Blair on cross-dressing

Owing to technincal difficulties it was not posible to post our end of week quote on Friday. To make up for the disapointment that our members would no doubt have experienced we post a start of the week quote:
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"The era of tribal political leadership is over in Britain with "rampant cross-dressing" on policy set to become a permanent feature of modern politics, Tony Blair told News Corp executives in conclave in the Californian resort of Pebble Beach yesterday." Read the full article from The Guardian

The Sunday Quote

''One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. ''

Plato (427-347 BC)

Compliments of Peter Troy

Regular postings will now continue

The nasty IT virus, which was probably sent by a republican (there are a few in Her Majesty's glorious Realm) has now been removed from the IT systems of the Blog's producers and what passes for a normal service will resume.

What would we do without the French ?

This is actually a genuine question. What would we do for entertainment without them?

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The question was prompted by an interesting though somewhat inadequate article in today’s International Herald Tribune, entitled “France’s Mysterious Embrace of Blogs”. The gist of it was that there are more blogs read and written in France than in Germany, Britain or, even, the United States.

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“Sixty percent of French Internet users visited a blog in May, ahead of Britain with 40 percent and little more than a third in the United States, according to Comscore, an Internet ratings service.

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Likewise, French bloggers spent more than an hour in June visiting France's top-rated blog site, far ahead of the 12 minutes spent by Americans doing the same and less than 3 minutes for Germans, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.More than three million Internet users, or more than 12 percent of those online in France, have created a blog, according a study released in June by the ratings agency Médiamétrie.”

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Anyway, nobody seems to know why the French insist on blogging but they do not seem to be creating a network of blogs or a blogosphere.

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“French blogs stands out in other measurable ways. They are noticeably longer,more critical, more negative, more egocentric and more provocative than their U.S. counterparts'' said Laurent Florès, the French-born, New York-based chief executive of CRM Metrix, a company that monitors blogs and other online conversations on behalf of companies seeking feedback on their brands.

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''Bloggers in the United States listen to each other and incorporate rival ideas in the discussion," he said. "French bloggers never compromise their opinions."

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Some of the French blogs are political, concentrating on such things as local abuses (largely financial one imagines) which bring trouble to the bloggers. Others are more personal and many of them seem to spend a great deal of time discussing “passionately” why there should be so many French blogs.

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At present there seems to be some doubt as to the effect this flowering of blogs might have on traditional French politics. Some commentators hope that they will absorb the energy that would otherwise go into rioting if not totaly revolting; others point out that last autumn’s riots were often co-ordinated through the internet.

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In the same way it is unclear whether the cause of blogs is the fact that it is difficult to complain in France in any organized fashion or the fact that the French are encouraged to be critical and nihilistic. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

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What the article does not discuss is whether the more homogenous and tightly controlled media, both print and electronic, should be the cause of this spurt of self-publishing on the net. There is no mention, for instance, how many blogs or websites manage to break away from the French “consensus” of anti-American, anti-British, and, largely, anti-Israeli opinion. How many argue about the need to abandon the accepted model of social and economic statism? Off the top of my head I can think of two: the intermittent in posting but consistently brilliant Dissident Frogman and Liberté-Chérie. There may be others but few and far between.

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The article ends with a particularly funny comment from the Director of Web Strategy for Dominique Strauss-Kahn:

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“Griveaux, the director of Web strategy for Strauss-Kahn, reckons the popularity of blogs comes down to France being a nation where each and every citizen thinks he or she should be in charge."We had 16 presidential candidates at the last election, and we will probably have the same number next year," Griveaux said. "Every French person wants to run the country - a blog is the next best option. How reassuringly French and, if I may say so, very smug.

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So, where does all this navel gazing leave the French? After all, they can’t be doing all this just to provide us with entertainment, can they?

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Will blogging lead to a political realignment as it did, to a great extent in the United States and may yet in Britain, or will it remain another outlet for French self-analysis? Watch this space.

Break in Transmission - Sorry No Music

Owing to circumstances beyond our control (knackered PC) postings on this Blog will be erratic for the next few days.

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The standby facility, the ancient laptop has missing symbols on the keyboard the use of which requires the skills of a Second World War Enigma operater.

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Normal 'transmission' will resume as soon as possible.

The Incompetence of a flawed system

The Countess of Mar has resigned from the Immigration Appeals Tribunal in despair at what she described as the incompetence of such a flawed, overloaded system, it was reported in a number of newspapers yesterday.

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Lady Mar who is a a cross bencher and deputy speaker of the House of Lords as well as vice-president of the association representing tribunal members, claimed in a Sunday newspaper the immigration system was a farce as it failed to expelrejected asylum seekers while letting down deserving cases.

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She said those whose appeals were refused but who were not removed merely sank into oblivion. As has been much reported in the media only very few 'illegals' are actually deported.

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The Countesses resignation coincides with the publication of a damning report on immigration controls by the Home Affairs Committee in Westminster. The MPs warned the foreign prisoners fiasco was caused partly by the government's prioritising of asylum targets, resulting in it not being recognised early enough.

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Lady Mar argued the problems began when the former Tory government stopped issuing work permits and those who were previously able to work legally wereforced to reach the UK by other routes.

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She said: "I would sit and hear cases and give them my most careful and anxious scrutiny, knowing full well that even if you decided someone should not stay here they would not be sent back. The whole process is a farce and needs to be revised."If I had my way, what I would say is come to our country and you are very welcome if you find yourself a job within six weeks, if you keep our laws and don't demand health service treatment immediately, and after so many years youcan come into the system - and if you can't do that you get sent back immediately."

Indeed.

Suez

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the Suez Crisis, the picture alongside having a familiar aspect. But for the grainy black-and-white quality, it could easily represent what is happening today.

