Another Fine Mess Gordon

The Attorney General Baroness Scotland has today been fined £5,000 for her employment of an illegal immigrant who overstayed on a student visa by five years.

The fine was for failing to keep copies of documents that The Baroness claims she checked to validate that the worker was legally entitled to work in the UK. No further action from the UK Border Agency or from The Prime Minister will follow.

The law that has been broken was advised upon by the Attorney General during its conception, as the AG acts as lawyer to the Government. In it, specific provisions were worded to ensure that employers keep copies of documents as failure to produce any documentation would not be a defence against the specific law. It is a long held standing in English Law that Ignorance of the law is not a defence against it, and all judges are held to apply this principle. There is no specific need to word such a provision really unless specific onus is required – so entrenched is the notion to law.

As such, to have an Attorney General now who advised and helped frame a law which included a provision that the onus of proof falls to the accused and that only the production of evidence showing pro-forma checks were made (in this case, photocopies of documents) to then fall foul of that law is breathtakingly incompetent for somebody of the Attorney Generals position. It is the Attorney General equivalent of wile e coyote strapping himself to an Acme missile in the pursuit of a blue feathered dinner only to go and blow himself up – Perhaps even more incompetent than that.

The whole situation has all of the hallmarks of a whitewash about it.

I say Whitewash because a £5,000 fine does not begin to resolve this little problem and yet again I think Gordon Brown has staggeringly underestimated the knock on effect this is going to have; yet seems to be a player in getting into the rush to investigation, fine, slap on the wrist, move along now, la la la we don’t care, we’re not listening chain of events that has come to pass in under a week.

I am upset, and I think you are too.

Firstly, The Attorney Generals position is just the latest of high offices in our Kingdom that has been besmirched by the appointment to that office of somebody capable of causing exceptional embarrassment to that post. It is just however the latest in a long line of appointments under this Labour Government; the frequency of scandals seems to have increased two-fold since Gordon Browns coronation. By simply flying off to the US to play World Statesman and by failing to sack Baroness Scotland, Brown has again, for the umpteenth time shown himself to be indecisive and completely unable to provide a Government of any talents, let alone of “all talents”. With crystal clarity the public gaze upon a man who yet again put his own and his party’s perceptions ahead of doing the right thing and acting in the best interests of this country. The moment the fine was issued the Prime Minister should have implemented the change, to which he would have already had lined up – that is what a leader would have done.

Secondly, the hiring of illegal immigrants is a known and frequently used tactic of employers to avoid paying minimum wage to employees. The minimum wage is the crown jewel in 12 years of Labour government, perhaps the only initative left that retains broad popularity and reminds all of us of the promise that we all felt of what was to come. There has been no word however if the Baroness was avoiding paying her worker minimum wage, which would be another offence, both under the law and in terms of holding a grand position within a government, no matter how discredited, to whom not only brought in the legislation for that minimum wage, but have and will rely upon its fair introduction as a campaigning point. Could Labour even mention minimum wage if their own AG was found to have ignored it?

It adds to the feeling over cover up that we are not informed one way or the other; could the Baroness still find herself in an embarrassing position on this?

Thirdly, when will it all end? I seem to repeat myself on this point over and over here on my blog (and VOTR) but for every single scandal, even today, Labour follows the same instincts, the same alienating formula of self preservation. Try to change the story, deny, attack others… get found out, try to hold on to high paying, high powered position… blame the Tories, stuff the voters, stuff doing “the right thing”, quick, get Rosa, Kevin and Polly to write about how nice we are and how the Tories will starve your babies to feed their butlers…. Anyone remember what the story was, no? Great, pass the expense forms.

This brings us onto the next point. Brown is trying to draw a line under this, but the Sunday Times has already revealed that Wile e coyote, er sorry, Baroness Scotland, has claimed £170,000 for an allowance paid to Lords who love outside of London, whilst living in Chiswick, which is in, er, London. I am guessing the Baroness did not photocopy those claim forms either before submitting them. Again, ignorance cannot be a defence against fraudulent claims. The Government should either swiftly investigate and publish the relevant paperwork or call the Serious Fraud Squad – which conveniently Baroness Scotland should have the phone number for given that in her role as Attorney General she has supervisory power over it. And of course, nobody bats an eyelid that someone with supervisory powers over the Serious Fraud Squad could be involved in a massive fraud themselves... that is just modern Britain.

