We Now Have ID Cards In The UK

Here is the full story.

So they start with foreigners, where are the cries of racism?, but be sure, we will all end up having them then God knows who will be able to access all your records.

When will people wake up and get in touch with No2ID?

Actually we won't all get them. Some of us will go to prison instead!

A True Sporting Legend

'Legend' is a word much used, and abused, in the world of sport and elswhere. In my view it can be used in truth and honesty about very few without it sounding cliched and trite.

One man it can clearly be used to describe is Lance Armstrong. To come back from cancer to win the Tour de France is truly the stuff of legend. To win the most gruelling sporting event in the world 7 times without previous health problems warrants legend status, so ovecoming testicular cancer, that had spread to his brain, puts Armstrong's status as legend beyond debate.

Next year he will be doing Le Tour again, joining the Astana team currently led by Alberto Contador, Le Tour winner in 2007. Here is the full story.

Having seen part of Le Tour in 2005, the last time Armstrong won it, I suspect we will be in France on holiday next July to witness the great man's comeback.

The main reason he is returning is to promote Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Empty Rhetoric Awards

This one's for Barack's old mate Gordon Brown.

They're After Us!

Those EUfascists are at it again. Now they're trying to regulate blogging because so many of us are EU-critical. Of course free speech is at the heart of the EU, as long as you agree with them!

Read all about it here.

Fat Bottomed Girls

The woman in this story obviously had a very memorable bottom, if a little on the large side.

The moral of the story is that even if you intend to rob a bank other than squeezing through a small window, or a hole you have blown in the wall, lose weight first.

The pictue of Michael Moore is just gratuitous abuse. He's a fat bum too!

Police State

Yet again the government has sneaked out its latest ruse to brand us all with ID cards. This time, at a fringe meeting in Manchester, they have let it be known that they are planning to try forcing under 16s to carry ID cards.

Full story here.

If you don't already then it really is time you supported No2ID by clicking here.

Fortress Manchester

My hot air balloon flight was cancelled, for the fourth time this morning, so it was off on the early train to join SPUC distributing leaflets to delegates at the Labour Party conference.

I say delegates, they were more like cloned zombies or some kind of mass produced politico-robots. I would love to know where the production line is that produces these people. Some of the wimmin delegates seemed to have retained some element of individuality, although there were few obvious skinheads in dungarees like they used to attract when they were a socialist outfit.

The most awful part for me was the security. A whole section of the City Centre, around the Bridgewater Hall, the old Free Trade Hall and Central Library is virtually sealed off. The police presence is bigger than I have ever seen at any major event. The most sinister aspect of this heavy duty policing was the presence, in large numbers, of 'Police Evidence Gatherers'. These are the prat police who wander around taking photographs and videoing people handing out literature or holding placards. Perhaps I'll be dragged from my bed at 4-00am for dissenting, PC David Bailey having gathered the photographic evidence to blow my defence out of the water.

But the bizarre element of all this was the way the zombies and clones (delegates) were pompously strutting around Manchester as if they owned the place. I have never seen so many complete and utter twonks in one concentrated area. It seems to me that not one of them realised that this whole Guantamo Bay style security was to protect them because they are so loathed and despised by the population. They seem to think that having to hold their conference in Stalag Luft Manchester Central is some kind of a badge of honour. It actually shows how hated you are!

No you muppets, you are why politicians and the political class are so despised. Real people have to be kept away from you because they might harm you, it's not because you are so loved you might get mobbed like some kind of pop culture superstars.

Millionaires Being Repossessed

This story is about a millionaire in Nottingham who handed his house back to the bank because it was haunted. Yes, course it was.

This story is of a millionaire, hit by the credit crunch, who has had his mansion repossessed by the banks.

Which is the likeliest to be a true reason do you think?

Defective Defector

I normally feel quite compassionate towards the sick, but not in this case.

Hot Air

Here's a dilemma. I am booked on a hot air balloon flight on Tuesday morning, the previous three being cancelled because of poor weather. There is also a demo on Tuesday morning by the pro-life organisation SPUC outside the Labour conference in Manchester.

The decision is whether to cancel the balloon flight to go on the demo or not. Who knows, maybe the weather will intervene again. If interested the demo will last all morning and will be around Mount Street in the City Centre. Think I'll be there.

United Commonwealth Society

UKIP's current chairman is involved, to a worrying degree in my view, with the United Commonwealth Society. Here is one of the flakey outfits involved with the UCS.

Here's another link to a dodgy outfit involved with the UCS, the very odd 'Duke of Florida'.

And here is the reponse from the complete flakeys of the 'British Dominion of West Florida to the UCS adding them to their list of nations recognised.

The top man at UCS is Tory peer, and Shadow Deputy Leader of the Lords, Lord Howell. Paul Nuttall is shown as a council member representing the 'European Parliament' rather than the UK, Great Britain or, God forbid, England.

It may be me, but an obsession with 'Commonwealth' and , not far behind, 'Empire', especially when your website offers an Afrikaans translation, implies a certain authoritarian statist outlook to say the least.

Derek Bennett's Blog

I have just discovered Derek Bennett's blog. Derek is one of the true gents of the Eurosceptic movement and a tireless campaigner. It's a bloody good blog too!

It's Our Land, And It will Be Again

Gorton, Openshaw, Clayton, Levenshulme, Miles Platting, Beswick, Collyhurst, Crumpsall. Abbey Hey, the top place!

Xaverian, St Greg's, St Bede's, Frannie's, St Peter and St Paul's, St Augustine's, De La Salle, St Peter's.

A Rush & A Push & The Land Is Ours

I am the ghost of troubled joe
Hung by my pretty white neck
Some eighteen months ago
I travelled to a mystical time zone
And I missed my bed
And I soon came home

They said :
"there’s too much caffeine
In your bloodstream
And a lack of real spice
In your life"


I said :
"leave me alone
Because I’m alright, dad
Surprised to still
Be on my own..."


Oh, but don’t mention love
I’d hate the strain of the pain again
A rush and a push and the land that
We stand on is ours
It has been before
So it shall be again
And people who are uglier than you and i
They take what they need, and just leave


Oh, but don’t mention love
I’d hate the pain of the strain all over again
A rush and a push and the land that
We stand on is ours
It has been before
So why can’t it be now ?
And people who are weaker than you or i
They take what they want from life


Oh, but don’t mention love
No - no, don’t mention love !
A rush and a push and the land that
We stand on is ours
Your youth may be gone
But you’re still a young man
So phone me, phone me, phone me
So phone me, phone me, phone me


Oh, I think I’m in love
Oh, I think I’m in love
Oh, I think I’m in love (think I’m in love)
Urrgh, I think I’m in lerv
Oh ...

I've had a good night and why not listen to some Morrissey?

Police Racial Fiasco

Following my earlier post on the leaflets distributed in the North West here is the report that appeared on Teletext today.

But, once the politics of race gets into the system, decline and fall are inevitable. Here is the story of the Metropolitan Police Black Officers Association withdrawing from meetings with managers.

The easy way to end this industrial action is to sack those officers involved. Then, to ensure no repeat of this continuing nonsense, sack Sir Ian Blair. Blair hoist on his own politically correct petard would be one of life's sweetest ironies.

BBC 'Latest' News

I've found this article on the BBC website, dated today.

What I find very strange is that the BBC doesn't mention the source of the offending leaflet. On first reading I thought it was a leaflet issued by the police urging Muslims to 'grass up' their mates. The fact that it was the Muslim Police Association complaining made me take that conclusion a little more seriously, especially after recent shenanigens around Sir Ian Blair and senior 'ethnic' officers.

