European Parliament rejects Sikh delegation

Derek Clark British MEP, who represents the East Midlands, today slammed the European Parliament for what he called "disgraceful behaviour", when it refused to allow a group of 50 Sikhs into the Parliament building.

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The group, who were visiting the Parliament to lobby on behalf of their right to wear their religious insignia, which includes a ceremonial dagger, had been told that there would be no problems in accessing the building.

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However, when they arrived, they were denied access due to a rule change at 8pm last night. Many of the group are elderly and they were kept in an area with no seats, no refreshments and, most importantly, no toilet facilities, for four hour. Even when they requested a security escort to allow them to relieve themselves, this was refused".

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Mr Clark a former schol teacher turned UKIP politician (and well known to the editor) commented this afternoon: "I will be writing in the strongest terms to the President of the European Parliament, protesting at what seems quite apparently to be racist behaviour on the part of the European Parliament and demanding an apology is given to the party from The Sikh Freedom Lobby''.

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The Sikh gentlemen had traveled from from the UK, France, Germany, Holland and Belgium.

Of Pseuds and Posers

A group of Conservative MPs has today launched a major broadside against David Cameron's ''modern compassionate'' leadership of the party.

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In a paper published by the Cornerstone Group the Tory leader is accused of concentrating on the "pseuds and posers of London's chichi set".

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The centrally controlled, (but no doubt compassionate) authorised list of potentential parlimentry candidates has been particularly critisesd by shadow skills Minister John Hayes MP.

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"The idea that we can parachute insubstantial and untested candidates with little knowledge of the local scene into key seats to win the confidence of people they seek to represent is the bizarre theory of someone who spends too much time with the pseuds and posers of London's chichi set and not enough time in normal Britain."

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Conservative MP Owen Paterson's web site, which gives detail of the Cornerstone Group can be seen here. Mr Patterson is a leading member of the group and a rising star on the Tory benches who is most deffinatly not one of the boy kings 'chichi set'.

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Is today's attack on the boy king a one of riot or the start of a mutiny ? A case of watch this space !

Urbi et orbi

On Sunday 28 May, 2006,

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1,975 page hits were recorded on this site,

.of which, 1,664 were new readers.

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Clearly this site making it's mark on the blogosphere.

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Wow indeed !

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Barking Mad

Business Barrier Agencies

There are many more hurdles to overcome in business in Britain now than at any time in the past.

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The Government's Small Business Service (SBS) is a complete waste of money, that was the conclusion of the National Audit Office two weeks ago.

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As Martin Vander Weyer (Business Editor of The Spectator) reports in The Sunday Telegraph (ST) the news will have not have surprised those that actually run a small business whether in Martin's rural North Yorkshire village of Helmsley or indeed sixty miles north in urban coastal Hartlepool.

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Founded six years ago with the objective of making Britain "the best place in the world to start and grow a business'', the SBS is allocated a £2.6 billion annual budget for small business initiatives that has produced remarkably few measurable benefits

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According to the National Audit Office (NAO), it has failed to set any agenda for small business issues and failed to bring any clarity to an overlapping multiplicity of support schemes at national, regional and local level - more than 3,000 of them at the last count.

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As Martin Vander Weyer states in his piece, the SBS has gained little influence with the 15 Government departments that compete to control the fate of small businesses. Most importantly, it has failed in the one, shining goal that might have endeared it to struggling entrepreneurs everywhere: to cut the red tape that is the bane of their lives, forcing them to spend an average of 28 hours a month filling in forms when they could be developing their businesses. Though in fairness, it has to said that there is little in practise that the SBS could achieve. It was from the very beginning a 'bribe' to businesses.

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Nothing can be said in defence of this apparently useless quango, which has already been reorganised several times in its short, unhappy life. Its Business Link network of small business advisers, complete with "award-winning website", used to be praised in some quarters - not on this blog - until it was taken away from SBS to become the responsibility of the even more wasteful, unaccountable and quite useless "regional development agencies".

Matthew Knowles, of The Federation of Small Businesses said in the ST (27 May): "Only 4 per cent of our [196,000] members have ever accessed any advice from any Government agency. The problem is that there are just so many different programmes; people don't know where to start and don't have time to find out. We have become cynically accustomed to gaps between New Labour rhetoric and delivery in every aspect of government, but this one yawns wider than most".

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Gordon Brown has waxed lyrical about encouraging enterprise in 10 successive Budget speeches, yet statistics tell us that the huge burden of tax and regulation has had precisely the opposite effect.

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The most recent measure of business investment in Britain showed that it had fallen to a record low of 9 per cent of gross domestic product, from a peak of more than 14 per cent in the 1980's. The net number of businesses registered for VAT, a useful indication of the health of the seedling layer of the private-sector economy, actually fell between 2000 and 2004, and only flickered upwards again in 2005 as a result of more vigorous VAT enforcement by HM Revenue & Customs.
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As Dr Richard North (left) stated at a fringe meeting to the FSB conference in March; '' Small businesses are in danger, long term, of going the way of the dodo. Like the unfortunate flightless bird British business people are not collectively aware that they are in danger.'' Perhaps the reason why is the acceptance of the short term bribery and propaganda that is dished out to the representatives of the smaller business community.

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Martin's piece stresses the point made by most businessmen and women, when asked what would really encourage them to invest more and work harder, is that this Government has not just erected one barrier to enterprise but, as Mr Knowles says, "a huge pile of them".
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What business people do not want is bribery from government agencies whose consultants often give the impression of not knowing the difference between cash flow and profitability yet serve their political masters faithfully.

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Amongst the barriers to survival are impenetrable and constantly changing VAT rules which represent one tiny corner of a vast regulatory assault course. The recent inflation-busting rise in the minimum wage to £5.35 an hour, coupled with "Dispute Resolution Regulations" that make it close to impossible to sack unsatisfactory workers, are enough to put many businesses off any thought of expansion.

