Warning shot for hotels over gay couples

It was just waiting to happen! Muslim or Christian guest house owners who refuse to accept homosexual couples must impose a "sleeping together ban" on all other guests, the Government says. It's typical of New Labour. Sort of Basil Fawlty without the comic touch.

With their hell-bent desire to turn Britain into a secularist society, probably with the end result of privatising religion along Chinese lines, we are going to get more of this nonsense. What, I do not know, was wrong with live and let live? The Archbishop of Canterbury may like to look out of his window at Lambeth Palace to see if anybody is fiddling around with a pile of kindling and loose timbers.

I wonder what Gordon Brown's reverend father would make of it all? "What's all this about Gordon? Why do guest houses require a Government Sleeping Together Ban? And what is it all about?"

Explain in pithy sentences, Gordon!

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The Taxman came knocking and got shown the door!

The new conglomerate that is now Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs has just had a bloody nose from the House of Lords. Their lordships reckoned Caesar was getting too big for his boots.

Geoff Jones and his wife Diana have successfully fought a ruling by HMRC that they avoided tax by paying Diana through dividends from their firm. The couple were only following the advice that was posted on the DTI website giving small businesses helpful information. This was of course another example of the muddled "we'll point you in the right direction" thinking of government departments. Nobody taking responsibility, the right hand not knowing what the left is doing. Just passing the buck for the citizen to chase his tail!

The senior echelons of the Treasury, conveniently sidestepping the DTI's view of the world, decided to make an example of Mr & Mrs Jones. The Joneses faced a tax bill of about £50,000. So Goliath stepped up the pressure. However, with various organisations and accountants backing them up, they fought back and won.

Now there must be a hefty court bill left over. A couple of hundred thousand at least. Who pays that, I wonder? Why, us the taxpayers, of course. But we have to set an example as citizems. HMRC just got too big for their boots.

A tax partner of Grant Thornton said today that the Treasury only needed to get the Chancellor to change the rules via debate in Parliament. That's democracy. But they thought better and lost.

HMRC was apparently thinking they could "close a loophole", but no such loophole existed. The reason they got so excited was the thought of £1 billion extra coming into their coffers. If they need this extra money, let the Chancellor raise it properly through taxation. If they don't need it, what were they thinking of? Perhaps the Sheriff of Nottingham is their hero!

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Floody nuisance!

I like this quote from Eric Pickles, the Shadow communities secretary. "Gordon Brown has to accept the inconvenient truth that if you build houses on flood plains it increases the likelihood that people will be flooded." This all comes as the Housing Minister, Yvette Cooper told MPs new guidance would require councils "to plan more widely for the consequences of climate change," including flooding. She has indicated that new houses could still be built on flood plains.

Even if the councils built defences, the very fact that NEW houses were being built on the very ground that could be flooded seems arrant nonsense. But then New Labour is the project supreme of arrant nonsense. Who would want to buy a house that an insurance company had marked down as a severe risk. May not even get insurance. Are the house builders going to risk their capital on such a project?

Already this latest lot of damage is estimated at £3 billion for insurance companies. And that's those who HAVE insurance. A lot will be grumpily suffering as a result of being uninsured.

Madness is never far away from politicians it seems. What on earth has induced Ms Cooper to think a flood plain is still a possibility for building a house. Maybe she and her hubby, Ed Balls, could buy the first house as an example to us all. As good citizens we will bail her out, literally, in the event of a disaster!

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Galloway suspended

The House of Commons has voted to suspend George Galloway for 18 days. His suspension was the result of him "concealing the true source of Iraqi funding" and "calling into question" the integrity of standards watchdogs. During an hour long defence of his position, Galloway had a number of run-ins with the Speaker.

Hansard reveals some of the flavour of the debate. My take is that Galloway, although one to embroider his words, has got something on the hypocrisy of it all. Andrew Robathan, Conservative MP for Blaby, iniated the suspension proceedings by complaining about Galloway. Robathan is something of an Iraq enthusiast too!

Reading the Hansard report, certain characters having a go at Galloway have murky pasts themselves. If Galloway is a bit lively with the truth, what does it say of Tony Blair, erstwhile member for Sedgefield. Dodgy dossiers, cash for peerages, and tennis with Tony come to mind.