But reading the article again it became obvious that this was not Inspector Knacker going in with both size 11s before thinking. So I've had a snout around the internet and could only find references to a BNP issued leaflet similar to that in the article above. What dissappointed me was the fact that, assuming the article is about the BNP leaflet, the BBC have it in today's news headlines when the leaflet was distributed, and the subsequent fuss made, were back in May.

Secondly I was disappointed at the journalistic sloppiness of the BBC in not making it clear who had published and distributed the leaflet. A pretty basic rule of journalism broken there I would have thought.

And finally, if 95% of the heroin trade is from Pakistan and Afghanistan, wouldn't targetting those with cultural/familial/business and other ties to those countries make sense in the so-called 'war on drugs'? But that's for another post another time. Mr Nice is certainly not a Muslim.

Unite Behind The Leader

Poor old Big Gordy Brown must be getting really desperate. Here is a piece about John Prescott appealing for Labour politicos to get 'behind their leader'.

It's frighteningly common for leaders of political parties to be control freak megalomaniacs who surround themselves with talentless sycophants. Said sycophants then rally round their leaders, declaring anybody who dissents an enemy who should clear off.

It's a dirty business is politics.

Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty, Put Me On The Train For London Town....

Back from the holiday after an overnighter in London, which included the hottest Goan curry I've had for years. Refreshed but still fearing the worst from our police state, the continuing devolopment of which hit us as soon as we got back within British radio reception range.

People can now get police checks on neighbours, and God knows who else, if they have kids and think the subject might be a paedophile. A right charter for nutters if you ask me. Can you imagine the poor eccentric over the road who some dead head chav thinks is 'a bit iffy, know what I mean?', malicious nods, winks and innuendo and before you know it a lynch mob, fuelled with righteous indignation, tears the poor sod limb from limb. But the government says that people cannot pass on information given. Oh, that's alright then!! Paedophilia, the new witchcraft for the new puritan era.

Then driving up the M1/M6 today we heard about West Sussex council planning to bollock people if they don't turn their cars off when idling, such as at traffic lights or outside a school. Then some fascist from their transport department popped up promising to bring in £20 fines if bollocking doesn't work. It seems that the colour associated with fascism in the thirties was black, in 2008 it is the greenshirts we have to fear.

And the government wants to impose 'democracy' on the Iraqis and Afghans, poor buggers.

La Belle France

If anybody has wondered we are presently in France having a break, hence the lack of blogging. Internet access and wi-fi are hard to come by where we are.

Many thanks to those who have emailed and texted messages of support since I decided to 'take a back seat'. I am saddened as I made so many good friends in UKIP, but I finally lost faith, partly due to poor election results which have made me question the tactic of having MEPs, partly due to the Party Leader and his inability to actually lead or motivate. Indeed his speeches since becoming leader are all so similar that you can't put a cigarette paper between them!

I was proud to have been voted top of the list in the North West, but would have been continuing for all the wrong reasons, which would have been unfair to the members who supported me, and wrong for me personally. What finally made up my mind to stand down was the feeling of anti-climax when I got the result, I knew then the decision I had to make.

Au revoir pour maintenant!

Sarah Palin

If you haven't heard, or heard about, Sarah Palin's incredible speech accepting the role of running mate to John McCain, then I fear you have been in a coma. Anybody who supports hunting, although I don't hunt myself, opposes abortion, although I will never need one myself, and eats mooseburgers just has to be a good thing.

A politician who is normal, real and pulls no punches is rare indeed and should be cherished. Mrs B and I were sat in the supermarket car park today when excerpts of her speech were on the radio, we couldn't leave the car, we just wanted to hear more.

I don't intend to ramble on about the content, if you've found this blog you can easily find huge coverage of the speech elsewhere. But here is a link to her website as Governor of Alaska.

And here is a link to one of her campaign blogs.

And here's another.

If only there was a British politician with her bottle, honesty and apparent integrity.

Are You A Libertarian?

Here is the Libertarian Purity Test. If you think you might be a Libertarian but aren't sure why not give it a try? Of course it isn't black and white, you may find you have libertarian tendencies or that you are actually an authoritarian statist!

Be warned it is American.

IKEA Rave

Continuing on a musical note this story , of a mob invading a vile Ikea store for a rave, is a belter.

The store is on the site of an old nightclub and the ravers were paying homage to the late lamented club. Bet you nobody will give a toss when Ikea stores get demolished and built on.

Actually, it's a shame the store wasn't built on the site where locals used to have their November 5th bonfires!

Morrissey

Just watched, yet again, a great Morrissey DVD and thought how superb these lyrics are. Musical equivalents of the literary genius Patrick Hamilton I think:




you have never been in love
until you've seen the stars
reflect in the reservoirs
and you have never been in love
until you've seen the dawn rise
behind the home for the blind
we are the pretty petty thieves
and you're standing on our streets
where Hector was the first of the gang
with a gun in his hand
and the first to do time
the first of the gang to die/oh my
Hector was the first of the gang
with a gun in his hand
and the first to do time
the first of the gang to die/oh my
you have never been in love
until you've seen sunlight thrown
over smashed human bones
we are the pretty petty thieves
and you're standing on our streets
where Hector was the first of the gang
with a gun in his hand
and the first to do time
the first of the gang to die
such a silly boy
Hector was the first of the gang
with a gun in his hand
and a bullet in his gullet
the first lost lad under the sod
and he stole from the rich and the poor
and the not-very-rich
and the very poor
and he stole all hearts away
If that doesn't impress then please try the version that is sung, especially one of numerous live versions.

Gnome Alone

This story is the latest in a series about gnome kidnapping. Recently gnomes were kidnapped and photos of them in various European holiday destinations were sent to their owners before being returned.

In my youth we just used to swap them with gnomes in the next street.

Militant Mushroomists

I had to have a chortle at this tale about a jar of mushroom soup leaking onto a plane passenger, who just happens to be allergic to mushrooms.

But then I have to wonder why you can only take a tiny bottle of shampoo on a flight, and in a plastic bag too, but a jar of mushroom soup is OK. Maybe it was concentrate which was why the passenger it leaked on had such a severe reaction. Or was it planted by militant vegetarians?!

Police State

Here is a link to the story of a Lancaster cabbie fined for having a fag in his cab when on a break.

And here is a link to the logical extension of the fascist actions of Lancaster City Council. Jacqui Smith's very own Stasi, or perhaps an updated Stalinist NKVD.

Still don't think we are living in a fast developing police state? Well just remember, that neighbour, colleague, friend, even your spouse, may soon be spying on you just as East Germans in the DDR did on each other.

Manchester Debate

I have been invited to contribute to the debate tonight in Manchester on congestion charging. Obviously I will be speaking against. For full details click here. Why not get along, the more the merrier.

Chris R. Tame Memorial Prize

The latest Libertarian Alliance's Director's Bulletin contains details of this year's Chris R. Tame Memorial Prize. If you are a libertarian, especially an aspiring libertarian writer, then please follow the link above and get all the details.

If you do go for it then good luck and I hope to see you at the Libertarian Alliance Conference, being presented as winner, on 25/26 October.

Cuba's Cantona

Here is a video of a Cuban competitor kicking the referee after being disqualified. No doubt he will claim he reacted to a racist comment, and get off with it.

Pop Goes Socialism

I've just watched yet another of those TV documentaries about how pop music saved the world, especially how it saved it from capitalism. I can't help wondering how the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Beatles, and latterly Oasis and U2, would have gone on had they been nationalised.

But they weren't and look what a bunch of sanctimonious arseholes they've become. The Gallaghers, with their fake Mancunian accents, Pete Townsend rabbiting on about 'his generation' and the huge sociological impact of pop music, and all living in the splendid isolation of Saxon sheiks.