Perhaps Gordon Brown could clear up whether he thinks this series of events have come about because the Attorney General is a crook, or because she is grossly incompetent, or is ita bit of both? If he could elaborate on that, whilst explaining why she still has a job I think a lot of people would be much clearer.

With Brown in charge there is no one to push these lunatics over, because he’s one of them. They will cling on, and he will until next year as clearly too many of Labour Parliamentary presence have too much to lose if Brown goes. They are fighting to save each other and their own jobs now. They’re alright, but what about the rest of us who live here?

When Labour polls in the mid twenty percent range I find it hard to believe there are still people in this country that can abide by such loose and questionable behaviour in our governing officials.

If Brown had of sacked the Baroness he would have legitimately got a bump in the polls for doing the right thing, and more than that for being seen to act decisively. This would have sent a warning to rebels ahead of the Conference, and may have wiped away some of the questions about a change of leadership. With a conference platform and feeling bold, Gordon Brown could have used the conference to spell out difference in Labour and Conservative policy and cuts – he could have regained at least some of the agenda and perhaps even put dents in Conservative plans for their conference. He would have acted positive and perhaps got a positive result.

Instead… well, you know the rest.

Cross-Posted

Another Fine Mess Gordon

An Analysis of Labour Government Policy

REST OF THE WORLD VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

THE END

------------------------------------------------------------------------

LABOUR GOVERNMENT THE UK VERSION

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper, are cold and starving.

The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper; with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.

The British press inform people that they should be ashamed that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so, while others have plenty.

The Labour Party, Greenpeace, Animal Rights and The Grasshopper Council of GB demonstrate in front of the squirrel's house. The BBC, interrupting a cultural festival special from Notting Hill with breaking news, broadcasts a multi-cultural choir singing 'We shall overcome'.

Ken Livingstone rants in an interview with Trevor McDonald that the squirrel got rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay his 'fair share' and increases the charge for squirrels to enter inner London .

In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The squirrel's taxes are reassessed. He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court the grasshopper did not want to work. The grasshopper is provided with a council house, financial aid to furnish it and an account with a local taxi firm to ensure he can be socially mobile. The squirrel's food is seized and re distributed to the more needy members of society, in this case the grasshopper.

Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home. The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. On arrival they tried to blow up the airport because of Britain 's apparent love of dogs.

The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempted bombing but were immediately released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody. Initial moves to return them to their own country were abandoned, because it was feared they would face death by the mice. The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from people's credit cards.

A Panorama special shows the grasshopper finishing up the last of the squirrel's food, though spring is still months away, while the council house he is in, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to maintain the house. He is shown to be taking drugs. Inadequate government funding is blamed for the grasshoppers' drug 'illness'.

The cats seek recompense in the British courts for their treatment since arrival in UK .

The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary to get money for his drugs habit. He is imprisoned but released immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is placed in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise him.. Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched robbery.

A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost £10,000,000 and state the obvious, is set up. Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for
grasshoppers and legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is increased. The government praises the asylum-seeking cats for enriching Britain 's multicultural diversity, and dogs are criticised by the government for failing to befriend the cats.

The grasshopper dies of a drug overdose. The usual sections of the press blame it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison. They call for the resignation of a government minister.

The cats are paid a million pounds each because their rights were infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in the United Kingdom .

The squirrel, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing, the burglaries and robberies have to pay an additional percentage on their credit cards to cover losses. Their taxes are increased to pay for law and order, and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 because of a shortfall in government funds.

THE END

Cross posted from The Last of the Few Blog

An Analysis of Labour Government Policy

The Price At The Pump

Petrol at the pump has hit 105.9p per litre at my local filling station, yet despite the high price and the fact that oil prices are expected to rise for the rest of this year the Government is adding a further 2p per litre in duty from midnight tonight (2.3p including VAT).