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New rules on compulsory pension contributions by employers will be yet another deterrent, as will the lengthening of statutory maternity leave - and, now, paternity leave. For others, the demands of health, safety, hygiene and disability discrimination rules (originating in Brussels) make the cost of setting up even the smallest business difficult.

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The plain fact is that the small business sector never did need 3,000 Government support schemes, Regional Development Agencies, still less does it need an "executive agency" with a meaningless mission statement.

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Hard-pressed start-up entrepreneurs do not want advice from civil servants who have never run a business - or from the kind of second-rate management consultants who make a fat living out of contract work for so called government support agencies.

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What they really want is simple: to pay less tax; to have flexibility to take on staff at market rates and get rid of them again - on fair terms - if they don't do a good job or trade doesn't flourish; to have more time in the working day, free of form-filling, to go out and find new customers.
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The SBS and the RDA's should be abolished tomorrow, and their bloated budgets should be redistributed as tax relief for entrepreneurs. Now that really would be a service. Since HM Loyal opposition is unwilling to seriously take the government to task, I truly hope the Federation of Small Businesses (which is the UK's largest member owned and managed business organisation) voices that really simple point to those that actually rule this glorious realm.

Thumbs down to the EU

Support for the European Union (EU) is falling throughout its 25 member states, according to the largest poll undertaken on the subject the details of which are published in this week-ends excellent newspaper, The Business.

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The European Commission’s Eurobarometer has found that fewer than half EU citizens describe membership of the union as “a good thing”. The figure has slumped from 55% to 49% in 18 months. (Do we hear three cheers for that ?)

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The one-off Eurobarometer survey spoke to 24,700 people and found deep-rooted scepticism and even hostility (really) not just for the idea of political integration but towards membership of the EU itself.

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Only about 33% in Britain say they regard the EU as a good thing. Britain is the third most Eurosceptic country, eclipsed only by Austria (31%) and Latvia, where 29% approve of its May 2004 decision to join the EU.

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With the exception of Ireland, only former Soviet bloc countries agree “things are going in the right direction”. Across Europe, 49% consider that the EU can be described as technocratic and 43% as inefficient.

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Support for a EU constitution is low. When asked whether having such a constitution would be the most helpful for Europe, only 36% of Belgians (at the heart of Europe) agreed. This is 25% for the EU in general, and a tiny 17% in the UK; no wonder Mr Blair is not keen on holding a referendum on the EU !

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This sets a grim backdrop for talks stating today in sunny Vienna. Foreign ministers are due to start discussions with a 12.30pm aperitif at Klosterneuburg Abbey, followed by talks on a “reflection period” after the referendum defeats.
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While the political elite do their naval gazing, sorry reflecting, others of us may wish to read the link from today's copy of The Business in which Britians defence procurment is revealed as the continuation of European intergration by other means.

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Lest we forget that the great deception continues.

Ye old Troye

On this day in May 1474 the ruling Monach of England and Wales, Edward IV created his son Richard Duke of York. In tribute William Caxton, published the first printed book in English in (the now Belgium) town of Bruges.

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The title of the book - The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye.

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There are no recorded copies of contempary reviews. Neither are there any records of the first 'typo' however it is likey there was a Troy involvement.

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Two years later Mr Caxton established his printing press permanently in Westminster, the rest is history.

There is a law against manure heaps

by Christoper Booker

Some weeks back, I had an anguished call from my farmer friend Robin Page. Was it true, he asked, that under new regulations it would be a criminal offence,when he is clipping a hedge, to make a bonfire of the trimmings?

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It is astonishing how little attention has been paid to these new regulations, the latest bureaucratic insanity to be dropped on Britain's farmers, which go far wider than most have yet realised.

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For years, the UK Government resisted applying to British agriculture the European Commision's plethora of rules governing the disposal of waste, because this would present farmers with such a host of problems.

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But the European Court of Justice has insisted that the UK must comply, with theresult that, from May 15, it has indeed become a criminal offence for farmers tocarry out any task around the farm that involves what the EC chooses to call"waste", unless they get specific written permission for an "exemption" from the Environment Agency.

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Such controlled tasks include anything from spreading manure on fields, or allowing vegetable stalks to rot down in the soil, to burning the straw from acattle shed. What becomes completely illegal is anything which can be describedin EU-speak as a "dump" or "tip". This includes anything from a manure heap toan old plough rusting in the corner of a farmyard (even a "single deposit ofwaste" is now deemed a "tip").

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Not only did it become a criminal offence to add a single item to such "dumps"after May 15, but within a year the farmer must pay up to £228 a tonne to haveit removed by a licensed waste carrier to a licensed waste tip (or payastronomic sums for a full landfill site licence).

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Defra admits that compliance with this new law will cost farmers up to £70million a year, quite apart from the cost of the army of new officials needed toprocess those millions of exemptions.

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As for my friend Mr Page, he will at least be permitted to continue burning hishedge clippings, so long as he first gets an exemption from the Environment Agency. But he must not burn anything else on that fire, specifically includingpaper. If he uses newspaper or a pile of old Defra forms to light it, he will becommitting a criminal act.

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Such are the benefits of belonging to the European Union - although you can bet that not a single other country has yet taken any notice.

The Sunday Quote

'' Give a civil servant a good cause and he'll wreck it with cliches, bad punctuation, double negatives and convoluted apology''

Alan Clark 1928 - 99, diary 22 July 1983.

The Lost Post

An amazing 14.4 million letters are lost every year by Royal Mail and thousands of letters are daily delivered to the wrong address. These disturbing figures are the conclusions of a survey revealed by the consumer group Postwatch.

The Chairman of Postwatch Peter Carr said recently: '' Our message to customers is that if Royal Mail do not know about a problem they can not fix it.''

Yes indeed, point taken but if the letters of complaint do not reach Royal Mail's managers because they are amongst the 14,400,000 letters that are lost or missdelivered each year that, one is bound to concider, could account for the lack of management action that the watchdog is complaining of.

Perhaps complaints about lost snail mail should be sent by email. That at least it would save the cost of the postage stamp.

