It's the Officials We Should Blame

By Dr Richard North

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In 1994, Christopher Booker and I wrote a book called "The Mad Officials", sadly out of print now – although copies are still available. In it, we did a virtual tour of Great Britain, telling stories of mad regulations and the even madder officials who enforced them (and sometimes invented them).

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One of our themes, to which we have returned many times is how this country in many ways is no longer run by the politicians we elected to do the job, but by a growing band of those "mad officials", who were both unaccountable and unresponsive to the normal strictures of a democratic society. They were, so often, a law unto themselves.

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Very much later, I had cause to meet a Minister to complain, on behalf of the trade group I represented, about a regulatory "reign of terror" which was effectively destroying an industry. She was flanked by civil servants and, as I spelled out the tale of woe, giving more and more examples of the damage that was being caused by "her" officials, my narrative was punctuated by her exclamations as she turned to civil servants, demanding: "Why wasn't I told that?" I saw then a sense of shock, outrage even, from a person who – shorn of ministerial rank and trappings – was a genuine, caring individual, deeply concerned about what she had been told.

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Nothing happened of course and, for me, the meeting simply reaffirmed that which I knew already - so well portrayed in 'Yes Minister' - the essential powerlessness of ministers in the administration of their departments.

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I recall, recently, telling the tale of my meeting another minister, this one a senior cabinet minister who, standing in his grand office, overlooking Horse Guards, likened his position with that of a signalman in an old-fashioned signal box, lined with all the gleaming brass levers. "I have all these levers," he lamented, "the levers of power". Turning to me he then said, rather sadly, "the trouble is that they are not connected to anything.

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To the frustration and anger of many of our readers and at odds with almost all the media and other commentators, we are refusing to dump all the blame for the Iran hostages debacle – not even the "cash for stories" issue – on the secretary of state for defence, especially on the basis of media speculation and largely anonymous sources.

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Having learned the hard way the limits of power, I am not inclined to take the easy way out, especially in the context of the Ministry of Defence, where the military hierarchy and their bureaucrats have an extraordinary degree of autonomy. In many areas, they are beyond the reach of the Secretary of State - any Secretary of State.

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As before, we have pointed this out and people nod wisely, as if they understood. But, at the first opportunity, they join in the hue and cry for the sacking of a minister, heedless of the possibility that, perhaps, he had little power to control events for which he is being held responsible. This is the cult of personality gone mad.

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Thus we see the momentum build, with selective leaks to the media from an organisation which would make a colander look positively seaworthy, to be grabbed uncritically by all and sundry.

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Such is the naïvety that people, who tell us gravely that they never believe anything they are told in the newspapers, lap up the often unsubstantiated detail, treating it as gospel. Anything offered which runs contrary to the narrative, of course, is dismissed as "spin" – as if it was only politicians who indulged in the practice.However, sacking the secretary of state is the easy option. Furthermore, it is undoubtedly the one preferred by the guilty officials, many of them in uniform, who could then rest easy as blood lust will have been sated.

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Rather, we want to see an inquiry (or inquiries) starting at the bottom of the food chain and working steadily upwards, covering all the issues which, by now, have been almost completely marginalised by the soap opera. Rarely has such a torrent of extraneous detail obscured such a vital issue as the operational efficiency of the Royal Navy, the actual reasons why the Cornwall's boarding team were left so vulnerable barely mentioned in passing.

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We do not want the "closure" that a high profile resignation would bring. We want a process which will identify all those responsible for the operational failures, who would otherwise hide behind the smokescreen of a ministerial resignation.

The Result of the 4.30

So there we have it 'Ideal Talk' - our tip for the Grand National yesterday - did what it aparantly does best by unseating its Jockey. The 19 fence proved a bit too much for our recomended nag. The horse got over but the rider did not. Well no one can say they were not warned !

The good news is that the Editor as well as investing in Ideal Talk also invested in the winner 'Silver Birch', thus the trip to the Bookies proved a tad profitable.

Perhaps this blog should stict to Political comment and predicions !

The Sunday Quote

“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge”

Plato (c 428 BC - 348 BC) Ancient Greek Philosopher

A Very British Race

From the Editor's Newspaper:

It is only for very British clasic horse races that this blog offers a tip. We have yet to be succesful but there is, as always, hope.

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Today's offering is made on behalf of my Brother Colin (an eductional specialist) who yesterday followed in his big brother's bad example and suffered a heart attack. He is recovering well in Royal Sussex University County Hospital.

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Our tip is ''Ideal Talk'' - An interesting option; fourth in the Scootish National in 2006 but has a nasty habit of perfering to run without a jockey. In the last two runs the 18-1 chance has unseated the rider.

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Left: A Race Hourse similar to one that will win The Grand National today.

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Disclaimer: The Editor takes no resposability for any losses incured by any reader daft ennough to place any money on the above mentioned horse in todays clasic race. Past performance is not a refelection of future failure.

No Bickering Here

A “Squaddie” from 5 Platoon, 2nd Battalion, “The Rifles” Battle Group, Basra.

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The soldier, photographed above is unnamed and unrewarded by the media – he is still in action and will be actively engaged in operations for some time

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He, unlike his Navy contemporary, Arthur Batchelor – who blubbed because the nasty Iranians took away his Ipod - we would like to think is the representative face of the British military.The soldier pictured had recently taken part in a vicious gunfight in Basra, and the strain shows on his face. Not for him is there mummy and auntie to hold his hands or newspaper to offer him 'life changing amounts of money' for his story.

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A report by by Thomas Harding of The Daily Telegraph, based in part on MoD reports deseves a full reading. What also brings the account to life is the superb report by Michael Yon who is entirely open in his admiration for the skill and professionalism of the soldiers engaged in the action. There would be no better way of returning the compliment than going to his site as well and reading the graphic narrative in full.

