise!.
Needless to say the British government comment that there is little new in his statement - one can almost hear the carpet being lifted as the broom moves rapidly towards it....
We can always count on British Respect Party MP George Galloway to liven things up. You may remember him. He came over to the States last year to face a Senate Committee and steamed into Senator Coleman with guns blazing.
Anyway, this week, apart from visiting Fidel Castro, he also managed to stir things up in an interview for GQ magazine. When asked if a suicide bomb attack on Blair would be justified, he concurred saying it would be the equivalent of Blair ordering Iraqi deaths - but, clawing his way back up out of the deep hole he had just dug for himself, he added that he would tell authorities if he heard of any such plot to bump of Blair, and that he wasn't advocating the murder of the PM.
Well, it is Friday....
Galloway - it's not every day you see a pile of shit in a clown costume.
So glad you agree on that one Jag!
Galloway - it's not every day you see a pile of shit in a clown costume.
You don't see much American TV news, huh? ;)
Saying vs. Doing.... (or why we find it hard to take our politicians seriously).
You'd find it hard to believe that our government politicians take seriously the way their electorate has turned off them, and also that they are really aware of the state of their departments, judging by three headlines in The Sundays and also repeated in today's nationals:
1. John Reid, having pledged last week to do everything within his power to put the Home Office right (including a commitmemt to work 18 hours a day on the task), slipped away last Friday for a week's holiday in his Provencal villa.
He should be back by next Thursday - in time to put in a few hours before the weekend - must get those conviction rates up again as they've dropped 10% according to figures from the official British Crime Survey. Oh, and to get to grips with the fact that 'serious woundings' have increased 55% in a year (up from 12,500 to 19,500).
2. John Prescott has managed to get caught on camera playing a hard-fought game of croquet on the lawn of Downeywood, his 'grace and favour' country residence that many feel he should have given up, having been stripped of most of his responsibilities when Tony did his cabinet reshuffle two weeks ago.
The photos of JP playing the mallet and hoops game were bad enough, but they were made all the worse when it transpired they were taken on Thursday afternoon. All part of a hard day's work for the estranged MP. Still, it encourages the unsheathing of knives that are being widely drawn by a host of labour MPs keen to hasten his departure from the front bench of government, and to help slice great chunks off his £130,000 salary + the additional perks he gets that increase this figure to something close to £1 million pa.
3. The PM even fails to to 'Tone' down criticism of his domestic standing and authority, as he disappears for a week to take yet another freebie family holiday in Italy in a Tuscany palace - the 16th century property of one Prince Girolama Strozzi - this will be the Blair's fifth stay there.
Not only a free holiday, as Tone's quick to combine it with a Papal audience and other business matters (such as a meeting with the old Italian PM, and Tony's mate, Sylvio Berlusconi) so that British taxpayers pick up the bill for his Italian travels.
No-one objects in principle to our people in power taking holidays, but there is the teensy-weensy fact that, in less than 8 weeks, time all our MPs will be stopping work for their summer recess - they stop work on 21 July and return on 10 October - still, that's only a meagre 12 weeks, for god's sake!
Time enough, though, hopefully, for them all to be able to work out if their recently increased pensions will be able to finance such extravagancies when the time comes in the not too distant future, for them to opt for a life in retirement ...
Need to work out how much the British NHS is costing? Well, best not ask its computer to do tyhe calculations.
So far the NHS has spent £20 billion on its new computer system just to try to get patient records right - the overall system still isn't working properly and is well set to exceed the updated £31 billion cost (revised in 2004) which even then was 5 times the original projected cost (the records part is now costed at 6 times the original budget).
The programme is getting so complex that the Health Department is having to allocate a few extra £billions to the project to take account of staff training as well. Also issues regarding the sensitivity of certain patient information intended to be stored and the security of the system are still unresolved.
Perhaps we'll reach £50 billion before it's all done....
The UK government's complex system of Tax Credits as a way to address the needs of those on lower incomes is still suffering problems with overpayments.
Overpayments arose in the main because some of the commplicated rules were translated wrongly by tax officers implementing the scheme.
It is announced today that the overpayment is down in monetary terms (£1.8 billion compared to £2.2 billion for previous year), but the number of wrongly paid claimants has risen by nearly 5% (1.96 million now compared to 1.88 million).
The trouble is that the claimants believe they are being paid the correct amount and then learn only several months later that they have been overpaid. The tax department demands immediate settlement of any overpayment (often running to several £000s), which the affected claimants are generally not in a position to make.
The scheme has caused a lot of problems and is indicative of how the cost of running complex government solutions, which are frought with problems because of their complexity, all too often outway the benefits they are supposed to deliver.
I'm sure the
records will be perfectly secure.
John Prescott clings on to his trappings for the time being.
It all seems a bit surreal that he can do so, but behind it all is the role he plays as the PM's firewall.
In the world of IT, the 'sacrificial server' is a key element of the firewall protecting the integrity of the main system. It sems that JP is fulfilling a similar role protecting Tony Blair from a virtual bloodbath - if he loses JP then his buffer is gone.
So we have the prospect that the Deputy PM is being kept on and allowed to retain his perks while having no apparent responsibilities. He's not around because of his ability to do a good day's work, but because he acts as a sort of political firewall prtecting our Tone. Take Prescott away and Tony becomes exposed to attack from all and sundry (well, that's the current thinking, anyway). This being the case, hes not going to be asked to fulfill the sacrificial role to its extreme just at the moment
Seems therefore that Prescott is not the only one trying to cling to power, and for the wrong reasons. Not to worry though, it's all part of the death knell that precedes a government's exit, brought about when the interests of the elected so blatantly assume more importance than the interests and well-being of the electorate.
Not too bad an end to the week then.
John Prescott has given up his grace and favour home, Dorneywood (clearly, he lost his game of croquet!), while the Social Services department, because of a loophole in recent government legislation, has issued illegal immigrants (about 3,300 of them) with national insurance numbers which permit them to claim benefits - much better than deprting them, isn't it?
Apart from a plan to let us turn left when trafiic lights are on red (that's all your fault, of course, my US friends), there's not much more to report, so I'll sign off this entry and make your coming weekend all the more enjoyable with some nice pictures of some of the grace and favour homes our ministers enjoy - just click
hereHey CF, just wanted to pipe up and say thanks for keeping this thread going, even without a lot of replies. It's comforting to remember that other civilized countries have embarassing political problems too. :)
Can I ask a dumb question? PM is obviously Prime Minister, but what's an MP do exactly?