It is worth adding that the Royal Mail employee's trade union is reacting to demands for a better service in a time honoured way, with threatened strike action. The Communication Workers Union is due to hold a (postal) strike ballot in three weeks time.

On that note I direct our dear reader to the comments box of this post. The most cynical comment will receive, in the post, a DVD copy of Raiders of the Lost Arc.

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Right is this blog's offering of a new design of postage stamp for the Royal Mail. The picture is of St Anthony, the patron Saint of lost items.

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Anthony is, incidently, the middle name of the editor of this glorious blog - comments on post cards only please.

This bank holiday week-end

Once apon a time British trafic jams were polite and well ordered;

now alas road rage is not an uncommon accurance on the Queens highway.

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Postings over this Bank Holiday week-end will range from comments on the Home Office's lack of 'fit for purpose' to the bribery of Britain's small business community by the most anti-business government our nation has ever experienced, which compounded by the most useless opposition (the Conservative Party) is a disaster for Britain's economic future.

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There will also be a posting in the 'meet the minister' series featuring the EU's Trade Commisioner the Rt. Hon. Peter Mandleson and how upset the FSB were when I put the Commissioner on the spot at a Labour Party meeting (which was pretending to be a meeting for business people).

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Additionally, we will post comments on Britain's roll in the world, plus some examples of how corporate (that's not capitalist) Britain is lowering the standards of traditional British values.

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Well, writing all that and indeed reading it will be preferable to being stuck in a very British traffic jam this week end.

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Until later, tally ho.

Cost of merger

The Norther Echo - Regional Newspaper for the North East of England with a reputaion for in- depth coverage of political issues. Above a flash back to last year.

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Letter published in The Northern Echo - Saturday 27 May

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Sir,

The editorial comment in The Northern Echo (Wed 24 May) commenting on the creation of a merged North East Police Force correctly concludes that people living in the region are mainly concerned about the availability of officers on the beat and local accountability.

The new Home Secretary, Dr John Reid , came to the conclusion to shelve the national scheme to merge the 43 English and Welsh Police Forces into 12 large regional super forces after an report for the Association of Chief Police Officers showed that the cost of the merger plans lead to the strength of the police being cut by 25,000 and there would also be considerably less local police accountability.

Rather than ignore professional advice as The Northern Echo suggests in last Wednesdays leader - Dr Reid has embraced it and clearly ignored his party's obsession with regionalisation.

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The leader refered to in the 'Echo' states:

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''It is, an issue that will not go away. Here in the North -East, we have the chief constables of Durham and Northumbria passionately arguing that a regional police force is the best way to fight organised crime.........''

'' Can a Home Secretary really ignore that kind of advice, even if Clevland's chief constable takes the opposite view ?''

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Editorial comment - our reader may ask why the editorial does not grant capital Cs to Chief Constables - which in the context written is a proper noun. I susspect by the end of this glorious week-end we will be informed.

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On The Northern Echo's front page of the same edition Northumbria Police Deputy Chief Constable David Warcup said: '' Its appropriate that new ministers will need to look at the proposals in detail, but we feel the best solution for the future of policing in the North -East is a single regional force''.

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Clearly the issue of the vast cost incured in the proposed merging police forces and the consequental effect on police numbers has been missed by this particular senior officer.

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When the realisation that merging police forces is an idea born out of the Deputy Prime Minister's 30 year regional dream dawns on the senior 'boys in blue' and that the proposals have nothing what so ever to do with operational efficiency one trusts the idea will be droped for lack of evidence.

Reward a vital sercice

The End of Week Quote is a letter, reproduced in full,

that is published in today's Daily Mail.

This letter deserves as mush publicity as possible:

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I'm a 999 emergency operator for Cable & Wireless, which will pay its executives £22 million each if they reach their targets.

Until two months ago, we too had a bonus scheme: it paid the grand sum of £70 a month if we hit our targets. Now we still have to hit our targets but the bonus pot has been cut back from £300,000 a year to £80,000.

The only perk we used to have was a free drinks machine, but this has now been scrapped and we have to pay 25p per drink. For 999 operators working a 12 - hour nightshift a good supply of tea and coffee is essential, so this has become expensive.

What will those executives do to earn their obscene bonuses ? Have they ever gone home at night knowing they've helped save someone's life ? I have.

I've consoled a crying father who found his baby son dead in his cot. I've heard the death gargle of a man hanging him self with piano wire. I've heard the final screams of a young girl trapped in her burning house. I've heard a mother break into her son's bedroom to find he'd committed suicide.

I'm abused daily with vile language. It's normal for callers to threaten us and our families in the most violent and unpleasant manner.

After 15 years service with tiny annual wage rises, I'm now paid little more than the minimum wage - less than a shelf stacker at a supermarket.

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I've seen the share price plummet and the company hit the skids while the senior managers responsible get the usual 'golden handshake' and we're told we must 'tighten our belts'. Any of the £22 million going spare chaps ?

The name and address of the author was not published.

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This is one of over 700 posts on this very British Blog, click here for the front page,http://verybritishsubjects.blogspot.com/

Enough

Dr Richard North writes:

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Both The Daily Telegraph and The Times point out that British citizenship has been granted to nearly one million foreign nationals since Labour came to power in 1997.

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Not only that, a record 161,000 obtained a UK passport last year, a 15 percent increase on 2004, and a further 214,000 lodged applications that are now being processed. Similar numbers are likely to have applied this year, on top of 750,000 new citizens already created in the previous eight years.

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The rate of overseas settlement in Britain, say both papers, is now the highest ever and is four times greater than in the mid-1990s - reflecting unprecedented levels of immigration. In the late 1960s, about 75,000 new citizens a year were accepted for citizenship but this fell to about 50,000 after new laws were introduced in 1971. For about 25 years the annual figure remained near or below this level, falling to a low point of 37,000 in 1997, the year Labour took office. Since then, there has been a spectacular increase, with the rate of growth accelerating every year.

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The scale of new settlements is a principal driver behind the increase in Britain's population, which is expected to grow by five million by 2020 while birth rates fall in other countries.