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Even the BBC today, though, acknowledges the seminal role this Crisis had in the formation of the European Union, happening as it did at a crucial time in the negotiations over the Treaty of Rome – something that is discussed in an earlier post .

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It was also, possibly, the last (and first) time in history that the French, British and Israelis co-operated in a joint venture, and without the approval of the United States. How different things are today, when the US is the staunchest ally of Israel and France one of its strongest critics.

Smile - it's Monday morning

Some more aeronautical humour.

Please click below:

http://www.horsman.co.nz/story.do?id=53

Wot no Conkers

As difficult as it is to imagine British school children may well have to go without conkers this autumn. As if that possibility is not bad enough the World Conker Championships at Ashton in Northampton may well have to be called off. The principle reason is the summer heatwave or to be more precise the lack of rain water and the effects of the lava of the horse chestnut leaf miner - a moth that first emerged in the UK four years ago.
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So it may come to pass that the very British game of conkers will be seriously hampered this year by a lack of quality conkers as the horse chestnut trees struggle to produce their seasonal fruit after battling to obtain water in the current dry conditions.

The warning signs are already evident. The huge horse chestnut trees are starting to appear under stress their leaves are prematurely starting to change colour and fall.

Those conkers that do appear will be smaller because of the effects of the immigrant moth that is attacking the leaves of the great trees.

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If all this was not bad enough, an estimated 40,000 horse chestnut trees ( first introduced to the British Isles in the late 16th century from Eastern Europe) have been infected with a disease called bleeding canke, which causes black gum to ooze from the bark and eventually kills them. Some 3,000 trees have already been felled across the realm.

So there it is, the very British school play-ground game of conkers (the first recorded game was in 1848) which is derived from the 14th Century village game played with hazelnuts (called cobnuts in some parts of England) may well be, for this year at least, be under threat.

The Sunday Quote

''The safest general characterization of the European philosphical tradition is that it consists of footnotes to Plato''

Alfred North Whitehead 1861-1957: Process and Reality (1929)

''Preacher of Hate''

Yesterday's Evening Standard, publishes a large spread about Hanan Fostok demanding that the RAF or the Royal Navy (she is not fussy) bring out her husband, Omar Bakri, from Lebanon.

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So who is Omar Bakri. Well he is the one and only “preacher of hate” who has left this country, not because he was deported as the government and the Home Office kept huffing and puffing about, but because he was scared and he ran. He ran all the way to Lebanon, where he was arrested but, later released.

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Bakri was born in Syria and is wanted by the government of that country for plotting the government’s overthrow in 1970. Bakri must now be worried about all sorts of things – Israeli bombs, Israeli soldiers, Lebanese enemies and, last but very much not least, another Syrian invasion.

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The man was given asylum here and both he and his family lived entirely on benefits. In fact, his family still does so. He had no job while he was here in the UK for many years. So what did he do with his time? As the leader article in the Standard puts it quite fairly:
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“This is the man who blamed the British people for the terrorist outrages of 7 July last year, claiming that murderous attacks on innocent civilians were a justified response to an elected government’s foreign policy. He also praised the hijackers who inflicted the carnage of 9/11. As spiritual leader of the extremist Al-Muhajiroun group he was responsible for stirring up hatred and disseminating lies with the power to spur on young men to commit further terrorist acts.”
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Bakri, in short, is one of the exponents of the most violent and extreme Islamism. Just the chap our glorious armed service men should be risking their lives to save.

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The self-righteous whinge by Mrs Bakri (apparently, according to the Evening Standard, people treat her and her family as that of a terrorist) should not be given space in the British media.

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Bakri and his brand of extremism should not be allowed to cross our shores again, least of all be rescued by Her Majesty's forces.

Those Rolls-Royce minds

by Dr Richard North

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The myth used to prevail that the British civil service was the best in the world, the crème de la crème being the "Rolls Royce minds" of the Foreign Office.

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What price therefore the story in The Telegraph today about how thieves ran up a £600,000 bill on the Foreign Office's satellite phones

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The details come from a National Audit Office report which retails "an astonishing catalogue of errors" which allowed the thieves to carry on using the phones for up to a year before officials discovered what had happened. It all started when ten satellite telephones were sent to Iraq in September 2003 but diplomats in the country were not told they were coming, there were no records on whom the phones were issued to and there was nowhere to store them securely.

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In a further lapse, the phones were activated in Britain before they were sent, which meant that anyone could use them. The three phones vanished in early 2004 and the first bills started to arrive in July that year. The first phone was barred in August but had already run up a £10,365 bill, the second phone appears to have stopped working in March last year, by which stage £115,963 of calls had been made.

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Then, in the last couple of months, the thieves are believed to have set up premium rate phonelines on the tiny Wallis and Futuna Islands, in the South Pacific. They then used one of the satellite phones to call the numbers - which cost £5.94 a minute - running up a £290,000 bill. The final phone was turned off in June last year when alarm bells finally rang about the £594,370 bill that had been run up.The worst of it all is that in September 2004 a junior official had "raised concerns about the high cost and usage of satellite phones in Iraq" but senior officials failed to take any action.

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For sure, this is nothing by comparison to some of the more egregious failures of the MoD, but it is still a hell of a lot of money. By my reckoning, that is two RG-31s, with enough left over to buy every soldier in Iraq a couple of pints and a packet of crisps.And this is the Foreign Office on whom we rely to manage our relations with the EU. No wonder we so often get taken to the cleaners by France

Something for the week-end

Some very funny air traffic controller quotes from businessballs.com:

http://www.businessballs.com/airtrafficcontrollersfunnyquotes.htm

View from the deckchair

Lord (Cash Point) Levey the Prime Minister's confidant has been arrested, the Deputy Prime Minister is under yet more scrutiny, the Home Office is in a mess over Police Force Mergers and Identity Cards, foreign convicts are roaming the streets when they should have been deported yet, British Subjects are deported for alleged crimes committed here, the management of the NHS in such a muddle that it is sacking medics yet hiring large numbers of expensive management consultants, British armed forces seriously continue to be badly equipped for the vital work they need to do, the country is running out of water and electricity and we are now paying more in taxes than we have ever done.
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The argument that it can only get better does not stack up when one looks at the performance of David Cameron's 'not the conservative party' masquerading as the official opposition or indeed the LibDem's waffling approach.