Hey CF, just wanted to pipe up and say thanks for keeping this thread going, even without a lot of replies. It's comforting to remember that other civilized countries have embarassing political problems too. :)
Can I ask a dumb question? PM is obviously Prime Minister, but what's an MP do exactly?
MP - Member of Parliament - the guys who win at the elections - the party that has the most MPs gets to have the PM! Guess it's a bit like your Governor/Senator system...?
Good time to add a little more on Prescott - He's still suffering embarassments (but then he always will) - latest gaffs:
1. He used his Jaguar to transport him 250 yards from his hotel to the Conference Centre wher he was speaking on the major issue of Global warming. He claims he was trying to dodge reporters who might ask him embarassing questions about his position after demotion and recent events involving sex with his secretary and giving up his grace and favour residence, Dorneywood - just shows how useless a politician he is as by walking he could have scored a few brownie points, whereas now he just causes even more criticism...
2. On a visit to Canada where he is again attending something to do with Global Warming - he has been billed as the 'Vice Prime Minister' instead of his real title of Deputy Prime Minister - the title 'Vice' is one he would rather not see brandished, given the bonking sessions he had in his office with his secretary!
Prescott additional info - seems there are a number of politicians lining themselves up to take over the Deputy PM position should it become vacant, including former foreign secretary Jack Straw. I guess they may know more about his future situation than we do....
The governement has again come under fire for producing more hot air than action in respect of its commitment to deal with illegal immigration.
Against the PM's promise to automatically deport* foreign criminals, it's been revealed that the Home Office has already decided not to deport over 200 of them.
On top of this the current Immigration and Nationality Directorate chief has declared to a House of Commons home affairs committee that it would take at least a couple of years to get the immigration service back into good shape, admitting that there were staff trainingb issues to overcome on top of everything else.
She had been given six weeks by Home Secretary John Reid to turn around the department. Seems she may need a little longer....
*my god - I split an infinitive - see what all these Americans are doing to me...!
Naah , we just wish we were allowed to drink six bottles of Champagne a day like he was .
Sorry Cyclefrance , the above was in reply to Elspode at the end of page 1 . Elspode had asked if the British longed for a re-incarnation of Churchill . I have only just realized that there are several pages to the subject . I shall now read them . Abject apologies .
*Smiles* I haven't enough time to read the hwole thread, however I read most of the first two pages....Very informative, I must say.
Bad day it was indeed for labour. Lost control of the London boroughs to the Conservatives and lost 250 councillors overall. British Nationalist Party, known for its extremist right-wing views and policies, gained 11 seats, reflecting the electorate's dissatisfaction with the government's inability to handle problems with immigration and other sensitive issues.
Just to show the other side :) There was one area of the country which bucked this national trend considerably, I am glad to say. In Yorkshire, we had an overall good showing for labour candidates and a poor showing for conservatives and the BNP (far right neo nazi) lost three seats; two in Bradford and one in Calderdale.
The reason I am glad about this is that I am a newly elected Labour Councillor :P
*Smiles* I haven't enough time to read the hwole thread, however I read most of the first two pages....Very informative, I must say.
Just to show the other side :) There was one area of the country which bucked this national trend considerably, I am glad to say. In Yorkshire, we had an overall good showing for labour candidates and a poor showing for conservatives and the BNP (far right neo nazi) lost three seats; two in Bradford and one in Calderdale.
The reason I am glad about this is that I am a newly elected Labour Councillor :P
Hi Dana
Congratulations on being elected as a Labour Councillor. I occasionally do some work for one of our councillors, and she certainly puts in the hours - not an easy job - it certainly requires a lot of dedication.
As to the voting patterns, hmm, well this may have something to do with the way government cash is channeled arguably northwards - at least that's what that unbiased rag the Daily Mail
would have us believe - so it must be true....:right:
Whatever next? While Gordon Brown, John Reid and others call on Civil Servants to sharpen up their act and deliver better value (some say holding them to blame for all that's gone wrong), David Cameron heaps praise upon the Whitehall workers and government departments that control and run our public services. All seems the wrong way round - we won't know who are the ones to vote for at this rate come next election.... Socialist Conservatives or Capitalist Labour...?
Sorry Cyclefrance , the above was in reply to Elspode at the end of page 1 . Elspode had asked if the British longed for a re-incarnation of Churchill . I have only just realized that there are several pages to the subject . I shall now read them . Abject apologies .
That's a shame - we could have started a nice little rumour going that John Reid is an alcoholic!
...
*my god - I split an infinitive - see what all these Americans are doing to me...!
SINCE you brought it up...:) I do have a question for you. I heard on BBC last night a couple of words which I knew, but was startled a little by the pronunciation. Would you attempt to spell, phonetically, how you pronounce these words, please?
corollary
military
(also heard this morning, but from an American voice, these interesting words)
inculcate
(sorry, work distracted me...anyway...)
your pronounciation please?
SINCE you brought it up...:) I do have a question for you. I heard on BBC last night a couple of words which I knew, but was startled a little by the pronunciation. Would you attempt to spell, phonetically, how you pronounce these words, please?
corollary
military
(also heard this morning, but from an American voice, these interesting words)
inculcate
(sorry, work distracted me...anyway...)
your pronounciation please?
I have been known to have people in tears with laughter at some of my pronunciations, so you have been warned:
corollary - (not so easy) core-awe-lurry
military - mill-it-airy (some pronounce mill-it-tree)
inculcate - inn-cull-kate (someone's bound to tell me it should be inn-cull-sate)
I beg to differ .
'corollary' should have the accent on the second syllable ' ke'rOlari . ( can't do a proper phonetic rendition on this computer, unfortunately)
'military' should ALWAYS be 'mill-it-tree' , never 'airy'
As for 'inculcate' . It is obviously to do with Kate , and nothing whatsoever to do with being sated .
Thank you both.
I heard core-RAWL-ler-ree and did a doubletake at the radio, like looking at the radio in the dashboard would help me understand... I pronounce it CORE-row-larry, precisely 3.5 syllables.
The second word gets plenty of airplay these days, and I have heard both versions, mill-it-airy and mill-it-tree. The second one feels pretentious rolling off my tongue, but I can hear it without the doubletake.
*Smiles* I haven't enough time to read the hwole thread, however I read most of the first two pages....Very informative, I must say.
Just to show the other side :) There was one area of the country which bucked this national trend considerably, I am glad to say. In Yorkshire, we had an overall good showing for labour candidates and a poor showing for conservatives and the BNP (far right neo nazi) lost three seats; two in Bradford and one in Calderdale.