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Whatever view you take of the general merits or otherwise of immigration, there can be no dispute that the absorption of so many people, so fast, into our society, is problematical.It is also fair to say that this government had no electoral mandate to open the gates and permit such a massive increase in immigration, in what is obviously a policy-driven issue.

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Thus, one cannot disagree with Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of Migrationwatch UK, who says that, "Immigration on this scale is changing the nature of our society without public consent. It is no longer acceptable."

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In fact, most people would agree, as indicated by a Populus/BBC survey for the Daily Politics programme poll yesterday, which indicated that immigration is regarded as the most important issue facing the country, with more than half of voters placing it higher than health or education on a list of concerns.

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Interestingly, the poll suggested that almost half of those questioned were "more worried about immigrants coming into Britain from Europe" than those coming from further abroad.

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This is where the current figures are highly misleading, in that they record immigrant from non-EU member states, with about 30 percent of the new citizens last year born in Africa and 19 percent were from the Indian sub-continent, with Serbia and Montenegro close behind.

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When it comes to the EU, however, there is nothing close to an accurate record. The official figure disclose that 392,000 individuals from the eight Eastern European states which joined the EU in May 2004 have come to Britain, but this figure relates only to those who have chosen to register for work. There are no statistics on how many entered unofficially, how many stayed and how many returned.

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We are thus in the double bind of having to cope with a massively increased immigrant population while also being hampered by having no real idea of how many people have actually entered, and from where. It is hardly surprising, then, that people are saying "enough".

Merged police to be ditched

Christopher Booker in The Sunday Telegraph last weekend informs us that the plan by Charles Clarke to merge the 43 police forces of England and Wales into a handful of regional "super forces" looks more indefensible than ever, after an internal report for the Association of Chief Police Officers showed that its cost would lead to the strength of the police being cut by 25,000 -more than a sixth.

In the Daily Mail on Saturday a piece reveals that all is not well at high levels at Scotland Yard. In The Mail on Sunday Peter Hitchen's quite rightly complains that British Policeing as it once was is to be abolished. The introduction of 'Community Support Officers' in effect replacing the 'copper' on the beat.

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Assistant Commisioner (of the Metropolitan Police Service) Tarique Ghaffur has been removed from his job after a clash with his boss 'Plod Blair' (Sir Ian Blair, the Commisioner). The Assistant Commisioner who was the head of the forces murder squads has been shifted to a less prestigious post, that of being in charge of policing trafic, demonstrations and football hooligans.

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Mr Gaffur fell into dispute with his 'gov ' over plans to cut dozens of detectives from the elite specialist crime directive and transfer them to (the politicaly high profile) neighbourhood schemes.

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Back at the Home Office the reality of the plans to merge the English and Welsh Police into regional police 'services' is to be shelved now that the details of the plans have been examined - not least being the plans would have distroyed the Government's vision for neighbourhood policing.

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With the removal of John Prescott from the political decision making process the drive for regionalisation will quite clearly soon lose its momentum. The axing of the plans to regionalise the police is the start of the process of waking up from Prescotts ''30 year dream''. One can only hope that it is not to long that the Regional Development Authorities are also soon to fall under the axe.

The Sunday Quote

If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to an other, then, I say break the law.''

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Henry David Thoreau. US Essayist, Poet and Philosopher 1817 - 1862

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Todays quote should spark the odd comment or two ! Ed.

It's getting worse not better !

Well it can only get better, remember the slogan and the song from the Labour Party's campaign from the 1997 election ?

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Blair painted a picture of Britain in a dire old state back in 1997, which could only get better with a change of government -a good dose of 'Nu Labour'. Well, as is well known there are 'Lies Damned Lies and Statistics' (Mark Twain).

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We have discussed recently how the government is fiddling crime statistics - particulary those that effect the UK's smaller businesses. Amazingly with only tame complaint from the Federation of Small Businesses, who first higlighted the problem in a report two years ago.

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Well in reality on Labour's founding issue - poverty - the situation has got worse. Since the Labour party came to power in 1997, the gap between the rich and the poor in Britain has increased, a new report argues. This is particularly interesting since the report contradicts government spin.

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If how much money people spend - rather than earn - is looked at, the number of people spending significantly less than average has increased from 20 to 22 per cent since 1996/7, according to Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the (good old) Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

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However, the government's preferred measure of poverty looks at how much money people are earning rather than spending. Under this measure the number of people in poverty has fallen from 25 per cent to 20 per cent."

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While the government has made some inroads into reducing income inequality, it is yet to reduce spending inequalities, which arguably better reflect longer-term differences in society," the new report states.

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The IFS/JRF report argues that spending is a better measure of household wealth than income, as it reflects people’s material well-being and their ability to use goods and services.

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Additionally, spending can better reflect longer-term poverty, as people use their savings and borrow to even out their lifestyle over time and counteract changes to their incomes. When spending is used as a measure, the number of people in poverty (ie operating at less than 60 per cent of the UK average) has increased across a series of groups.

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Child poverty has risen from 25 per cent to 27 per cent, while it has fallen from 33 per cent to 28 per cent if measured according to household income.

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Pensioner poverty under the spending measure is largely unchanged, while the governments preferred indicator that of income, show pensioners in the UK are getting better of !

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Additionally, the families with the lowest income have seen earnings rise faster than middle-income families, but there has been little change when spending is looked at.
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So now we know why it can only get better - the government's well publicised key performance indicator on poverty is skewed in favour of it getting better. Deceptive lot these 'Nu Labour' bods.

The end of week quote

''We need to know the history of Britain and of other countries because no country develops or evolves in vacuum. Luckily, as someone has once pointed out to me, the history of Britain is the history of the world.''

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Dr. Helen Szamuely, Wanted: Set of British Values

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Click below to read the article in full.

http://www.eureferendum.blogspot.com/#114797587022385182

Public sector vacancy

A local authority in East Anglia is advertising a contract job at £42,500 p.a. in the "Smoke Free Workplace Co-ordination Service".

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The contractor "will help workplaces convert to a smoke free environment along with delivering stop smoking interventions {what ever that is} for employees."