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Such is the state of our Nation. Never mind we can still smile, it is glouriously hot, there is a plentiful supply of ice cream, warm real ale in the nations public houses, plenty of cricket to watch, foreign tourists are spending well in our shops whilst enjoying our unique very British heritage and soon our politicians will be going on their annual holidays.

The end of week quote

Below is an extract from The Daily Telegraph today:

Clearly there can never be a fully satisfactory outcome in the tragic and shocking case of an innocent person being gunned down by armed police. But the formula on which the CPS has settled - which has been variously described as a "fudge" and a "cop-out" - seems peculiarly disturbing. There is clearly something faintly absurd about defining the shooting of a man seven times in the head as being a failure of a "duty of care."

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Too many critical questions have been left unanswered. The death of Mr De Menezes was not a simple accident: it was a mistake of disastrous proportions for which someone in the Metropolitan Police chain of command must ultimately be responsible. The marksmen who committed the act believed themselves to be following instructions: those instructions were presumably either misconceived or seriously ambiguous. The accusation of "institutional Islamophobia" may be less to the point than one of "institutional incompetence."

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If it is genuinely impossible (as the CPS has alleged) to determine which individuals were definitively culpable, then the final responsibility must lie with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair. The Home Secretary, to whom the Commissioner is ultimately answerable, must see to it that Sir Ian is made to answer for the actions of his force.

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End of quote

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Peter Troy adds:

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To discribe the shooting as a failure of a ''duty of care'' under the 1974 Health and Safty Act is not only absurd it is also a very British (tragic) understatement. Two days after the killing of Mr De Menzies I was amongst the first to call for the resignation of Sir Ian Blair (On BBC Radio Cleveland).

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That resignation is needed now not as an act of revenge but because the British Public needs to have confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service. British Subjects have a deep sence of fair play and justice, Sir Ian Blair needs to satisfy that need. If the Home Secretary or the Prime Minister won't tell him to go his colleaguse should, if they won't or can not then the council tax payers of London should.

Quotes from the Palace

''If you see a man opening a car door for a woman, it means one of two things: it's either a new woman or a new car! ''

HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh.

Presumably there is a Royal exception !

For more quotes from HRH please click below:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Prince_Philip,_Duke_of_Edinburgh

Gordon Brown - implicated !

The 'loans for honours ' scandel has taken on a new dimention. With this post on the Not Proud of Britain blog. It is the first time the question has been raised as to whether Gordon Brown might have had anything at all to do with Labour Party funding matters.

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This won't be the last reference to this. Gordon Brown is, after all, the real enemy as far as the 'Blairites' and a large section of the Tory media are concerned and if there is any way they can bring him down along with the Prime Minister, they will.

Not enough helcopters

The British media's dominant preoccupation remains, quite naturally, the Middle Eastern situation, with headlines focusing particularly on the evacuation of British subjects which is wellunderway.

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Earlier stories about the shortage of helicopters for British troops are somewhat difficult to reconcile with The Times report that six Sea King helicopters have left the Yeovilton Royal Navy Air Station in Somerset on a marathon journey to Cyprus, where they will be deployed to help in the evacuation.

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Additionally, as we now know, the MoD managed to find some Chinook helicopters to carry out the initial evacuations and we learn from the BBC website that no less than five Chinooks are currently providing support to British officials in Beirut.

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According to Wing Commander Carl Scott, chief of staff of Joint Helicopter Command, one Chinook "flew in [EU foreign policy chief] Javier Solana and took the opportunity to take 40 people out - the ill, the young, elderly and those you would expect to need to be taken out."

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Thus, it was not the Cyprus-based Griffins that were used, but a heavy-lift helicopter, the like of which are needed desperately in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the moment, there are only two Chinooks in Iraq and a further six in Afghanistan, with another two promised. With only 16 of the RAF's 28-strong fleet of Chinooks currently "fit for purpose", the five being deployed in Lebanon now makes the whole of the fleet committed, bar one, Yet even the numbers committed are not sufficient for operations in our combat areas, where many believe that we have too few troops and too little helicopter lift capacity. Should there be any further emergencies, the cupboard is effectively bare.

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All this goes to show just how perilously marginal the strength of British armed forces has become.

Garden Party at the Palace

Peter at the Gates: ''which is the way to the Tea Party Officer ?''

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Peter Troy inThe Palace Garden

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My somewhat tongue in cheek press statement to The Northern Echo on Monday read:-

''Peter Troy, Rod Stewart, Geri Halliwell, Brian May, Joules Holland and 6,500 volunteers, staff and contractors were invited to celebrate the 30 th Anniversary of the Prince's Trust at a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on the afternoon of Friday 14 July''

The invitation gave a clue to the very traditional yet relaxed afternoon ''The Trustees (of the Princes Trust) are commanded by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to invite Mr Peter Troy to a Garden Party ........''

Well, it was indeed a very British event despite the now necessary overt security. The gardens of Buckingham Palace in their majestic splendour provided an glorious location for HRH Prince Charles to say thank you in person to all those who have over the past thirty years helped change the lives of more than half a million young British Subjects.

