Swine Flu Hits London!

Gordon Brown sneezes.

Gimme the vaccine Maxine!
Shoot the sherbet to me Herbert!

Labour Party Crooks

The Labour Party love to recycle crap aka rehabilitating crooks then reintroducing them. The latest comeback kid is Alistair Campbell, appearing as part of his programme of rehabilitation in a Fabian Society debate. This from their website:

Former No 10 communications boss Alastair Campbell joined a debate with David Lammy MP, US presidential campaigner Ben Brandzel and Fabian author Will Straw asking if the Labour Party can learn lessons from Obama's campaign, at the launch of a new Fabian book.

This follows the rehabilitation of the likes of Beverley Hughes and Lady Mandy, on numerous occasions. Note how Dolly the Sheep, I mean Dolly Draper, is also hovering around again too. They really must be short of talent.

The prospect of using Obama tactics smacks of recycling too. Let's face it Obama used Blair style bullshit to get elected in the first place.

Odds on an early general election?

John Cooper Clarke

Here he is Mike. Just a couple:

Snouts In The Trough-Again!

Not quite politicians this time but a government owned investment company supposedly investing in poverty ridden countries. In other words another gravy train paid for by you and me.

The salary of CDC Group chief executive Richard Laing (pictured) rose from £383,000 in 2003 to £970,000 in 2007, the Commons Public Accounts committee found.

Brief biog of Richard Laing:

Chief Executive
Appointed as Chief Executive Officer in July 2004. He joined CDC in January 2000 as Finance Director and took up his role as Chief Executive following CDC's restructure in 2004. He is a trustee of the Overseas Development Institute, the UK's leading independent think tank on international development. Prior to this, he spent 15 years at De La Rue where he held a number of positions both in the UK and overseas, latterly as Group Finance Director. He was also a non-executive Director of Camelot plc. He previously worked in agribusiness in developing countries, and at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Full story of this despicable prat and his 'company' here.

Contact details for CDC:

CDC Group plc
Cardinal Place
80 Victoria Street
London SW1E 5JL
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 7963 4700

Fax +44 (0)20 7963 4750

Email: enquiries@cdcgroup.com

As you finance them I'm sure they would love to hear from you!

EU Election Coming Up!

You can tell there is an election coming up, the politicians come out with nice soothing platitudes. Today it's Lady Mandy claiming to have saved the British opt-out from the EU working time dictat. Guess what? EU elections on June 4th!

If ever 'don't vote it only encourages them' applies it's to the EU elections. Let's face it they ignore referenda that go the wrong way so voting in meaningless elections changes zilch.

Abstain on June 4th, then at least you will have a clear conscience. If you vote all you have done is helped put a snout in the EU trough, gorging on our taxes. No matter what party they represent!

The Bitch Is Back

Not content with monitoring our phone calls, emails and visits to social networking sites (God knows what else) Jacqui Smith (pictured above)is now getting private communications companies to store all the data on us rather than having a single government database.

I don't know what's scarier, the government holding the data or private businesses, I trust neither and don't see why it is necessary or acceptable in the first place. Personally I'd rather take my chances with a bunch of terrorists than live in a police state. I suppose they'll use the disastrous arrest recently of 12 innocent men under the anti-terror legislation to justify more attacks on our freedom and liberties. You know what I mean, 'if we'd had proper access to data that would never have happened', sort of thing.

London Marathon

Congratulations to all who ran the London Marathon, especially Mike.Despite a dodgy knee he refused to give up and battled through the pain barrier.

And he raised a goodly sum for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Beigels on me tomorrow!!

Labour-A Load Of Wobbling Tits!

The tits in the Labour Party will be wobbling more than ever now as bra tycoon Michelle Mone withdraws her support.

Suicide Bombing.

I've never really fancied suicide bombing. It seems to take a certain amount of conviction that I've always lacked.

However, very occasionally a situation arises and I think: "Yes, I could strap on a big bag with a cord there". And this is one of them.

If I was an Iraqi I'd definitely go for it.

Friday Funday

Some Peter Tosh with a Mick Jagger I find hard to take seriously:



Then, he might be a 'Bitter Blue', but Mark E Smith and The Fall follow:

UKIP And The Gravy Train

As I said here, one of the reasons I left UKIP was because they still do not take British parliamentary elections seriously enough. No number of MEPs will get Britain out of the European Union, it's Westminster where it will count.

If anybody had any doubts about this then here is a quote from Party Chairman, Paul Nuttall, at the launch of the Party's North West campaign:

“This is a European election where people can register a protest against the EU, so we are asking Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat supporters to ‘lend us your vote’ for this election.”

So, the UKIP message is clear. Lend us your vote to get us on the gravy train. But don't bother at the general election, where it really counts.

Jonathan Richman

I know it's not Friday, but I've just got back to North Lancashire from Manchester. All the way up the M6 I had this tune, and the words especially, playing through my mind. So I thought let's share it, it really is a Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers classic:

North West MEPs In Catfight

I've been in debates with both Chris Davies MEP and Den Dover MEP (aka 'Ben' Dover). Davies represents the Liberal Democrats, Dover the Tories.

I can't say either struck me as a political superstar but of the two Dover was much more personable and civilised. Davies came over as a bit of a weasel, smug, patronising and a head full of candyfloss rather than grey matter. So seeing Davies bitching at Dover's plight has given me a giggle today. Especially this quote from Davies in the Telegraph:

"Most people regard Dover as no better than a thief, a crook who should be in jail."