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"The contractor will have a background in public health with the ability to work autonomously and strategically, persuading, influencing and motivating a full cross-section of people in the workplace."

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Apparently the council have secured "Neighbourhood Renewal Funding" for a maximum of 18 months.

Well, in the opinion of the editor of this blog the position should appeal to an experienced Regional Development Agency (or derivative) employee with a sterilised and integrated personality who is, preferably, quality system management certified and recognised (by their peers) as a compliantly orientated individual.

Indeed.

Law but not as we know it

Very few readers will have heard of the Procurement Directive (97/52/EC) with its many additions and corrigenda.

EU legislation is the law of the land and is important to British businesses. Directives and regulations that come out of Brussels have to be implemented – it is a legal requirement.

If any reader can translate into meaningful English the Directive (linked above) I will reveal my (EU) briefs in the 'court yard' of the EU Parliament Building (in Strasbourg-photo above).

Why Strasbourg ? Well a Doctor recently confirmed that the bars and resturants are finer in 'Stras' than those in Brussels.

(Terms and conditions apply)

Parliamentary affairs

Today futher evidence was supplied by the Government that confirms that really are now becoming quite silly.
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John Prescott, is now chairing the parlimentary sub-committe on domestic affairs !
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Presscott will now 'chair' four more cabinet sub-committees than before the reshuffle, it has been announced, by Precott himself in the commons today.

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Chairmanship of the constitutional affairs sub-committee and the electoral policy sub-committee has been transferred to Commons leader Jack Straw.

Prescott as well as chairing committees on domestic affairs, aging policy, (is there a policy that we must all get younger) public health, housing and planning, local and regional government, local government strategy and performance, inspection, animal rights activists and on the Post Office newtwork (how to close rural sub-posoffices without anyone noticing)

He will also stand in for the Prime Minister on seven other committees including anti-social behaviour (presumably on how to evict trouble makers from party confrences without hitting them in front of the media) energy and the environment, and schools policy.

A statement from Tony Blair also made clear that there was "no cost to public funds" from the deputy prime minister's use of the Dorneywood residence. Well who is paying then ?

Appearing in the Commons on Wednesday for the first time since he was stripped of departmental briefs, Prescott defended his new portfolio.

The cabinet reshuffle earlier this month saw Prescott lose his department - which oversaw housing and local government policy - following the revelations over his affair with a civil service secretary.

But there has been anger that Prescott kept his title, salary , government Jaguar (with Driver) and other perks perks including grace and favour properties.

Shadow constitutional affairs secretary Oliver Heald, incredably suggested that Prescott's main role was as "a sort of marriage guidance councillor between Number 10 and Number 11".

But Prescott said that a key part of his job was chairing the cabinet committees."The prime minister has given me an important job to do and I am getting on with it," he added. One wonders who is now Prescott's diary secetery - any suggestion or indeed offers ?

Damn Political Correctness

In general, this blog is not a supporter of remakes of classic films. However, in the case of the classic Second War film, The Dam Busters I agree that film director Peter Jackson is the right man to direct a spectacular £100 million spectacular remake.

Jackson, renowned for the astonishing computer graphics in his Lord of the Rings and King Kong movies, will be working with Sir David Frost who last year bought the rights to Paul Brickhill's 1951 book about the 617 Squadrons audacious bombing raid in May 1943.

Peter Jackson has promised to maintain the accuracy and indeed style of the original film released in 1955. One hopes that the memorable scene (used for poster advertising of the film in the 1950's ) showing Wing Commander Gibson (played by Richard Todd) piloting his Avro Lancaster, AJ-G, dressed in an authentic RAF double cuffed shirt, with gold cuff links will be reproduced in the remake. Cleary it would not be the done thing to bomb the enemy improperly dressed.

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Certainly Eric Coats' famious music, The Dam Busters March played by the Central Band of the RAF is to be reused as the theme music in the remake which is due to be released in 2008.

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There is apparently much debate on what some consider to be the thorny question of what to call Gibson's beloved but now controversially named Labrador, Nigger. Sir David has commented that the name is not ideal for the modern world. The real challenge is to make the film as good or better than the original.'' We must hope that ''better'' does not mean 'PC'.

Well now, research by this blog reveals that Nigger was not quite as popular as legend has it. At RAF Scampton, base of 617 Squadron Nigger was as unpopular as his owner. The dog was thoroughly spoilt and was often given too much Beer from the mess by his owner and frequently caused annoyance by peeing up the leg of RAF personnel. Nigger was killed the day before the raid (not as in the film on the same afternoon as the mission) not by a hit and run driver (as suggested in the film) but by an RAF officer driving his own car. There is a conspiracy theory that Nigger's death was not an accident.

Very curiously in the final scene of the original film when Barns Wallace (Michael Redgrave) is being consoled on the loss of life by Guy Gibson an outline of a black Labrador can be seen running through the trees in the background - is this the ghost of Nigger ? Plenty of scope there then for Sir David's production team !

Furthermore, the code word for the successful breaching of the Mohne Dam on the raid was designated by Gibson as 'Nigger' in memory of his dog which was the squadron mascot. Quite how that can be rewritten without loosing any authenticity it is difficult to suggest.

The question of course is why should Nigger be renamed ? Agreed the term at the start of the 21 century is very offensive. Well, so to is Nazism. Should reference to Hitler, Goering and their cronies not be refered to in the remake because they were evil ? The death of 1,300 civilians (many of them forced labourers ) in the factories of the Rhur valley when the dams were broken is now seen as a politically unacceptable occurrence.

The answer is to this particular question is to make a film that is as accurate as possible, one which reflects the values and aspirations and life style of the people in the 1940's. In tribute to those who were killed on the night of 16/17 May a compromise to modern day political correctness would it self be offensive. Lest we forget how it really was.

Operation Chastise

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A comment and brief account on the 63rd anniversary of the ''Dambusters Raid''

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''Almost everything that is great has been done by youth''

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) One time British Prime Minister.