Iced coffee, mineral water, tea in bone china cups, cucumber sandwiches, strawberry shortcakes, lemon tarts, chocolate cake partaken of to the strains of The Dambusters March and other stirring tunes were expertly played by The Minden Band of the Queen's Division splendid in their red tunics. (The Band is named after the battle of Minden, fought in August 1759, when the Fench were soundly beaten)

The time honoured clockwork organisation of the event was both understated and conducted in a faultless genteel style as only the British can do. The Household Palace staff of course immaculate in their uniforms. Prince Charles accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall strolled around the gardens for two hours, talking to guests in some detail and expressing genuine thanks for their contribution to the work of the Trust.

More than one of my detractors commented before the event that they expected Her Majesty's Tower to be accommodating a prisoner, the first since the summer of '41.Well, the institution of the monarchy, the Heir to the Throne and myself clearly all survived the visit.

Right, Leaving The Palace

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The end of the party was marked by the playing of the National Anthem, a salute from the Bandmaster and the band marching off in the general direction of Hyde Park Barracks. As someone standing close to me said : '' in other words please do b***er off''.

So there it was, a very British Tea Party indeed, off I strolled, thanking the armed Police Inspector at the Palace Gates, through St James Park, past the impressive Guards War Memorial, across Horse Guards Parade, a quick march down Whitehall and into The Red Lion - London's 'political pub' to catch up on the days gossip (see posted article below).

(http://verybritishsubjects.blogspot.com/2006/07/disqualification-and-dishonour.html)

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My previous visit to the palace was as an impressionable 16 year old, 36 years ago (on the occasion of the investiture of a CBE to my Uncle) now as a cynical 52 two year old I wonder what the state of the Monarchy will be on my return visit in an other 36 years time at the ripe old age of 89; assuming that is I receive an other command to return.

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To read an other account of the garden party please click below:

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http://management.silicon.com/smedirector/0,39024679,39160510,00.htm

Disqualification and dishonour

Direct from Westminster, a story without honour of yet more ill concidered regulation from a dishonourable government.

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Last Wednesday 10 Downing Street went into melt down at the news that Tony Blair's chief fund raiser, tennis partner and Middle East Envoy had been arrested. Lord 'Cash Point' Levy, who denies all wrong doing, was arrested under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 and the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000.

The pressure at Downing Street increased on Thursday afternoon when it was announced that the police are considering corruption charges into yet unnamed individuals in the upper tiers of the Government.

If Tony Blair is eventually interviewed by the police over this very messy affair in September it is almost certain that his departure from 'Number 10' will be sooner rather than later and indeed under a very dark cloud.

By Friday morning the press managers in Downing Street were desperate for a story to take the heat off 'the boss'. The 'story' that was published on the front page of The Sunday Telegraph additionaly featured in The Sunday Times and covered elsewhere today was the product of the experienced No 10 press office. Whilst the bringing forward of the '' hire illegal immigrants and you'll be disqualified'' story did not completely take the heat off Blair it did manage to push 'Lord Cashpoint's ' arrest off most of the front pages from the Sunday's editions of the nations newspapers.

Against the background outlined above it is no wonder that the announced controversial plans are full of holes and apparently ill considered consequences. The supposed crackdown plans where whisked from the embattled Home Office's civil servants desks and prematurely announced to the press on Friday. By the time I was on my second pint in the Red Lion in Whitehall late on Friday afternoon the Sunday hacks were well advanced in their condemnation of the Home Secretary's brain child.

The proposed legislation will disqualify company directors who's businesses are found to be breaching immigration rules on two separate occasions; a draconian two strikes and you are out. The penalty may sound a good idea, until the detail is considered.

The legislation, says the Number 10 press office, is aimed at 'rogue' employers such as those who employed the 21 Chinese cockle pickers who drowned whilst working at Morecambe Bay in 2004. There is already ample legislation to weed out such practices.

The draft disqualification legislation would mean that directors would face sanction even if their contractors or sub-contractors were employing illegal immigrants.

The obvious problem is that of potential employees producing forged documents. No matter company directors would still face prosecution. Clearly under the Home Offices plans business people will being held responsible when the actual problem is that the government has lost control of our borders and almost anyone can now get in and stay in undetected.

The alternative for business owners of not employing 'foreigners' is not an option since that could lead to discrimination proceedings. Amazingly the planned legislation does not appear to provide for sanction against non-incorporated businesses i.e. those that are not limited companies (thus do not have directors). There is a possibility that sole-traders will be exempt from prosecution which cannot be the governments intention.

Understandably David Frost, the Director General (DG) of the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) reacted angrily to the governments plans. He said to The Sunday Telegraph: ''It is just not on for small business to take the rap for this -- particularly when we have evidence that the Government has been handing out National Insurance numbers, which are absolutely central to this problem, like confetti.''

The DG of the BCC added that he will be protesting in person tomorrow (Monday) with the small Business Minister.. I assume that he will be joined by a senior official from the 195,000 member strong Federation of Small Businesses. Though that is very much an optimistic assumption since I am unable to locate a squeak from the FSB in the press or the internet on this vital matter.

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To be fair this issue has been brought forward and may be not yet appear as urgent on the Federation's lobbying priorities list. Perhaps I am being a tad critical since the FSB policy people may well be better acquainted with what goes on in the offices at Number 10 rather than in the pub across the road from Downing Street.

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Cheers.

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Peter Troy, Sedgefield

Alternative use of Guantanamo Bay

Much has been written about the 'NatWest Three', Guantanamo Bay and Labour's Lord Cashpoint (Lord Levy).

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Since the US Government is bowing to international 'human rights' pressure and releasing the detainees an alternative use of the facilities at Guantanamo could be the mass detention of British Bankers.

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Clearly, as many British Business people (particularly small busines owners) would agree, British banking charges and practice is an act of mass distruction; one which ruthlesly targets the British entrepreneural culture.

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As for Lord Levy, Tony Blair's close friend the cartoon below says it all.