That's funny Chris, because that's where a growing number of us think all MEPs should be, including you.

If you want to read about Dover's current circumstances, which may rock further your faith in politicians, then here is the Telegraph article in full.

But, before you run away with the idea that Chris Davies is a deeply principled, law abiding chap, remember he got himself arrested, on purpose, with a tiny bit of cannabis in his posession. Full story here.

Ever think the lunatics have taken over the asylum?

Even More Of The Same

If you want a giggle on this lovely sunny morning then please read this article by James Purnell MP, for the Fabian Society.

Now I'm no genius when it comes to finance, or anything else to be honest, but I understand enough to worry when a Secretary of State talks crap such as:

The current economic problems have the neo-liberal intellectuals on the run. But that doesn't mean voters will inevitably turn to the Left for answers.
We need to show that we can not just diagnose the roots of this problem but provide the right answers.

But for 12 years Gordon Brown and co have been telling us he'd solved boom and bust and everything will be perfect for eternity. They know the root of the problem, they are it.

Then how's this for a strange contradiction:

The purpose of the Left in politics has always been opportunity and security. Those twin beliefs are more necessary now than ever. People are worried about the extraordinary instability that was bubbling below the long boom of the last two decades.

In my lifetime the purpose of the left has actually been to balls up the economy to be swept aside for the Tories to clean up their mess, at a cost. Take it to the extreme and look at the economic mess the extreme left bequeathed the people of Eastern Europe.

The last 12 years of Labour have now left us in the shit. But Purnell, incredibly, says in the article:

We can't promise to end instability. But the crisis does reinforce three key progressive arguments of the last decade. They should give us confidence that our political thought is a good guide to recovery.

That's been the absolutely fundamental boast of New Labour since 1997 and earlier. I always they were very serious liars, now I know.

Police Arrested In Manchester

Five bobbies have been nicked in Manchester over the assault last week of a 17 year old lad. Unusually they were actually off-duty, so they weren't wearing the usual robocop gear they wear when they assault the public. Here is the sorry tale.

Interestingly when I worked in Mexico in 1990 half the local bobbies in the town I was in, Zamora, were in their own cells for various acts of corruption and illegality. I smugly thought at the time how good it was that Britain was above that kind of thing. But after 12 years of New Labour it seems that is no longer the case.

I suppose when the pinko liberal New Labour types cry about equality, it doesn't always mean equalling upwards. Watch out Mexico, we're catching you.

Labour Frauds And Islington Gobshites!

Here is the continuing coverage of McBride, former top aide to Gordon Brown who, until resigning last week, was on over £100,000 a year paid from our taxes.

So who is the Labour muppet who made the following statement?

"There is a culture in Westminster amongst largely young men who think that writing this sort of thing on the internet is in some way acceptable, and it is absolutely not.

"Those of us in the front line of politics do our best to ignore it - but it is very difficult. But you have to kind of rise above it and focus on what's important about politics."

Step forward Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, Emily Thornberry. I always knew the Islington crowd were full of crap, that quote is proof. Or is she deluded enough to actually think that Gordon Brown is not 'in the front line of politics'? Sadly we all know that, for now anyway, he is.

'You have to kind of rise above it'? Is that the same as saying you need to pretend to rise above it but don't really? Or does she mean you just can't rise above it even if you try?

God preserve us from the trendy chattering classes and pinko liberal Guardianistas!

Labour Party Crooks

They are so addicted to fiddling they are even rigging internal ballots.

Labour Party Crooks.

Self-Pity City

Welcome to Liverpool, home of the emotionally incontinent.

Player Facing Disciplinary Action For Smiling.

Damian Green MP And The Police State

Every time Jacqui Smith (pictured above) opens her huge gob she says something stupid, like this:

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has defended the decision to make the arrests, saying it would have been "irresponsible" for the police not to have taken action.

From being told he faced life imprisonment in November, to this week being told that he faces no charges, here is the complete story of Damian Green's arrest.

That the state, and the Home Secretary, can be so frivolous about a serious attack on the freedom of an elected parliamentarian, even if he is a Tory, says it all about New Labour's drive towards a full-blown police state.

Friday Funday

Another week, where's it gone? Wherever it's gone time for a giggle. A classic from yet another great Lancastrian comedian. This one is about dunking (dipping) your biscuits in your brew (cup of tea):



Here is Michael McIntyre with his observations about Scotland and the Scots:

It Had To Be A Scouser!

A wheelchair basketball star from Liverpool who won a bronze medal for Britain at the Beijing Paralympics has been jailed for benefit fraud.

Ade Orogbemi named as captain for the basketball team at next month's BT Paralympic World Cup, was jailed for six months at Liverpool Crown Court.

Orogbemi, 30, pleaded guilty in January to three counts of fraud.

Liberal or Libertarian?

I occasionally dip into the archive, so here is an article of mine previously published elsewhere but not appearing on my blog before. It is dedicated to Sir Clement Freud RIP:

"THE NINE most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'." This quote from Ronald Reagan sums up the thoughts of many of us who might describe ourselves as libertarian. But many people still ask what a libertarian, or what libertarianism, actually is.