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At a different level, Yon also conveys the constant indirect fire harassment of the soldiers at their base in the Basra Palace complex, something about which Dr Richard North has written about many times.

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Another issue is the absence of helicopter support (although fixed wing surveillance would have been just as useful), which again we have written on a few times. Clearly, neither of these issues have been resolved and, if there was to be criticism of the MoD, it is there that the attack should lie. Better that than the unremitting scattergun approach that relies on the constant, tedious repetition of the sacred mantras "overstretch" and "underfunding".

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For instance, in terms of airborne surveillance – the lack of which Yon points out - whatever happened to the Britten Norman Defenders which were purchased for Basra and would be admirable for the purpose? Despite extensive enquiries, no one to whom I have spoken - who has been to Basra recently - has seen them.

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The more immediate issue, however, is the damage to the reputation of Britain and the Armed Forces, arising from the abduction of the "frightened fifteen" and their subsequent behaviour. It becomes imperative that the issues surrounding that incident should be given the most thorough examination. This time, there should also be a clear commitment to addressing the defects revealed, at all levels.

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From extensive investigations this blog is convinced that the heart of the problem lies with serious operational failures on the part of serving, senior naval officers, going to the very top of the Royal Navy.

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For the rest, we are seeing a media frenzy who are trivialising a serious issues. Buoyed by self-serving politicians, they are striving to extract political embarrassment, for no other reason than to promote their own interests. However much they may wrap themselves in Union Jacks, or parade the coffins of dead servicemen, they are not acting in the national interest and they are no friends of the military.

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On Monday, we will see the Secretary of State for Defence, The Rt Hon. Des Browne, stand up in Parliament and give account of himself and his actions. He is not a brilliant Parliamentary performer by any means but, despite the air of sleaze and corruption that surrounds this present administration, we believe he is an honourable man, trying to do his best in an extremely difficult situation.

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The Defence Secetary should be given a hearing and if, as we confidently expect, there are announced on Monday one or more inquiries (and not soppy lessons learned opertunities) they should be allowed to conduct their work and deliver their reports, so that urgent remedial action can be put in place. Then will be the time to dissect the detail and apportion blame, where it is due.That is the imperative. That we owe to the unnamed solider, pictured at the top of this post, him and the many brave, dedicated service personnel, who deserve a better deal than they are getting from the media and opposition politicians.

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With the reputations of HM Armed Forces and the nation at stake – on which lives depend - this is no time for partisan sniping or self-serving bickering.

The Iranian Hostage Saga

By Dr Richard North

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As the Iran hostages saga progresses, the very worst of British politics is coming to the surface. It has descended into a party political squabble, with the main Conservative opposition party trying to extract sectional advantage, largely ignoring the serious operational issues in favour of trying to pin as much blame as possible on the political head of the Armed Forces.

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However, it remains the case that, at the heart of this issue were serious operational failings, the responsibility for which must reside with Royal Navy commanders. And, at the heart of these lie failures in command and control, with the man in the frame being Commodore Nick Lambert, commander of Coalition Task Force 158.

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Failure though, is rarely one-dimensional and, behind most headline events (such as the abduction of the personnel from HMS Cornwall) lie a complex chain of interlinked events and circumstances – some apparently unrelated to the proximate cause - which, collectively, gave rise to that event. In my studies of complex failures elsewhere, I came to call this the "event cascade", a term I have not seen used in other studies.

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Looking first at a few of the issues, questions have been raised about the Lynx helicopter – and the fact that only one was boarded when a Type 22 frigate can carry two - about the apparent communications difficulties between HMS Cornwall and the boarding party and, right up front, why Commodore Lambert seems to have taken his eye off the ball.

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Oddly enough, all those disparate issues may be linked, and in an unexpected way – resting with the single fact that HMS Cornwall, in addition to being an active part of the Coalition Task Force, was also providing the "command platform" for Lambert as task force commander. It had, therefore, a dual role.

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Now batch III Type 22 frigates – of which HMS Cornwall is an example - are equipped to carry out flagship duties, being fitted with "excellent command and control and communication facilities".However, there are flagship duties and flagship duties. Commanding a multinational task force, which is itself part of a larger multinational maritime effort, is in the upper end of the spectrum of capability requirements. In addition to the major communication load, there is a substantial staff needed to fulfil the range of duties – the US Navy had 50 of their own staff, plus the liaison officers, etc. – which may well have imposed an excessive burden on a mere frigate, which was also tasked with operational duties.

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Certainly, when it came to providing the command function – in the absence of a capital ship (such as an aircraft carrier) in the northern Gulf, the United States Navy chartered a capacious sea-going barge called Ocean 6 (pictured). This was designated as an "Afloat Forward Staging Base" and features all the information and coordination capabilities of a coalition warship's Combat Information Centre. It also had berthing areas to house expeditionary forces, a galley to rival many warships and even a helicopter landing pad.

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Additionally, says the US Navy (link above), "the barge will meet the quality of life goals of the Navy by providing Sailors and Marines serving arduous security assignments on the oil platforms in the NAG, wireless internet, flat screen televisions and crew lounges."When it came to the British take-over of command on 7 March, however, the functions were moved to HMS Cornwall. As best, accommodation must have been cramped and facilities fully stretched. This may explain why a second helicopter was not carried – much of the hanger space would have been devoted to dealing with the overspill from the command function. It could also explain why the helicopter was pulled back from the "overwatch" for the boarding team – it was needed for task force duties.

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The question must arise, therefore, as to whether HMS Cornwall was suitable for such an exacting task – in addition to carrying out her operational duties. And this may put a different perspective on the apparent failures of Commodore Lambert. Was he - and his staff - simply being asked to do too much with inadequate facilities?If this is an issue, it would bring a new and highly political dimension to the Iran hostages drama. It might suggest that the Labour government, anxious for the prestige that command of the Coalition Task Force would bring, allowed (or even required) the Royal Navy to take on the role, without providing the necessary facilities – glory on the cheap once again, some might say. On the other hand, did the Admiralty take on more than it could chew, without informing its political masters of the possible consequences?