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The Sunday Quote

'' So long as you suffer any man to call himself your shepherd, sooner or later you will find a crook around your ankle ''

H G Wells (1866-1946) , Experiment in Autobiography, 1934.

They are simply not listening

Last week provided some examples of our politicians not listening to what the voters are telling them, or if they are listening they are chosing to ignore what they being told. The latter is most likely the case since the principlre cause in a rise in voter apathy in this country is the arrogance of the British (and European) political elite

Christopher Booker, in his Sunday Telegraph column today picks up on the continuing scandal of the lack of armoured protection for British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The stubborn attidude of government ministers and lack of corrective action continues to endanger the lives of our young soldiers.

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Mr Booker also writes that it has not been a good week for David Cameron's ''Not the Conservative Party''. Booker comments::

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'' First there was the sour reception for his 'hug the hoodie' speech. Then the Daily Mail worked out that the silly little wind turbine he wants on his roof will produce so little electricty that it will take 40 years to pay for it self.

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Finally came the fasco thst over his pledge to remove the Tory MEP's from the fanaticly intergrational European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament.''

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As the headline to Booker's piece states: ''Europe will be Dave's undoing''.

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The great mistake David Cameron is making is in believing that his core supporters have nowhere else to go. As we saw in the Bromley by-election, their response may be either to stay at home or to back one of the smaller parties; an increasing trend of British voters.

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It would apear that Tory "strategists" have failed to take account of the prevaling electoral phenomena. Cameron is on course to go down in history as the first Conservative leader to lose a winnable general election. His EPP decision may not bring this about, but it has done nothing to stem the advancing tide of disillusionment both within the Conservative Party and amongst the electorate.

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UKIP, (the largest of the UK's small parties) if it can put meat onto its policy bones now has a oppertunity to sieze the attention of the electorate; assuming that it does not tear it self apart in the process of electing a new leader. Keeping its party ear to the ground will be essential.

Hit the spot

Yesterday this blog attracted 1,972 page hits, with a record (for this site) of 1,792 visitors to our very British blog. As at 11.00 hrs BST today 278 hits were recorded.

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Currently this site is on average attracting 340 individual readers each day. The volume of hits is steadily increasing. A site counter is available on the right hand side bar.

The billion euro bable

by Dr Richard North

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The annual interpreting and translation bill for the European Union is set to reach the magic figure of €1bn a year.

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This comes with the addition of new translation and interpretation rights for the Irish language, costing the European Parliament alone more than €677,000 next year, creating an unprecedented "tower of babel".

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From 2007, MEPs will be able to speak in the chamber of the European Parliament in the Irish language with interpretation, though no more than five Euro-MPs have the fluency to do so.

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Meanwhile, Catalans and Basques who, so far, have been unable to get the same deal as the Irish because they qualify as official languages only in parts of Spain and not throughout the country, have won more limited language rights. Welsh speakers, however, are stepping up demands for recognition of their native tongue.

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Irish Fianna Fail MEP, Sean O Neachtain - a native Irish speaker – is unapologetic about dumping more costs on the taxpayers of the contributing countries. He argues: "The Irish language is a declared national language. Nobody should begrudge us this opportunity because the Irish language is in the process of revival."But then he isn't paying out of his own pocket for the extravaganza and, as long as his country is a net beneficiary, neither will his own taxpayers.

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Perhaps though, if he is a good Catholic, O Neachtain might revisit Genesis 11:1-9. The last time the peoples of the earth tried to built an edifice that reached to the heavens, the Lord descended to see the city and the tower that the sons of man had built, and scattered them from there upon the face of the entire earth. Another descent is well overdue.

Domain conciderations

It is common knowledge that if you are going to operate a business in today’s world you need a domain name.

It is, perhaps, advisable to look at the domain name selected as other see it and not just as you think it looks. Failure to do this may result in situations such as the following (legitimate) companies who deal in everyday humdrum products and services but clearly didn’t give their domain names enough consideration:

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… iswww.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views atwww.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island atwww.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder atwww.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company…www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales:www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s alwayswww.ipanywhere.com

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website iswww.cummingfirst.com

9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website:www.speedofart.com

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website atwww.gotahoe.com

Over the top

Sir Clive Sinclaire a very British inventor has invented yet another 'revolutionary' conveyance, a bike that can 'fit into a briefcase' .

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The lightweight folding bike will according to the inventor revolutionise commuter travel.

The man who brought the Sinclair C5 pedal and battery-powered buggy is planning to market his new bike this summer, priced at about £200.

Called the A-bike — because it looks like a letter A when unfolded —Sir Clive Sinclair’s new invention has taken him nearly 20 years to develop and bring to production.

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A review of Sir Clive's intrepid design published in the London Evening Standard commented ''It will change the way people see bikes''.

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Well with its tiny wheels, sensitive breaks and high centre of gravity, the view must mean upside down, with the rider over the handlebars!

Off to the Palace

Today is the 30th Anniversary of the Prince's Trust. A Celebration Tea Party is being held today (Friday) in the Palace Gardens. The editor's report will be posted upon his return.

The end of week quote

''I have had a long comradly debate with David Miliband''

Ken Livingston Mayor of London in a coded message when commenting on a row this week with the Enviroment Secretary after the Mayor had been refused new powers on waste and recyling.

Gaza and Bombay

by Dr. Helen Szamuely
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If one were to follow the news on the electronic media of this country one would assume that there were only two stories of any importance in the world: the NatWest bankers and the potential witness, whose body was found in Waltham Forest; and the arrest of Lord Levy in connection with the cash for honours saga.

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Curiously enough, the rest of the world does not share this assumption. Even the NatWest saga seems to have been ignored or relegated a long way down by American newspapers and websites.