Like Christianity, or socialism, there is a wide range of views within libertarian thinking. Debate rages on, and will continue to rage amongst libertarians, about what the philosophy is and how libertarians interpret their philosophy in an ever-changing world. There are those who advocate zero tax, on the basis that tax is theft. Others accept that a certain level of taxation is necessary but that it should be minimal. There are those who advocate that a woman has the right to choose abortion, then those of us who would advocate that abortion is an infringement of the right to life, the fundamental human right.

The most common "strapline" used by many libertarian organisations is "for life, liberty and property". In short, libertarians believe in the maximum freedom for the individual and freedom from state interference in business, property and the markets - whereas most modern political parties believe, to varying degrees, in state regulation of most human activity.

The three old parties in Britain are all authoritarian in nature and increasingly see taxation not as a source of vital income for benign essential government activity, but as an intrusive means of controlling the population. For example, the Tories advocated a so-called "green" tax on parking cars in out-of-town shopping areas, supposedly to save the traditional high street. This would actually be a shopping tax, a source of government income.

Libertarians believe in the right of the individual to act freely and that we should be controlled in our behaviour by the responsibility not to harm others by our actions.Some examples of the government acting in opposition to this principle include the recent ban on smoking in public places and the hunting ban.
Certainly smokers should be considerate to those who do not smoke, but pub landlords, for example, should have the right to choose whether or not to allow smoking in their premises and people can then choose whether to drink in a smoking environment or not. Interestingly, the government does not ban smoking completely, largely because of the huge income it gets from tobacco tax.

On the question of fox hunting, there is no logical reason why the sport should have been banned. The libertarian approach would be to use such persuasive arguments against the activity that people gave up hunting of their own free will, the activity would then fade away. Banning seems to be an acceptance that the argument has been lost, persuasion failed therefore make it illegal. Two examples of what could be considered libertarian behaviour in government were in Paraguay, a country I visited in the 1990s. These examples offer an idea of libertarian policy, but I would not regard the government of Paraguay then, per se, as libertarian.

There were few, if any laws in relation to food hygiene in Paraguay at that time, the principle being that people who own cafes and restaurants tend to want to make a profit and poisoning your customers is not good business practice. We found some of the best food and cleanest restaurants in Latin America in that country. They also had an open border policy at that time. The only control was that if you entered the country but could not find work, you received no state support whatsoever. As a consequence, they had a small but thriving immigrant community that had greatly contributed to the economy.

Libertarianism is rooted in classical liberalism but is often seen as a modern philosophy, largely because it has gained prominence in the last two or three decades as people grow to resent the ever-increasing intrusion of the state into their lives. There has also been renewed interest recently in the work of the philosopher and writer Ayn Rand and her theory of "ethical egoism". But it goes much further back than Ayn Rand to John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith and others far earlier. Indeed the Roman senator and philosopher Tacitus stated "the more corrupt the state, the more it legislates", a sentiment shared by many libertarians.

Liberal is now a dirty word to many people, having been hijacked by those who are far from liberal, such as the Liberal Democrats. As "democracy" often appears in the name of countries that are far from democratic, so the word "liberal" often appears in the title of organisations that are far from liberal in the classical sense. Others hear the word liberal and think of do-gooders looking at the bloodied victim of a crime and solemnly declaring that "the person who did that needs help". This is why there needs to be a clear separation between classical liberalism, or libertarianism, and modern liberalism.

The Jury Team

I've blogged before about people with more money than sense getting involved in politics, specifically Messrs Wheeler and Ganley, it's now time to take a look at The Jury Team.

The idea is nice. Nice was a word we always got told off for using at school as it was saccharine and had no substance, so it's ideal in this context.

The Jury Team set out with some basic principles such as being a party of independents, no policies, no whips, believe in what you believe as an individual, we'll be fine.

Love them or loathe them parties came about because independent MPs had to get together to push common causes through the parliamentary system. All The Jury Team would do if God forbid, they ever get in the position to, is turn the clock back a few centuries then watch their dream fade as they split into parties all over again. I saw it first hand as an independent councillor on a ruling coalition a few years back.


MPs and MEPs should serve no more than two terms. So if Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Gladstone or Disraeli were around today they'd have been scuppered while still on the backbenches? I don't think so.


This morning I looked at some of the statements their prospective Euro candidates have made to support their candidacies in the North West. Here are some of the best, or worst whichever way you look at it:

"Promising each constituent full access to contribute to my policy/agenda setting"

As there are several million electors, and around 8m inhabitants in the North West, this lad's going to have his work cut out.

Then there is:

"I have a wide interest in political issues and would place mysef near liberal"

That's right lad, you give it to 'em straight. So liberal, in fact, he daren't even call himself liberal in case he offends somebody!

What about.....

"I am dedicated to working with local communities.I think that there needs to be immediate changes over global issues"

Wow, today the local residents' association, tomorrow the world. I think she's going to need more than two terms on the gravy train to sort out this global shambles. Perhaps she's green?

In fairness visit The Jury Team website if you want to see their full biogs. Now that is a giggle!

More Uniformed Thuggery

Ok the girl in the following video was taunting the policeman, but what happened to policing by consent? When did it become legal for the police to administer instant corporal punishment?



Something has to change and pretty quickly, before the police alienate us all in the way the politicians have. If respect for the police finally breaks down completely, the consequences will be truly and frighteningly disastrous.

European Elections June 4th-Abstain!