The two biggest pop songs of the '60s were actually 'Two Little Boys' by Rolf Harris and 'The Last Waltz' by Engelbert Humperdinck, so let's keep some sense of perspective. Did pop really rock the world in the '60s or did it just give us free love, a dose of clap and the one parent family? Moral degenaracy on a Manchester council estate isn't quite as appealing as on a private estate in Surrey with a nice alimony settlement and a bunch of supporting, sycophantic minnions pampering your every whim.

Pop music became the opium of the masses. Punk was the next big one, and I admit to enjoying Punk, as I did Motown and reggae. But hearing old slappers like Pauline Black of The Selecter now rambling on incessantly about racism and socialism, I can't help wondering how she, and John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), can whine about their 'huge impact on society' with any credibility when the people, in 1979, chose Margaret Thatcher rather than dodgy pop music revolutionaries like them.

Popular music is probably Britain's most free market capitalist industry. So the moaning bastards like Bono, and all the others who whine about equality and revolution, can sod right off. Just as those in the '60s,70's,80's and '90s can. You entertain, nothing more, nothing less.

European Gendarmerie Force

Following my post yesterday, linking to Torquil Dick-Erikson's article about Eurogend, I have been trying to track down the official website of this fascistic EU force but have been unable to. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right place, but I found eurogendfor.eu easily enough last year.

Anyway I have now found this piece on the website of the Portuguese Presidency 2008. It really does make for chilling reading, a sign of what life in the future EU authoritarian state will be like.

There is more about it on this French Ministry of Defence website, including an interesting picture gallery. The following quote is also taken from the same website:

"EGF was implemented as an instrument to shift from a military crisis management to a civilian one, meant to intervene more specifically towards the en d of a crisis. It can deploy about 800 men under 30 days' notice".

Yet Another Data Shambles

I do sometimes get the feeling that the government are just taking the piss out of us. Here is the tale of how some prat lost a data stick holding the records of every convict in Britain. This really is beyond belief and I can just imagine the queues of greedy solictors outside Strangeways and elsewhere, drooling at the thought of all that compensation they will be able to get for their 'clients' who have had their 'human rights' abused.

Certainly nobody, convicted criminals or anybody else, should have their personal data treated so carelessly by the state. It is one more reason for us to oppose the ever expanding database state.

European Gendarmerie Force

Here is a link to an update on the European Gendarmerie Force by UKIP's Torqil Dick-Erikson.

The image on the left is not EuroGend but our very own Dixons of Dock Green 2008 style. EuroGend really will make even our current batch of miltaristic riot police look like a bunch of fairies.

Interestingly I put a link on a previous post to the EuroGend official website, which boasted about the militaristic nature of this force, that website has now been taken down. I have checked other blogs with links to the EuroGend website and none of them work any longer either.

Mother Mac's

I was in Manchester yesterday afternoon on business, and that invariably includes a pint being in a very sociable kind of business. I couldn't resist a trip down memory lane and had to pop into Mother Mac's on Back Piccadilly, a pub I first frequented as a cocky youth some time in the late '70s and, thankfully, it hasn't changed.

If you don't know Manchester very well, and stick to the main roads when you visit, you won't know of the existence of this superb hostelry. It is a real pub that hasn't been savaged in the name of modernity and has a real friendly local feel in the City Centre. Most of the clientele are probably from Ancoats or Ardwick with the odd smattering of office workers en route to the suburbs via Piccadilly Station. Next time you're in Manchester treat yourself. Don't let the Manchester City FC paraphernalia put you off.

Meadowbank Stadium

With politicians falling over each other in the rush to claim responsibility for Team GB's success in Beijing, let's take a look at what those unreconstructed socialists in Scotland are up to. No trendy glory hunting by politicians up there in the workers' paradise. Instead they are carrying on the legacy of many previous governments by selling off sporting facilities to property developers. Very socialist!

Here is a link to the Save Meadowbank Campaign.

Ironically enough with our cyclists, including Scotsman Chris Hoy, doing us proud the demolition of Meadowbank includes the velodrome as well as the athletics facilities.

Middlesbrough's Lazarus

This is a cracking story from Ananova. I once knew Salford's Lazarus.

A few years back I had a summer job in Salford and worked with the most foul-mouthed little old fella I'd ever come across. He also had the bandiest legs I'd ever seen, in fact the whole set-up, being under some railway arches, was more than a little dickensian. There was even a portrait of Mrs Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha on the office wall that vibrated and almost fell off the wall every time a train went overhead.

Anyway the gist is that Noah, the little bandy fella, had also been declared dead a couple of years after his boat had been sunk in the last world war. When the war ended a grand memorial service was held in Salford Cathedral and, with perfect timing, he returned and walked into the church just as the service began. It seems he had not fancied going back into battle after facing drowning and spent the last two years of the war living it up with various hospitable tribes around North Africa.

I often wondered if this was myth but I met his daughter some years later who confirmed it. She knew straightaway who I meant when I referred to once having worked with the most foul-mouthed little fella in Salford.

Taking Liberties

Last night I decided to hit the sack early after a long day working, then starting a radio presenter training course in the evening. Having just received the DVD 'Taking Liberties' I thought I would start watching it, as a documentary it's the kind of thing you can dip in and out of. But once I started watching I couldn't stop.

If you don't know then 'Taking Liberties' is a film, and now a book, about our loss of fundamental liberties since Blair took office in 1997. The film was released to coincide with Blair's handover to Big Gordy Brown. Somehow it passed me by but is a real must to anybody of a libertarian persuasion.

The film comes at the subject from a pretty left-wing perspective but there is an element of balance provided by regular contributions from Boris Johnson and others. The subject matter is very often of the green/left persuasion but the principle of the film is equally valid to those on the libertarian right. It provides a near perfect picture of how the New Labour experiment has united the left and right in defence of freedom and liberty. It deftly portrays the way Labour have destroyed the six basic tenets of our liberty since 1997. The six being:

Right to Protest
Right to Freedom of Speech
Right to Privacy
Right not to be detained without charge
Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Prohibition from Torture

Some aspects of the film are almost comic, such as the absurdity of officialdom, especially the police, but the underlying message is terrifying. Anybody who has sensed the development of an authoritarian state in the UK, especially those of the 'nothing to hide nothing to fear' tendency should watch this film. It tells what many of us have been warning about for many years and proves how, even those with 'nothing to hide', can easily find themselves 'banged up', living under a control order or ending up with a criminal record for no reason other than wearing a 'Bollocks to Blair' t-shirt, or for the state not liking the cut of your jib.

English Resistance

On a trip to France earlier this year we went to see the Bayeux Tapestry. In the gift shop was a book I couldn't resist but have only just started to read. It is by Peter Rex and is entitled 'The English Resistance. The Underground War Against The Normans'. It is, as the title suggests, the story of five years of heroic resistance against the Norman conquerors. The foreword opens with the following quote:

"England has become a residence for foreigners and the property of strangers. At the present time there is no English earl nor bishop nor abbot; foreigners all they prey upon the riches and vitals of England".
William of Malmesbury, 1135

Looking at the European Union, especially with the Lisbon Treaty, little has changed.

Cause Congestion, Then Bring In A Charge

The following is a press release issued by the Association of British Drivers.

TfL Admits Livingstone Regime Deliberately Obstructed Traffic Flows
The latest report from Transport for London 1 states that despite 70,000 fewer cars a day entering the central zone and 30,000 fewer in the Western Extension, congestion in both of these areas is every bit as bad as it was before the charge was introduced.

Although some of this is down to road works, the report admits that many traffic lights and other road schemes have reduced road and junction capacity, and publicly confirms what previously was only admitted behind closed doors — that obstructing traffic was a deliberate policy.