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At 21.28 hours on the evening of 16 May 1943 Flt Lt JL Barlow DFC of the Royal Australian Air Force was the first pilot of 19 Avro Lancaster Bombers, each with a crew of 7, which took off from the grass runway of RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

Barlow's mission together with that of that of his 132 colleagues was to breach the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe Dams on the German industrial hinterland of the Rhur. The raid which was without doubt dramatic in its execution and achievement was to become known famously as The Dambusters Raid.

Officially code named Operation Chastise, the raid undertaken by the newly formed 617 Squadron, commanded by the legendary Wing Commander Guy Gibson who at only 24 one of the RAF's most experienced and skilled operational leaders; a holder of the DSO and DFC both with bars. The 133 young air crew, aged between 20 and 32, had spent the previouse six weeks practising low level flying in preperation for their audasious mission.

One minute after Fl/t Barlow was airborne Flt Lt J L Munro took off in Lancaster AJ-W followed at minute intervals by two more Lancaster's, AJ- K and AJ-H.

All four aircraft flew at low level accross the North Sea. The bomb-aimer on board AJ-W recorded on his mission log:''The Sun had set when we reached the enemy coast but there was a little gloomy moonlight, I saw an aircraft to starport skim the water and send up a plume of spray''.

The plume of spray was almost certanly from Barlow's off track aircraft. None of the four aircraft were to reach their targets. Barlow and his crew were shot down crossing the coast as was the following aircraft AJ-K piloted by the young Canadian Pilot Officer Byers. All fourteen of the crew were reported as missing, later confirmed killed.

The other two aircraft AJ-W and AJ-H returned badly damaged to their airfield their crews surviving to fly another sortie.

This is how the now famous Dambusters Mission started. By the morming of 17 May when the success of the mission was being assesed a total of 52 young airman all in their early 20's had died; their aircraft had become victims of Nazi anti-aircraft fire.

After a dummy run, just after midnight, over the Mohne dam to check out the approach and defences, Gibson (AJ-G) dropped the first ''Bouncing Bomb (codenamed up Upkeep), but his mine detonated too far from the dam. Hopgood (AJ-M) then attacked, but was hit by flak during his approach, and the mine was dropped late - it bounced over the dam, and detonated on the power station below the dam; Hopgood's aircraft gained some height before exploding, but two of the crew did manage to escape, although they were seriously injured and became POWs.

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Martin (AJ-P) then attacked, but his Upkeep veered to the left and exploded 20 yards from the dam. Young (AJ-A) then attacked, and after three bounces, his Upkeep mine exploded in contact with the wall. Maltby (AJ-J) then came in to attack, but as his Upkeep was dropped, it was realised that the dam was already crumbling. His mine also exploded in contact with the wall, and together with Young's, a breach 75 yards wide was created. Young was unfortunately shot down on his way home (the third time he had come down in the sea, but neither he nor his crew survived this time).

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Gibson and Young flew on to the Eder with the three remaining aircraft that still had their bouncing bombs while Martin and Maltby headed for home.

After locating the dam, Shannon (AJ-L) made four passes over it, the steep dive and turn required to line up with the target proving difficult (the mine was not to be dropped unless the bomb aimer was happy with the approach). Maudslay (AJ-Z) tried twice, then Shannon twice more before releasing his mine, which exploded close to the dam towards one end. Maudslay attacked again, this time releasing his mine, but it hit the parapet of the dam and exploded; it seems probable that the explosion damaged the aircraft, as there was no further radio communication from Maudslay, and his aircraft was brought down near the Dutch border on its way home. Knight (AJ-N) made one dummy run, releasing his mine on the second; it bounced three times before hitting the dam, and punched a hole about 30 feet in diameter through the masonry.

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Unlike the Möhne and Eder Dams which were walled dams, the Sorpe was constructed of a concrete core flanked by earth banking on both sides. Different tactics were thus employed against the dam, which was to be attacked along its crest, and the mine dropped without spin. McCarthy (flying AJ-T as his own AJ-Q had developed a fault immediately before the mission) made the first attack, making nine dummy runs as the target was covered in mist; on the tenth run, the mine was dropped and exploded on the dam crest. Brown (AJ-F) also made several dummy runs, dropping his mine on the sixth run. It also exploded on target, but although the crest was damaged, the dam was not breached and no seepage through the core (as hoped for) resulted. The damage to the crown of the dam, however, required the Germans to half empty the reservoir to effect repairs, so there was some water loss as a result of the attack.

In total four of the six Dams were attacked - two, the Mohne and Eder Dams were breached. Of the 19 Lancasters that took of on the night of 16 May 1943 - only 11 returned. From the eight aircraft that were distroyed 53 young men died, three survived to be held as POW's untill after the was ended two years later.

As with all war myths inaccuracies and embellishments gradually become a part of the legend. One such myth is that all those who flew to the dams were already highly decorated and experienced, extreamely exuberant and were personally selected by Gibson to join the squadron. A few were but most were not.

Battles on land, at sea or in the air rarely follow the detailed path optimistically traced in staff conferences or briefing sessions. Not withstanding nearly two months of concentrated preperation and training, in this respect operation Chastise proved no exception.

On the night crews experienced unexpected crises of navigation, uncharted flak, mist-filled valleys, mechanical failure and human error. As one survior concluded, it was not a beautifully planned operation: ''all of it was very much fit and make up, despite what has been said afterwards.''

The success of the mission can not only be measured by the damage to German Industry on the Rhur alone but also the tremendous psychological boost to the Allies war effort at the time.

The mission broke two major dams, causing widespread flooding intreruption enemy miltiary production, communications, gas and electricity and water supplies. The choaos caused to the Nazi war machine with varing degrees of re-deployment of labour (20 thousand workers were transfered from Normandy defences to repair the damms) as well as diversion of troops and weapons in the days that followed the attack.

Of the surviving aircrew thirty-three were decorated at Buckingham Palace on 22 June, with Wing Commander Gibson awarded the Victoria Cross. In total there was one VC, five DSOs, ten DFCs and four bars, twelve DFMs and two CGMs.

