Gordon Brown has the last (insane) laugh

You may think you have seen this before, but take another look. The Red Rag version goes further than Saatchi and Saatchi and works better (in my humble opinion).

Gordon Brown has the last (insane) laugh

Now The Taxman Gets To Open Your Post Before You Do

Slipped in with the budget, this little nugget of Labour Stasiness:

"Tax inspectors are to get wide-ranging powers to open people’s post without their permission for the first time, it can disclosed."

Yes, under the guise of fighting 'tobacco smuggling' the state has now given its apparatchiks the right to open your post when they wish.

Full story in The Telegraph.

Not the Guardian or the BBC, of course.

A vote for Gordon will indeed be a vote for Stasi-Britain.

Now The Taxman Gets To Open Your Post Before You Do

The Witney Poster Conservative central office doesn't want you to see

Tory central office would prefer you not to see this poster  Its from Cameron's own constituency where some disgruntled voters have printed and distributed this around the constituency.


First  printed on UK  Column and blogged by HNL

The Witney Poster Conservative central office doesn't want you to see

Liars & Lobbyists

Following on from the Dispatches programme yesterday evening and the news that Hoon, Hewitt and Byers have been suspended by the Labour Party (Moran was suspended some time ago), here are a few more notes:

Sir John Butterfill, Con, MP for Bournemouth & Chairman of MPs' Pensions Scheme.  Has repaid £17,000 of expenses claimed for his servants' quarters.  Will receive a golden parachute of almost £39k when he stands down at the GE plus his MP's pension.  "I could organise a meeting with a Minister in his office or possibly, if the Minister were interested in getting more briefing, they might come to you...  Can I tell you something very much in confidence?  Well it is quite likely that I will go to the Lords...nothing is certain in this world but ...  that would be nice and it also gives me another string to my bow as far as you're concerned.  Because quite often the right mover and shaker happens to be in the Lords... ..." 6 meetings a year - £30,000+ pa.

Baroness Sally Morgan, Blair Babe, outside earnings of £135k pa  including work for Lloyds Pharmacies.  "As a Peer you've got to be careful that you are not lobbying so there's a kind of,  there's Codes that you have to... ... I can have conversations with people without pushing my client necessarily but I can push a direction of travel on policy... My view is that I'll do anything so long as I'm transparent, reasonably transparent about it..."  Diabetes connection, NHS primary care trusts.

Margaret Moran, Lab, Luton.  Claimed £22k for dry rot repairs on a 2nd home more than 100 miles from her constituency - has repaid £6k.  Golden parachute of almost £55k, plus pension.  "I'm reasonably flexible really I mean particularly if it's something that's sort of you can tell that certain things I go woomph." [sic]  Claimed to have contact with SpAds & Select Committees.  Said she was free to 'work now'.  Has not voted in Parliament since May and not seen her Luton constituents because of "ill health".  Half an hour after the London meeting the investigative reporter telephoned her constituency office and was told she was still too ill to see anyone.

Stephen Byers, former Transport Secretary, former Business Secretary.  "Keep it confidential".  Consolidated Contractors International; National Express; Tesco; Rio Tinto.  Would want between £3k & £5k a day plus expenses.  Blairite.  Says he sees TB 'about once a month' and offered access.  "Depending on how quickly you can get things moving, there's a very good opportunity actually, which is that when the election is called, and this is very soon, we all run off and start campaigning, if we're trying to get re-elected.  The civil servants then spend that month working through all the sort of policy options and it's a great time, if there's an issue where your clients actually want to, to get a regulation changed or some law amended, that's the time to get in to see the civil servants.  Because there's no Ministers around, they've got more time and no one really thinks about that and it's a missed opportunity and I, you know, if I, well I'm giving you this advice now but, is to get in and see them.."  Also said he helped National Express get out of the East Coast Mainline franchise and avoid paying a penalty of £500million to the public purse and boasted of changing labelling legislation to favour Tesco, in concert with Lords Mandelson and Adonis.