The reason I am glad about this is that I am a newly elected Labour Councillor :P
YAY! Congrats, Dana! You beat Radar into office! The last I heard, you were teaching immigrants the British tongue.
So what's a Councillor?
Hey Mar! How's you?
Councils are our local government machine. They are comprised of elected members ( councillors) who represent a ward (in my case about 7000 people). Each ward has three councillors who often also work a day job. The council I serve on has 51 councillors. People can call their councillors and get advice, try to lobby for stuff and get their support in various matters. A councillor can ask questions and generally act as an mediator between their constituents and the local machinery.
They also make decisions around various local matters particularly budgetary concerns and so on.....but since the councils are made up of various party representatives the make up of the executive branch varies. In my council I am in an opposition party (labour) and the controlling party is the Conservative party...They get the Cabinet posts, they are the portfolio holders for the main directorates (Health and Social Care, Childrens services, Regeneration etc etc)
We as one of the opposition parties managed to broker a deal which gave us a strong role in the 'Scrutiny Panels' which hold that cabinet to account....*whew*
Policy is set primarily through the Cabinet but major decisions such as the annual budget needs full Council approval (a majority of the 51 councillors)
:) Bit longwinded and not sure how clear that is, but there ye go.
Oh and I got made redundant from the teaching job :P I was intending to leave in August anyway, so it wasn't as bad a blow as it could have been.
I had actually moved into a different department before I dropped off the radar screen; was teaching native speakers with literacy and numeracy issues (not to mention some fairly extreme social problems often)
Still, it was fun whilst it lasted and I have kept in touch with a couple of the students (am accompanying one to the dentist tomorrow in fact:P)
Ref your teaching background, my wife's an EWO down here - expect with your area of teaching you may have had close relations with your areas EWOs - specialist needs and learning difficuties feature regulalry in my wife's work (sadly also so do child abuse, drugs and bullying...)
Interesting that the government is pushing its 'respect' campaign heavily today. The core of what's behind it is something most feels is lacking and missing in today's society, but I do fear that this will end up as yet another well-meant initiative with more emphasis given to the headline than to its implementation.
Unfortunately 'respect' means different things for different people so that's not exactly helping to start it off on the right foot - more like it's starting on several different feet!
It's a bit like the other headline today where there seems to be a lot of back-pedalling about the Home Office 'Don't Moan - Take Action' banner which although it sounded as though it was encouraging people to 'have a go' and take action themselves against anti-social behaviour, we are now being told is really about reporting such behaviour to the authorities rather than turning a blind eye.
Too many opportunities at the moment for the government to trip over their own feet it seems, and that does nothing for the credibility of their initiatives. Which in turn demotes the efforts of those who work really hard at trying to make the improvements in the areas being targetted.
*Nods* I agree wholeheartedly Cycle. For some reason we seem to be absolutely full of taglines and 'initiatives'. Unfortunately we seem fairly low on actual ideas and initiative.
The one thing however that I would say is worth shouting about is the 'Every child and young person matters' strategy. The whole idea of bringing all the agencies and bodies that deal with children at every level and in every area under an umbrella, which focuses on the wellbeing of the children concerned is, I think, a step forward.
When I first heard about it, I thought it was another of these ill conceived but well meaning strategies that the Govt is so fond of. When I looked at it a little more closely though, I could see a lot of potential there. Certainly, the way it is being implemented in my own council gives me heart.
Agree with you there Dana - do you suffer from the ill effects of flexi-time working though - one of the insufficient resources issues (amongst many other time-stealing activities)?
My wife and most of the people and departments she has to deal with in order to provide the necessary cover for children - her own department, social services and legal in the main - find that this often creates a delaying effect. Trying to maintain the necessary dialogue and more often than not meetings is hindered because individuals are trying to balance their contract hours (insufficient to do the job properly) with the demands placed upon them. My wife regularly has a store of several days of 'Flexi' which never seem to reduce - time she and others do take off to reduce the pile just leaves fewer days overall to do things and creates gaps in availability which just results in a slowing down of progress.
It can take weeks and months to get to a point where there is meaningful progress - this must deliver a negative message to both parents and children. Sometimes when dealing with older children, nearing school-leaving age, the process cannot be completed in the time available before the child leaves school. Obviously I'm on the periphery with this info - bordering on hearsay - but these are the sorts of issues I pick up from our conversations...
The Home Office and Home Secretary (John Reid) are this week's main punch-bag.
A recent life sentence for a sex attacker, who abducted and sexually assaulted a 3-year old girl, could end up as short as 5 years. Reid was criticised in turn for criticising the judge fwho handed out such a lenient sentence - but it turns out that the reduction to 5 years is only made possible because of legislation passed by the government last year.
Now today it has been revealed that a total of 53 'lifers' convicted since year 2000 (out of a total of around 500 in all) have already been released.
Another nightmare scenario for Mr Reid....
The European Union and where it should be heading is raising its head again.
Geoff Hoon, Minister for Europe, is calling for a fresh debate to decide what direction Europe should be taking. Most are worried that there has been a debate about where Europe should be going for the last 30 years....
Amnesty International considers Britain ' a partner in crime' for its involvement with the US arranging secret flights of terror suspects (known as 'extraordinary renditions') around the world. AI says Britain has adopted a 'hear no evil, see no evil ' approach to the CIA flights.
Ideas are afoot to grant 500,000 illegal immigrants amnesty.
Seems that this could generate £1 billion in taxes - always provided that the 500,00 own up and are in a position, earnings and employment-wise, to pay taxes.
Concerns that an amnesty solution would open up the gates to several hundred thousand more arrivals seem to be fading - must be all those £ signs such a prospect causes to fill the eyes of those in support - blinding them to the downsides of such a move (strains on social services, NHS, housing, police, etc, etc.)...
The whole idea of bringing all the agencies and bodies that deal with children at every level and in every area under an umbrella, which focuses on the wellbeing of the children concerned is, I think, a step forward.
When I first heard about it, I thought it was another of these ill conceived but well meaning strategies that the Govt is so fond of. When I looked at it a little more closely though, I could see a lot of potential there. Certainly, the way it is being implemented in my own council gives me heart.
This is growing in the States as well. We call it a wraparound here, not to be confused with a wraparound aide. Every six weeks or so representatives from all the support agencies get together to make sure everyone it pulling in the same direction. It makes sense to rationalize the services the kids and parents are getting, the money is being spent so why not spend it sensibly?