At a time when families are feeling the pinch, and considering the already high levels of duty already collected on fuel, why is the Government pressing ahead with this raise? With the increases in oil price in the last two years prices are up about 40p in a litre already, and that includes additional VAT being collected. If the Conservatives have opposed this move they have not been vocal enough about it, as I haven’t heard any protest from anyone.

If the government really wants to help poor people it should reverse immediately the increase in fuel duty and let everyone of us know what they are doing to help reduce the price of petrol to UK consumers; excluding of course their recently uncovered policy of trading convicted terrorists for oil contracts.



Update 01-Sep-09: Tarquin helpfully provides the below graph which he rightly mentions makes the point much better than words can:

The Price At The Pump

Afghanistan: roll call of British deaths since 2001

Further to GOT's Troops tribute post, here is a roll call of the British service personnel who have died since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001.



2002

APRIL

:: Private Darren George. The Royal Anglian Regiment.

AUGUST

:: Sergeant Robert Busuttil, 30. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Corporal John Gregory, 30. The Royal Logistic Corps.


2004

JANUARY

:: Private Jonathan Kitulagoda, 23, from Plymouth, Devon. The Rifle Volunteers.


2005

OCTOBER

:: Lance Corporal Steven Sherwood, 23, from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. 1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry.


2006

MARCH

:: Corporal Mark Cridge, 25. 7 Signal Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Peter Craddock. 1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment.

JUNE

:: Captain Jim Philippson, 29, from St Albans, Hertfordshire. 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery.

:: Captain David Patten, 38. The Parachute Regiment.

:: Sergeant Paul Bartlett, 35. The Royal Marines.

JULY

:: Corporal Peter Thorpe, 27, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The Royal Signals.

:: Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, 24, from Birmingham. The Intelligence Corps.

:: Private Damien Jackson, 19, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear. 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

AUGUST

:: Captain Alex Eida, 29, from Hooley, Surrey. 7 Parachute Regiment The Royal Horse Artillery .

:: 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Johnson, 24, from Windsor. The Household Cavalry Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Ross Nicholls, 27, from Edinburgh. The Blues and Royals.

:: Private Andrew Cutts, 19, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Private Leigh Reeves, 25, from Leicester. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Lance Corporal Sean Tansey, 26, from Newcastle. The Life Guards.

:: Corporal Bryan Budd, 29, from Ripon, North Yorkshire. 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Jonathan Hetherington, 22, from Salisbury, Wiltshire. 14 Signal Regiment.

SEPTEMBER

:: Ranger Anare Draiva, 27, from Fiji. 1 Royal Irish Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead, 29, from Bearley, Warwickshire. 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment.

:: Flight Lieutenant Steven Johnson, 38, from Collingham, Notts. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Lieutenant Leigh Mitchelmore, 28, from Bournemouth, Hants. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Lieutenant Gareth Nicholas, 40, from Redruth, Cornwall. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Lieutenant Allan Squires, 39, from Clatterbridge, Merseyside. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Lieutenant Steven Swarbrick, 28, from Liverpool. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Sergeant Gary Andrews, 48, from Tankerton, Kent. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Sergeant Stephen Beattie, 42, from Dundee. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Sergeant Gerard Bell, 48, from Ely, Cambs. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Flight Sergeant Adrian Davies, 49, from Amersham, Bucks. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Sergeant Benjamin Knight, 25, from Bridgwater, Somerset. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Sergeant John Langton, 29, from Liverpool. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Sergeant Gary Quilliam, 42, from Manchester. 120 Squadron RAF.

:: Lance Corporal Oliver Dicketts, 27, from Wadhurst, East Sussex. 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Joseph Windall, 22, from Hazlemere, Bucks. Royal Marines.

:: Private Craig O'Donnell, 24, from Clydebank, Dunbartonshire. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

:: Corporal Mark Wright, 27, from Edinburgh. 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Luke McCulloch, 21. 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment.

OCTOBER

:: Marine Gary Wright, 22, from Glasgow. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

DECEMBER

:: Marine Jonathan Wigley, 21, from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Richard Watson, 23, from Caterham, Surrey. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Lance Bombardier James Dwyer, 22, from South Africa. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.