Patricia Hewitt, another Blairite, former Health Sec.  Outside earnings of £180k pa from BT, Boots, Barclays and Cinven, the company which owns BUPA (which alone pays her £60k pa for 18 days' work), plus ministerial pension and golden parachute of almost £55k.  "I'm interested in taking on another major Board position ... 2/3 days a month"  Spoke of "subtleties" in working the system (ie loopholes), think tanks and seminars.  Outlined ways to gain access to ministers "without getting trapped by the officials".  Boasted of influencing the Bradley Report on behalf of private healthcare providers.

Geoff Hoon, Blairite, resigned last year, former Defence Secretary.  Claimed expenses for constituency home while renting out his London home and living in a Grace & Favour flat in Whitehall.  Golden parachute of almost £65k plus ministerial pension.  Now reviews NATO strategy (unpaid).  Has added another word to our dictionary: Hoon-Work, which means tracking down lucrative positions in Defence Finance industries.  "I went to see a private equity fund this morning...one of the things they do want me to do is come back and maybe talk in strategic terms about the relationship, if you like between NATO at the higher level and national defence policy, which is the strategic defence review, one down, and how it all fits together so I would be quite happy to do that for your clients.  In a sense I'm devising, I'm developing this policy so [your clients] would get a fairly accurate account of what's going on.  There will be opportunities for American companies in particular to look around at some vulnerable European companies because those companies will become vulnerable as their own governments cut back on defence spending.  I foresee, it's one reason why I'm talking to American private equity firms, I foresee a period where we may well see American companies in effect buying market share in Europe because they will buy up the national champions who are not getting the support they need to continue...  After April, I'm yours."  Daily rate = £3k.

Gordon Brown's spokesman said the PM was "satisfied" that there had been no impropriety on the part of ministers in the Transport and Business departments. "The Prime Minister has seen the statements from the departments and is satisfied that there is no impropriety."   Expect further 'clarification' soon.  Brown may have initially preened himself at the downfall of the Blairite Byers, Hewitt and Hoon but they were Labour Ministers and he is tainted by this, as are Adonis and Mandelson.

Many adjectives could be used to describe this small sample of MPs, Lords and Ladies but this morning further news emerges of yet more MPs breaking Parliamentary rules. Andrew Dismore (Lab, Hendon) has broken the rules more than 90 times, according to the report.

While our Parliamentary representatives squeal all the way home a group of MPs warned that the Ministry of Defence faces a funding black hole of up to £80 billion over the next decade because of poor budgeting and it has emerged that up to 500 soldiers would lose their jobs under a plan to modernise the Army.

With this venal government in charge of defence equipment procurement, any who lose their jobs are the 'lucky' ones.

Liars & Lobbyists

I Don't Really Need This

I was going to post a photograph of the people mentioned in this then I thought I've seen enough of their faces already.

Do we have to tolerate this or this, even though Samantha Cameron is pregnant, or even this on Twitter:

@sarahbrown has sponsored her husband to do the #sportsreliefmile this morning (and put own feet up with cup of tea)

Are we electing a couple or a man (as is the case in this general election)?

It is of no interest to me whatsoever what the wives of these men do or don't do. In fact it's disappointing Nick Clegg's wife felt she had to 'keep up' with the labour and tory women, because I was thinking, just yesterday, how sensible the libdems were keeping out of the 'totty' battle. I was wrong.

Should Scottish politicians ever go down the road of waving their wives in my face then, no matter how much I may like their policies, I will not vote for them. I find the whole PR wives stunt nauseating.

Anyone remember Ruby Wax? An opinionated, loud American who was a TV chat show host some years ago. She's now advising the government.Goodnight Vienna has an excellent post about this. As she says it's just a small niggle in the greater scheme of the mess facing Britain but the cost could well keep quite a few pensioners in comfort for the rest of their lives.

I Don't Really Need This

Dispatches - Lobbygate Live Chat 8:00pm Tonight

Join us at 8:00pm tonight to chat live as Dispatches exposes Lobbygate II.

Starring Stephen Byers as the Taxi, Geoff Hoon as a Hoon & Patricia Hewitt as ... well we will see tonight.

Join the chat here

Dispatches - Lobbygate Live Chat 8:00pm Tonight

Ask the Queen to strip Stephen Byers of his Privy Council Membership

Ask the Queen to strip Stephen Byers of his Privy Council Membership

Ask the Queen to strip Stephen Byers of his Privy Council Membership

Who Needs ID Cards?