"Wraparound" Yah, I've heard it referred to as that here as well. It has a lot to recommend it.
A few things to catch up on...
In no particular order, first item:
David Cameron was given the opportunity to write an article in the Sunday Times yesterday. Being Father's Day here in the UK he expounded on the importance of the family - all very touching and sincere, and not a hint of jab at New Labour for having policies that have eroded family values (oh, yeah....?)
New Labour are reported to be so disheartened at their falling ratings in the polls that some are already hinting that, come the next election, they will gladly accept defeat - it might be good to have a period in opposition - to get back in touch with friends, electorate, and that currently absent pastime - sleep.
Buried in all the reporting on the World Cup, Labour is again under fire for publishing controvesial plans at a time when few would take notice. A number of items here, but perhaps the most controversial is the plan, first mooted in 2004, to give local authorities the right to sieze homes that have been left empty for six months, following the death of the owner
The local authorities would be have the right to acquire the properties, refurbish them and then offer them for rent, retaining the income this generated.
Although the intention is for this to be a way to deal with housing that has been empty for a long period and unlikely otherwise to be usable, the fear is that the legislation permits the ruling to be applied to properties in good condition and where relatives who inherit such properties are just finding it difficult to complete matters within six months.
There seem to be a lot of grey areas and cloud that needs to be removed so that the legislation matches the job it is supposed to do, and not anything more.
Unfortunate news today for Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and would-be pretender to the PM's crown when Tony eventually steps down ('when' in this context brings on a instantly massive yawn). Poor Gordon's Scottish ancestry is coming home to haunt him.
Owing to a strange but nevertheless beneficial misalignment of interests (for New Labour, anyway), Scottish MPs may vote on legislation that affects England, but English MPs cannot vote on legislation that affects Scotland. This encourages Scottish voters to help Tony get through contentious legislation that he might otherwise fail to do.
Voters are now seeing this as a reason not to have a Scottish leader of the Labour Party. Dissatisfaction of the above state of affairs is causing too many voters to question Gordon's credentials - purely on the grounds of nationality - apparently 52% of the electorate questioned said they would not like Gordon as PM.
Ooops - looks like you may have held off a little too long for your own good, Gordie...!
It's being reported that Tony will get two 'Blair Force 1' planes. - the first a fully equipped long distance traveller and the second a 15-seat executive jet for shorter hops.
Cost of operating these leased aircraft is estimated at over £12 million a year, with the intention for this cost to be met by the users - likely to be Tony and family, the Royal family and the Ministry of Defence.
Anyome know where I can get hold of some government business of the defence variety on one of the Caribbean islands, like Antigua..?
The Tories are spending a lot of time and effort highlighting measures they would introduce to re-build the family which seems to have been demoted as a result of the way Labour has structured its benefits and taxes over the years of their governement.
The Conservative Party are promising benefits for all - not just on a selective basis - and also want to include minority groups in their plans. David Cameron delivered a speech at the Commonwealth Institute yesterday outlining Tory plans.
Unfortunately the fact that he and his colleague MPs in the Tory party had voted against Labour's family-friendly measures a few years back didn't help him gain the response he had wished - quite a few of his audience were sceptical about his newly acquired 'social' interests
The extent of Labour's tax grabs was highlighted yesterday when it was revealed that every household had seen its tax burden increase by 45% since Labour came to power. The figure equates to an annual increase from around £14,000 per household in 1997 to something over £20,000 now.
Income Tax receipts had risen by £8 billion in one year to £131 billion in year 2005-2006.
Based on current legislation, some of which takes effect in coming years, predictions are that the tax burden per houshold will increase by another £2,500 per year by 2010.
I'm waiting for one of em' to just get loaded and say "ta' heck with it, we want it all... you people don't really neeed any of yer' money...".
Just an idea...
Sometimes the political cartoonists explain the issues in a single image far better than words ever could - so now and then I'll pop in a suitable and worthy example.
Here's one for starters
.
'Tough on crime - tough on the causes of crime!' - so goes the government mantra.
So today we had the embrassment of a 69 year old woman jailed for 3 months for refusing to pay her Council Tax (local government charge for local services), teh refusal being brought about by the fact that the street where she lives has transformed into a breeding ground for crime and drugs.
The woman had previously been commended by the Home Office for the work she had done to help tackle these problems in her locality.
No chance of a reduced sentence either because local government convictions don't qualify for such treatment.
Probably a good thing for the government that a mysterious benfactor paid her tax bill later today. Apparently if a third party offers to pay up the council just has to accept their payment...
Must have pressed the wrong button on the old calculator...
Seems that the Home Office has underestimated the number of leagl migrant workers coming to England 30-fold.
Much loved local borough of Slough (it's a town near Heathrow Airport) was shown by government figures to have recd 300 migrant workers in 2004 - but some 9000 new national insurance numbers have been issued there over the past 18 months, of which only 150 went to British nationals.
That certainly helps with planning of resources....
Cyclefrance, I am oddly cheered by your postings of the UK's political mishaps. I mean, you guys are our ancestors or cousins or something. The current mess in the US is not the American People's fault! Its sort of an inherited disorder or whatever. We're all just one huge dysfunctional family. Best wishes from across the pond! ;)
Over a month has gone by, wow! - still, I have been busy with the Somme cycling and website. And I was sort of hoping that political life in the UK might have improved - fat chance! Anyway, you deserved a break from all the negative vibes material for a while - but now that's all over!
Hot off the press (leaving aside our strong stand (I don't think) on the Israel/Lebanon situation at the moment...!) - we're gonna have another 150,000 East European immigrants arriving next year. Government's finally woken up (or at least admitted) that instead of being the economic work-force that creates wealth for Britain, they are more likely going to add to the increasing burden on our services - social benefits, free-health, subsidised housing and education.
Guess I'd better prepare for another tax increase then, along with the rest of the decreasing horde of Brits that actually work and support themselves, and constitute the only true source of tax revenue that pays for all this...
So how many times is Tony Blair going to the White House to support George Jr - and come back empty handed. When does he learn the concept of 'give and take'?
So how many times is Tony Blair going to the White House to support George Jr - and come back empty handed. When does he learn the concept of 'give and take'?
Oh, he's taking it alright.
So how many times is Tony Blair going to the White House to support George Jr - and come back empty handed. When does he learn the concept of 'give and take'?
I used to think that Tony's main agenda was to secure a 4 year EU presidency, and that his 'relationship' with GWB was a part of his game-plan to show that he was the best person equipped to deal with the US super-power.