The Fiday Quote

''Every country’s, every nation’s view of itself is illogical; every country’s dealings with other countries exhibits quirks and incomprehensible peculiarities. But it often appears that France is the least logical and most quirky of all the European states in its self-perception and its foreign policy.Some of it is straightforward enough. It is not Britain that has experienced difficulties in finding a role after losing an empire so much as France.

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The end of its empire was prolonged and agonizing ................... '' read Dr Helen Szamuely (link >) book review

Australian Troops Join Hunt

Putting European nations to shame which, with the exception of Poland and the UK have refused to provide any more troops for combat in Afghanistan, Australia has stepped up to the plate with an announcement from prime minister, John Howard, that Australian troop numbers are to be doubled, bringing the total to about 1,000.

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The troops will be sent to the volatile Oruzgan province in the south of the country, their task to enhance the area's security and disrupt Taliban command and supply routes. Interestingly, according to another report, the force includes 300 special forces troops, returning for a second tour, and Australia will also send air force radar crews to Kandahar, plus extra logistics and intelligence officers. It will also extend the deployment of a team providing protection and security.

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Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the Australian Defence Force Commander, said the special forces would hunt Taliban commanders. "Essentially their operations will be targeted on the Taliban, disrupting Taliban operations and going after the Taliban leadership," he said.

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In his press conference at which the announcement was made, Howard aimed a none too subtle dig at his European allies, "We're not losing the war, but we will not win it without renewed and increased effort," then expressing a wish that some European countries would place fewer caveats on their troops' deployment. His pleas are likely to go unheeded.

Apeasement Does Not Pay

By Dr Helen Szamuely

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One wonders which part of "appeasement does not pay" is so hard for so many people to understand.

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A small round-up of recent news is interesting. First off the Sunday Telegraph, which I do not read but to which I was directed by Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs. The title of the article is clear enough: "Buoyant Tehran warns of further kidnappings". No, really? How frightfully unexpected

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However, a British Government official familiar with the negotiations said that while the abductions had provided Ahmadinejad with a platform from which to humiliate the West, such behaviour would have undermined Iran's ambitions for its nuclear programme. Countries which might otherwise have supported Iran would now be questioning whether a regime that took hostages could be trusted with sensitive nuclear technology.

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Oh good. We are so delighted. Mind you, it is not quite what the news is on Al-Jazeera, which says:

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Iran has begun producing nuclear fuel on "an industrial scale", the president announced during a speech to mark the first anniversary of the country's enrichment of uranium.

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Well, I guess Ahmadinejad may be lying or exaggerating. That is not impossible. Nor is it impossible that all other statements on the subject are lies and exaggerations as well:

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Ahmadinejad's speech confirmed an announcement by the head of the country's atomic energy organisation, who alo said that Iran had started mass-producing the centrifuges needed for the enrichment of uranium.

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"Today, with the start of mass-producing centrifuges and the start of uranium enrichment on an industrial phase, another step was taken for the flourishing of the Islamic republic," Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said.

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Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, told reporters that 3,000 centrifuges were being used to enrich uranium at the facility.

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At the very least, however, the British civil servants who have made the United Kingdon what it is, should be a little careful with their boastful pronouncements.

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Another item from Al-Jazeera, confirms what we have already suspected. Daniele Mastrogiacomo's Afghan translator has been murdered by his kidnappers because President Karzai has put a stop to any further exchanges with Taliban prisoners.No news yet on the two French aid workers, their three Afghani staff or the five Afghani health officials.

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Meanwhile, Iran has released more videos of the "frightened fifteen", which purport to show that they were having a very jolly time, indeed. Of course, it is never possible to tell what goes on behind the camera, the pictures do sound staged and it is a natural British instinct to make the best of any situation, but, surely, here is another reason why there should be a Board of Inquiry held:

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The sailors and marines say that those earlier videos were propaganda produced through psychological pressure but the Iranian government says nothing of the kind but the press conference is propaganda. Let the truth be established in such a way that the world can see it.

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Meanwhile, all we know is that the BBC has decided not to commission a play about Johanson Beharry VC and his heroism because, it seems, that it might just be a tad too positive and might antagonize members of the audience who oppose the war in Iraq.

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My guess is that it is not those nice middle-class audience in Islington or wherever that they are afraid of but one cannot be sure, of course. May one point out that in a country that is finding it difficult to define its national identity, where there are serious problems with some members of various ethnic minority communities a play about one such young man fighting courageously, doing his duty and much beyond it, and receiving the highest honour available, might just be a useful tool. Especially, if it is then followed by a programme about the Empire and Commonwealth soldiers of all Britain's twentieth century wars.

The Sunday Quote

''Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be. ''

Vice-Admiral Viscount (Horatio) Nelson KB 1758 -1805

One wonders what the hero of Trafalgar would have made of the events in the past few days. Did every person do their duty as expected ?

Imperial Isolation

The kindest thing one can say of the press conference organised by the MoD yesterday afternoon, to show off the released Iranian hostages, is that it should never have happened.

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We agree 100 per cent with the view of Max Hastings in the Daily Mail and Dr Richard North of the prize winning blog site eureferendum (see link below).

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The only evidence of hope is contained in the middle of the prepaired statement of Lieutenant Felix Carmen RN: ''The next few nights were spent in stone cells, approximately 8 feet by 6 feet sleeping on piles of blankets. All of us were kept in isolation''.

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The horror of our service people in a metric stone cell would have been more than the nation could ever recover from. There is ( just) still hope.

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Link to Dr North's piece: Royal Navy

The End of Week Quote

This weeks quote is extracted from a House of Lords form that lists all the European Printed Papers that have become available in the period of time that elapsed from the previous form.