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However, we in our - well, one can call it an obsession - have also passed on the two biggest stories, which is not to say we have not been interested, appalled and even frightened.

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The two stories are, of course, the Middle East descending into open war in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel has started military operations to rescue its soldiers; and the horrific series of blasts in Bombay

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At present there is nothing we can say, beyond extending our sympathies to all in that stricken city. But we shall be watching what if anything will the EU and other tranzis do about both those developments. One can guess that it will be largely incompetent in India and messy in the Middle East. After all, it does not matter what Hamas or Hezbollah do - the line followed by the EU, the UN and various NGOs will always be to criticize Israel. I predict more of the same.

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________________________

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Dr. Sazamuely is co-editor of EU Referendum --- www.eureferendom .co.uk

It's official

Is the government ditching the ill concidered plans to merge the Police Forces (now called services !) from 43 to 12 superforces? See our half sister blog :

http://nopolicemergers.blogspot.com/2006/07/its-official.html

'Soundly canned''

Leaked emails sparked comments yesterday from academics, opposition MPs, campaigners, bloggers and journalists.

All were agreed that the Government's plans for identity cards. were in chaos after leaked e-mails disclosed civil servants' doubts over the scheme.

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The e-mails, which were sent to a Sunday newspaper, said that ministers were re-thinking the entire scheme, with a face-saving compromise to meet their deadline of phasing in the cards from 2008.

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The email exchanges were between Peter Smith, the acting commercial director at the Identity and Passport Service, and David Foord, the ID cards project director at the Office of Government Commerce. Mr Foord was quoted as writing: "What benchmark in the Home Office do we have that suggests that this is even remotely feasible? ''We are setting ourselves up to fail."

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Mr Smith was reported as saying that his organisation was planning for the possibility that ID cards could be "canned completely".

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The London School of Economics, which predicted last year that the scheme would cost £19 billion, said: "The leaked e-mails precisely reflect our findings that the scheme is unworkable."

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Clearly the government needs to abandon the Orwellian scheme not simply because of the cost, not just because the scheme is unworkable, not only because ID cards and all that comes with them will create an unsound dependency but because the introduction of ID cards would adversely and fundamentally adjust the relationship between the individual and the State.

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The House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution noted in March 2005:

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''Our own concerns are not founded on the European Convention on Human Rights, but rather on the fact that the Bill seeks to create an extensive scheme for enabling more information about the lives and characteristics of the entire adult population to be recorded in a single data-base than has ever been considered necessary or attempted previously in the United Kingdom, or indeed in other western countries.''

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We must all give thanks that the Government can not, for the time being at least, afford to introduce the ID card scheme. The canning was soundly deserved, whackho !

New party

Reg Keys and Tony Blair at the Sedgefield decleration last year.

Later this month a new political party will be launched in Britain. The Spectre party is to be formed by the relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq.

The party - which has the potential to split the Labour vote in marginal constituencies - is the brainchild of the fathers of three Royal Military Policemen whoes sons were among six killed by an Iraqi mob three years ago.

The new party plans to fight the seats of all 83 Government Ministers at the next general election. At the last general election Reg Keys, one of the founding members, achieved 10 per cent of the vote (over 4,000 votes) in Tony Blair's back yard ( the constituency of Sedgefield).

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Whilst there is clearly a national trend towards support for small parties and granted the Spectre party will appeal to the 'emotional vote' it is unlikly to become a major political force. Though it is possible to rip into the traditional Labour strongholds and take vital votes from Labours key politicians, which is exactly the aim of the founding fathers!

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One to watch, perhaps.

Charities tax relief should stay at home

Reuters informs us today that Britain is being threatened with yet another visit to the European Union Court of Justice.

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This time it is over the issue of tax relief on donations to charities based elsewhere in the European Union, with the EU commission having given Britain a final warning over rules that allow tax relief only on gifts to domestic charities. This, says the commission, discriminates against charities located in other member states.

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EU Tax Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs has pronounced that, "Gifts to bona fide charities in other member states should get the same tax treatment as gifts made to domestic charities." The commission argues that the discrimination breaks EU rules on the free movement of capital, persons and establishment, forcing foreign charities to set up branches in Britain to benefit from the tax relief on donations.

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Small point though this might seem, it is in fact a direct attack on national sovereignty. As the system stands at the moment, a charity is only recognised for tax purposes if it is approved by the Charity Commissioners under rules laid down by the British Parliament. Different countries in the EU have their own specific rules and what may be approved in other countries may not be approved here – and vice versa. In effect, therefore, what the EU commission is saying is that the British government no longer has a sovereign right to specify which organisations should or should not qualify as charities and must accept other countries' definitions.

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Furthermore, while charities in this country are subject to some oversight by the Charity Commission – albeit nominal in most cases – we are thus obliged to rebate taxpayers’ money to organisations which do not come under British jurisdiction and thus over which the government can exert no control.

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The British government will soon end up subsidising an organisations which would not qualify for charitable status as well as organisations acting against our own national interest.

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This is, therefore, not a minor matter. Rather it is an important issue of principle.

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Did we really think this is what we were letting ourselves in for back in 1972 when we signed up to the EEC? Is this sort of thing really necessary to prevent Germany invading France, again?

Ruth Lea in the Telegraph

In today's business section of the Daily Telegraph, Ruth Lea offers an interesting perspective on the benefits of our continued membership of the European Union. Well researched, well written needs to be well read.

The Sunday Quote

''We must not allow other people's limited perceptions to define us''

Viriginia Satir (1916-1988) US Phychologist

Tory confussion

Shadow Europe minister Graham Brady MP who has, as far as we can asertain, not previously made any noteable comment on his brief (in public anyway) yesterday said that the UK could not remain a member if the EU continued to block free trade with other countries.

He told a Westminster seminar: “Can Britain remain in an EU that is pulling up the drawbridge? No we can’t'' !