At first glance the government's proposal for a 'paperless society'  seems good: quicker, streamlined, tree-saving and cheaper with no more trips to the local job centre, doctor's surgery or finding you've just run out of stamps.  For time-pressed people who have no trouble getting around on the internet it seems too good to be true - imagine being able to book an appointment at your doctor's surgery at two in the morning.

Reality check:

"Tens of thousands of public sector jobs will go".   Go where?  To the dole queue?  Another created public sector job?
"Jobcentres, tax offices, DVLA local centres, passport  offices and housing benefit offices will be phased out."  Will the money raised go back into the public purse and be spent on projects that actually benefit British people and lift living standards?
The government's track record on IT projects is questionable to say the least;  they're way overdue and vastly more expensive than original projections.  Has one of them ever come in on time and on cost?
Restricted access: not everyone has broadband or even a computer.
Privacy issues - not only from data theft but the government itself.

Consider this:

"A unique identifier will  allow citizens to apply for a place for their child at school, book a  doctor’s appointment, claim benefits, get a new passport, pay council  tax or  register a car from their computer at home...the secure site will be expanded to allow people to  interact with their children’s teachers or ask medical advice from their   doctor through a government version of Facebook."

A unique identifier, your ISP logged, every movement between government departments tracked and collated.  In theory some government jobsworth in a windowless office in Whitehall could have a red alert when you sneeze.

Tim Berners-Lee, Martha Lane-Fox and the Conservatives are on board.

Like the:
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
Anti-terrorism  Crime & Security Act 2001
Civil Contingencies Act 2004
Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
Coroners & Justice Act 2009
in the hands of less than benign government the effects of this proposal could be draconian and have hidden consequences.
Calling England

Who Needs ID Cards?

UK - 10.61 million people of working age without work

Figures have been released today which claim to show that the number of people unemployed in the UK has fallen and show a jobless rate of 7.8% with total unemployment standing at 2.45 million for the three months to January. So down 33,000 on the figure for the previous three months.

However a quick look at the ONS data reveals the smoke and mirrors. The number of people in work actually fell in the quarter, by 54,000 to 28.86 million. So how is it that both the number of people in work and the number of people out of work fell, did I miss a plague, a famine, a third world war? For only a massive reduction in the population could cause this surely.

Well no actually the ONS has the answer "unemployment and employment were both falling because of a rising number of people being classed as economically inactive. This category includes students and those on long-term sick leave, as well as those who have stopped looking for a job."

Ah, so that's it, unemployment has fallen because people have stopped looking for a job. FFS!

Long-term unemployment, covering those out of work for more than a year, rose by 61,000 to 687,000 a massive quarterly rise of almost 10%!

The employment rate for the three months to January 2010 was 72.2 per cent. The rate is down 0.3 on the quarter and it has not been lower since the three months to November 1996.

The number of inactive people of working age increased by 149,000 over the quarter to reach 21.5% a record high of 8.16 million plus a further 2.45 million making a total of 10.61 million people of working age who are without work.

When Conservative MP Theresa may challenged Labour MP Jim Night on the Daily Politics about the 8.16 million inactive people of working age he implied they are mostly students. They are not. This figure includes 2.31 million students, which although the highest figure since comparable records began is only a little over a quarter of the total.

The number of people in public sector employment was 6.10 million in December 2009, up 7,000 from September 2009. The number of people in private sector employment was 22.76 million, down 61,000 from September 2009.

The lesson is - with this government - always read the fine print.

From The Red Rag

UK - 10.61 million people of working age without work

Union Cash And The Labour Party

Labour has made a big deal about the effect that Lord Ashcroft's cash has had on the Conservatives.  What they won't acknowledge in public is that they have numerous non-dom sources of cash themselves.  The Conservatives today published a paper about another source of cash funding their Labour campaign, that of cash from the Unite Union. The Conservatives are taking the fight to the Unions and to Charlie Whelan in particular.