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''C6-0061/07 Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 98/70/EC as regards the specification of petrol, diesel and gas-oil and introducing a mechanism to monitor and the introduction of a mechanism and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the use of road transport fuels and amending Council Directive 1999/32/EC, as regards the specification of fuel used by inland waterway vessels and repealing Directive 93/12/EEC.''

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Yes we know it makes no sense at all but we have copied it as it is written and can only surmise that whoever was putting together this document became catatonic with boredom. Indeed.

Loss of Face

The news of the release of the 15 service people by the Iranians is good news for their personal safety but the incident is a complete disaster for British prestige. The only winner is Iran's hurdling president, Nahmound Ahmadinejad who clearly organised the kidnappings and then made a present of returning our serves men back to ''the British people'' showing what a nice chap he is!

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From the details now available it is clear that from the beginning of the kidnapping incident the handling of events by all concerned on the British side has given a PR victory to the Iranian government and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in particular.

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One aspect is particularly concerning being the apparent overwillingness of the captured 15 servicemen to give statements to the media. Captured servicemen in the past have said in forced statements '' we have been asked to apolgise for...'' rather that the to keen to please statements backed up with smiles and waves given by the Royal Marines and Saliors. It is not only British dignaty that suffered during the past fourteen days but also the dignity of two junior officers and their charge of 12 men and one woman.

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We learn from the BBC's Radio 4 World Tonight programme that, contrary to expectations, there is going to be no formal Board of Inquiry into the events surrounding the Iranian hostage incident. This is from Paul Adams, the BBC's defence correspondent, who reports that the Navy is instead to carry out a wide-ranging "lessons learned process".

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There was a time when following incidents like this the media would call for the resignation of ministers and senior Officers in the Armed Services. However and sadly in today's world the matter has become a ''happy fluffy bunny story''.

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Meanwile rejoicing in Basra after a roadside bomb killed four British service personnel and their interpreter, and seriously injured another soldier. Two of the dead were women, from the Intelligence Corps and the Royal Army Medical Corps. The two male soldiers were from the Royal Army Medical Corps and 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. Pictures of the scene (above) show locals cheering and rejoicing, parading with a soldier's helmet and fragments of the Warrior, in Hayaniya, a slum area on the northwestern outskirts of Basra - known as a stronghold of local (Iranian-backed) Shia militias.

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According to a more detailed report in The Times the personnel died when a convoy of armoured vehicles was attacked by two devices last night. The patrol then came under attack from small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.Witnesses tell of the British patrol having repulsed an earlier ambush by five insurgents in a different district of the city, wounding one of the attackers. During the second ambush, British forces returned fire while trying to evacuate the wounded. Photographs of the scene showed a large crater in the road that was at least a three feet deep and several yards wide. Iraqi children (and adults) were taking away pieces of burned wreckage. The Times (and others) also report than, after the attack, a British patrol was seen storming an Iraqi checkpoint close to the scene of and disarming the police there.

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This now brings to six the number of British soldiers killed in Basra since Sunday, making it, as the paper observes, one of the deadliest weeks of the Iraq war for UK forces. No commentators are making any link between the bomb incident and the Royal Navy hostages, but the loss of face embodied in the humiliating capture of the British personnel and their subsequent behaviour can only have emboldened attackers, who could see for themselves the weakness of British forces.

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Appeasement brings its own penalties and, in the greater scheme of things, no one can argue that the events of the last 14 days have in any way improved the prestige of British forces, where winning the respect of the local populace is a vital precursor to dealing successfully with an insurgency.

British Hostages

Update news and comment on the 15 British Military hostages click > Iran

The Start of the Falklands War

By Dr. Richard North

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It was pictures such as these that determined that there should be a task force. There was a palpable sense of outrage as we saw the Royal Marines of Naval Party 8901 surrendering outside Government House in Port Stanley. These were Royal Marines and there was no way that mere foreigners were going to treat them in that way. Nothing less than national pride was at stake.

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Now, 25 years to the day, when the Argentineans were rash enough to invade the Falkland Islands, our Royal Marines are in peril again. Worse still, they are being humiliated again, paraded in front of television – this time the detachment leader Royal Marine Captain Chris Air.

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The Iranian Arabic-speaking television station Al-Alam shows Captain Air speaking in front of a chart of the Gulf waters, purporting to show that the British boarding party on 23 March was abducted in Iranian waters. Another officer, Lieutenant Felix Carman, was also forced to make an admission that the party strayed into Iranian waters.

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Back in 1982, under Thatcher at the height of her powers, there was no question about public support for military action. Today, after four years of haemorrhaging lives in Iraq under a very different prime minister, now serving out the fag-end of his term, there is no appetite for similar action. In fact, the public - to say nothing of the British blogosphere - seems to be struggling even to take an interest in such matters. We are a sadder, diminished nation as a result.

Ever Larger Barriers

The European Union has launched yet an other attack on Europe's and thus the UK's army of expanding and very productive self-employed and small businesses. The EU Commission has produced an innocent looking Green Paper - all in the interest of ''harmonisation and integration.'' But innocent it is not.

In response The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on the European Commission to reconsider its proposals contained in the Green Paper on EU Labour law. A call that gives further evidence (as if it were needed) that the EU is the actual government of the UK.

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The FSB is concerned that the Green Paper seeks to create a 'one size fits all' approach to labour markets across the EU, which would further reduce flexibility in the UK labour market and put future small businesses and employment growth under threat. There is, as one would expect, very little in the document to protect the right to be self-employed. The true reason for that is eurocrats do not like the self employed is that they are far too difficult to monitor.

Although the European Union Commission's Green Paper accepts that there is a need to reduce administration burdens for small businesses, the FSB is now calling for action ''after many years of undelivered promises''. Well indeed, unfulfilled promises are very much in keeping with the EU culture that would only be a surprise to those that do not know the EU very well.