I was UKIP's regional organiser in the North West from 2004 to September 2008. Last summer the UKIP members in the North West voted me their lead candidate for the June European elections. I stood down from both positions and I have explained my reasons elsewhere in this blog, but it was largely because I had realised, over two years or more, that having MEPs did absolutely nothing to further the cause of UK independence. Since then many people have asked me about how I intend to vote in June.

My current blog description points out, pretty bluntly, that I will be abstaining from the EU elections on June 4th. Other former members and/or supporters of UKIP advocate the spoiling of ballot papers. I see no point in that tactic as you have to take your ballot paper, thus increasing the turnout, to spoil it and the only person who sees your message is the poor old counter of votes who is probably so bored and tired that he/she won't absorb your message anyway. An increased turnout, even with a high proportion of spoilt ballots, will only have the EU boasting about increased democratic participation and EU wide acceptance of the glorious project. We didn't defeat Nazi Germany by joining the Reichstag neither will we leave the EU by joining its parliament.

Before 2004 I naively accepted the UKIP line that having MEPs will give the Party national media coverage, and that the associated resources that come from MEPs would enable us to make that all important breakthrough into the UK parliament. Neither has happened and I can only conclude that in the grand plan, UKIP's 2004 'success' was anything but. Indeed, since first having MEPs elected in 1999 the impact has been zero.

Losing one MEP within days of the election because of benefit fraud, for which he later served a jail term while contining to receive his MEP salary and allowances, was bad but having a second MEP, a former bobby, currently on police bail while under investigation for fraud is quite remarkable. The Kilroy Silk fiasco was just poor judgement by the party hierarchy. But losing a quarter of your MEPs since 2004 under any circumstances, let alone amid countless other sleazy tales and allegations mainly around the current leader, indicate that UKIP have gone native in quite a big way.

So what of UKIP in UK parliamentary elections? Here is a link to the details of every UK by-election since 1979. Politics is a about views and opinions, on the broader level it is about philosophies. What is fact is an election result. Election results don't lie. Another fact is that until the EU collapses, through some major crisis, or because it ceases to do the job its string pullers want it to do, no number of MEPs from Britain supporting withdrawal will achieve that aim. Only the UK parliament in Westminster can do that. The following are some significant UKIP parliamentary by-election results:

1996-(a year after its formation) Barnsley East 2.1%
1999(June, also the month 3 UKIP MEPs elected)-Leeds 2.7%
1999(Sep)-Wigan 5.2%
2000-three by-elections average vote 2.0%
2003-Brent East 0.7%
2004 (Sep, 3 months after 12 UKIP MEPs elected)-Hartlepool 10.2%
2005-Livingston 0.4%
2006-Bromley 8.1%
2007-Sedgefield 1.9%
2008-Crewe and Nantwich 2.2%
2008-Henley 2.4%

These are all parliamentary by-elections where smaller parties can expect to gain a larger vote, if only as a protest, than at a general election. UKIP have peaked within months of success in both EU elections. Overall the impact of having MEPs has had no positive effect whatsoever on their results in UK parliamentary elections.

Nobody, even within UKIP, can say how many councillors they have but it can be no more than a handful. Yes, they have a few town/parish councillors but they are traditionally independent and invariably co-opted rather than elected, largely because few people wish to do the job!

So to those people who say to me 'UKIP is the only show in town' I say think again. The path to hell is paved with good intentions. People do not vote UKIP, other than at EU elections because other than EU withdrawal it has no coherent political philosophy.

Few but the hardcore EU withdrawalists put the EU at the top of their agenda when voting, as results show. Most MEPs, as well as the populace at large, accept that MEPs have little influence and no power. UKIP's researchers in Brusssels, working for UKIP MEPs, have yet to unearth real material to support withdrawal that can't be read on the internet and in Eurosceptic newspapers or magazines.

All this led me to the conclusion that voting in EU elections only helps put more people on the gravy train. Abstention is the only way for those who support British withdrawal. Voting is pointless and gives the EU a veneer of democratic respectability, whichever way you vote.

French Bastards!

Don't get me wrong I love France, have had some fantastic holidays there and I like and admire the French, individually. But as a nation they are full of crap.

Lance Armstrong is my all time sporting hero. He overcame cancer and has won Le Tour a record 7 times. Winning Le Tour, or even completing it, makes somebody a hero in my view and in 2005, the last time he won it, I was fortunate enough to see a stage of his last Tour, in Albertville.

This year he announced his intention to compete again, with the Astana Team but broke a collarbone in a fall three weeks ago, setting back his training schedule. But now the French are trying, yet again, to stitch him up by using absurd bureaucracy. Lance says it all, diplomatically, here.

Less diplomatically I say the Frogs just can't accept that a Yankee guy has won Le Tour seven times. Well you'd better accept it Cheese Monkeys, because the man is a living legend and the world hopes and prays he wins an 8th Tour this year. If the French authorities don't stitch him up!

BNP Threat To Labour?

What always amazes me a few months before any election, since New Labour took office anyway, is their level of paranoia about the minority, extremist British National Party (BNP).

This time it's Harriet Harperson gobbing off and giving them priceless free publicity. In this report she claims that the BNP, with no MPs and barely 100 local councillors, is a threat to Labour at the European elections on June 4th.

The other strange thing is that Labour usually trundle one of their wimmin out to make these paranoid statements about the BNP. Why is that? Surely even Labour diehards find Hodge, Blears and company highly patronising and totally lacking any level of sincerity or gravitas.