The Paper does a good job in spelling out the financial and political influence the Union has over the Labour Party and even spells out where the two organisations have effective merged into one operation.  The underlying effect is that the Unite Union has a hand in running the country, and none of us voted for that!  They have taken advantage of the poor finances of the Labour Party and engineered themselves into positions of influence on public policy.  It is common knowledge that soon after Gordon Brown took over the Labour Party its finances (which he had managed) were in a dire state.  What is a little less known is that Unite saved the Labour Party from bankruptcy, and that Unite has spent £11m of its members money since Gordon Brown took over installing it's preferred candidates and buying influence with the Governing Party. 

If Gordon Brown is prepared to hand over (or hand back..) control of the Labour Party after he crippled them financially can we really trust his with our futures after he has crippled the country financially?

If you are interested, go read the report, it is a nice easy read yet is actually rather comprehensive given the depth of individual facts, quotes and donations listed. 


Total donations to Labour CLPs. Since Q3 2005, Unite has donated £460,561.81 to 148 Labour CLPs.
MP seats bankrolled by Unite (90 CLPs):

Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside)
Sandra Osborne (Ayr Carrick and Cumnock)
Margaret Hodge MBE (Barking)
Eric Illsley (Barnsley Central)
John Mann (Bassetlaw)
Patrick Hall (Bedford)
Gisela Stuart (Birmingham Edgbaston)
Richard Burden (Birmingham Northfield)
Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton)
David Crausby (Bolton North East)
Terry Rooney (Bradford East)
Gerry Sutcliffe (Bradford South)
Madeleine Moon (Bridgend)
Dawn Primarolo (Bristol South)
Nick Palmer (Broxtowe)
Ivan Lewis (Bury South)
Wayne David (Caerphilly)
Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley)
Phil Hope (Corby)
Bob Ainsworth (Coventry North East)
Jim Cunningham (Coventry South)
Jon Cruddas (Dagenham and Rainham)
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish)
Margaret Beckett (Derby South)
Ed Miliband (Doncaster North)
Jim Knight (Dorset South)
Gwyn Prosser (Dover)
Ian Austin (Dudley North)
Andy Love (Edmonton)
Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Clive Efford (Eltham)
Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood)
Vernon Coaker (Gedling)
Paul Clark (Gillingham and Rainham)
Ann McKechin (Glasgow North)
William Bain (Glasgow North East)
John Robertson (Glasgow North West)
Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West)
Parmjit Dhanda (Gloucester)
Anthony Wright (Great Yarmouth)
Linda Riordan (Halifax)
Bill Rammell (Harlow)
Tony McNulty (Harrow East)
Gareth Thomas (Harrow West)
Jim Dobbin (Heywood and Middleton)
Alan Johnson (Hull West and Hessle)
David Cairns (Inverclyde)
Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury)
Dr Roger Berry (Kingswood)
Gordon Brown (Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath)
George Howarth (Knowsley)
Jimmy Hood (Lanark and Hamilton East)
Hilary Benn (Leeds Central)
George Mudie (Leeds East)
Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East)
Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and Falkirk East)
Tony Lloyd (Manchester Central)
Dr Phyllis Starkey (Milton Keynes South)
Ed Balls (Morley and Outwood)
Dai Havard (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Paul Farrelly (Newcastle under Lyme)
Yvette Cooper (Normanton Pontefract and Castleford)
Sally Keeble (Northampton North)
Charles Clarke (Norwich South)
John Heppell (Nottingham East)
Douglas Alexander (Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Linda Gilroy (Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Chris Bryant (Rhondda)
Kevin Barron (Rother Valley)
Phil Wilson (Sedgefield)
Dan Norris (Somerset North East)
Angela Smith (South Basildon and East Thurrock)
John Denham (Southampton Itchen)
Alan Whitehead (Southampton Test)
Dave Watts (St Helens North)
Shaun Woodward (St Helens South and Whiston)
Anne McGuire (Stirling)
Robert Flello (Stoke on Trent South)
Siân C. James (Swansea East)
Anne Snelgrove (Swindon South)
David Wright (Telford)
Angela Eagle (Wallasey)
John Spellar (Warley)
John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne)
Tom Watson (West Bromwich East)
Rob Marris (Wolverhampton South West)
Tony Cunningham (Workington)
Ian Lucas (Wrexham)
Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Albert Owen (Ynys Mon)