Now I'm not so sure about that and think it more a case of wanting George to like him, and also believing that provided he achieves this then a softly softly approach will be the way to gain concessions from him.
It's strange because he shows himself to be stubborn and intransigent when he gets his teeth into anything over here. At the end of the day a lot of this is down to his inability to see deep into the consequences of his idea solutions. Too many of his grand-scale initiatives have failed to deliver yet still he goes on repeating the same mistakes. He has no real depth and that's the real problem.
It's more or less a case of 'crisis, what crisis?' so far as the Israel/Lebanon situation is concerned. Loads of rhetoric and promised of urgency when everyone knows that a solution is about as close as Christmas 2007 - at the earliest.
Blair proclaims he expects an immediate ceasefire within the next few days to be forthcoming via a UN resolution and then like GWB, proceeds with the more urgent business of packing his holiday suitcase and leaving our wonderful country in the clumsy hands of John Prescott.
Still, Blair assures us that he will be in close touch by phone. Wonderful.
If ever anything stinks of a behind the scenes agreement to let the Israelis get on with it unabated then this does. I am sure that's the way the Israelis must read it. And if they read it that way it's for sure that the Arab countries do also.
If anything makes you want to scream this does. Such pitiful inaction will surely come home to haunt - probably sooner than later.
And these people were voted in to protect our country and global interests - those that put their cross in the appropriate place to cause this must be feeling pretty embarassed by now. The sooner we get the opportunity to kick this lot out the better. I'm ashamed to be British.
Sums up Blair's interests:
Blair is finally buckling under the pressure - there are news reports today that he is delaying the start of his holiday by at least 3 days in order to progress a UN resolution for a cease-fire, coupled with a second for an international force that France leads.
Doesn't sound like the sort of thing that can be accomplished within a few days - so we will have to wait and see how this one progresses in the short-term timescale being advocated
So Tone's on his way to the Caribbean for his hols (well, almost - he's still trying to revise the UN resolution that didn't work), having done his bit to cobble together a UN resolution that satisfied the French and USA but not those that really mattered.
John Prescott has been left in charge with strict instructions not to meddle with the Middle East situation while TB's away - one has to ask on this occasion, could he do any worse...?
Meanwhile, Tony still insists that the UN resolution route is the way ahead to solve the present crisis - this in spite of the fact that there are countless preceding UN resolutions that have been ignored across the years...., so why should the next one make any difference?
Immigration is still out of control and now we are warned that with the growing number of immigrants, the increased demand for services (benefits) to which they are entitled will cause local taxes (council tax) to rise for those that work and pay their tax bills.
That should help promote good race relations...
Government targets for hospital stays and high bed occupancy are causing patients to be sent home earlier than might be best for their condition. Result: hospital stats look good, but patients are having to be re-admitted to ensure that they have the right amount of time to recover properly.
Re-admissions have risen nearly 30% 2006 last quarter, compared to 2005 last quarter.
Still, the occupancy stats look good....
We're used to bad political news being 'buried' when there is something more ey-catching grabbing the headlines, but yesterday the 'burial' syndrome got a little bit too much of a reality check.
Seems one female labour MP, Ms Rosie Cooper, questioned whether Margaret Thatcher deserved a state funeral. I mean, come on, dear, she's still alive and kicking!
They'll be writing her obituary for consideration next....
Not really Blair's day (again)...
Having delayed his holiday departure to deal with the UN Resolution for an Israel/Lebanon ceasefire (bit of a waste of time there!), it seems that Tony was in contact with George Bush on Sunday about the current crisis over the terrorist plot to bomb aircraft in flight.
With the country even now on its highest terror alert ever, his own MPs are now questionning why he still went on holiday when there was such a potentially catastrophic terror plot about to be exposed.
Let alone that he was prepared to leave the country in the charge of John Prescott in charge at such an extremely dangerous time.
... not that John prescott is taking that much interest
He failed to attend the first two meetings of the Govt emergency response committee anyway, and John Reid (Home Secretary ) is the one whose been asked to delay HIS holiday until Blair returns.
Prescott is said to be 'incandscent with rage' at accusations he is being sidelined - well I suppose that's something...
Seems one female labour MP, Ms Rosie Cooper, questioned whether Margaret Thatcher deserved a state funeral. I mean, come on, dear, she's still alive and kicking!
They'll be writing her obituary for consideration next....
The first I saw of this story was a headline in the Telegraph which read something like "No State Funeral for Thatcher" - I thought, blimey, the old witch is dead and I missed the chance for a party! Had to scurry into work to check t'internet & was most disappointed.
Immigration is still out of control and now we are warned that with the growing number of immigrants, the increased demand for services (benefits) to which they are entitled will cause local taxes (council tax) to rise for those that work and pay their tax bills.
Of course the fact that at a national level, immigrants on average bring in more tax than is spent supporting them, is conventiently left out of these reports. As is the fact that we passed a variety of laws preventing Asylum Seekers from engaging in paying (and tax paying) work until they get status. We'll let em work for charities of course.
The whole thing has been whipped up out of all proportion. The media loves a good scandal and nothing gets the great british public as excited as a good solid reason, to noisily hate outsiders. Politicians of either side of the divide, know this and pander to it.
Three days ago I was delivering leaflets in my ward (advertising a streetsurgery) and I was stopped by a lady in her mid to late 70s. She informed me that she wouldn't be voting labour any more cause we are letting in too many foreigners.
"Its not right," she said, "People gettin their bags nicked by bloody kosovans."
"Oh," says I, "That's awful, did you have your bag stolen then?"
A pause...."No, not me, but I know people who have"
another pause, "an the police told us. They said. there's a gang of em snatchin handbags in Town. Kosovans."
"Oh, that really bad, "I said, "and they're definaterly Kosovan?"
"An anyways, there's too many of em. I went into town and I could hear 'em jabberin away. It gets to where you feel like you're the only one speakin english."
" Really?" I said, "Now that surprises me. I mean, I go in town qute a lot and, yeah I've heard a few people speakin in some Eastern Eurpoean language but only ever a few. Most people are usually speakin English. Maybe I'm goin in at the wrong times."
"And there's always trouble. Them lot down parkinson lane. (Note: we have now moved on from Kosovans to the resident Pakistani and Afghan community) Always avin riots and causin trouble. All that anti-social behaviour"
I nod sympathetically and say yes, it is a bit of a worry, but then again we have quite a few problems with the youngsters in this area too. Anti social behaviour and gang violence.