"This latest report on the London congestion charge demonstrates the fundamental dishonesty of all road pricing proposals," said the ABD's Nigel Humphries. "They claim that by paying even more money to use the roads, drivers will benefit from lower congestion. But London has proved that anti car authorities and pressure groups will simply not allow this to happen. They just increase the number of traffic lights and reduce the road space available until drivers are just paying through the nose to sit in the same jams as before."

The crazy transport schemes of Ken Livingstone and his friends have brought London to a halt — they put in bus lanes to give the bus priority, but then they louse up the junctions with "pedestrian priority" measures which negate all the advantages to buses as well as hitting car drivers with a double whammy of delays. These problems are not confined to London — with or without road pricing they are endemic in every city in the UK.

Boris Johnson has made a start by reviewing the flow implications of all proposed schemes, announcing the death of roadspace eating bendy buses and consulting on the Western Extension, but he needs to go much further.

The ABD would propose the following:

A major programme of investment in trunk roads and junctions to remove conflict between heavy traffic and vulnerable road users by means of underpasses and pedestrian/cyclist bridges/tunnels. All money from the congestion charge should be ringfenced to pay for such schemes which benefit all road users equally and reduce danger and stress for all. Once these schemes are complete the congestion charge should be phased out.

All bus lanes to be reviewed to ensure that they do not restrict overall road capacity. This means no bus lanes through junctions or across pelican crossings, which halve the amount of traffic that can pass when there are no buses or taxis on the road.

Removal of at least 20% of the traffic lights in central London by identifying those which do nothing but obstruct traffic flow.

Removal of constriction points which create danger for cyclists and pedestrians by restricting the maneuvering space for large vehicles.

Redesign of all "forward stop line" schemes for cyclists. These are ill named as they really are "backward" stop lines for motorists and reduce the capacity of light controlled junctions irrespective of whether any cyclists are there. Forward stop lines for bikes should be just that - in front of the normal stop line - and should not place cyclists in front of the traffic.

Reversal of ruinous schemes like Trafalgar Square which reduce road capacity and create huge jams, mostly comprising buses and taxis.

Removal of all 20mph speed limits imposed on main roads.

ENDS

For those concerned about the introduction of a congestion charge in Manchester there is a debate on August 27 in central Manchester. Details on the Manchester Junior Chamber of Commerce website.

Politburo Tactics

The more oppressive our police state becomes the more secretive become the politicians and bureaucrats. According to this article in the Mail on Sunday our MPs are now going to extraordinary lengths to hide the full extent of their corruption from us. Thanks for bringing this out goes, once again, to The Taxpayers' Alliance.

Contrast the methods of our current batch of MPs with the late Enoch Powell. Despite being one of the most controversial figures of modern politics his telephone number and address were in the London telephone directory until the day he died.

Taxed To Death, And After Death

I've just found my recent attack on EU inspired taxation in the Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen. You can read it by clicking here.

Hot Curry

I don't tend to get paranoid about restaurant stories, the ones about how this or that restaurant was fined for some breach of hygiene regulations. I tend to work on experience, if it gives me Delhi belly I tend not to return. Indeed some of the best restaurants I came across on my travels were in Paraguay where there were no hygiene rules, the market ruled supreme, if you poisoned your customers they stopped going and you went bust. And it worked!

This story, from the Manchester Evening News, slightly concerned me however. If you care to read it the end of the article mentions Al Bilal restaurant in Rusholme being fined for breaches of hygiene regulations. Some months ago now I was in Manchester on UKIP business with Phil Griffiths, North West Chairman. Like me Phil is a curry fanatic so I took him to the curry mile and we ended up in Al Bilal. We did have some intestinal reaction the next day and I have not returned.

On Thursday night there was a programme on TV called 'Rogue Restaurants'. One of the dodgy ones featured was on Brick Lane. Mrs Beaman immediately declared that it would be The Clifton, sadly she was absolutely right. This is the place where I took a dozen UKIP members from the North West before last year's conference in East London. I have never had a reaction from The Clifton but promise not to take any other UKIP members to Indian restaurants of my choice.

End Of Another Tradition

As a new football season kicks off, with the English Premiership bearing little resemblance to an English league at all, another great English icon is disappearing. Walthamstow Stadium, the Wembley of English greyhound racing, has seen its last ever race. Along with Catford, Hackney, White City, Haringey and Wembley dog track itself, the stadium has been sold off to property developers.

I don't profess to be an expert on greyhound racing but do enjoy the occasional visit to the dogs. When domiciled in the capital I went with friends, and my sister and her other half, to Hackney dogs and to several charity nights at Catford, South London. It's fine entertainment and extremely sociable too, with the chance of winning, on my part rarely, the odd quid. But it is great fun first and foremost.

Of course if the government sees something is a success it has to get in on the act and a few years ago removed the tax-free status on betting at the dogs. Add to that the constant showing of greyhound racing in bookies shops, thus taking revenue away from the tracks, and yet again government action helps to destroy a part of our cultural and sporting life.

Of course a few animal rights nutters will be pleased at the closure of yet another dog track but, for my part, I think I'll counter that by popping along to Belle Vue dogs in my old part of east Manchester soon. No good crying over such closures, they need support to survive so get to the dogs when you can, I'm sure you'll love it.

Been Away

We've had a few days away in Northumberland, going over there last Friday. It must be one of the most scenic coasts in the country, with magnificent castles and the Farne Islands to visit complete with Atlantic Grey Seals and assorted bird life. It may have poured down every day but was well worth the visit.

One thing that struck us, not having had a holiday in the UK for a long time, was the ridiculous amount we spent on parking. Every town seems to have double yellow lines from about two miles out of town. You then find the ludicrously expensive car parks with outdated pay and display machines that make you pay up-front and they don't give change, take notes or accept cards. You then end up paying all day because you are tking a trip around a castle or on a boat that will take 2 1/2 hours. But you have to pay to park for up to 2 hours or all day! You also spend half the holiday trying to build up a huge cache of change acceptable to these awful machines, amassing change becomes an obsession.

Pubs have been wrecked too. We saw very few that were recognisable as traditional pubs. Most of them were mock bistros or fake restaurants, empty outside eating times. The death of another part of our culture, thanks to the last Tory government for effectively abolishing the tied house system and New Labour for the smoking ban.

On the way home we heard a debate on Radio 2 about local authorities accessing our text, phone records and emails under supposed anti-terror legislation. Some prat from Buckingham University tried to say that the public supported it because of binge drinking and gangs of kids hanging about on street corners. And he claimed to be some kind of intelligence expert! What next, take your letters to the Post Office open so that the censors can read it before you post it? Anyway every member of the public who risked intrusion by emailing or texting in was against. So much for the 'expert'.

I thought we were moving towards a police state. Wrong, we are well and truly in one. The reason I haven't blogged since last Friday is that to access the internet I used Northumberland County Council's libraries as a temporary member. I could access the internet but blogs are blocked. I could neither read blogs nor access my own blog. Welcome to Britain 2008.

Must be off now, must get home before curfew!!

Smoking and Brainwashing

I find the current spate of anti-smoking ads on TV quite disturbing, not to say dishonest. The ones I mean are the ones that tell smokers that they cannot possibly give up 'without help', and who's there to help? Yes the government, in the shape of the NHS. You really can't do anything without the nanny state under New Labour!

One thing I object to is the patronising tone of the adverts. It is possible to give up 'without help', I did it last March after smoking 20 a day for 30 years. I know plenty of other people who gave up 'without help' too. Indeed many of us would have given up earlier, but the more the state nagged and whined at us, the more determined we became to continue. And, having recently had my lungs examined, they show no signs of me ever having smoked.

I also object to taxes being wasted on medicines, support groups and whatever other paraphernalia the state funds to help people give up. Let them pay themselves if they really want to give up, it'd be cheaper than buying fags. And if people don't want to give up for God's sake leave them alone to get on with it.