PPC seats bankrolled by Unite (58 CLPs):

Ronald Hughes (Aberconwy)
New candidate tba (Ashfield)**
Alan Strickland (Berwick upon Tweed)
Ian Saunders (Beverley and Holderness)
Jack Dromey (Birmingham Erdington)
New candidate tba (Birmingham Selly Oak)**
New candidate tba (Blackpool North and Cleveleys)**
Nancy Platts (Brighton Pavillion)
Julie Cooper (Burnley)
Maryam Khan (Bury North)
Stephenie Booth (Calder Valley)
Jude Robinson (Camborne and Redruth)
Jenny Rathbone (Cardiff Central)
Ivan Henderson (Clacton)
Debbie Abrahams (Colne Valley)
Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch
West)
Chris Williamson (Derby North)
Michael Edwards (Derbyshire South)
New candidate tba (Dunbartonshire West)**
Pat Glass (Durham North West)
Grahame Morris (Easington)
Leo Barraghclough (Eastleigh)
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East)
New candidate tba (Edinburgh South)**
Ian Boulton (Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Alison Moore (Finchley and Golders Green)
Ian Mearns (Gateshead)
Daniel Marten (Haltemprice and Howden)
Phillippa Roberts (Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Karen Jennings (Hornsey and Wood Green)
Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South)
Mike Robb (Inverness Nairn Badenoch and Strathspey)
Mark Chiverton (Isle of Wight)
Clive Grunshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Rachel Reeves (Leeds West)
Liz Kendall (Leicester West)
Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield)
New candidate tba (Middlesbrough South and Cleveland
East)**
Andrew Pakes (Milton Keynes North)
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
John Cook (Norwich North)
Jayne Innes (Nuneaton)
Anneliese Dodds (Reading East)
Naz Sarkar (Reading West)
Simon Danczuk (Rochdale)
New candidate tba (Rutherglen and Hamilton West)**
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central)
Valerie Shawcross AM CBE (Southwark North and
Bermondsey)
New candidate tba (Stalybridge and Hyde)**
Chuka Umunna (Streatham)
Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central)
Geraint Davies (Swansea West)
Victor Agarwal (Swindon North)
Carl Morris (Thurrock)
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow)
New candidate tba (Weaver Vale)**
Lisa Nandy (Wigan)
Andrew Judge (Wimbledon)

**Denotes where a new candidate has not yet been
announced.

Note:
In this [the source] document, Labour MP CLPs are defined as those
where the current Labour MP is standing for re-election
this year.
PPC CLPs are referred to as those where the current
Labour MP is not standing for re-election or where there
is no Labour incumbent.



Cross-posted.

Union Cash And The Labour Party

Enough With The Nudging Already!

MINDSPACE. That's a snappy little title for a report on influencing behaviour through public policy isn't it?

"Messenger: we are heavily influenced by who communicates information
Incentives: our responses to incentives are shaped by predictable mental shortcuts such as strongly avoiding losses
Norms: we are strongly influenced by what others do
Defaults: we "go with the flow" of pre-set options
Salience: our attention is drawn to what is novel and seems relevant to us
Priming: our acts are often influenced by sub-conscious cues
Affect: our emotional associations can powerfully shape our actions
Commitments: we seek to be consistent with our public promises, and reciprocate acts
Ego: we act in ways that make us feel better about ourselves"

When they say 'we', of course they don't mean themselves, they mean 'citizens, actors, stake-holders, the public': they mean 'they'.

Look at the man-boy in this explanatory video; he's one of the authors of the report. I can't comment on what he's saying, because the audio has now packed up, but I'm sure it's all very worthy and for the good of the cause.

I've had enough of these wet-behind-the-ears policy wonks being given taxpayers' money so they can devise more and better ways of making us conform to the government's ideal, monochrome, biddable citizen. And this is just one small report amongst hundreds; there are thousands of man-boys like Hallswood working throughout the EU and the UN - this one is just a tiny, tiny cog. So, what does that make us, the people they seek to control? Ants, that's what it makes us. Irrelevant, wrapped up in our little bubbles with plenty of soma to keep us busy; working hard to pay our bills, slightly niggled and discontented without the energy or time to question why.