"There's a gang down by that shop. I've seen them just hangin about intimidating older people as they go in. Maybe it's a lack of respect amongst younger people of both our communities?"
"Yeah well," She gets to the nub of her argument, "I don't like em. There's too many. I'm not racist, I just don't like em and thats that."
At this point I figured I had wasted enough time exploring the nature of racism and politely made my exit, giving her my card and telling her if she had any problems or issues to raise with the council, just give me a call.
What i find interesting about this is : there was a time that woman's view would have been called racist. Any politician pandering to the 'I just don't like 'em' argument, would have been accused of playing the race card.
Now, we are told by every one in politics, government and the media thatg this woman's opinion should be heard. That's fine, but it seems that now her opinion is the only one that really matters when it comes to immigration.The whole political spectrum is falling over itself to reassure that woman that it isn't racist to dislike an entire people. That it's normal, to be expected and therefore right to view newcomers with mistrust and dislike.
Misconception is one element of a many tentacled problem. Will try to elaborate.
You know when you fill a bath up how everything is OK so long as the water is contained, but if you don't control it and it spills over the top then suddenly you don't have just one result (an overfull bath) unless you are quick enough to deal with the problem, you have the many consequences that this overflowing causes - the ceiling collapses below, the carpets are ruined as are the decorations, the water gets into every nook and cranny causing mould and mildew to proliferate, it may even get inside cupboards containing clothes or food - the list goes on.
This is the problem with so many of our governments half-hearted initiatives. The consequences are never thought through or accounted for and so necessary protective measures aren't put in place.
So it's not just about crime. There's the 'lump' issue with building labour, immigrants being paid lower wages than anyone else which causes them to need extra financial help. The uncontrolled situation also means that there is insufficient planning of resources to deal with these various consequences and the strain that this puts upon the resources that are available be they human or otherwise. The whole system creaks and breaks down.
The immigrants themselves become disillusioned. The overall effect that this lack of control has on the rest of society breeds the intolerance and misconception that follows. Whether we like it to admit it or not religious fundamentalism is also in there somewhere.
Very few people would bear a grudge against people who are trying honestly to better their lot - we all want to do the same, but our lack of proper arrangements causes the imbalances that generate the many problems that continue to arise - we end up letting the immigrants down as much as they put a strain on our resources. We, like any other country have a limited capacity to accommodate - until now this, and the consequences of exceeding this capacity, has been totally ignored. As you say comments that would have been considered racist are now given licence - but it isn't really the racist part that's at the heart of the problem - that's just another one of those consequences.
Our government predicted 15,000 east European immigrants would come here in a year as a result of EU expansion - we actiually recorded 400,000 we know about, plus we don't know how many extra there are that slipped the net as a result of being self-employed, students or other category that isn't recorded. With that sort of inaccuracy how can we expect to have a balanced situation?
I understand all that Cycle.....but here's my point:
The ward I represent doesn't have a large immigrant population. Most of the people in the ward can go weeks or months at a time and not see anybody who isn't white-British. The town as a whole has had a very small influx of eastern Europeans. Very small. Yet they are seen as the problem.
The far right have whipped people up to the point where they fear for their culture. This has been possible because of the constant coverage in the press of the 'immigration and asylum problem'.
You have the figures to show how many people came into the country......do you also have the figures to show how many left? How many who arrived in that first influx, who got so disillusioned that they returned to their country of origin?
Incidentally, those immigrants coming in from the accession countries, are not entitled to any assistance (eg, income support, housing benefit etc) unless they have worked for 12 months first. Most of them have no access to medical care even when they have children.
The problem isn't how much they cost .....we're not footing the bill, nobody is. The problem is that we end up with a large homeless population and a bunch of uncared for people. Meanwhile we characterise them as being a drain on our resources.....yet we channel little if any resources their way.
The worst part of it is that they end up as victims. What's sad is that we see them as a cause and not victims of the problem. If you've any doubts about that, come spend an evening in Halifax and listen to the jokes the pub comedians tell.
The religious side of it, in my opinion cannot be viewed in isolation from our current foreign policy.
The immigrants themselves become disillusioned. The overall effect that this lack of control has on the rest of society breeds the intolerance and misconception that follows. Whether we like it to admit it or not religious fundamentalism is also in there somewhere.
The evidence seems to be that immigrants choose to come here, and do their best to assimilate. It's the next generations that feel isolated and disillusioned.
The evidence seems to be that immigrants choose to come here, and do their best to assimilate. It's the next generations that feel isolated and disillusioned.
Don't necessarily disagree with you, that's why I said it's in there somewhere. I don't know enough to say what drives individuals to take such an opposite path - it could be a mix of many things - isolation, lack of opportunity, peer pressure, disillusionment, vulnerability, identity - probably more you could add to that list.
I think that's the real problem behind what's happening - that when the system overloads, there are so many consequences it is easy to be drawn in different directions seeking to cure what are individual symptoms of a much bigger and underlying problem. Until that is cured and under control its effects will continue to generate more issues.
I do think the fact that our political landscape has shifted to the right in recent years is also a factor. People are less tolerant than they were. They were becoming less tolerant long before the debacle over the accession countries. Before the kosovans came the 'bogus asylum seekers'. This was being reported as a problem way before it actually was a problem. This isn't a response to high numbers of immigrants, it predates the high numbers by a decade.
I understand all that Cycle.....but here's my point:
The ward I represent doesn't have a large immigrant population. Most of the people in the ward can go weeks or months at a time and not see anybody who isn't white-British. The town as a whole has had a very small influx of eastern Europeans. Very small. Yet they are seen as the problem.
The far right have whipped people up to the point where they fear for their culture. This has been possible because of the constant coverage in the press of the 'immigration and asylum problem'.
You have the figures to show how many people came into the country......do you also have the figures to show how many left? How many who arrived in that first influx, who got so disillusioned that they returned to their country of origin?
Incidentally, those immigrants coming in from the accession countries, are not entitled to any assistance (eg, income support, housing benefit etc) unless they have worked for 12 months first. Most of them have no access to medical care even when they have children.
The problem isn't how much they cost .....we're not footing the bill, nobody is. The problem is that we end up with a large homeless population and a bunch of uncared for people. Meanwhile we characterise them as being a drain on our resources.....yet we channel little if any resources their way.
The worst part of it is that they end up as victims. What's sad is that we see them as a cause and not victims of the problem. If you've any doubts about that, come spend an evening in Halifax and listen to the jokes the pub comedians tell.
The religious side of it, in my opinion cannot be viewed in isolation from our current foreign policy.