2007

JANUARY

:: Marine Thomas Curry, 21, from east London. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Lance Corporal Mathew Ford, 30, from Immingham, Lincolnshire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

FEBRUARY

:: Marine Jonathan Holland, 23, from Chorley, Lancashire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Scott Summers, 23, from Crawley, West Sussex. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

MARCH

:: Lance Bombardier Ross Clark, 25, from South Africa. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Lance Bombardier Liam McLaughlin, 21, from Lancashire. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Marine Benjamin Reddy, 22, from Ascot, Berkshire. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Warrant Officer Class 2 Michael Smith, 39, from Liverpool. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

APRIL

:: Private Chris Gray, 19, from Leicester. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

MAY

:: Guardsman Simon Davison, 22, from Newcastle upon Tyne. 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

:: Lance Corporal George Davey, 23, from Beccles, Suffolk. 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Guardsman Daniel Probyn, 22, from Tipton, West Midlands. 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

:: Corporal Darren Bonner, 31, from Gorleston, Norfolk. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Corporal Mike Gilyeat, 28. Royal Military Police.

JUNE

:: Lance Corporal Paul Sandford, 23, from Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters.

:: Guardsman Neil Downes, 20, from Manchester. 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards.

:: Drummer Thomas Wright, 26, from Ripley, Derbyshire. 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters.

:: Captain Sean Dolan, 40, from the West Midlands. 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters.

JULY

:: Sergeant Dave Wilkinson, 33, from Ashford, Kent. 19 Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Guardsman Daryl Hickey, 27, from Birmingham. 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

:: Lance Corporal Alex Hawkins, 22, from East Dereham, Norfolk. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Guardsman David Atherton, 25, from Manchester. 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

:: Sergeant Barry Keen, 34, from Gateshead. 14 Signals Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Michael Jones, 26 from Newbald, East Yorkshire. Royal Marines.

AUGUST

:: Private Tony Rawson, 27, from Dagenham, Essex. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian.

:: Captain David Hicks, 26, from Wokingham, Berkshire. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment

:: Private Aaron McClure, 19, from Ipswich, Suffolk. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Private Robert Foster, 19, from Harlow, Essex. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Private John Thrumble, 21, from Chelmsford, Essex. 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

:: Senior Aircraftman Christopher Bridge, 20, from Sheffield. 51 Squadron RAF Regiment.

SEPTEMBER

:: Private Damian Wright, 23, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Private Ben Ford, 18, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Sergeant Craig Brelsford, 25, from Nottingham. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Private Johan Botha, 25, from Pretoria in South Africa. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Ivano Violino, 29, from Salford. 36 Engineer Regiment.

:: Colour Sergeant Phillip Newman, 36, from Coventry. 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment

:: Private Brian Tunnicliffe, 33, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

OCTOBER

:: Major Alexis Roberts, 32, from Kent. 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

NOVEMBER

:: Lance Corporal Jake Alderton, 22, from Bexley, Kent. 36 Engineer Regiment.

:: Captain John McDermid, 43, from Glasgow. Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

DECEMBER

:: Trooper Jack Sadler, 21, from Exeter, Devon. The Honourable Artillery Company.

:: Sergeant Lee Johnson, 33, from Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland. 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.

2008

JANUARY

:: Corporal Darryl Gardiner, 25, from Salisbury, Wiltshire. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

FEBRUARY

:: Corporal Damian Lawrence, 25, from Whitby, North Yorkshire. 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.

:: Corporal Damian Mulvihill, 32, from Plymouth. 40 Commando Royal Marines.

MARCH

:: Lieutenant John Thornton, 22, from Ferndown, Dorset. 40 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine David Marsh, 23, from Sheffield. 40 Commando Royal Marines.

APRIL

:: Senior Aircraftman Graham Livingstone, 23, from Glasgow. The Royal Air Force Regiment.

:: Senior Aircraftman Gary Thompson, 51, from Nottingham. Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment.

:: Trooper Robert Pearson, 22, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire. The Queen's Royal Lancers.

MAY

:: Trooper Ratu Babakobau, 29, from Fiji. The Household Cavalry Regiment.

:: Soldier James Thompson, 27, from Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.

:: Marine Dale Gostick, 22, from Oxford. 3 Troop Armoured Support Company Royal Marines.