All this government brainwashing has had a truly sinister result that is often overlooked, the vile and ultimately dishonest attitude of so many people to smokers. I've seen people 100 yards away, in the open air, suddenly start coughing and spluttering when I've lit up. Then there are the weirdoes who claim that after being in the company of smokers they have to shower when they get home, and send their clothes to the laundry because of the smell.

We've had friends to dinner since we gave up smoking (Mrs B has too) and they refused to smoke in the house insisting on going onto the balcony for a fag between courses. They thought they were being thoughtful but we really had to convince them, and several bottles of wine helped, that we had no problem with them smoking at the table. We didn't have to shower before bed, or change the curtains next day, because of the stench, but it really highlighted the power of propaganda.

So I still wish FOREST good luck in their campaign.

Be Afraid!

Whenever the people of a European state, or EU region, say enough is enough you can bet they will be ignored, or told if saying 'no' via a referendum to do it again. Hence the building of the EU superstate continues apace, despite the French, Dutch and Irish saying enough.

In the news today are reports of the EU moving towards formally sharing intelligence. That means that MI5 and MI6 will have to pool their intelligence with all members states (regions) of the EU. Immediately we could kiss our special intelligence relatonship with the USA goodbye. It was French military personnel who leaked American intelligence about Kosovo in the '90s that caused such terrible problems. And do we really want to share our intelligence with the likes of Bulgaria and Slovakia?

But, also bear in mind, the EU will then see the inevitable next step as developing the EU Gendarmerie force into a full blown EU national guard, operating freely in any member state (region). It's time to act and time for Europhiles to be honest and stop pretending that the EU is only a glorified trading bloc.

Passports Cloned

No real shock with this story, no real surprise either. A computer boffin has cloned the details of an e-passport. They were introduced into our glorious police state to protect us from the terrible real world by New Labour in 2006.

It just means that the government will try even harder to find more ways to monitor, bug, film and index us.

“I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own.” The Prisoner

Free Tibet

I have every sympathy with the people of Tibet and would happily campaign in the UK on their behalf, although I haven't yet. I fully agreed with the demos in London and elsewhere when the Olymic Torch was being carried to China. What I do find objectionable is people going to China, from this country, and demonstrating on behalf of the Tibetan people, or supposedly on their behalf. The case in point being this story that broke this morning.

Once again it seems to be 'eco-warrior veggie green' types indulging in a spot of cultural imperialism. They probably despise Britain for our imperial past but have no qualms about trying to impose their values and beliefs on alien cultures and systems when it suits their agenda. Yet another case of double standards on the pinko liberal left, a subject on which I posted here last month.

Eco Warriors

I have no reason to doubt this report about weapons being found at a demo of the great unwashed.

What I do find bizarre is that the police claim that only 150 or so green veggie types were intent on causing trouble, then claim they filled a whole lorry with confiscated weapons.

Summer Reading

Nice to see Dave 'The Rave' Cameron doesn't trust his front bench morons to behave on holiday, so he's given them all a long reading list to get through. Some are books by Old Etonian buddies of his some by Thatcherite thinkers. But the point is that he is trying to make them more 'Cameronite'. To me it just shows that he hasn't actually got a political philosophy to call his own.

Being free to read what I want my current reading is:

Germany Calling-Mary Kenny. The biography of William 'Lord Haw-Haw' Joyce.
The Berlin Novels-Christopher Isherwood. Mr Norris Changes Train and Goodbye to Berlin which became Cabaret.
Crimini-Various authors.(Italian noir or crime stories)

I like to have 2 or 3 different ones on the go to cater for whatever mood I happen to be in. There has of late been a strong pre-war realist tendency with Patrick Hamilton also featuring regularly.

I'd never make a good Tory.

Great Works Of Fiction

There are some pretty unbelievable websites but the New Labour website takes the biscuit.

Here is its list of Labour's 50 top achievements since 1997, according to a spokesman (left) on the Labour website.

But don't expect to find things like Iraq, Afghanistan, loss of border controls, 42 day internnment, CCTV and the police state. No, nothing like that appears in this piece of pure Stalinist propoganda. But truly wondrous achievements such as children getting a piece of fruit appear!

The nice thing is you can send them a comment. Below is what I sent them:

I'm curious as to why Iraq, Afghanistan, 42 days without trial and the building of a police state generally do not appear. I'm sure they would love to hear from you too.

Ageism

Every now and then I pop along and have a nosey at the Fabian Society's website, it usually gives me a giggle and today was no different.

Mike O'Brien, our glorious Pensions Minister, made a speech mid-July about ageism and it is reported on the FS website. I may be being simplistic, but while we are unfortunate to have the state providing so much of the poulation with pensions, I would say the job of Pensions Minister was to maximise the amount of money available to people through their pensions. But Mike seems to have taken on God-like powers and thinks he, or the state, can reverse the whole ageing process. Here is the speech in full, if you can be bothered.

He claims that ageing presents us with 'five new giants'. They are:

Poverty
Loneliness
Frailty
Discrimination
Fear

Poverty could be alleviated by reducing tax. Less not more government would therefore help.

Loneliness hasn't been helped by pubs closing down due to government policies, including high taxes and the smoking ban. Petrol costs (tax) also helps isolate people.

Frailty is a physical symptom of ageing. Sadly it's inevitable and no amount of governement mithering can reverse it. New Labour is not some kind of Dorian Gray.

Discrimination. I have yet to see anywhere stating 'old people not welcome'. I have seen more rude and inconsiderate behaviour from older people than I have younger people. But it is often older people who discriminate, in my experience, against younger people.

Fear. As the government is the most terrifying thing in the country the thought of it becoming 'active' with older people probably terrifies them more than anything else out there. Lots of things scare us throughout our lives, it's called life, mortality, all kinds of things, but is inevitable and natural.

Get back to your abacus Mike and leave poor old people alone!

Jezza the Brownite

Chomping on the rice crispies this morning I had a terrible shock when I read, on teletext, that my local MP, Geraldine Smith, was calling for the sacking of young Miliband. I immediately switched to the TV news and caught a doppelganger being interviewed. Hence the two piccies. But no it was Geraldine, her hair has just changed colour. When I stood against her in 2001 her hair was so black she made your average Raven look Teutonic, her nickname was Morticia. Now she's some kind of strawberry blonde I think you call it. I think she is perhaps overworking.

It's very rare you hear from Geraldine in Morecambe and Lunesdale unless it's an extremely local issue, such as cracked pavements. She got in on the Chinese cocklers' tragedy although excellent local independent councillor Keith Budden had been the man campaigning for years for improved safety and monitoring of cocklers in the Bay, there were TV and radio crews there for days you see.

Yet suddenly she comes out fighting for Big Gordy Brown. I can only think she is tired of politics and knows that if Big Gordy remains in charge she will lose her seat next time round.

Nice Mr Obama

As people question Barack Obama's recent 'I'm the Leader of the Free World Tour 2008' more shenanigans from the great one's camp have emerged. This is a report from Israel National News.

It seems there has been a spat in the Israeli media about who leaked the contents of a private religious message left by Obama in the Kotel when he visited. It made Obama look like an all round decent chap, buffing his Christian credentials and showing his "humility". Problem is he leaked it himself. Not very modest that.

Police State

I am currently helping arrange a few speakers for the UKIP national conference in
September, it's always refreshing to have speakers from organisations outside UKIP. While doing this pleasant task I Googled Guy Herbert, Gen. Sec. of No2ID and came across this splendid, albeit chilling article from the Times in 2006.

Language of Politics

Miliband is widely reported as calling for a "summer of introspection". It's interesting at times like this how the language of politics becomes barely recognisable as English.

What "summer of introspection" actually means is "don't look within Gordon, look behind to check what's hovering between your shoulder blades, knife crime on the way".