I've had enough of being shaped and nudged. I've had enough of being told how to behave, what to do, where to go, what to eat, what to drink, what to think, what to say. If you ever think that getting an ID card is a good idea, ask yourself why. If you ever think that the world government's* stance on global warming is right, ask yourself why. If you ever think that you're not getting the representation in Parliament you voted for, ask yourself why. Question and challenge - every time.
*Yes, it's here already in all but name; it's just that we can't see the wood for the trees.

Am I still looking forward to coming home?


Calling England

Enough With The Nudging Already!

Lord Monckton warns of Climate Change Treaty resurrection in Bonn

Please distribute this widely - copy it as is - or change it as you see 

fit, but please get the word out to as many people as possible.

Your freedom and democracy are in imminent peril 

for a threat that doesn't exist.

Lord Monckton warns us of the impending Bonn Climate conference - another Copenhagen, but this time, probably more devious in its conception.

Video produced on March 13th, 2010.



Transcript:

This is Christopher Monckton.

They're at it again.

The United Nations, having abjectly failed at Copenhagen in December of 2009 to impose upon the world a totally unnecessary, wickedly expensive, democracy-destroying world government treaty, it has now decided to hold an emergency meeting of states, party to the United Nations Framework Convention in Bonn and there, seven months before the next Cancun round, they're going to try to stitch together a deal to take democracy and freedom and prosperity away, worldwide, forever and, to make themselves very, very rich. And to make you who are watching this video, very, very poor.

Now why is this a bad idea?

First of all, government of the people, by the people, and for the people is a rare and precious thing. Very few countries around the world have it.

The United States in particular, has it, and has it very strongly. And if you carelessly transfer the powers of the government whom you elect to a world government that no-one will elect, and give that government supreme powers of taxation, of economic intervention, of environmental intervention, over the heads of your elected representatives in your country, then you will carelessly have thrown your democracy and your freedom away.

And you will have done so in the name of saving the planet from a threat which does not, in fact, exist.

So what are these representatives going to do?

They're going to meet and discuss how to take your freedom away.

What could you do about it?

You should telephone them. That's the way to do it best. That's what gets noticed.

Telephone your elected representative. If you're in the United States, you telephone your senators; there are two of them for each state.

Telephone them, in Washington. Try to speak to the Senator himself, or to a senior staffer. Do not be fobbed off with a secretary, or an intern, or receptionist, or telephonist.

Get throught to a staffer or to a senator - say there is no need for any climate treaty, and you, in the Senate, must understand that and must not pass any climate treaty.

Get on that telephone.

OK, you may have done it before. You may have done it just before the Copenhagen debacle.

Why did Copenhagen fail?

Because so many millions of you did ring your senators, and several of them got in touch with your President, and your President realised that the treaty draft that would have set up a world government would not pass.

And so, that treaty draft was very quietly dropped for a time; but now they're back. They're trying again. They will try in Bonn. They will try in Cancun. They will try next year in South Africa.

And if they haven't succeeded by then, they will try at Rio in 2012, the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit that started all of this nonsense.

But every step of the way, and on every occasion, you must telephone, telphone your senator and say "this treaty shall not pass".

Do it now, because it's your democracy.

Use it or lose it.

You have until the 9th of April to call your democratic representatives - Senators, MPs and MEPs (although we know Nigel Farage will be on top of it!). Don't wait! Do it now!

Bonn UNFCCC timetable
Cancun UNFCCC date and the calendar of further meetings

Hat tip: Freedom-2-Choose  and CFACT

Reuters' coverage (Hat tip: Banned)


Cross-posted

Lord Monckton warns of Climate Change Treaty resurrection in Bonn

Looking For A Job

I'm an intelligent guy who acknowledges his short-comings and is determined to learn lessons.  I have a pretty wife who cooks jolly good family meals and has a career in her own right.  I'm a pretty messy kind of guy - just like you.  I'm well-versed in PR but could do better and I'm seeking a new appointment in May 2010.  I am currently Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. 

Ethics and morality - negotiable.

Calling England

Looking For A Job

Roll Over Or Fight Time...