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Well, the UK has been part of the EU for over 30 years, during which time free trade with other countries, particularly developing ones, has been blocked pretty consistently.

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Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague, in complete contradicion has pledged to put Britain at the heart of Europe.

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The wrangle comes as EU chief Jose Manuel Barroso warned Chancellor Gordon Brown to toe the Brussels line when he becomes PM. Who recently said: “You can’t go to a beef-eaters club and say you are vegetarian.” Labour dismissed Mr Brady as a “tinpot dictator”.
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Amazing - full story in the Sun,

The end of week quote

''I have visited the UK twice, and both times I came back to the US inspired by the compassion and friendliness of the people I met during my stay. A year ago, I became inspired by the people of your country yet again when I saw Londoners respond to these ugly and disgraceful attacks with such fortitude and bravery. My prayers go out to all the families and friends impacted by these inexcusable acts of naked evil. I hope you know how much your friends in the USA stand by you, and how much we appreciated how you all did the same, after 9/11''

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Abigail, NYC, USA

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Above is a comment posted today on the BBC website in responce to a request for tributes to the 52 dead and 770 injured on this day last year in what has become known as the 7/7 bombings in London.

List in full Images and obituaries of the 52 victims in the 7 July London bombings

The War against terrorism

Sometimes it is hard to tell where precisely the front is in the war against terrorism.

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We don’t mean the exact geographical whereabouts – as in the Cold War this is always hard to define – but ideologically. Who are our enemies and who are our friends? Do our leaders know the answer to either of those questions?Here are various items of news that might clarify the issue. Then again, they might not.

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Firstly, here is an item from Al-Jazeera.
“Police have arrested a director at Italy's military intelligence agency on suspicion of helping the CIA to kidnap a terrorism suspect in Milan.Officials said on Wednesday that Marco Mancini, a director of a division of the Sismi military intelligence agency, was arrested on charges of collaborating in the alleged abduction of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, in 2003.”

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Abu Omar, who managed to reappear after his ordeal, claims to have been imprisoned and tortured by the Egyptians. This is, at present, the only case in which there is a direct allegation of those famous renderings, which we just know exist but cannot quite prove, as the European Parliament and the Council of Europe insist.It seems that other Sismi agents either have been or will be arrested. This is the first time there has been a direct accusation of European agents being involved in the supposed CIA operation.The reasoning is quite convoluted:

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“Italian investigators had been wiretapping Nasr before his abduction and accuse him of having ties to al-Qaeda and recruiting combatants for Iraq, according to court documents.They say the kidnapping broke Italian law and ruined a promising investigation.”If they were wiretapping Nasr why did the Sismi agents not know this? Or did they know and decided that those investigators will never achieve anything much? Were the agents arrested because they broke the law or because they ruined somebody else’s investigation? Do any of them know what they are doing? (Well, maybe, it is best not to bother with that last question.)

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Meanwhile, it is becoming clear that the Americans are moving slowly towards the aim that the European political elite and media have been demanding for some time: shutting down Guantánamo.

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There is the question of what to do with the inmates (all innocent little hitch-hikers who just happened to be going on holiday in Afghanistan and on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, carrying arms, ammunition and explosives).

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Some of them are citizens of European countries and, presumably, of the EU. Others are citizens of countries that have a very nasty way of dealing with their prisoners.

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We now have a report that four of the prisoners are being sent back to Germany. Well, that is what the American government is proposing. They are German citizens, it is saying, reasonably enough, and the German government as well as the entire political class, the media and a goodly proportion of the population, have all been saying that Gitmo must go.

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What is the German attitude to this remarkably generous gesture? Hilfe! – is what they are saying. This is not what we had in mind at all. Well, OK, if you ask us very nicely, we might take two of them but definitely not the other two. That’s it. Schluss!

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So what is to be done with the other two or possibly all four? Davids Medienkritik has the answer:

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“Well, how about keeping them in Gitmo, for another couple of years or so? This would allow German politicians - and their European colleagues - to criticise the U.S. for not closing Guantanamo.”Or they could do what the French authorities are doing, put them on trial.

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Six French ex-Guantánamo prisoners (having been arrested as soon as they arrived back in the country some months ago) are on trial for participation in terrorist networks in France and abroad. If convicted they may go to prison for up to 10 years and all accounts of French prisons make one feel that they might plead to be allowed back to Gitmo.The prisoners and their lawyers are saying that these are really good lads (aged between 24 and 38) if somewhat stupid and went to Afghanistan and Pakistan out of naïve curiosity.

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“"I wanted to take some risks," Nizar Sassi, one of the defendants, told the court. "It was cool. It was a chance to live my passion for weapons."Khaled ben Mustapha said he had gone to Kabul to look for a house for his family, adding: "Going to Afghanistan doesn't make you a terrorist."A third accused, Imad Kanouni, said he wanted to learn more about religion while traveling."Afghanistan was in fashion," he told the court.”Aaah, bless their little hearts.

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Seven released prisoners had been sent back to Russia and have not been heard of since. The eighth one has pleaded not to be sent back. Sensible lad.

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It seems that the only country that practises what it preaches is Britain. The ex-Gitmo inmates who came back here are at large, have acquired a flourishing career as media pundits and are being given legal aid to sue the American government.

Our view of the other side of the pond

Bearing in mind that you can demonstrate virtually anything you like with a well-crafted opinion poll, what does one make of yesterday's Telegraph's YouGov poll which shows that "Britons have never had such a low opinion of the leadership of the United States".

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We are told that, as Americans celebrate the 230th anniversary of their independence, the poll found that only 12 percent of Britons trust them to act wisely on the global stage.This is half the number who had faith in the Vietnam-scarred White House of 1975.