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Many workers prefer the traditional informality, flexibility and convenience of working for small businesses. The increasing corporate approach to employment with its over bearing 'HR' departments, a corporate culture is increasingly considered to be less than desirable, particularly with the younger and better educated work force. Twelve million people work for small businesses in the UK alone; a trend that is increasing.

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As the FSB stresses, since the 1980s 80% of big businesses in the US started as small businesses, whilst in the EU 80% of big businesses are the result of mergers. This demonstrates the failure of the EU at nurturing the self employed and small businesses to become bigger. Over 50% of jobs in the EU are created by less than 5% of hi-tech SMEs Small Medium Enterprises) and 99.8% of businesses are SMEs – therefore the current set-up of the social dialogue with trade unions talking to big business at the exclusion of all other sectors is indeed bad for the European economy and bodes ill for job creation in the UK.

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The greater point of this issue being that a '' one size fits all '' policy of the European Union is totally in keeping with the founding principle of European 'integration'. It is the price we are all expected to pay. It is we are told in Orwellian language ''good for us''.

Those, especially the Policy People, in the FSB, who do not understand that present day eurocrats are driving steadily towards the founding principles of the EU 'project' cannot therefore by definition understand how the mechanics of the EU are in practice working. The Green Paper is a part of that process and is in any significant respect - despite protests by eurolovies to the contrary - non negotiable in any meaningful aspect.

Thus, to lobby the EU in order to effect change may well appear impressive to the ill-informed but will in reality have no meaningful effect on the increasingly over controlled and over regulated wealth creators so very vital to our Economy.

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There is only one answer to the problem of the erection of larger barriers to the growth of businesses as that stalwart defender of British entrepreneurial life Lord Tebbit of Chelmsford confirmed last week when the Noble Lord joined the Better Off Out Campaign (BOO). So there, yet again we have it, we say BOO to the FSB.

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For further reading >http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6511701.stm

A Very British Anorak

The popular website www.anorak.co.uk. has emailed us seeking permision to use some of our postings on their site and establish a link. We are indeed flattered and delighted to reciprocate.

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This blog will also shortly be linked to the website of the North of England daily newspaper 'The Journal'; where the editor has an irregular column.

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We shall establish permanent links on the sidebar to both websites shortly.

Defra and Other Failings

Defra's utterly crass handling of the single farm payments subsidy scheme is the lead issue today in Christopher Bookers column in The Sunday Telegraph. There is much more, including a commentary of the Iranian hostage situation which asks some key questions.

The Growing Crisis

The Sunday Times today devotes its "Focus" piece to the issue of "Fifteen sailors snatched and publicly humiliated without a single shot fired," looking at "a shambles Britain could have avoided"

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AlsoThe Scotsman on Sunday adds an intriguing layer of detail to the incident on 23 March when the Iranian revolutionary guards abducted our marines and sailors.

For the best ongoing comment and analysis click ... Labels: Iran, iraq .

The Sunday Quote

''A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.''

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Douglas Noël Adams (1952 - 2001) - English author, comic radio dramatist and musician. He is known most notably as author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Hitchhiker's began on radio, and developed into a "trilogy" of five books (which sold more than fifteen million copies during his lifetime) as well as a television series, a towel, a comic book series, a computer game and a feature film that was completed after Adams's death.

Of Knickers and Modern Gentlemen

Once upon a time - well in the 60s and 70's - one could still roll up in classic MG and hear knicker elastic twang from a distance of over 100 yards. A politically incorrect comment indeed but one that the modern gentleman (all be it secretly) still considers when drooling over the image of the latest edition of a very classic motor.

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Well supported by music from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and against a video wall showing shots of Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace, Nanjing Auto in China this week launched the ''modern gentleman''; the re-launched branding name given to the British Motoring Icon, the MG.

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The two new vehicles are the MG7 saloon and the MG-TF sports car which, General Manager Zhang Xin of Nanjing Auto told Reuters news agency, would be priced at between 180,000 and 400,000 yuan ($23,300 - $51,700; £11,800 - £26,300).

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The state-owned Chinese Nanjing Automobile company bought the assets of collapsed UK firm MG Rover in 2005 following a series of botched recovery attempts in Britain.

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The Chinese plan to produce 200,000 new cars every year and hopes to sell the vehicles around the world and will shortly to open a manufacturing plant in the USA.

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In only six short months the Chinese have built a massive new factory and installed the robots and assembly lines they bought from the collapsed British company. The cars have apparently not changed much, right down to the Union flag, which is still displayed proudly on their bodywork.

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So there we have it, the classic very British MG brand lives on, all be it in the form of the '' Modern Gentleman'' thanks to modern communist Chinese's entreprunarial skills.

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The tragedy is that modern Britain, with all its politically correct thinking, was incapable of achieving what modern China with all its continuing abuse of human rights has demonstrated it can do with ease. One must, begrudgingly, be grateful that knickers elastic will continue to twang around the world at the sight of the traditional Modern Gentleman; all be it Chinese style.

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Left, flashback to the '70s. Right - Sophie -a Rover 75 in 2005.

Free the British 15

Assuming the Marines are still captive, www.vigilantfreedom.org
are organizing a protest for Saturday, March 31 at 3pm outside the Iranian Embassy. It will be in Kensington Rd (S side) 200 yards east of the junction with Prince's Gate - that's as near the Embassy as you are allowed to go to protest. Nearest tube is South Kensington - it's about 10 minutes walk from there. It is on several bus routes though.

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It will be in Kensington Rd (S side) 200 yards east of the junction with Prince's Gate - that's as near the Embassy as you are allowed to go to protest. Nearest tube is South Kensington - it's about 10 minutes walk from there. It is on several bus routes though.
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The organisers ask demonstrators to bring placards. We suggest you avoid inflammatory placards - suggestions that Tehran should be nuked might be misinterpreted. More dangerously, they might not be.