(Strong language warning - don't read further or listen to the videos)

... is coming soon to a voting booth or street near you if Brown's speech to the Progressive Governance Conference is anything to go by.  We are finished.  They came in by stealth, took advantage of our phlegmatic nature ("mustn't grumble") and robbed us blind.  The clip comes, funnily enough, from the BBC:



They're so sure of themselves it frightens me - they don't listen; they treat us like tax-fodder and worse than a parent would treat a child.  They fuck with our laws, they fuck with our sovereignty, they fuck with our heads.  Brown says he wants to look back on today from a hundred years hence and read about his place in history - I'd quite like that too.

This video is the epitome of the past thirteen years and the more I hear it, the more encouraged I am that Brown's version of history won't prevail:

Fuck You Gordon Brown
Jelly Babies galore to GrumpyOldTwat

Roll Over Or Fight Time...

Honourable Men Indeed !!

No I am not talking about members of the armed forces.

I am talking about this group.

Pakistan's entire World Cup hockey squad have announced their international retirement after finishing last at the 12-team tournament in India.

Pakistan lost 3-2 to Canada on Thursday which condemned them to 12th place, their worst ever showing at the tournament.

"The players including captain Zeeshan Ashraf have announced their retirements and intimated this to the Pakistan Hockey Federation president," a federation spokesman said.

"All the players in the team accept their responsibility for the humiliating performance in the World Cup and have decided to retire," Ashraf told Geo News channel from New Delhi.

Earlier, the PHF said it had sacked coach Shahid Ali Khan as well as the team manager and selection committee.

"I have sacked the team management and the national selection committee because of our shameful performance in the World Cup," PHF president Qasim Zia said.


I think this is great...................some honour.

Some men who have said and I quote a "shameful performance"......."humiliating".

Now if our PM was to sit down and think, was to view his humiliating performances, his shameful handling of various issues................why could he not do the honourable this and just go????????

But still 56 days and counting !!!!!Shamelessly cross posted

Honourable Men Indeed !!

Labour's In Trouble...

...if this is the best they can do:

Dear XXX

The Times today carries an extensive analysis of a poll in the key marginal seats by Populus which puts Labour and the Tories neck and neck at 38 per cent. It is confirmation of a spate of recent articles that shows underlying the headlines the Tories have not sealed the deal with the electorate. It also excludes the 50 most marginal seats which are assumed to go Tory. But we know that the Unite membership in those 50 seats far exceeds the majority being defended. If it is game on in the 100 quoted, it must be battle joined in the 50 they have excluded.

This is all the more reason why we need to build on the momentum from last week's record number of calls made to Unite members in the key seats. There's another "Talk Thursday" this week and regional phone banks have been organised across the UK for this Saturday. Please get involved and make those "Two calls a day to keep the Tories away".

If you are unsure as to where your regional phone bank is this Saturday or are having problems gaining access to the virtual phone bank, please contact me or my colleague Andrew Brady at andrew.brady@unitetheunion.org

All the best,

Charlie Whelan
Political Director

You've got to laugh.  It goes without saying, of course, that Charlie Whelan doesn't work for the Labour Party and Gordon Brown has never heard of him or a Union called Unite.

Goodnight Vienna

Labour's In Trouble...

Conservative FOI exposes Brown's ineptitude at defence budgeting

Gordon Brown's incompetence in setting military budgets has been laid bare by the Tories today. First take a look at this exchange from PMQs earlier today:

Cameron told Brown at prime minister's questions that the government had fought two wars "on a peacetime budget" and that the Treasury – under his stewardship as chancellor – had "massively underestimated" the cost of the conflict in Afghanistan.

"Following your evidence one former chief of the defence staff said you were being 'disingenuous', another said you were 'dissembling'. Both these people worked with you," said Cameron.

Brown hit back, saying defence spending had risen "every year" and that £9bn had been poured into the operation in Afghanistan, on top of the general defence budget.

So there you have it - the additional cost so far is £9 billion.

Now let us see what an FOI request by the Conservatives has revealed were treasury estimates:

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

So there you have it hundreds of millions, not over nine billion. Would you trust this man with Britain's economy?