"New Labour won three elections by offering real change, not just in policy but in the way we do politics. We must do so again. So let's stop feeling sorry for ourselves, enjoy a break, and then find the confidence to make our case afresh." This nice phrase, translated into real English means: "Remember those heady days under Tony when we couldn't lose? Well it's time for another real change, another change of leader, time to put a fresh faced young chap like me in charge".

Paraguay at the Crossroads

This was one of my earliest posts.

Having spent some time in Latin America, and particularly Paraguay, I am sad to see the problems that lie ahead there due to a 'turbulent priest'. The piece below is taken from The Lighthouse.

President-elect Fernando Lugo will face huge obstacles to fostering a prosperous democracy when he takes power in Paraguay in August. As Carlos Alberto Montaner, advisor to the Independent Institute's Center on Global Prosperity notes, the former Catholic bishop can hardly look to positive role models among his immediate neighbors. Argentina under the Kirchners is experiencing a new form of Peronism. Brazil? Lugo will likely be butting heads with it. Bolivia? Morales is Chavez "light."

An alternative way to frame the choice for Lugo is to consider not Paraguay's geographically closest neighbors, but rather two countries that exemplify widely divergent visions of economic development: Venezuela and Ireland. Which of the two approaches is he more likely to emulate?

"If he is guided by the rancorous nonsense of Liberation Theology, his country will undoubtedly follow the Venezuelan road and plunge into a deep political and economic crisis," writes Montaner. "If he chooses to look to Ireland (or Chile, close to home), he'll be able to serve his neediest compatriots, which is what he apparently desires. I haven't the slightest notion of what he'll do, but, with the passing of years, I've learned that optimism is usually followed by frustration. Lamentably."

"Paraguay: Ireland or Venezuela?" by Carlos Alberto Montaner (7/16/08)

Center on Global Prosperity (Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Director)

Purchase Lessons from the Poor: The Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit, edited by Alvaro Vargas Llosa.

Purchase Liberty for Latin America: How to Undo Five Hundred Years of State Oppression, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa.

Lawn Mower Murder

I've seen this story in a couple of publications in the last few days. Not being one for gardening, my excuse for ours is that 'I've planned it like a real meadow', I sympathise with anyone who shoots the life out of a lawnmower. Having said that I think up to six years in jail for doing it is a bit excessive.

Beyond gardens my DIY phobia probably manifests itself most extremely in IKEA. I wonder what I would get for nuking an IKEA store?

On Yer Bike Dave! Or Perhaps Not.

Poor Dave Cameron, he's had his bike nicked. What I've never worked out is whether his bike is a genuine mode of transport or a prop. Either way having it nicked should make him think twice about stocking up on salad at the supermarket. Get a grip man, you're not a rabbit.

If it is a genuine mode of transport can I suggest he replaces the nicked one with a proper bike, hand made by English craftsmen next to his constituency? Go on Dave, buy a Pashley. That's a real bike.

Life's Grim

When you think life's a bummer, and you think you've got problems. Just think on, you could be Gordon Brown!

By Gum It's Hot Down South

Currently in Central London on a writing for radio course. Today has been extremely good, but I've got 'homework' tonight so posting the rest of this week will be sporadic, at best. A blessed relief some may say!

It's amazing how humid London gets as soon as it warms up and today is extremely humid. Mind you, I get home on Friday and am off to speak at the UKIP North East rally in Stockton on Saturday, so that will cool me down, it's probably still frosty in the mornings up there!

Yankophobia and Pinko Liberals!

David Aaronovitch is a writer who often enrages me, but in this article from the Times today I have to say he is absolutely spot on.

It always strikes me that pinko liberals go berserk if you criticise a whole group, let alone a whole nation or, God forbid, a whole race. But when it comes to the USA it's open season, the whole nation is fat, greedy, drives cars that do 2 miles to the gallon and have no culture whatsoever. They are loud, rude and all wear outrageous Hawaiian shirts and baseball caps back-to-front. I'm sure you know what I mean.

Pinko liberals have this sickly habit of referring to what we used to call 'Red Indians' as 'native Americans', when in reality they were originally immigrants themselves, they just got there slightly earlier than the Dutch, English etc. Now this to me implies that they, 'native Americans', have more of a claim than whites who have only been there a couple of hundred years. But you try using that argument about 'native Britons' and the whole PC armoury is pointed directly at your head.

Another example of left-liberal hypocrisy is their criticism of British migrants. You know the ones I mean, they go to Spain or France and turn villages into little England with shops that sell HP sauce and Fray Bentos pies, they don't mingle and integrate with the locals like they should and never bother to learn the lingo. Then you point out that it's a bit like Cheetham Hill in Manchester, or Brick Lane in London where migrants to this country have done the same thing and they go apoplectic with rage, scream that it is a totally different thing and call you a racist.

Personally I think life is too short. If a Briton abroad wants to eat pie and chips let him, and nobody loves Brick Lane more than I do. It's the hypocrisy that gets to me. I can't be doing with all this splitting the population into racial groups and long for the day the far-left and far-right drop racial politics and see us all as human beings, period, as the Americans say.

Libertas

Here is a worrying development from the Telegraph.

Declan Ganley is to fund 400 candidates in countries that have had no referendum on the Constitutional/Lisbon Treaty. The difficulty as I see it is that Ganley, who is pro-EU but anti-Lisbon Treaty, will be asking people to use the EU elections next June as the referendum they never had, and that a vote for his Libertas movement would be a 'no' to Lisbon.

Yet again the pitch could easily be queered for real Eurosceptic groups, especially withdrawalists such as UKIP. With the money and influence Ganley has his campaign could easily eclipse others, including the Lib-Lab-Con, and draw in votes from real opponents of the European Union seduced by the message.

Another Data Cock-up

This time it's the MOD.

An employee of the MOD left a laptop on the floor beside him while checking out of the Adelphi in Liverpool. Next thing whoosh, it was gone. I'm sure the fact that it was in Liverpool was pure coincidence.

Breaking News

It seems that Gordon Brown has just landed in Iraq, Barack Obama in Afghanistan. Some opportunity there for changing the course of world history!

Treason and the British Constitution

I am currently being bombarded by a bunch of eccentrics because I have questioned the wisdom of trying to bring treason charges against politicians who have taken us into the European Union. Treason is a very difficult one to interpret, people like the late Norris McWhirter and Rodney Atkinson have tried that route and failed. I have the utmost respect for both and met them on a couple of occasions. With their talents and resources to have failed leads me to believe that continuing down that road is a waste of time and effort.

This latest group, the ones I have upset, are basing their efforts on the fact that successive British governments, in relation to the EU, are in breach of the British 'written' constitution.

When I pointed out that we do not have a written constitution , and forwarded a link to an internet site to prove the point, I was told that it was part of a CIA conspiracy.

In fact, thinking about it, they are not eccentric, they are actually mad.

Mark Cavendish-Le Tour

Mark Cavendish has now won four stages of this year's Tour de France. A true sporting great at 23 years old!

Bring on the Olympics.

Enfants Terribles?

For years there has been a pinko tinged group in Britain who worship all things French, indeed all things foreign, while despising British culture.

One of the main symptoms of this is their view of the French attitude to kids, especially their presence in bars and restaurants. There are the constant comparisons between French and British kids when it comes to alcohol, how the French kids don't get drunk because they are given a glass of wine at birth and all that nonsense.

Admittedly you don't tend to fall over drunken, puking teenagers on your way home in Paris or Bordeaux, but I haven't in Lancaster or London either. Indeed I often wonder if the media stage those secenes of semi-clad teenage girls puking in a gutter to spice up their reports on binge drinking.