The Abduction of our Sailors and Marines

We have now an account of the Iranian abduction of our sailors and marines. According to Vice Admiral Charles Style, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, briefing on the MoD website, the events were as follows:

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Our boarding started at 0739 local time and was completed at 0910 with the merchant vessel having been cleared to continue with her business. Communications were lost with the boarding team as the boarding was finishing … at 0910. HMS CORNWALL's Lynx helicopter, which had been covering the initial stages of the boarding, immediately returned to the scene to locate the boarding team.The helicopter reported that the two seaboats were being escorted by Iranian Islamic Republican Guard Navy vessels towards the Shatt 'Al Arab Waterway and were now inside Iranian territorial waters. Debriefing of the helicopter crew and a conversation with the master of the merchant ship both indicate that the boarding team were ambushed while disembarking from the merchant vessel.

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Now, with reference to the chart provided (above), using the measurements supplied by the MoD, the mother ship, HMS Cornwall is about 8.5 nautical miles from the boarding party - to the south east. Why wasn't she between the boarding party and the Iranian border?

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Then, her top (flank) speed is 30 knots, but she takes a little time to work up to that so, on that basis, it will take her up to 20 minutes to get to the scene.But, it would appear, the Cornwall does not immediately set out. All we are told is that, when communications are lost, the helicopter is "immediately" despatched and reports the British boats under escort, already in Iranian waters.

Abolition of the Slave Trade

William Wilberforce

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Sunday marked the 200th anniversary of the legislation that abolished slave trade in the British Empire and marked the beginning of the fight the Royal Navy waged for a long time against other slavers, particularly Arab ones.

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There has been a great deal written about the subject, some sensible some completely nonsensical like the calls for Britain to apologize (to whom is not made clear) for being one of just about every country and civilization in owning and trading slaves, though, clearly there was something different about a country that firmly proclaimed that owning and trading slaves was actually wrong. That is what makes this anniversary so right and worthy of celebration.

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Read more > abolition of slave trade

Iran - some facts

The seizure of 15 British Sailors and Marines by Iran was not an isolated incident, but part of a long-running Iranian program to control the Shatt al-Arab. Some key facts:

• The Narrows: A waterway beset by ethnic cleansing. Native Arab population of up to 500,000 “relocated.”

• Resistance jailed, forced to confess, and executed.

• Most politically sensitive area in the Middle East. Controls oil shipments and trade routes Iranian zone is the launch point for Iranian covert operations in Iraq.

• Iran now controlling up to 40,000 agents in Iraq.

By Daniel Brett Chairman, British Ahwazi Friendship Society
More...

Those in Peril

Why did our sailors and marines from HMS Cornwall not defend themselves?

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They were not allowed to ... their rules of engagement did not permit it. This was raised in The House yesterday by Ann Winterton MP.

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Read all about it here > Iran

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HMS Cornwall

The EU, Theory -v- Practice

Rome - 1957

By Christopher Booker

In all the years I have been reporting on the bid to give Europe a supra-national government, there are few points I have made more often than that, to understand this breathtakingly ambitious political experiment, one must always contrast the theory behind it with how it actually works in practice.
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Its supporters always base their grandiose claims on its supposedly idealistic intentions - to save Europe from war, global warming, etc. Whereas, whenever one looks at its operations in practice, these almost invariably turn out to beincompetent, corrupt and dishonest failures.

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Typical of this self-deception was a wonderfully silly front page of The Independent last week, listing "50 reasons to love the EU". To anyone familiar with the EU this was hilarious. I divided its 50 points to find that 16 were "wildly misleading", 12 were "highly dubious", 10 were "plain wrong" and so forth. Not a single point cited by the Indie turned out to be a benefit that could not have been achieved without the EU.

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A particular gem in this farrago was the claim that we owe it to the EU that "British restaurants are now much more cosmopolitan". I am sure the proprietors of our balti houses, sushi bars and Chinese takeaways would rush to agree.

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It is also apparently due to the EU that the British "feel less insular". Such a refreshing change from those sad days when the British were so insular and closed in on themselves that they ruled over a quarter of world's land surface, establishing English as the most successful lingua franca in history (and saving Europe from the tyranny of various dictators)

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Perhaps the most telling evidence of the gap between The Independent's ears was its claim that Brussels only employs 24,000 bureaucrats, "fewer than the BBC". Lovers of "the project" have been making similar claims since the 1970s (even Mrs Thatcher once boasted that the European Commission had a staff of"only 7,000, smaller than that of the Scottish Office").

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In fact, this is perhaps the biggest giveway of all as to whether someone has grasped the veryclever principle which, perhaps more than anything else, has been responsible for the EU's success.

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The commission does not need any more bureaucrats in Brussels precisely because it is merely the nexus joining together a vast network of millions of officials, stretching right across our continent. To do its bidding, it relies not just on the staff of its own ever-proliferating army of "agencies", but on the civil servants of all its 27 member states. Probably well over half the officials in Whitehall (including, for instance, virtually the entire staff of the Defra ) now spend their time working on legislation derived not from Westminster but from Brussels.

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It is remarkable how few Europhiles (except at the top) have grasped this absolutely crucial point about how this vast and immensely complex system of government works.

The Sunday Quote

'' It is easy to deceive oneself without perceiving it as it is difficult to deceive others without their perceiving it.''

Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680), Maxims 1665

This weeks quote from the clasic French writer François de La Rochefoucauld needs perhaps a few moments careful concideration.

Fifty Years of Surrender

Christoper Booker is in full flow in The Daily Mail today, with a long piece commenting on the "very special party" to be held in Berlin tonight.