In my opinion what they are trying to do is to scare the Labour voter, the one thinking of abstaining in protest at what the government has done since 1997 in the name of the Labour Party. Switch that old class warrior button on, the old war against fascists, and like Stepford Reds they'll all come out to support the Labour cause. It may also cause those voters thinking of kicking the big three by voting for a smaller party to think again, they don't want to allow extremists in unintentionally.

My view is that what these Labour scares actually do is give the BNP priceless publicity and make a sizeable chunk of thoroughly decent people think: "Well I may dislike them but it's obviously the way to kick the establishment where it hurts". After all, anybody with a brain knows that the elections on June 4th are of no real consequence, they certainly won't put the BNP into power.

For my part I will be abstaining on June 4th as I have every Euro election except 2004. Then I foolishly believed that UKIP would gain a high profile and the resources to make an impact in Westminster elections by getting MEPs.

How terribly wrong I was. Those who believe in withdrawal from the EU do not further the cause by voting in EU elections. All they do is put supposed opponents onto the EU gravy train who then proceed to achieve absolutely nothing.

Crown Prosecution Service

The Crown Prosecution Service are to spend nearly £60,000 on bonuses for staff who got to work in the recent bad, wintry weather.

Staff who were hardy and heroic enough to get to work, despite a nip in the air and an inch or two of snow, are to get around £150 each.

Not exactly the scale of bonus bankers get for wrecking a whole bank, and screwing the economy simultaneously, but surely a sign of what a pathetic, sorry nation of pansies New Labour have turned Britain into.

Friday Funday

Greetings for Easter and God bless. But still some Friday fun, starting with Les Dawson:



Then tell me this Dire Straits classic doesn't move you:



Then a lot of people 'don't get' Morrissey. I find that hard to understand. To me he epitomises Northern life, especially Manchester. He is not dreary, as unimaginative critics claim, he is ironic and very working class without being a boring class warrior, he wants decency not revolution. He is a critic of Mrs T but is a positive product of Mrs T. A Morrissey concert is not a concert, it's a happening, an event, a celebration. I once heard a critic say something like:

"Morrissey is supposed to be for angst ridden teenagers sat friendless in their boxrooms. But (in 2005) there are coachloads of plumbers and welders travelling from Bolton to crowd surf in the hope of touching the great man. A Morrissey concert is something euphoric, something special that draws you in".

That's why, for the umpteenth time, I will be trekking down to London at the end of May to see the great man at the Brixton Academy, a venue that was made for Morrissey. In the meantime enjoy First of the Gang to Die:

Protest Email Disclaimer

The following is a nice way to protest at the government's collection, retention and general abuse of our personal mail, supposedly under the guise of anti-terrorism. Why not just add it to your email signature?

The following is a disclaimer and a protest at the collection, retention and sharing of my personal mail by this Labour government.

By adding a string of key words, it will guarantee that each and every mail that I send will now need to be manually viewed as it is picked up by the auto scan software. If every person in the UK does exactly the same, then the entire system will quickly become so unmanageable, so unwieldy that it will become unworkable.

Key words, bomb, assassinate, president, Brown, Osama, Obama, Sarkozy, Merkel, government, target, location, rocket, grenade, al-Qaeda, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, UK, America, guns, jets, bombs, machine-gun, terrorists, MP's, pigs, troughs, France, Germany, Italy, nuclear, Korea.

Labour's Lemming Tendency

Lemming  /ˈlɛmɪŋ/[lem-ing] –noun any of various small, mouselike rodents of the genera Lemmus, Myopus, and Dicrostonyx, of far northern regions, as L. lemmus, of Norway, Sweden, etc., noted for periodic mass migrations that sometimes result in mass drownings

In the 1980s the Labour Party had the Militant Tendency who, thankfully, ensured that Labour lost the '83, '87 and '92 general elections. The Labour Party now has the Lemming Tendency to hopefully ensure that the current bunch of nutters and authoritarians in government are turfed out as soon as Gordon Brown has the bottle to call a general election. Blair started the rot, Brown is doing his best to finish it, along with the country.

Jon Cruddas has headed for the edge of the cliff today. Cruddas, a self-proclaimed 'leftie', wrote this puerile article in last September's Independent newspaper.

But now he is declaring that Britain will soon be joining the Euro, as reported in an article in the Guardian, that other bastion of the nanny state.

At a time when Britions are reeling at the mess the state has got us into, charities being allowed to go to the wall financially while greedy bankers are bailed out, Cruddas needs to be very careful. The populace want less not more government, and the EU is merely one huge undemocratic bureaucracy that should be scrapped, or at least that the UK should leave forthwith.

Another reason Cruddas needs to be careful is that the EU elections are only on June 4th. Representing Dagenham in East London he must be aware that the extremist BNP has strong support in his area. Expressing such ridiculous views at this stage can only tempt people, especially in his area, to turn to extremists in June.

Or perhaps that is his aim as a previously Eurosceptic MP. Who knows what goes on in a socialist mind?

Red Fridays-Support Our Troops

I despise our government. I opposed the aggression against Iraq and Afghanistan, but that was our government. Our troops are the best in the world and deserve the support of us all. Blame the government not the troops.

I just received the following by email. Please copy and paste and spread it as widely as you can:

RED FRIDAYS

Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday.

The reason?

Englishmen and women who support our troops used to be called the 'silent majority'.

We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for Country and home in record breaking numbers.

We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing.

We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions.

Many English people, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of Britain supports our troops.

Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that every Briton who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make Great Britain on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football team

If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family, It will not be long before Britain is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once 'silent' majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked 'What can we do to make things better for you?' is...'We need your support and your prayers'...

Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear something red every Friday.

IF YOU AGREE -- THEN SEND THIS ON

IF YOU COULD NOT CARE LESS THEN HIT THE DELETE BUTTON.

IT IS YOUR CHOICE.

THEIR BLOOD RUNS RED---- SO WEAR RED! ---

The Police And The Citizens

As the state encroaches ever further into our lives the police are increasingly seen, by many of us, as a mere tool of the state. They are no longer the idealised Dixon of Dock Green figures that we used to like seeing them as. They increasingly resemble the paramilitary thugs we only used to see in Europe.

If you doubt that I suggest you head to London and join a demo, or go to a high profile football match. Sadly, many perceive the police today as little more than uniformed thugs.

Here is the BBC coverage of the police attack on an innocent man, a man who was wandering around in the wrong place at the wrong time, not even part of the G20 demo, which still couldn't have justified the action of the copper.

OK, so the police didn't beat Mr Tomlinson to death. But he died of a heart attack minutes after the unprovoked attack by one of our 'boys in blue'.

Sinn Fein Snouts In The Trough

Even those loveable democrats in Sinn Fein/IRA are at it. Perhaps after supposedly giving up the Armalite for the ballot box they are snouting taxpayer cash with the zeal of the convert.

Isn't it strange how their principles stop them taking their seats in the House of Commons but not the associated cash. Below is from Teletext:

The row over MPs' expenses has extended to Sinn Fein with the disclosure that the party's five MPs have claimed more than £400,000 on a pair of London flats.

It was reported that in the last financial year the five claimed a total of £105,000 even though they do not take their seats at Westminster and are rarely seen in London.

Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Pat Doherty, Michelle Gildernew, and Conor Murphy each claimed £21,000 in Additional Cost Allowances.

The Daily Mail said that since the figures were first published in 2001/02, the Sinn Fein MPs had received a total of £437,405 in the taxpayer funded allowance.

A party spokesman defended the claims. He said that the two rented properties were used by the MPs on a shared basis when they were in London.

"Sinn Fein MPs do not receive a salary from Westminster, nor do they employ any family members. Sinn Fein makes no apology for refusing to sit in the British House of Commons," the spokesman said.

"We also make no apology for ensuring that people who vote for Sinn Fein get the same democratic entitlements as everyone else."

However the payments were strongly condemned by senior Tories.

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson told The Daily Mail: "It is completely unacceptable for Sinn Fein representatives, who won't even sit in Parliament, to claim hundreds of thousands at the taxpayers' expense.

"That is why the Conservatives have consistently opposed members who refuse to take their seats receiving the accommodation allowance."

Once a pig always a pig I suppose.

Drug Legalisation?

The article below is another interesting look at the drug problem .There is an undoubted problem but is prohibition exacerbating it, especially in relation to the associated crimewave, much as prohibition of alcohol did in the USA between 1919 and 1933? Remember, the Mafia and other organised gangs of criminals, boomed during prohibiton and crime associated with the prohibition of drugs is also booming. Perhaps we need a more imaginative approach. The article is from the Independent Institute.

How to Combat Mexican Drug Cartels
Legalize Their Activities
April 6, 2009
Ivan Eland



While the U.S. superpower has meddled in many far-flung nations around the globe in the name of enhancing its security, as prior to 9/11, it has ignored a threat much closer to home. In recent years, the Bush administration blithely blamed Mexico for the flow of illegal drugs into the United States and virtually ignored the raging mayhem involving Mexican drug cartels south of the border. That rampant violence is now spilling into the United States as crime. Yet again, the Bush administration has handed off a tar baby to the Obama administration. And yet again in the security area, the Obama administration has improved on the Bush policy (it’s not hard to do) but needs to go farther.

Instead of merely blaming Mexico for the problem, the Obama administration has acknowledged that the $65 billion annual demand for illegal drugs in the United States is part of the problem. In fact, it is the driver of the problem.

Unfortunately, although admitting that the United States shares blame for the problem because of its burgeoning demand is a start, the Obama administration is still focused on the long failed U.S. government policy of interdicting the supply of drugs. The administration will send almost 500 federal agents south to the border, accompanied by more electronic surveillance and x-ray machines, and will also focus on stopping the flow of guns and tens of billions of dollars in payments going south to the suppliers. Last year, U.S. officials were able to seize less than $1 billion in illicit drug proceeds of the estimated $18 to $39 billion routed back to Mexico. Even more snooping into the bank accounts of Americans will likely occur in what will probably be a futile effort to appreciably increase the percentage snared.

The new Obama policy is analogous to an alcoholic admitting to a drinking problem, but then blaming beer distributors and trying to have them arrested. The analogy to alcohol can be taken a step further. According to the Justice Department, the biggest organized crime threat in the U.S. today is the presence of the Mexican drug cartels in 230 U.S. cities. Similarly, in the United States, organized crime got a huge boost by the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and 1930s.

So if there has been a failure working on both the supply side (even having a fortified border still results in tens of billion of dollars in annual drug imports) and demand side (drugs are illegal, yet many people still do them), then why not try a fresh, if counterintuitive, approach that many economists favor? Why not legalize drugs for adults 21 and over?