So if there isn't a problem in France why is the French Health Minister planning to ban under-18s from buying alcohol in bars, restaurants and supermarkets? Is it yet another attempt at EU harmonisation, or do the French actually have a problem with young drinkers too?

Faggot, Pikey, Chav

There you are, in one heading I have used three words that the Fabian Society believe are no longer acceptable and should be banned. Those sanctimonious, humourless PC tits (whoops, that might be another one) at the Fabian Society are at it again. Here is a review of an article in the Fabian Review telling those dear old lefties how evil it is to use the word 'chav'.

They are absolutely appalled that there are websites dedicated to ridiculing 'chavs'. They would be even more appalled to see a shop window in Lancaster proudly displaying their latest t-shirt design bearing the logo 'Vale of Lune Annual Chav Shoot 2008'. They would probably have the shop shut down and the owner on the dole to save the blushes of a nasty little chav.

If you are worried the Fabian Society might be trying to protect you then try The Chav Test. . And if it is you then perhaps you should NOT visit this website. Personally I like chavs, if the football gets boring they give you something to laugh at and take the mickey out of.

In reality the important thing with language is the context, as any reasonably intelligent, mature adult is aware. Sadly the Fabians, like most socialists, are humourless control freaks who love nothing more than taking offence on behalf of a third party, who is probably not in the least bit offended anyway. In fact they are a bit like the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

Offending Muslims

So the Archbishop of Canterbury finds christianity offensive, which is effectively what he is saying here. I wonder what form his christianity actually takes? I'll bet very few muslims agree with him.

Max Mosley

I'm afraid I can't be bothered reading a great deal about the Max Mosley trial but he does have my sympathy.

What consenting adults do in private is exactly that, private. Why should it be anybody else's business and what right has anybody, especially a newspaper, to hide cameras then publish the private activities of consenting adults merely to cause embarassment?

The invasion of privacy is surely far worse than the bizarre sexual shenanigins of a grown man and grown, consenting women.

After all it's just a little harmless English s&m!

How Scilly!

At first I thought this report was a joke.

But it's true. A job ad. for an air traffic controller in the Scillies states that the application pack can be requested in Braille or audio for the blind. By gum it's political correctness gone mad!

The spokesman for the RNIB should be shot.

Mark Cavendish-Le Tour II

What another superb ride from Mark Cavendish yesterday. Even the laid back Mrs B was up from her chair roaring on the young Manxman yesterday afternoon.

Imagine the shattering disappointment today when Andrew Longmore, in the Sunday Times, referred to Mark's Manx accent as 'broad Scouse'! As a Mancunian I would sack Mr Longmore for that.

Anyway, what are the odds now on Mark Cavendish winning a third stage?

Fascist State of Europe

The continuing slide into unfettered fascism of the European Union continues apace.
Read this.

Mark Cavendish-Le Tour

Congratulations to Manxman Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia) who won yesterday's stage of Le Tour from Cholet to Chateauroux, he even managed a sprint finish after riding 232km!

Report here and video of him crossing the line.

In the overall standings David Millar of Scotland is in 3rd position and Christian Vandevelde in 6th, both of Team Garmin-Chipotle.

'Brave New Britain'

New Labour, and Cameron's Blue Labour, are really uniting a diverse group of freedom fighters in the battle to save what freedoms and liberty we have left,and hopefully, to restore many that have recently been eroded.

A couple of days ago I was singing the praises of Peter Tatchell and the Green Party position in today's Haltemprice and Howden by-election, today it is the turn of Bob Geldoff to stand and take a bow.

Bob Geldoff's article in today's Telegraph.

Police State

Yet another case of mistaken identity in this report.

Yet another innocent man arrested by a mob of harmed plod. Still 'if you've nothing to hide you've nothing to fear'. Oh, unless you happen to be an innocent Brazilian at Stockwell tube station. At least plod at Bournemouth didn't shoot this lucky bugger.

Just think, one day it could be you!

Three Good Ones In Westminster

When Bob Spink came to UKIP I was pleased, especially because of his principled stand on abortion. I was disappointed, to say the least, when he voted for 42 day internment but he has redeemed himself with this piece in the Telegraph condemning the proposed further liberalisation of the abortion laws.

Also to be commended for her stand is Nadine Dorries. It's good to know there are still one or two people in Westminster with principle.

And for the hat-trick, hats off to Baroness Manningham Buller. The former MI5 chief blew the lid off the government's pretence that the 'intelligence community' supported 42 day internment. Hats off to her and you can read all about it, and see a video of her speech here.

I don't think I've ever praised three politicos, well two MPs and a Baroness, in one post before.

EU Elections

Next June the 'citizens of the EU' (that's us) go to the polls, well probably around 20% will bother going to the polls. Working for an MEP who like me wants Britain out of the whole sorry mess, it does make me ponder, quite frequently, on these strange circumstances.

I think back regularly to about 20 years ago in London. Along with Mrs B I attended a meeting with Enoch Powell. During the meeting he was asked how he recommended people vote in the next European elections. Mr Powell thought for a second or two before responding that he wouldn't soil his hands on a European ballot paper. His argument was that voting only gave it a veneer of credibility, even a modicum of legitimacy.

In 2004 I was second on the UKIP list of candidates for the North West in the last Euro elections. On the day of the count, but before it began, I appeared on the BBC's Politics Show. Towards the end of the show Arlene McCarthy, a particularly unpleasant Labour MEP, accused us (UKIP) of lacking the principle of Sinn Fein, who refused to take their seats in the Westminster Parliament that they opposed. My thoughts at this comment were that their 'principles' hadn't stopped them taking part in the process or taking the taxpayers' money that came with having MPs. Having said that they are now power sharing in Ulster.

Since 1999 UKIP have had MEPs in Brussels/Strasbourg, 3 originally 10 now. While there have been very real benefits from this representation how near are we to a breakthrough in Westminster, other than defectors from another party? We must remember that even if all 75 or so MEPs elected next year for the UK were UKIP, they would not be able to get us out. In the meantime the building of the EU superstate continues apace.

If we look at a few parliamentary by-election results it is quite a depressing picture. In 2000 I stood in the Preston by-election and got 2.1%. In Crewe and Nantwich this May, nine years after our first MEPs were elected, we got 2.2%. In Henley last month, in the aftermath of the Irish referendum, we got 2.4%. To be honest there have been very occasional flashes of hope such as the Hartlepool by-election (10.2%) but, being slightly harsh and a little cliched, so soon after our success in the 2004 Euros a monkey could have achieved that result, and did actually top it in the following Hartlepool mayoral election when H'Angus was elected. In neighbouring Sedgefield last year we got 1.9%

Is it also inevitable that if a party's highest profile people are over in Brusssels/Strasbourg for a high proportion of their time, that the party's centre of gravity will inevitably move with them? If so focus on Westminster, let alone local elections, becomes virtually impossible.

Politics is an ever changing landscape and we have to constantly observe and question. Blindly following the same route is more than likely to lead you down a blind alley. I'm just wondering if there is another way.

I'm Scared!

Perhaps I'm in some weird kind of temporary parallel universe, but here is an article by Pater Tatchell on the Green Party website. What worries me is that I agree with so much of it.

There are parts with which I diasagree, such as opposing the abolition of the Human Rights Act, but overall, if I compare the Green position and that of David Davis, I would seriously have to think if I were a voter in Haltemprice and Howden, about desserting Mr Davis.

Davis called the by-election for the sole reason of using it as a referendum on the erosion of our freedoms and liberties. On reading the Green Party position I would have to say, in the rarified atmosphere of this bizarre by-election, I would quite probably vote Green on Thursday given the chance.

However, when you start to think about Peter Tatchell as a libertarian you don't have to dig deep to find that he is yet another 'when it suits me' libertarian. So just to balance the argument here is an article from the Liberarian Alliance website questioning Tatchell's libertarianism.