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It is safe to predict, he writes, that, apart from those German teenagers enjoying their "rave", very few other folk across Europe this weekend will be doing much by way of celebrating. Predictably, though, the one exception will be the scores of politicians and thousands of officials who will also today be converging on Berlin, to pay tribute to this historic moment in their own, rather different way … the most ambitious political project the modern world has seen since Lenin set up the Soviet Union in the Twenties.

Read it here.

The End of Week Quote

''But we do not just lobby Westminster and the devolved and local bodies. Our Brussels office is picking out EU laws as they begin so that we can knock the more damaging aspects out before they gain any momentum. They have achieved many successes this year, not least the saving of the UK barometer industry.''

Carole Undy - outgoing FSB Chairman Federation of Small Businesses this morning at the Federation's National Conference.

If it were true, which it is not, the question is was it a fair swap for wrecking our Fishing, Agricultural and numerous other industries in which small businesses once prospered?

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Future comments on 'Europe' by the new 'Chair' of the FSB will be monitored by this blog. It can only get worse.

A Very Grave Deception

Peter Troy on the 'Chair'

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Britain's largest member based business organisation The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has elected a former Trade Union Offical as its National Chairman.

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John Wright, a former member of the National Executive of NALGO and long time public servant (employee at Cleveland County Council) and more recently a director of companies and organisations established by Regional Government agencies has amazingly been elected as National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses at their AGM in Belfast this afternoon.

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Clearly the Federation's members were impressed by Mr Wright's written election address which the editor of this blog, Peter Troy has complained to the Federation was deceptive in three key details.

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One of the guests at the FSB's Conference is long standing Ulster Politician, Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley MP, one can only wish that in his address to the assembled delegates he reads to them from St Luke Gospel, Chapter 23 verse 34. The members should consider the words very carefully.

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See collaborator-v-appeaser_20.html

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Dr Richard North takes up the issue > Federation of Small Businesses

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The out-going Chairman of the FSB presents the Chain of Office to John Wright perhaps with the comment: ''there is enough here to hang yourself with''.

The Gripping Question

Strong leader or ruthless despot? That was the question gripping Westminster yesterday as supporters of Gordon Brown tried to make a virtue out of a scathing attack from a former senior civil service chief who likened the Chancellor to Joseph Stalin, the former Soviet dictator.

The issue is addressed in an article in The Scotsman.

See link > Will 'Stalin' jibe actually help Brown?

To Give And To Take

''Whether by keeping mortgages low, providing the economic stability to deliver record employment and sustained investment in schools, this Government has worked hard to support hard working families. '' So says The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown MP, The Chancellor, in his address to the Labour Party faithful released a few moments after delivering his eleventh budget in the House today.

Once again there was very little for the hard working families of the UK's small business community to be pleased about. Mr Brown, ramed up corporation tax on small businesses while cutting it for larger firms !

Carole Undy the outgoing Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses issued a press coment this afternoon saying '' he gives with one hand and takes with the other.''

There will be much written about today's budget by both bloggers and journalists from the 'dead tree' industry (newspapers) on what was clearly a very political budget, rather than one of profound soco- economic relevance; like in the good old days.

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British tax paying subjects must not be fooled into thinking this is a "give-away" Budget, all Mr Brown has done is to provide headline "cuts" in both income tax and corporation tax, but the cost of these cuts will be met by the other changes. In other words, very few people will be much better off as a result!

This Budget can best be described as a "tinkering" Budget. There were 81 Budget Notes containing the devils in the details of literally hundreds of tax changes.

Click here to view an excellent 2007 Budget Summary Report.

''What has ''Europe'' done for us ?

As the European Union celebrates its anniversary, The Independent newspaper looks at what it believes to be 50 benefits the Union has brought, and asks: "What has Europe done for us?", all under the general title: "50 reasons to love the European Union.

Read Dr Richard North's excellent piece > permalink

An Enviromental ''Arms Race''

As David Cameron planted a tree in north London two weekends ago, it was his funky trainers as much as his handy spadework that caught the attention of onlookers and the assembled media. Cameron was officially marking the Conservative Party's "Green Action Day", but there was also a message in his green-laced, camouflage-soled footwear.

Conservative Party Central Office was happy to let it be known that they were, in fact, recycled from old firemen's trousers (they did not say which one) and car seats, part of a limited edition of 400 pairs produced to mark last year's 15th anniversary of The Big Issue. Now that is really trendy.

As a symbol, it was true to form from a politician who, since taking over his party's leadership, has rarely missed an opportunity to advertise his green credentials, whether by cycling to work (with his driver following in his official car with his briefcase and shoes) or putting a windmill on the roof his (very posh) house (which did not work because there is a lack if wind in London).

It is clear that in the UK an environmental "arms race" has begun amongst our politicians. For the foreseeable future, our politics will no longer be simply blue, red, yellow or purple, but made up of different shades of green. Voters should be warned that our political elite are determined that Britain is going to save our planet, often with contradictory and prohibitive measures wrapped in green recyclable trendy and cool environmental policies.

What is not being asked is how can our country, that contributes just 2 per cent of the world's carbon emissions really make much of a difference to the planet? Similarly prohibitive measures are not being undertaken by China, India, America, and Russia who are the world's largest polluters.

Getting Worse, Not Better

The Finanical Times this week published the results of an FT-Harris poll, conducted in the EU’s five biggest countries - Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain - and also the US.

The main finding was that only 25 percent of those questioned in EU member states felt life in their country had improved since it joined the EU, while 44 percent thought life had got worse.

That Extra NHS Money

Where has all the extra billions of pounds given to the NHS actually gone ?

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Well amazingly according to the Public Accounts Committee, no one really knows. The accounting system is too, well unfit for purpose.

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The King's Fund an independendent health think tank, has some estimates though:

Less than a third of the extra money spent on the NHS is actually going directly to improve health care and front-line services. Of the £19 billion spent by the Government on hospital and community health since 2003, £6.6 billion had gone on extra pay for clinical staff.