JUNE

:: Private Nathan Cuthbertson, 19, from Sunderland. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Daniel Gamble, 22, from Uckfield, East Sussex. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Charles David Murray, 19, from Carlisle. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal James Bateman, 29, from Colchester, Essex. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Jeff Doherty, 20, from Southam, Warwickshire. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Corporal Sarah Bryant, 26, from Cumbria. The Intelligence Corps.

:: Corporal Sean Robert Reeve, 28. The Royal Signals.

:: Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, 39.

:: Paul Stout, 31.

:: Sergeant Major Michael Williams, 40, from Cardiff. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Joe Whittaker, 20, from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Warrant Officer Dan Shirley, 32, from Leicester. 13 Air Assault Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Lance Corporal James Johnson, 31, from Chatham, Kent. 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

JULY

:: Corporal Jason Barnes, 25, from Exeter, Devon. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

:: Lance Corporal Kenneth Michael Rowe, 24, from Newcastle. Royal Army Veterinary Corps.

:: Sergeant Jonathan Mathews, 35, from Edinburgh. The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

:: Private Peter Cowton, 25, from Basingstoke, Hants. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

AUGUST

:: Signaller Wayne Bland, 21, from Leeds. 16 Signal Regiment.

:: Corporal Barry Dempsey, 29, from Ayrshire. The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.

SEPTEMBER

:: Ranger Justin James Cupples, 29, from County Cavan, Ireland. 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment.

:: Warrant Officer Class 2 Gary O'Donnell, 40, from Edinburgh. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Private Jason Lee Rawstron, 23, from Clayton-Le-Moors, Lancashire. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Nicky Mason, 26, from Aveley, Essex. 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

OCTOBER

:: Trooper James Munday, 21, from Birmingham. D Squadron, The Household Cavalry.

NOVEMBER

:: Yubraj Rai, 28, from Khotang district, eastern Nepal. 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

:: Marine Robert McKibben, 32, from Westport in Co Mayo. The UK Landing Force Command Support Group.

:: Marine Neil Dunstan, 32, from Bournemouth. The UK Landing Force Command Support Group.

:: Colour Sergeant Krishnabahadur Dura, 36, from Lamjung district, western Nepal. 2nd Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles.

:: Marine Alexander Lucas, 24, from Edinburgh. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Tony Evans, 20, from Sunderland. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Georgie Sparks, 19, from Epping, Essex. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

DECEMBER

:: Lance Corporal Steven 'Jamie' Fellows, 26, from High Wycombe. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Sergeant John Manuel, 38, from Gateshead. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Corporal Marc Birch, 26, from Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Marine Damian Davies, 27, from Telford. Landing Force Support Party, Commando Logistic Regiment.

:: Lieutenant Aaron Lewis, 26, from Rochford, Essex. 29 Commando Royal Artillery.

:: Rifleman Stuart Nash, 21, from Sydney, Australia. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Corporal Robert Christopher Deering, 33, from Solihull, West Midlands. Commando Logistic Regiment Royal Marines.

:: Lance Corporal Ben Whatley, 20, from Tittleshall, Norfolk. 42 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Corporal Liam Elms, 26, from Wigan. 45 Commando Royal Marines.


2009

JANUARY

:: Serjeant Christopher John Reed, 25, from Plymouth. 6th Battalion The Rifles.

:: Royal Marine Travis Mackin, 22, from Plymouth. UK Landing Force Command Support Group, operating as part of 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Captain Tom Sawyer, 26, from Hertfordshire. 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Corporal Danny Winter, 28, from Stockport. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Acting Corporal Richard Robinson, 21, from Saltash, Cornwall. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Corporal Daniel Nield, 31, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

FEBRUARY

:: Marine Darren Smith, 28, from Fleetwood, Lancashire. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

:: Lance Corporal Stephen Kingscott, 22, from Plymouth. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Acting Lance Corporal Paul Upton, 31, from Looe, Cornwall. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Corporal Tom Gaden, 24, from Taunton, Somerset. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Jamie Gunn, 21, from Monmouth. 1st Battalion The Rifles.

:: Marine Michael Laski, 21, from Liverpool. 45 Commando Royal Marines.