I think there is a lot of disillusionment all round and as I said earlier and agree with you in the majority of cases the immigrant is the victim.
Sadly, disillusionment is not selective and so it also spreads to the resident population. Most of those affected on both sides will see this for what it is - bad management of the system - others will quit the country (both immigrants and nationals), and some will rebel. As with the bath water analogy, it is the small amount that goes over the top that causes the most damage - their activity makes the news and is read/seen by the majority with the risk that their view then becomes skewed!
So, David Cameron is back from his hols and the floral shorts are banished to the wardrobe for another year. He must be feeling refreshed (or at least has woken up) as he decide to say something about the terrorist situation.
Having missed the opportunity to respond at the height of the crisis, though, he had to resort to criticising the lack of attention and resources given by the government to fight the threat in the first place. Not quite the damaging body blow one might expect from the leading opposition party, but then he has after all only just woken up and is probably feeling a bit jet-lagged anyway.
Maybe something a little stronger next week...?
A couple of political cartoons about the time of the Israeli/Lebanon war and then Airport terrorist alert:
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Anyone wondering where all the UK National Health Service (NHS) money is going need look little further than
here - we have something called PFIs (Private Finance Initiatives) - seems the government has blurred the original objective as these deals now seem to leave the customers (in one case - and the major player - the NHS) with 30+ years of debt that can see the original cost spiral out of control - it seems that quite a few hospital projects have been shelved but the finance cost for these white elephants remains a burden on the NHS.
Well worth reading the articles on the link - shows just how sick the intended source for a cure (the NHS) has become...
Seems those figures for immigrants from Europe were wrong - not 400,000 at all. Revised figure is 600,000 - probably means the true figure is nearer 1.2 million...
Any advances...?
Have you checked how many of those were/are self-employed? How many are claiming benefits? How many are paying tax? How many are creating, rather than taking jobs?
Britain has an ageing population. We need young, healthy workers to migrate here. Most of the workers coming in from countries like Bulgaria and Romania, are young and contributing more than than they take from the system.
From BBC News (Full BBC article):
'Nearly 600,000' new EU migrants'
About 600,000 people have come to work in the UK from eight nations which joined the European Union in 2004, says Home Office minister Tony McNulty.
New figures show that 447,000 people from Poland and the seven other new EU states have applied to work in the UK.
But Mr McNulty said the figure would be nearer 600,000 if self-employed workers - such as builders - were included.
He said the migrants were helping the UK economy, but the figures will fuel fears about strains on public services.
And they will increase debate about whether the right to work should be limited when Bulgaria and Romania join the EU.
The figures show those 427,000 migrant workers who successfully registered to work brought with them 36,000 dependents - spouses and children. Some 27,000 child benefit applications were approved.
The government predicted there would be 15,000 people a year from the new EU member countries moving to the UK for work.
But between May 2004 and June 2006 the government approved just over 427,095 work applications.
More than half of those - 264,560 - are from Poland. The other migrants on the worker registration scheme are from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Mark Boleat, from the Association of Labour Providers, suggested another 100,000, workers or possibly a lot more, had arrived without registering.
The government says the migrant workers are helping to fill gaps in the UK's labour market, especially in administration, business and management, hospitality and catering.
It is believed low salaries in Poland, sometimes around £200 a month, is one reason the country's citizens are attracted to working the UK.
Ursula Gacek, an opposition member of the Senate in Warsaw, who is drafting legislation to encourage Poles to return home, said some recruiters were already offering Poles in London more lucrative salaries.
"I was speaking to a colleague today, and he's recruiting for staff in London, amongst Poles, to come back to Wroclaw, at salaries which are closer to the £500 mark than the £200 or so," she said.
At the moment, there is little sign of a slowdown in the migration flow, with more than 50,000 registering to work in Britain between March and June this year.
The Home Office says they are "making few demands on our welfare system".
As well as those claiming child benefit, 680 people were told they could get income-related benefits.
'Next EU members'
Mr McNulty denied the government had grossly underestimated the number of migrants - it had only predicted the number of people who would settle in the UK.
"These are economically productive individuals who are making significant contributions to our economy," he told BBC News 24.
When the last tranche of countries joined the EU in 2004, the UK was one of only three countries to give full work rights to their citizens.
But Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling appeared to signal at the weekend that the government might agree to new curbs, promising there would be no "open door" policy.
But Mr McNulty said the government had not yet decided whether to impose restrictions on migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria, which are due to enter the EU in 2007.
The Conservatives say ministers should learn from the "unprecedented numbers" who arrived in the UK after the last EU expansion and impose restrictions on workers from the two countries.
Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: "These figures make it all the more urgent that the government takes an early decision and stops ducking and diving on the issue of Bulgaria and Romania entering the EU."
Liberal Democrat spokesman Ed Davey said there had been difficulties but migrants had brought many positive benefits.
"Jobs that weren't being done are now being done, productivity improvements, the skills gap in certain sectors being met," he said.
"So I hope we can have a rational debate, a more mature debate and not one that's driven by hysteria."
Former Labour minister Frank Field the number of migrants was unmanageable and made it increasingly difficult for local people to get jobs.
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said the case for restrictions for Romanians and Bulgarians was now "unanswerable".
The latest figures also show asylum applications fell 24% in 2005 to at 25,710, excluding 5,130 dependants. A total of 69,000 applications, including dependents, were approved.
Between in March and June this year the number of failed asylum seekers removed reached its highest ever at 5,070, including dependants.
There were 5,490 applications, excluding dependants over the same period.
Have you checked how many of those were/are self-employed? How many are claiming benefits? How many are paying tax? How many are creating, rather than taking jobs?
Britain has an ageing population. We need young, healthy workers to migrate here. Most of the workers coming in from countries like Bulgaria and Romania, are young and contributing more than than they take from the system.
Agree about need for young healthy workers, but what we don't want is to create a situation where the opportunities for both home-grown and imported labour is so poor that this breeds insecurity, dis-illusion and rebellion.
It's the lack of control and awareness that our government seems to display that gives cause for concern. McNulty is one of the most inept ministers I have ever come across - he comes a close second to Prescott - yet he continues to enjoy media attentioon and spokesman status. The numbers of self-employed, etc that you want seem not to be available so we get stabs in the dark from the likes of McNulty (he being the one who claimed that only 400 Polish plumbers had ever come to London, as late as just a few months ago).
I thought that Mc Nulty had been moved away from immigration anyway - wasn't he swapped for a brighter individual, and given a job on the police and crime agenda? Seems he's back in immigration again, judging by the above.