From The Red Rag

Conservative FOI exposes Brown's ineptitude at defence budgeting

Letter to the President

LETTER FROM A PROCTER AND GAMBLE EXECUTIVE TO THE PRESIDENT

THE LAST SENTENCE IS THE MOST CHILLING

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an

acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest

rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize

him as the foremost leader in change management.. Lou changed the way

America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to

be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to

Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and

Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.

AN OPEN LETTER TO

PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike

any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about

you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive

Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no

visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth

growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus

don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming

others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned

yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to

publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail..

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America '

crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style

country where the government sector dominates instead of the

private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system

with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly

capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose

that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of

living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics

against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from

challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider

opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both

omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything

you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the

Limbaugh's, Hannitys, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing,

conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will

probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it.

Big surprise. Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over

500,000 hits. Keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed

is that good men do nothing.. It's happening right now.

Letter to the President

MSM Gagged - Again

Not for the first time the government is trying to suppress information - the excuse this time is that it wouldn't be appropriate for comment on the Afghan war to be made public in the run-up to the GE.  I wonder why!  The information itself came in the form of a leaked memo.  Nick Gurr, the MoD’s director of media and communication, is the author of the memo: “Purdah - Key Principles for    Defence Communicators.”    

British journalists and TV crews are to be banned from the Afghan front  line once a date for the election has been set, while senior officers will be prohibited from making public speeches and talking to reporters.

MoD websites will also be “cleansed” of any “non-factual” material  including    anything containing troops’ opinions of the war, according to a memo leaked to the Daily Telegraph.

It looks as though the blogosphere will have to step into the breach, again.

Goodnight Vienna

MSM Gagged - Again

Cervical cancer vaccine INCREASES cancer risk by 44%

So why is the government coercing teenagers to have the jab?



Dr Sherri Tenpenny writes:

From Maine to Maui, Vancouver to Miami, autism rates across North America are soaring. As of February, 2010, there are an estimated 300,000 severely autistic children in this country -- requiring nearly $9billion per year in services. Then numbers in Canada are equally staggering. Considering the country’s much smaller population, autism affects an estimated 190,000 children in Canada. And these numbers don’t reflect the millions of children "on the spectrum" in both countries.

Parents include OT, PT and speech therapy into their routine, approaching these activities as though they are a normal part of childhood, like soccer and piano lessons. Doctors have started to say, "Well, two years is when kids get asthma", as though becoming asthmatic is a growth milestone.

There is one unifying factor affecting children, from sea to shining sea. It’s not genetics; genetics between families are different. It’s not environmental exposures; some kids live in the Projects, some live in Gated Communities. It’s not food; some kids eat only organic, some eat mostly McDonalds. It’s not exercise; some kids are athletes; others are couch potatoes.

What touches almost all children and is the most likely ‘smoking gun’ for the epidemic of chronic illness and autism across North America (and beyond), are childhood vaccinations.

Testimonies of Gardasil victims.

Meanwhile, Bill Gates, of Micro$not bloatware fame, advocates using vaccines to cull the population.

No, really!



I feel a boycott of Micro$not products coming on.

Cross-posted

Cervical cancer vaccine INCREASES cancer risk by 44%

What Has Europe Done For Us?

Well, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance has issued this 'Monitoring' Report, for one thing.  Pages 37-38 are particularly interesting as they address the media and political parties.  ECRI reminds the government that they have it within their power to ban  political parties and that the media should adhere to strict guidelines laid down in 2003.   Apparently we're not trying hard enough to accommodate the whole world and his mother although ECRI says they do detect 'encouraging signs'.

They have a finger in every British pie; there are placemen in all the British institutions, put there with the connivance of successive governments and to rid ourselves of them would probably seriously destabilise the country. It's an intricate network of deceit and betrayal.
Goodnight Vienna

What Has Europe Done For Us?

Defiant Nigel Farage apologises to bank clerks

After being censured and fined by the EU for attacking van Rompuy in the EP, Nigel Farage refuses to apologise to the EP, Belgium and van wotshisname - and instead apologises to bank clerks.

The charisma of the man McDoom must truly hate!



Hat tip: UKIPer, Paul Renfry

The charisma of a bank clerk - Nigel has a point! (Hat tip: UKIP TV):



Cross-posted

Defiant Nigel Farage apologises to bank clerks