Sound radical? Even crazy? Here’s the logic. Such drugs are cheap to make. The reason they are so expensive is because producing, transporting, and selling the drugs risks arrest, jail time, and even injury or death. Crime results because the substances are illicit, people buy guns to protect themselves, and then use them to shoot at other drug cartels competing for the huge profits or to commit crimes to pay the steep prices because drugs are illegal.

Legalizing drugs for adults would turn it into a mainstream business and prices and profits would dramatically drop, thus resulting in far less crime among producers, traffickers, and users. If the price dropped, more people might try drugs, but money can better be spent on education campaigns and treatment than on stricter drug laws and penalties and government agents, gizmos, and improved border fences in what has been a multi-decade futile effort to stanch the flow of drugs into the United States. After all, since drugs are cheap to make, the drug producers simply estimate that 10 to 15 percent will be interdicted by law enforcement and simply produce that much more.

In addition, the United States has the largest prison population in the world, but many of those people—convicted on most drug crimes—should not be there in the first place. Shouldn’t any adult be able to make their own decisions about what substances to put in their bodies? Taking most illegal drugs is unhealthy, but why should the government get involved in regulating personal behavior for adults? Lets reserve the jail cells for true criminals: murderers, rapists, robbers, child molesters, and those who sell illegal drugs to minors. Putting routine drug sellers and users in prison just causes taxpayers to spend a lot of hard earned money creating hardened criminals.

That is why Mexico is so important. About 90 percent of U.S. drug traffic flows through there because Mexico neighbors the United States, one of the biggest markets for illegal drugs in the world. Mexico is being destabilized by a draconian U.S. drug policy, and that instability is flowing back into the United States and causing a threat to national security in the form of imported crime. This is one area in which U.S. domestic policy is hurting its foreign and security policies. Legalizing drugs for adults at home would make Mexico, an important neighbor, more stable and the United States more secure.

Velvet Underground and Nico

Occasionally something from the past smacks you on the back of the head, and that's just happened. I suddenly had a memory of going to see Nico at the Library Theatre in Manchester. I can't remember exactly when, about 1983 I think, but it was one of the more bizarre concerts I have attended. She was still addicted to heroin and God knows what else at the time.

Sadly, no sooner had she cleaned up her act, kicked the habit and gone for the healthy lifestyle than she had a fall from her pushbike and died the next day, 1988 I think. A salutary lesson to us all!

So let's hear the great woman once more with the Velvet Underground:

Care Homes Or Families?

Hundreds of girls heavily sedated in UK care homes during the 1970s and 1980s may be at risk of having children with birth defects, the BBC has found.

So begins this worrying article on the BBC news website. It is important to keep a sense of proportion on issues such as this, and I am sure that the overwhelming majority of care homes provide wonderful care for kids who have found themselves in terrible situations. But care must be the last resort, and I am confident that anybody who has been in care would concur.

But up pops a self-seeking, career obsessed, professional do-gooder like Andrew Flanagan, newly appointed chief executive of the NSPCC. In this interview in the Times, and other newspapers, he advocates putting even more children into care. That wouldn't be because you have a vested interest would it Andrew? Or perhaps because you are trying to make a name for yourself to improve your career prospects?

Some charities seem to be especially bad for sensationalising and abusing the trust that so many of us instinctively have for charities generally. I will be keeping a beady eye on the NSPCC now with Mr Flanagan at the helm.

Unite Against The State

While blogging, yet again, about the police state my mind wandered to Pastor Martin Niemoller and his famous poem. Niemoller was a pastor in the German Confessing Church and spent eight years in a Nazi concentration camp. I almost included it in my earlier post today but thought it deserved to stand alone, so here it is:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out--because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out--because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out--because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

He also addressed the US Congress in 1968. Below is the text of what he said, taken from the Congressional Record,October 14, 1968, page 31636:

"When Hitler attacked the Jews
I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned.
And when Hitler attacked the Catholics,
I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned.
And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists,
I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned.
Then Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church --
and there was nobody left to be concerned."

Thinking about this, and how Labour have destroyed our freedoms and liberties while claiming to have built some kind of utopian paradise of equality and diversity, I also found the following quote from the great Ayn Rand:

"The smallest minority on earth is the individual.
Those who deny individual rights cannot
claim to be defenders of minorities."

To find out more about Ayn Rand and Objectivism visit the Ayn Rand Institute.

Police State-Ever More Sinister

The following is taken from the BBC News website:

Details of user e-mails, website visits and net phone calls will be stored by internet service providers (ISPs) from Monday under an EU directive.

The plans were drawn up in the wake of the London bombings in 2005.

ISPs and telecoms firms have resisted the proposals while some countries in the EU are contesting the directive.

Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, said it was a "crazy directive" with potentially dangerous repercussions for citizens.

All ISPs in the European Union will have to store the records for a year. An EU directive which requires telecoms firms to hold on to telephone records for 12 months is already in force.

The data stored does not include the content of e-mails and websites, nor a recording of a net phone call, but is used to determine connections between individuals.

Authorities can get access to the stored records with a warrant.

Governments across the EU have now started to implement the directive into their own national legislation.

The UK Home Office, responsible for matters of policing and national security, said the measure had "effective safeguards" in place.


There is concern that access to our data is widening to include many public bodies

ISPs across Europe have complained about the extra costs involved in maintaining the records. The UK government has agreed to reimburse ISPs for the cost of retaining the data.

Mr Killock said the directive was passed only by "stretching the law".