My comment about 1.2 million may seem a little cynical, but it's there to emphasise the lack of credibility and trust in government figures and reporting. I have no problem with sensible immigration but I do share the concerns of many that an ongoing free-for-all policy will bring more problems than solutions.
Well, long time since this has been updated - and with all those party conferences having been held as well - and the result:
Lib Dems - much of the same really - new leader but no real excitement to the party even so. The tone of the conference seemed to reflect the position of the party amongst the three, almost accepting of its lot and not really going anywhere in a big way.
Labour - 'judge us on our achievements' doesn't seem to do them any favours these days. Rousing words from Tony, but don't analyse the content too much - the substance still isn't there. When will Gordon take over? Who knows - one can almost see Tony deciding in May next year that 'for the sake of the party' he's the only man capable to take them through another election. Don't laugh, I can see it happening...
Tories - blue-green leads the way, grass and sky sandwiching everything that's in between. Dave's spicing up the filling but so far the spice is all that's there - will it be a mouthful that leaves everyone wanting. Great advertising, but the jury's still out regarding how good the filling is that it promotes - and how could it be any other way when the filling is still to be prepared? Lots of nice noises that catch the ear and eye though, and let's face it we have all had enough of labour - sorry NEW labour
Nice one from Cherie during the conference - overheard calling Gordon a liar. I meant to bring that up earlierbut life has bee, well, just so busy!
One political cartoonist handled it nicely. Cherie sitting in chair turning red with rage and a large strip of sticking plaster stretched across her mouth. Tony calling out to assistant in next room: 'no, when I said I wanted a gag, I meant for my speech...!'
The UK population has passed 60 million with most of the growth being in the last 10 years. An open door policy from the government probably helped:
.
The immigration door is slowly creaking shut - Home Secretary Reid is not so keen on the prospects of Roumanians and Bulgarians (let alone other countries piggy-backing) homing in on our shores. Some way to go yet and who knows whether or not the Human Rights Act will prove an insurmountable obstacle to his ambitions...
Hey, guess what? Our prisons are full up - no more places left - just thought any budding criminal immigrants out there would like to know - it's further reason for moving to our shores... Oh, and the Home Secretary has said that he's aware that the alternative arrangements using open prisons will undoubtedly result in an increase in escapes as, basically, they aren't secure enough.
What more could you want..?
I'll be on the next plane to the UK. Wanna meet me at the airport? ;)
We should send all the excess criminals to Australia..... worked before....
You sent them to the American colonies, as well, and now look at the mess the world has on its hands.:eyebrow:
nah, that was the religious nuts we sent there, marichiko.......
In that case, I think we should return the favor and send them back to Britain. Heh! Good luck, cousins! :D
Hitting the headlines in today's papers is the proposal by the government to hit migrant workers from Bulgaria and Roumania with £1,000 spot fines if found to be working illegally.
Sounds interesting, but hang on a minute, they also admit that it will be difficult to police and enforce - and that they are not sure what will happen to those who fail to pay the fine. The problem seems to be that people from these countries will be able to come to Britain under the EU free movement laws, so they can't be deported - maybe they'll qualify for benefits.... How that scenario plays against the proposal is difficult to work out at the moment. Some form of work permit scheme is intended, but how easy this will be to control is another issue. It doesn't seem to have worked well in other member states where this system is already employed.
The proposal is set against the information that the expected immigrants from formers Soviet states estimated as going to be 26,000 from 2004 to date, actually topped out at 627,000. Hmmmm.
But look at all the Brits that will be going to the former Soviet Union, gobbling up ALL their jobs! Er.. Why did the UK join the EU, again?:confused:
well, it seemed a good idea at the time....
and even now, it's still better than not being in. I guess we just got tired of being 'airstrip one' .....
Our Home Office have slipped up again. Seems that a list of 500 of the nastier criminals (murderers, peadophiles, drug dealers,etc) caught and sentenced abroad has been lying around gathering dust on a desk somewhere instead of having the information fed into the national computer records.
So a number of these ne'er-do-wells have managed to work their way back into the home community and have been cleared to take jobs in the places they would least be suitable. Not to worry, I'm sure they won't do anything unsavoury...
Our Tone is not quite getting to grips with this green campaigning thingy.
Seems he wants to take long-distance flights and encourage others to do so to. I mean, hey, it's only 1.5% of the world's green-house gases anyway, and, well, we in the UK only contribute 2% as a nation anyway. So, well, it really can't make that much difference, can it..? .
Of course not, Tony....
Did anyone catch the story over Christmas about the Miami flight that overshot the runway on landing?
It was a BA 747, with none other than TB on board, on his way to spend a freebie holiday at BeeGee Robin Gibb's Miami Beach mansion.
Seems the pilot couldn't see the taxiway lights very clearly and rolled over them. Nobody hurt though, and it was rumoured he was found humming that old BeeGee's number 'The lights all went down in Miami, Florida...'
CF, sounds as if your government is as screwed up as ours.
Did anyone catch the story over Christmas about the Miami flight that overshot the runway on landing?
It was a BA 747, with none other than TB on board, on his way to spend a freebie holiday at BeeGee Robin Gibb's Miami Beach mansion.
Seems the pilot couldn't see the taxiway lights very clearly and rolled over them. Nobody hurt though, and it was rumoured he was found humming that old BeeGee's number 'The lights all went down in Miami, Florida...'
Sounds like Tony is getting used to being on vacation. That is a skill which will come in handy.
Sadly only when it's free... not sure how much of a regular event it will be when he has to pay. I guess we can expect to see him offering his services as a guest speaker in places like the Maldives, Seychelles, Phuket and so on once he's out of the day job.
Hopefully that will be very soon
It seems that my favourite plonker Tony McNulty knew all about the issues behind the 500 criminals list of names that haven't been recorded (see entry 138 above). He failed to pass on what he knew to the Home Secretary though. Silly boy. Can't say I'm surprised, the guy is so busy waffling that I suspect he has no idea about anything he is supposed to do or be responsible for. Let alone remember what it is he should be doing. So ask him to take care of something and you might as well work out at the same time the various excuses you'll need when it becomes known it hasn't been done.
I'm a tiny bit afraid to ask, but I truly don't know:
Does anyone in Britain take George Galloway seriously?
OK, and how about NOW?I'm a tiny bit afraid to ask, but I truly don't know:
Does anyone in Britain take George Galloway seriously?
OK, and how about NOW?
These days, not so much really.
The beat goes on and they'd love trump.