Reconciling the human loss to the gain of the cause of the wars greater objective after any military action is never easy, if possible. The cold brutal facts remain as poinient after 63 years as the did at the dawn of 17 May when Barnes Wallace the inventor of the 'Bouncing Bomb' was reported as beeing inconsolable when the extent of the loss of airman became apparent.

Was the raid worthwhil? No balanced answer to this can be attempted without the rerference to issues that incompas the Second World War in its entirity and specificaly the War situation in May 1943, when ultimate Allied Victory was by no means certain. Any credible assesment must be made against a war time political bacground in which failure to totally defeat Nazi Germany was not an option.

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Neither Gibson, nor his crew were to survive the war, they were all killed on different missions; their names are recorded along with approximately 54,000 other young men of Bomber Command who died between 1939 and 1945 at the RAF Memorial Church, St Clement Danes on the Strand, at the Runnymead Air Force Memorial and on 617 Squadron's crew memorial (pictured below) at Woodhall Linconshire.

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Peter Troy County Durham, 20.28 hrs BST 16-05-06

Classes in Core British Values

The Reuters newsagency flashed this morning a story across the media information systems that The Government is considering introducing compulsory lessons on "core British values" for children in response to last July's suicide bomb attacks on London.

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Education minister Bill Rammell, MP said a six-month review would examine whether all 11 to 16-year-olds should be taught about issues such as freedom of speech, civic responsibility, and democracy and how historically they developed.

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Well of course young British Subjects should be properly educated particularly in British history, indeed so to be should all our politicians.

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There is an overwhelming case for the compulsory tests on British life for our school children which immigrants now to pass before they could apply to become British. The same tests should be rigorously applied to our present and future politicians with a pass mark of 100 per cent. Failure, for our political class not being an option.

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Miliband, is he up to the job ?

Meeting with the Minister

by Peter Troy

The first in a series of weekly comments on Ministers that I have met over the years and their present day roll in British Political Life. As an undistinguished observer in the shadows of British Politics for over 5 decades (I started when I was at Prep. school) I have met every Prime Minister since Harold Wilson; as well as numerous Cabinet Ministers both past and present.

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I guarantee that in keeping with this blog's style my recollections will be frank and controversial; after all I do have my reputation to consider.

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The first subject in the series is, The Right Honourable David Miliband MP.

My encounter with David Miliband at the BBC's Radio Studios in Newcastle during the run up to the June 2001 General Election left me under impressed. The occasion was a 'phone in programme focused on ''Europe'' (meaning the EU of course).

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Miliband or 'laggyband' as I prefer to call him, owing to his undoubted ability to stretch a point, had been parachuted into fight the safe constituency of South Shields in Labour's North East heartland. He had obviously impressed his boss after three years as the Head of the Number Ten Policy Unit (a spin Doctor).

Miliband's hand shake was limp his eye contact policy was to avoid one, his manner was clinical his gait was self conscious and his suit was crumpled.

As the questions flowed in the BBC studio it was quite clear that Miliband's knowledge of the actual workings and structures of the EU was fairly superficial. He trotted out the favourite and unsustainable line about job losses if ever the UK were to leave the EU as well as Blair's then often used line of how we export more to the EU (quite incorrectly) than we import from ''Europe''.

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Millband's on air opponent was UKIP's candidate who was standing in the Durham City constituency, one Chris Williamson (a small business owner and mother of two) whose political experience was somewhat less than the soon to be MP. However, Chris very much upstaged Milliband.

On every EU question that was put to the pair Chris dominated the answers and indeed the entire live on air programme, Miliband was vague and very week on detail. Chris, the inspired political newcomer skilfully interrupted the experienced 'Number 10' man. Mind you, Chris had been exceptionally well briefed by her Campaign Manager, no false modesty on this blog.

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Anyway my point in recalling the event is that as I left the studio I recall being amazed at Millband's apparent shallow grasp of the fundamental details on his party's core subject plus his general lack of skill in front of a microphone.

Having watched and listened Miliband on air many times since I remain unimpressed. His vocabulary, it would appear, is not as extensive as his reputation suggests.

It has come to pass five years after my brief encounter with David Miliband that he is now the newly appointed Political head of DEFRA, having taken over the post from Margaret Becket who was in turn appointed Foreign Secretary following Jack Straw's sacking.

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I seriously wonder if 'lagyband' will grasp his new brief. The first massive problem facing the South Tyneside MP is the delays in subsidy payments of farmers because of the bureaucratic backlog in his new department.

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Miliband, told The Daily Telegraph last week that the chaos that had driven many farmers to the point of ruin was likely to affect some of next year's Single Payment Scheme. Well there is nothing like a negative statement to inspire confidence !

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Only 56,000 out of 120,000 claims for payments lodged in 2005 - the first year of the scheme - have been met in full so far, because of computer and other problems at the Rural Payments Agency, part of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.

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Applications for money under the 2006 scheme have to be submitted by farmers by May 31. More problems could be expected with those payments, Milliband said. "There are big challenges about 2006 and there is no point in hiding them. That is why we are saying to farmers if possible get your claims in now. "About 5,000 farmers - those with the most complex applications - have yet to receive any payment for 2005. Also 31,000 have been given only an 80 per cent partial payment. In total 85 per cent of the £1.5 billion of payments have now gone out.

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The department had hoped to have most of the subsidies paid by February and 95 per cent by March. But the computer system could not cope with the application, including thousands from small holders of land who were applying for less than £700. Britain will have to pay fines to the European Union (our governmental overlords) from June 30 on any money not paid by then.

Milliband, said to The Daily Telegraph last week "There is no question it has been damaging. It has affected a lot of lives. Ithas caused a lot of stress." Well he is correct on that point. Miliband conceded that having had no background on the land some farmers might see him as unsuitable for the post. He did not even possess a pair of Wellington boots!

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I trust the new Secretary of Sate for the Environment and Rural Affairs now has a far better working knowledge of the EU than he did five years go. As for Wellington boots, well to be fair there is not much need for them in the Westminster Village.