MARCH

:: Lance Corporal Christopher Harkett, 22, from Pontardawe in Swansea. 2nd Battalion, Royal Welsh Regiment.

:: Corporal Graeme Stiff, 24, from Grimsby. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.

:: Corporal Dean John, 25, from Port Talbot. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.

APRIL

:: Lance Sergeant Tobie Fasfous, 29, from Bridgend, South Wales. 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

MAY

:: Corporal Sean Binnie, 22, born in Dublin. The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

:: Rifleman Adrian Sheldon, 25, from Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottingham. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Sergeant Ben Ross, 34, from Bangor, Wales. 173 Provost Company, 3rd Regiment, Royal Military Police.

:: Corporal Kumar Pun, 31, from the Parbat district of Western Nepal. 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

:: Lieutenant Mark Evison, 26, from Dulwich, south-east London. 1st Battalion The Welsh Guards.

:: Marine Jason Mackie, 21, from Oxfordshire. Royal Marine Armoured Support Group.

:: Fusilier Petero ''Pat'' Suesue, 28, from Fiji. 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: Sapper Jordan Rossi, 22 from West Yorkshire. 25 Field Squadron, 38 Engineer Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Martin Richards, 24, from Betws-y-Coed, North Wales. Armoured Support Group Royal Marines.

:: Lance Corporal Kieron Hill, 20, of Nottingham. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters).

:: Lance Corporal Nigel Moffett, 28, from Belfast. The Light Dragoons.

:: Corporal Stephen Bolger. The Parachute Regiment.

JUNE

:: Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher, 19, from Reading. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Private Robert McLaren, 20, from the Isle of Mull. The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

:: Lieutenant Paul Mervis, 27, from London. 2nd Battalion the Rifles.

:: Major Sean Birchall, 33, from Guildford, Surrey. 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.


JULY

:: Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, 39, from Kirtlington, near Oxford. 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

:: Trooper Joshua Hammond, 18, from Plymouth. 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal David Dennis, 29, from Llanelli, South Wales. The Light Dragoons.

:: Private Robert Laws, 18, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Dane Elson, 22, from Zimbabwe. 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

:: Captain Ben Babington-Browne, 27, from Maidstone, Kent. 22 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers.

:: Trooper Christopher Whiteside, 20, from Blackpool. The Light Dragoons.

:: Rifleman Daniel Hume, 22, from Maidenhead, Berkshire. 4th Battalion The Rifles.

:: Private John Brackpool, 27, from Crawley, West Sussex. Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment attached to 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

:: Corporal Lee Scott, 26, from King's Lynn, Norfolk. The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.

:: Corporal Jonathan Horne, 28, from Walsall, West Midlands. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman William Aldridge, 18, from Bromyard, Herefordshire. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman James Backhouse, 18, from Castleford, Yorkshire. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Joseph Murphy, 18, from Castle Bromwich, West Midlands. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Daniel Simpson, 20, from Croydon, south London. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Aminiasi Toge, 26, from Suva, Fiji. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Corporal Joseph Etchells, 22, from Mossley, Greater Manchester. 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: Captain Daniel Shepherd, 28, from Lincoln. The Royal Logistic Corps.

:: Guardsman Christopher King, 20, from West Buckland, Devon. 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards.

:: Bombardier Craig Hopson, 24, from Castleford, West Yorkshire. 40th Regiment Royal Artillery (The Lowland Gunners).

:: Warrant Officer Class 2 Sean Upton, 35, from Nottinghamshire. 5th Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: Trooper Phillip Lawrence, 22, from Birkenhead. The Light Dragoons.


AUGUST

:: Craftsman Anthony Lombardi, 21, from Scunthorpe. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

:: Corporal Kevin Mulligan, 26. The Parachute Regiment.

:: Lance Corporal Dale Hopkins, 23. The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Kyle Adams, 21. The Parachute Regiment.

:: Private Jason Williams, 23, from Worcester. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

:: Captain Mark Hale. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Rifleman Daniel Wild, 19, from Hartlepool. 2nd Battalion The Rifles.

:: Lance Bombardier Matthew Hatton, 23, from Haxby, North Yorkshire. 40th Regiment Royal Artillery.