I do feel a bit better for that but would probably still vote Green on Thursday in Haltemprice and Howden, even if only to piss off lots of Yorkshiremen!

Pamplona-San Fermin

I was drawn, perhaps a little ghoulishly, to a BBC headline declaring a man killed on the first day of the San Fermin fiesta in Pamplona. On reading the article I discovered that he was a drunken Irishman who fell off a wall. Sadly, it looks like the poor fella didn't get the chance to run with the bulls before he died.

There have also been demonstrations by green veggie types in their underwear against the bull run and subsequent bullfights. Let the bulls loose on the veggie types I say.

The fiesta has taken place since 1591 and incredibly only 13 deaths have been recorded since they started keeping count in 1924. If you can't get there this page has a superb video which really gives you a flavour of the real excitement of the bull run. Must try to get there again next year.

Pray to Allah?

It seems that two boys have been punished in Alsager, Cheshire for refusing to kneel and pray to Allah in an RE lesson. Additionally several parents have complained to the school, and quite rightly too.

It's one thing learning about other religions in school, but play-acting worshipping is deeply insulting to the religion concerned, as well as the unfortunate participants. It shows a frightening level of ignorance and plain stupidity on the part of the school and the teacher involved, who should be the ones being punished.

I can't help wondering how many flags would have been burnt and British embassies attacked, or even worse, if it had been Muslims being forced to pretend to be Christian.

Le Grand Depart

Members of Team Garmin-Chipotle, the team to watch in this year's Le Tour, with Scotsman David Millar third from left. Not long to wait now, Le Grand Depart is today on ITV4. Let's see how a clean dope-free team compete. Their strategy is to treat each stage as a race in its own right, probably guaranteeing they won't hold the Yellow Jersey in Paris in three weeks time, but they will definitely entertain. Let's hope they at least get to wear yellow once or twice over the next three weeks.

On Yer Bike

A youngster (left) takes delivery of the first New Labour bike.




The nutty Fabian Society is now recommending that big nanny state buys every 10 year old a nice, shiny new bike. What with Alan Johnson wishing the NHS a 'happy birthday' on the Labour Party website, I think the Comrades really have finally and utterly lost the plot.

Supping With The Devil

A wise old friend of mine often uses the phrase: "If you sup with the devil you need a long spoon". She usually uses it in relation to Eurosceptic involvement with the processes and institutions of the EU, meaning the 'parliament' really, but that's another matter. However, Dave Cameron and cuddly Boris could have done worse than bear that saying in mind some time ago.

It has been obvious to reasonably sensible, and objective people, for some time that the Tory Party is beyond help. Dave has gone out of his way to turn it into some pale imitation of Tony's New Labour project but it was, quite frankly, finished way before then. It reminds me of churches that modernise and the pews begin to empty. So the clerics think the answer is to modernise a bit more, and the pews continue to empty. So they get even more carried away with modernity, even when they are closing down churches and can't find enough people to ordain as priests. In a similar way the Tories have embraced political correctness.

The last few days have really shown this with nutty old Boris Johnson (who else?) slap in the middle of the controversy. Admittedly The Grauniad has played a central role in the recent shenanigins, but the Tories are big enough to know the key players in the nation's political life. The problem is that Boris has tried to play the really modern, trendy vicar and he must now be surely emptying his church even quicker than it has been emptying in recent years.

There are two problems. Namely, Ray Lewis and James McGrath. The first is black and is being investigated by an independent inquiry, set up by Boris, after allegations about him surfaced in The Grauniad. The second was an advisor of Johnson's sacked for 'non-racist racist' remarks in an effort to appease the politically correct constituency of London, none of whom probably did, nor ever would, vote for Boris. That is, in a single paragraph, a precis of the situation.

The problem is that once people who do not believe in something, try to be seen to believe in it, they pretty soon come a cropper. So Boris has played racial politics and burnt his fingers pretty badly. Here is why I think that to be the case, and it focuses on Ray Lewis, rather than James McGrath, about whom I have posted previously.

Thanks to political correctness there is now a view that when a Tory politician, such as Johnson, appoints somebody like Lewis to the post of deputy mayor for young people, it might just be a stunt to show how 'right-on' he is. I'm not saying that is true, merely that many people believe that some people cynically appoint a token ethnic minority or two to try and fend off future accusations of racism by the politically correct, an unforeseen consequence of political correctness sadly.

Then, when one of your advisors replies something like: "Well they can leave can't they", to a question about Afro-Caribbean people not wanting to live in a London run by Johnson, you cock it up because you are on territory you didn't want to inhabit in the first place, so you over-react and sack him, just in case not doing so upsets the politically correct.

Now then, The Grauniad. I don't believe that Ray Lewis merely popped up after the mayoral election to be given a job by Boris. It seems to me that they held their knowledge of the allegations back until they could do most damage to Boris, just when things were calming down after the sacking of McGrath. Furthermore, it could get rid of one of the mayor's black advisors leaving him open to future accusations of racism, either way it has made Johnson and the Tories look like buffoons. Also, were the Tories in such a desperate rush to have Lewis on their team that they failed to check his past out properly?

If all that sounds cynical then I make no apologies. The politically correct, or the left-wing, are much more cynical and immoral when it comes to politics and race than the gullible old Tories, as shown this last fortnight by Dave and Boris. The best advice is to be true to your beliefs and principles, at least then you will survive or fall with your conscience intact.

The Perils of Curry

An innocent curry (left) or the basic ingredient for a WMD?

This story made me titter.

It seems that passengers on a flight thought they were under an attack of poison gas by terrorists. The pilot landed in Belgrade and the plane was evacuated and searched. It transpires that the fumes were from a container of curry powder in the hold.

Imagine what kind of gas attack could be carried out if an Islamic fanatic were to eat the contents of the container then go on the rampage! Or for that matter a gang of fat lads after 18 pints followed by an Indian and a couple of pints of Cobra.

Ponglish and Piccadilly Palare

It seems that Poles in the UK have started speaking a mixture of Polish and English known as Ponglish. Read all about it here. It's nothing new though, immigrants have developed strange hybrid languages over the centuries and have influenced the native language too.

Even schoolboys have been at it. When I was at school in the 70s kids spoke their own language called 'backslang'. I often wonder if that influenced Manchester music legend Morrissey who wrote the brilliant 'Piccadilly Palare':

The piccadilly palare
Was just silly slang
Between me and the boys in my gang
Exchanging palare
You wouldnt understand
Good sons like you
Never do.

In this it was a means of communicating without parents and 'good sons' finding out what they were up to. In the past gays had their own lingo, adapted by Kenneth Williams for comedy purposes, and cockney rhyming slang came about so that criminals could communicate without the police understanding them.

So now you know!

A Referendum At Last

It's amazing how 8,000 signatures on a petition in Bury can trigger a referendum on whether to have an elected mayor or not, but no amount of signatures can force one on the Lisbon Treaty.


If the government are saying that the mayor of a borough council plays a more important role in our lives than the EU, thereby requiring a referendum on whether to elect one or not, why waste millions on something as trivial as the EU, let's just leave it!

If the people of Bury do vote for an elected mayor let's hope they vote in the Black Pudding as the people of Hartlepool voted in H'Angus the Monkey.

Team Clean

With "Le Tour" now less than a week away, the Sunday Times had an interesting article this week which included an interview with ex-cyclist Jonathan Vaughters.

Vaughters has got the backing to set up a dope free team in this year's Tour de France, known as Team Clean but actual name Team Garmin-Chipotle. They test their riders more stringently than any cycle racing authorities and deserve to do well this year for that reason alone.

Think I'll be keeping a close eye on them. Interestingly Vaughters first professional team in Europe was a Spanish team run by Opus Dei.