The EU passed it by "saying it was a commercial matter and not a police matter", he explained.

"Because of that they got it through on a simple vote, rather than needing unanimity, which is required for policing matters," he said.

Sense of shock

He added: "It was introduced in the wake of the London bombings when there was a sense of shock in Europe. It was used to push people in a particular direction."

Sweden has decided to ignore the directive completely while there is a challenge going through the German courts at present.

"Hopefully, we can see some sort of challenge to this directive," said Mr Killock.

Isabella Sankey, Policy Director at Liberty, said the directive formalised what had already been taking place under voluntary arrangement for years.

"The problem is that this regime allows not just police to access this information but hundreds of other public bodies."

In a statement, the Home Office said it was implementing the directive because it was the government's priority to "protect public safety and national security".

It added: "Communications data is the where and when of the communication and plays a vital part in a wide range of criminal investigations and prevention of terrorist attacks, as well as contributing to public safety more generally.

"Without communications data resolving crimes such as the Rhys Jones murder would be very difficult if not impossible.

"Access to communications data is governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa) which ensures that effective safeguards are in place and that the data can only be accessed when it is necessary and proportionate to do so."

Now, if you are one of the millions who think 'I have nothing to hide so have nothing to fear' then think again. Millions who thought like you in Nazi Germany and the USSR ended up in concentration camps or the salt mines. To be honest, if you think that way perhaps that is where you deserve to be, but I don't advocate it!

If you are one of the millions of thinking people who is scared at our loss of liberties, freedom and privacy from constant onslaughts by the state then there are groups you should be supporting. No2ID is one of the finest, if you don't already then please support them now.

I can also strongly recommend the Libertarian Party, one of the few political parties truly opposing the police state.

PS I have just discovered a similar article on the North West Libertarian Blog. It also carries a suggested email signature that, used enough, would clog up the monitoring system pretty well.

Snouts In The Trough

Geoff Hoon (pictured left) is the latest elected 'representative' to be outed as a serial greedy bleeder. It's funny how there is a much higher proportion of New Labour MPs snouting excessively than there are Tories. But then again, I've always felt it was the socialists, if that's what New Labour piggies are, who were much more obsessed with money, and amassing it, than any other political group. Or possibly most Tory MPs have enough dosh already to not feel the need to bleed the taxpayer blind, I'm not sure.

Hoon had a grace and favour place in London, was claiming for a constituency home and renting out his London home. This was at the time he was leading the government charge to bomb the crap out of Iraq. As ever he claims to have only claimed what the rules allowed. As I've said before, just because you can doesn't mean you have to you greedy git.

Meanwhile there have been more revelations about Jacqui 'Stalin' Smith (pictured above right). She claimed £120 on expenses to buy a video player for her home. Over £500 went on a bed settee, and £350 on plant pots. Surprised she didn't also claim for pot so they could enjoy a spliff while watching the porn she had also claimed for!

Meanwhile Rudi Vis, anonymous 68 year old MP for Finchley and Golders Green, has used his 'excessive' allowances in a very imaginative way to fund his £550,000 retirement home. Thankfully this little piggy retires at the next election.

And so it goes on, and on, and on.....

Police State-Update

The Orwellian police state being built by New Labour continues apace. The key to a police state is to make the populace feel threatened then portray the state as the great protector. In Nazi Germany it was the Jews, in the UK 2009 it is Islamic terrorists.

I saw the poster above, about CCTV cameras, on a hoarding when I was working in Halifax this week. While tracking the image down on the internet I found the image about life threatening wheelie bins too. Do the state really believe that sensible people take these propoganda exercises seriously? I was with a coachload of ordinary, honest fellas in Halifax whose politics I am clueless about, and virtually every one of us found the advert absurd if not hilarious but sinister too.

I've said it before, and will say it again, many of us are more scared of our government than we are of Al Qaeda, and I think I spelt Qaeda right this time!

Friday Funday

I've had a very long couple of days, but great fun, and have a really early start tomorrow, off for a casting as a priest, don't laugh. So I'm posting Friday Funday now.

Here's one for Seth, up in Aberdeenshire. He bops to the Red Hot Chili Peppers I believe and might like this one, I know his dad does:


The next little piece is pure history, well worth re-visiting. A gobby little 'sarf Landan geezer' gets his come uppance from a cool Frenchman in the shirt of the world's greatest football club. I'm proud to have been there at Selhurst Park that night to witness swift and sure retribution. Monsieur Cantona, mon Dieu, merci:


Then:




If you are still looking for Eric then go here.

Eric did what too many people are scared to do. And you know it!!

Oh well then, here's what makes us the best, even if it is just an excuse for some Morrissey:

Piggy MPs

My local MP, Geraldine Smith (pictured above), cost the taxpayer £166,097 in expenses last year. That figure included £1,143 for a two night stay in Italy.

Ben Wallace, MP for neighbouring Lancaster and Wyre (also pictured above), spent £175,523 on expenses last year. His expenses included £200 for one night's accomodation in Northern Ireland.

Wallace also claimed the absolute maximum, just by chance I'm sure, for his London base in Clapham, that was £23,000.

Purely by coincidence Ms Smith also claimed £23,000 on her London pad.

To me they are both vermin, as are many of today's current elected 'representatives'. They truly are pigs with their snouts in our trough.

Come on Gordon, bring on that general election, I'm starting to twitch with anticipation.