:: An unnamed British soldier from The 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh Regiment.

:: An unnamed British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: An unnamed British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: An unnamed British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

:: An unnamed British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.



Tragic

Afghanistan: roll call of British deaths since 2001

Lose – Lose - Lose

The NHS is broken. It needs serious attention, or even scrapping. At the moment everyone loses out, as my own story demonstrates.

I have told my tale on my own blog, but to summarize, some years ago I was forced to pay for private medical care even though I was on low pay, as I could not afford to take time off work. The care cost less than £500, but I could not really afford it (my credit was good, luckily for me).

However a far more general point can be drawn from this if we consider the idea that I might not have had that credit, had I been forced to take nine weeks extra off work.

Obviously my loss and gain account would be somewhat balanced. I would have been able to work a little, and might have been able to claim some benefits. I would have had far more spare time, which might have been valuable. However during that time I would have been in pain, and would have had no money, so the enjoyment of my enforced holiday would have been limited.

The companies I was working for would of course have lost out. One would probably have had to pay me some sick pay, although I am not sure I was entitled. In any case the company would have had the management problem and expense of covering my workload. I was also very difficult to replace directly, so the clients would have suffered significantly worse service, and potentially lost time and additional expense (they could ill afford). The other role I had would probably not have been covered, and some of the work cancelled. New employees were hard to find at that time.

Ironically the government would have lost out more than I would, far more than the cost of my private treatment. As stated I think I would have been entitled to benefits. I would not have been paying tax on money I was not earning. My second role put a lot of money into the Treasury, the government earned more than I did for that work, and much of it would have been cancelled. They would then have had to pay for my NHS care.

So I would have lost out; my employers and clients, and their clients, would have lost out; the government would have lost out. Lose - lose - lose. I worked all this out yesterday while debating the NHS on another blog. It must happen in many more cases than my own, and is the clearest sign I have seen that the NHS is not fit for purpose, and the NHS is a drain on our economy far greater than its bloated cost.

Lose – Lose - Lose

Swineflu \ Tamiflu debate and government stupidity

I have posted on my own blog this very same story, but feel it needs a outlet here on this blog to.

Andy Burnham appears on Sky news, BBC news GMTV to advise us all about the safety of Tamiflu on children. He has simply gone on to show not only is he a complete cretin but quite clearly the government is totally clueless when it comes to the swineflu/tamiflu issue. Now I am not saying anything medical, I am not a doctor but what is clear is the government and Mr Burnham are totally lost.

The Health Secretary appeared on breakfast television this morning in a bid to reassure concerned parents after scientists warned that children should not be given Tamiflu.

Instead he was confronted by a GMTV presenter who claimed that the drug had almost killed his daughter.

Andy Burnham insisted that the Government was right to advise children to take the anti-viral drug despite a warning from researchers at the University of Oxford who called on the Department of Health urgently to reconsider its pandemic strategy. But he was tackled live on TV by Andrew Castle, who said his older daughter, Georgina, had a respiratory collapse after being given the drug as a precaution during the containment stage of the pandemic. “I can tell you that my child - who was not diagnosed at all - she had asthma, she took Tamiflu and almost died,” he said. Georgina, 16, was given Tamiflu when five pupils at Alleyn’s School in south London were diagnosed with the illness in May.
Castle, said he feared for his daughter’s life as medical professionals backed away from the potentially contagious child. He said: “Nobody checked that she had swine flu beforehand. The Health Protection Agency just handed it out at Alleyn’s School in south London and a lot of kids suffered in the school very heavily. “We saw a respiratory collapse through it and it almost cost my older child her life. “The doctor’s surgery wouldn’t take her. The doctor said ’No, we can’t take her to A&E. So she’s just on the floor having this nightmare of a situation. A lot of people are in this situation. They don’t know what to do.”

Mr Burnham was forced to break off from defending Tamiflu to offer his sympathy. “It must have been a very worrying situation for you,” he said.

He also says its not his advice.

Well Andy when it comes out your mouth, when you are the man incharge of health, when you are speaking on behalf of the government it is your advice.

Just watch in complete amazement.

Swineflu \ Tamiflu debate and government stupidity