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Most Britons, we are also told, see America as a cruel, vulgar, arrogant society, riven by class and racism, crime-ridden, obsessed with money and led by an incompetent hypocrite.

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The main news story is backed by an editorial which, to be fair, takes a dim view of this "Yank bashing", declaring that, "To hate America is to hate mankind".

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"Of course America occasionally deserves criticism," it intones, concluding that (even) to this day, it is guided by the Jeffersonian ideal that decisions should be taken as closely as possible to the people they affect.

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It then notes that the EU "of course" is founded on the opposite principle, that of "ever-closer union". No wonder, says the paper, “its peoples sometimes resent their more successful cousins.”

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There is, sadly, more than an element of truth in this – that the supposed lack of "trust" is in fact a thinly disguised jealousy. We see this with our military men who, looking at the wealth and scale of US war materiel, compared with their own poverty, seek to make a virtue out of necessity.

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Unfortunately, in order to maintain their own self-esteem, they seem to end up convincing themselves that their enforced "make do and mend" strategy is somehow superior to the American way. It is then but a small step, openly to despise the American wealth.

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To put the 'YouGov' findings into perspective though, it is instructive to turn to the latest Eurobarometer poll - which, taken last autumn, is not very recent and therefore must be taken with a pinch of salt.

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While only 12 percent trust the US, the Eurobarometer figure for the EU is even smaller, standing at eight percent. Our own political parties fare only slightly better than the Americans, at 14 percent, although – amazingly - 33 percent trust the government and 37 percent the parliament.

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There is one figure which stands out, which makes a mockery of the whole survey game. As many as 53 percent of respondents "tend to trust the television". Given that this medium – still dominated by the BBC – churns out a relentless diet of anti-American propaganda, revelling in the Guantanamo issue, and lovingly following every twist and turn of the "Rendition affair", to say nothing of the torrent of coverage on Abu Ghraib, it is surprising that the trust factor is still so high.

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What this also says is that a nation which counts amongst its number 53 percent who still trust what they see on television is not a nation whose judgement itself can be trusted.

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As for the "vulgarity" with which a nation so large and diverse as America is tarred, have any of those people who so willingly use this epithet watched the coverage of the world cup, or even stepped outside their own front doors and looked at the mess in our high streets on a Friday and Saturday night, as our gilded "yoof" indulge in their drunken celebrations?

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What might be interesting, therefore, is an opinion poll on the "trust" people have on opinion polls. After all if 'You Gov' were accurate the editor of this Blog would be on the 'gravy train' as an MEP (see foot note) . One might find that we are a nation fundamentally without trust, in which case, the Americans – on balance – are doing rather well.

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________________

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Note: Five days before the European Parlimentry Elections ballot count in June 2004 YouGov predicted that Peter Troy, UKIP's lead candidate in Scotland would take a seat from the Conservative candidate. Though the result for UKIP was good it fell short of the numbers needed under the complex propritional representation voting system (designed by the French shortly after their revolution) to send Peter to '' the heart of Europe '' as a Member of the European Parliament for Scotland.

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Click below for further reading >

http://verybritishsubjects.blogspot.com/2005/02/reflections-of-campaign-by-peter-troy.html

Letter to my MP

Dear Mr Blair,
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Reaction to your latest wheeze has been mixed. Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town has welcomed it.

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SecGen Kofi Annan of the UN has clearly welcomed it because it will provide him with yet another opportunity to travel round, sit in meetings and pontificate (and who knows, there might be another medal of achievement at the end of it).

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Sir Bob Geldof is very happy about it, as he, too, will be given extra publicity and a chance to pontificate.

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Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has recently been prevented from becoming president-for-life, is equally happy. He will be one of the panellists.

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Other agencies, possibly because they were not asked, are less happy and are muttering about buck passing and backsliding.

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So, what’s this all about?

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Well, a year or so on from G-8 and Live8 and any other 8 you might care to think of, nothing much has happened about reducing poverty in Africa. Of course, some of us have always maintained that “Make Poverty History” is considerably less useful than the alternative: “Make Stupidity History”.

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So, Prime Minister you have decided to set up a new panel of world leaders to monitor the aid given to African countries. It is not entirely clear whether its effectiveness will be monitored as well or merely the amount of money that is being shelled out which is the usual criterion for much of aid giving as Richard Tren, the Director of Africa Fights Malaria said at a recent seminar he gave at the International Policy Network in London.

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Here is a suggestion Mr Blair - clearly you are genuinely worried about conditions in Africa.

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Forget about panels and world leaders; ignore Bill Gates and his money; break off relations with Sir Bob Geldof and SecGen Kofi Annan. Concentrate on the following:

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The number of malaria cases in Africa are not precisely known, though Bob Snow of the Wellcome Institute has estimated 600 million around the world, most of which are on that continent. Malaria hits children in particular and devastates whole communities. It reduces the African economy by something like 1.2 per cent of GDP – a large amount in the poor world.

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It is an almost wholly preventable and curable disease and the prevention will cost us nothing or next to nothing. Richard Tren pointed out that after a great deal of campaigning by Africans and others various organizations like USAID and WHO have changed their attitudes to controlled domestic spraying with DDT and other pesticides.

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The one organization that is out of step and refuses to acknowledge recent medical and scientific work is the European Union (EU). The EU has huge powers as donor and economic partner of African countries. It is using those powers for ill purposes. Instead of helping the countries that are desperately fighting this scourge, the EU and, yes, we are part of this nasty conspiracy against African people, is trying to prevent routine use of domestic spraying, which has been effective for decades in prevention of malaria.

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May I suggest Mr Blair that you should use what influence you have to change the European Union’s attitudes. If you cannot do so, proclaim that Britain will not abide by this senseless, unscientific, disgraceful behaviour.

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Yours sincerly,

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Peter Troy

Sedgefield Constituent