Why is this man trying to deceive us ?

Above Dr John Reid, Home Secretary

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by Dr Richard North

Don't worry – it's a rhetorical question. I'm not expecting an answer. But the question remains there, hanging over the new home secretary, John Reid, after his performance in the Commons today.
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Having admitted that 98 of the 1,023 foreign prisoners released without being considered for deportation remain at large, and that the number included one murderer and eight rapists or child sex offenders, he then revised the level of serious offenders freed from 150 to 179.
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Furthermore, 57 serious offenders had gone on to commit further crimes following their release from jail, with 19 involving violence or a "sexual element".
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Then we got shadow home secretary David Davis pressing Reid on Blair's pledge to "automatically deport" every foreign offender. "When does the home secretary believe he will fulfil the prime minister's undertaking of the third of May to automatically deport every foreign national who has served a prison sentence?" he asked.

Reid, we are told, said that "the presumption" would be that foreign criminals convicted of serious offenders would be deported. "It is my aim," he said, "to ensure that foreign nationals who serve significant custodial sentences in this country face deportation automatically."

Hang on…!? Did he say that all foreign nationals… would be deported automatically? Er… no! He said they would "face" deportation...

In other words, they would be considered, but not necessarily deported as a result.

This reflects the reality of the situation. Both in terms of the European Charter of Human Rights (ECHR) and EU Directive 2004/38/EC, Reid knows that he cannot deport anyone "automatically" (and many, not at all).

He knows that. We know that. Why does he try to deceive us?

The Sunday Quote

''Make the reader laugh and he will think you a trivial fellow, but bore him in the right way and your reputation is assured''

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W. Sommerset Maughn, The Gentleman in the Parlour, 1930

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Dedicated to the regular blog reader who let it be known that he thought that this blog had become boreing.

Jumpers needed

Why leave a perfectly serviceable aircraft (in flight) ?

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Well there are plenty of reasons but three come readerly to mind:

• For the thrill of a lifetime
• To raise funds for the BDFA Bulldog (a very British Aircraft)
• Because your Mum would not like it.

We on this blog are assisting the British Disabled Flying Association (BDFA) raise money to secure the use of a training aircraft in the North of England. That will enable disabled people to enjoy the pleasure and experience of flight.

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So far 20 volunters from the North East of England all of whom are medical staff (plus one intrepid lady businees owner from County Durham) have agreed to join the sponsored Parachute Jump, but more people will to jump and raise sponsorship are needed.

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The jumps are taking place on various week-ends between now and September.

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To findout more, please click here: http://www.bdfa.net/.

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Those wishing to help provide oppertunities in aviation for disabled people by sponsoring and/or jumping should leave their details either in the comments box, email the editor or contact the BDFA direct via their website.

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For details of this blog's involvement with disabled flying see our discriptive posting from last September, click:

http://verybritishsubjects.blogspot.com/2005/09/onwards-forwards-and-upwards.html

Trouble at the tips

A story today in the Bradford local newspaper The Telegraph and Argus, recounts how staff at the local tips have been subject to a rising toll of threats and abuse, to the extent that police have had to be called in, while extra staff and security personnel have been recruited.

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The trouble has arisen because massive charges have been imposed on tradesmen wishing to dispose of waste at the sites, on top of a complex new system of licenses and permits. Traders have been turned away if their paperwork is not correct, while others have objected to the charges.

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In all, staff at the Bradford tip have suffered 90 incidents of violence in just 18 months, a problem which is becoming a problem nation wide.

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The reason, of course, why this draconian regime is now in force is because of the EU’s landfill directive, which is making it progressively more expensive and difficult to dispose of waste – and incidentally is leading to a massive rise in fly-tipping hence the upsurge in frustration and violence.

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Do the powers-that-be learn any lessons from their experience? Of course not. As with their response to the fly-tipping problem they simply ratchet up the controls. This is truly the march of the jobsworths, all courtesy of the EU.

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Multiply this a thousand times, however, as the grip of rules and regulations tighten particulary around small businesses, and we could be looking at our future.

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Who in their right mind, even a decade ago, would have ever thought it necessary to post security guards at waste tips?

To flush or not to flush ?

The Mayor of London, Ken Livinstone (not to be confussed with The Lord Mayor of the City of London) informs the world (or that part of it that reads his sayings in the Evening Standard) that he does not flush the toilet at home.

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Well, no, that is not quite true. He does flush it but only sometimes. This blog does not wish to discuss the toilet arrangements of the Livingstone household, the Mayor is entitled to his own arrangements. But it would be awfully nice if he would stop interfering in other people’s private lives.

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What we do with our toilets is surely our own business as long as it is done in private and does not disturb the neighbours.

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Ken Livingstone tells his constituents that London uses more water than any other part of the country. It is not clear what that means. London is bigger than any other city, town and village in the country and that may have something to do with the use of water.

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Above Left - The Gaylan-hiytan (mark 2) based upon the orgiginal design of the 'Water Closet' patented by Victorian small businessman Thomas Crapper.

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Also London has more businesses than any other city, town and village in the country. That, too, may have something to do with the use of water.

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But no, not so and far from it we are told. The whole problem arises from … well, probably climate change, though that is becoming a somewhat outmoded idea … and the fact that we flush toilets too often.

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Then there is the problem of the alleged drought. Most people thought that we had quite a lot of rain and snow across the country this spring, though not so much in the winter. Not enough, apparently. Not if we want to continue to flush our toilets.

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Of course, London’s water pipes are old (the penalty of being first in technological development) and there are many leaks (pun intended). These ought to be fixed but that is an expensive business.

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So why is there a problem with water (or lack of) in our Capital City ? Well the answer is that the fault lies, as one would expect, with the EU - indeed.

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To explain: Billions are spent every year on implementing the EU Water Framework Directive, which is full of unnecessarily detailed, scientifically unproven but expensive and, above all, legally required details. That is why there are water shortages. And Ken tells us not to flush our toilets; not a bog standard situation at all.