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A further £2.2 billion went on the rising cost of drugs; £1.6 billion went on hiring more doctors to meet new EU employment laws on working hours; £1.1 billion went on new buildings and equipment; £1 billion went on equipment and £600 million on negligence law suits.

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This left only £5.9 billion to spend on improving performance such as reducing waiting lists, the extension of day surgery and more nurses and consultants.

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The sadness of all of this is that if the present Government had left GP fundholding in place (broadly similar to the system they are now 'introducing'), something which of course they couldn't as it had been brought in by the Tories (a sysyem that if one remembers we were told '' needed to get better''), we'd have got a much better results for our money.

Rethink - Illegal Immigration

Austen Ivereigh in the current edition of The Spectator says that illegal immigration is both a symptom and a cause — of British economic success. The dead hand of the state is getting it wrong, as usual: time for a total rethink ...

Let’s sort out the migration mess

What a Shower ?

From the Editor's notebook.
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This Friday, 23 March, sees the opening of the UK's largest member based business organisation, the Federation of Small (FSB) Businesses Annual Conference, held this year in Belfast.

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Federation Members, journalists, business or political analysts looking for news breaking scoops should look elsewhere.

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Once the AGM, held the day before, has announced whether a Collaborator or an Appeaser has been voted in as National Chairman (see collaborator-v-appeaser_20.html.) there is not likley to be much in the way of ground breaking news or even interesting ideas discussed at Belfast.

Take the first motion up for debate by the FSB's Branch Delegates:

This conference deplores the insincere approach of Her Majesty’s Government by, on the one hand, emphasizing its commitment to the enterprise culture through the use of fiscal incentives and training packages, thereby encouraging people to be self-employed and yet on the other, actively pushing HARK to pursue an increasingly aggressive policy in re-classifying self-employed contractors as employees, with all the negative consequences for small firms.

If any reader can make sense of the wording please leave your offering in the comments section. We on this blog are at a complete loss to understand what it could possibly mean.

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From the North East, as many would expect, is a motion which if adopted by our political masters would do more to introduce unwelcome regulation than just about any other crazy idea the EU commission could contrive and believe me that would be difficult. Colin Stratton's motion amazingly states:

This conference calls upon Her Majesty’s Government to have all businesses registered on a central database whether they are incorporated or non-incorporated and irrespective of size or type.

Unbelievable - stupid and crassly incompetent for a businesses organisation to support self destruction. As the Good Book says: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (St.Luke 23:34). Mr Stratton's motion has been Law in Italy since the days of Mussolini and adopted in a few other European states as well. Without going into all the merits of the freedom of the process of business, clearly the successful principles of the Anglo-Saxon economic model are lost on Mr Stratton and his supporters in the North East. If this motion succeeds I will bare my membership card in Harrods window the next day!

Two other motions on the conference Agenda are so irrelevant to the world of business as not to warrant comment. It is not until the final motion at the end of the conference that there is a sparkle, all be it a miniscule one, of relevance:

This conference calls upon the Treasury to demonstrate a clear commitment to business growth and the creation of wealth by granting businesses a 100 per cent tax allowance for reinvestment in the sector, thus assisting with research and development as well as expansion.

The proposers of this motion John Friel and Wilfred Mitchell both from Northern Ireland make a good point which could be developed. If one were able to propose amendments to motions - as at a proper conference - I would propose that all government business support is withdrawn in favour of a comparable reduction in tax on small businesses. One business grant is after all another business's tax bill. Since my somewhat draconian amendment would mean the abolition of Business Links and many other regional support agencies there would be very little support from FSB activists who these days liaise oh so closely with such quangos. In fact at least two senior FSB activists, to my knowledge are well paid by the many off shoots of the Government's Business support services; and that I say corrupts the FSB.

So, to end at the start one should not look to the motions at the FSB conference in Belfast next week for any major ground breaking policy innovation. All of which prompts the question, why does the FSB grow in number each year. After all, an organisation without an intellectual base cannot flourish. The answer is simple, the FSB has excellent benefits and a world class recruitment team which, for the moment at least, offsets the lack of ethos at the centre of the organisation.

The worry of course is that the FSB, unless it counters - not adds to - the threats that our political masters impose upon small businesses will, in time, go the way of the Dodo.

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A flash back to the FSB confrence of 2004:

http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2004/07/fsb-says-no-to-eu-constitution.html

The Sunday Quote

'' People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war, or before an election. ''

Otto von Bismark (Prussian Prime Minister, Founder Chancellor of the German Empire 1815 - 1889)

A Very British Protest

There is a certain satisfaction in learning about direct protest from an authoritive figure. Congratulations, from this Blog, are very much due to Ray Egan a 69-year old retired policeman from Birmingham who on Tuesday dressed in a John Bull costume breached security at HP Sauce's British Factory to protest against the decision to switch production of the very British condiment to Holland.

The protesting ex-copper made his point very clearly from his roof top vantage point on the top of the HP factory:

'' The point I am making is that we are losing a British icon - a bastion of Britishness and a worldwide product and brand. It has to stop. I am just sick of the industries we are losing and direct action is what's needed in this country. This would never happen in France.'' said Ray Egan.

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HP manufacturer announced its decision to close the Aston Cross site last summer and move production to Elst in the Netherlands.

Whilst the protesting ex-plod was taking direct action a company press officer in award winning corporate speak (and missing the point entirely) issued a statement saying it was aware of the protest which he described as a ''health and safety issue''.

National disgrace we say --- there are some of us who are still trying to cope with the loss of Lea and Perrins Sauce to the French and the MG trademark to the Chinese. At least this week we learnt of the return of the Classic Aston Martin motor range to British ownership. Clearly the lesson to be learnt from ex-plod Ray Egan is that if it's British it is worth fighting for - after all, all we want (well ok want back) is our heritage.