When it comes to taking on members as with the Committee on Standards and Privileges, it is a strong-minded person that defies their authority. George Galloway was probably the only member who thought it worth a try.

I wonder if they are going to investigate the leak? The one the Commissioner appeared so vague about!

Do read Hansard. It's every bit as riveting as the spectacle on Capitol Hill. (Video)

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Hilary's Ark!

I can't believe that there is nobody in government or in the agencies that didn't think of saying "Can we cope if we get a deluge that means severe flooding will occur?" or "If the banks of rivers burst to such a degree that towns get cut off, can we cope?" - Questions like that.

From the way Gordon Brown talks, we still need to "learn lessons". Is this country forever going to be "learning lessons"? Apparently some fruitcake in the agency responsible for flood barriers decided they should be kept some place well away from places like Upton-on-Severn.

Chaos is over large parts of England. Maybe we need a teacher from somewhere where they know how to deal with flooding to come and finish the lessons. Hilary Benn has praised the way the emergency services dealt with "unprecedented" levels of rainfall and said he had "total confidence" in the response of the Environment Agency. However, the budget had been cut.

The real lessons are that money is not being spent adequately on flood defences and that houses continue to be built on flood plains. Unless the government knuckles down to do the homework houseowners/renters and businesses are going to end up being unable to get insurance. The whole economy could unravel in parts, all because we are still "learning lessons"!

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Lets show a little Respect!

I have a sneaking admiration at times for George Galloway, but not that much for his party. Their response to the Ealing Southall By-election has been rather odd on one point. Tony Lit may be criticised for his policies, his newness to the Tory Party, or his previous connections with New Labour, but surely not his language skills.

Those of us who seek an integrated, fair and friendly give-and-take society assume that living in a Britain with sound democratic basis includes conversing in English. Respect says this on their website -

Already shamed by revelations that he gave £4,800 to Labour days before his nomination, Tory Tony Lit made a further fool of himself tonight on the community Venus TV station (Sky Channel 807). Following a phone-in with our candidate Salvinder Dhillon in Hindi and Punjabi, the presenter invited Mr. Lit to speak in a community language, as his whole contribution had been in English. Lit just kept speaking English. He doesn’t speak any community language! Yet he claims to be a local.

So we have "community languages"? Is this de rigeur amongst the supporters of Respect? It's offensive, quite frankly. Those who come from other countries quite naturally speak their own language. They're hardly likely to wake up one morning not remembering a single word. However, if they settle here their children and, more so, their grandchildren will speak English as normally as any other person. Unless of course they feel obliged to "belong" by perpetuating a segregationalist attitude.

Tony Lit is a businessman, who was the Conservative candidate, and who wants to make a contribution in politics. He may come from an Asian background, but his present and future is in England. Why would he want a "community language"? He may choose to learn Hindi or Punjabi, or he may already know one or both, but to suggest he speaks Hindi in order to "be local" is proscribing politics in a very sinister way.

It is a sort of BNP in reverse!

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Last straight fight by-election

It was Widnes. Seems along time ago now!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widnes_by-election%2C_1971

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By-election Blues

Yesterday's by-elections seem to prove a pattern. That New Labour is just ahead in a crowded field. The last straight fight by-election was years ago. I think from memory it was Widnes in the 1960's. Now it is unlikely that any party in such a contest will get more than 50% of the vote. Not only does Labour, as the governing party, face two opposition parties, the Tories and LibDems, but a range of smaller parties that can eat into majorities as well.

Yesterday saw the BNP in Sedgefield take a sizeable chunk and the Independent didn't do too badly either, both saving their deposits. And there were still 1419 voters who opted for one of the rest taking a combined 5.07%.

Ealing-Southall was an election that the media hyped, or the LibDems hyped, and BBC News24 teased us by suggesting the LibDems might win. The result was a different thing. Labour did better in Southall than in Sedgefield. The minor parties in Southall managed a combined 8.42%.

The message is that we are in a system whereby the governing party can govern on a diminishing support basis. The smaller parties are not going away. The Tories and LibDems are fighting each other as much as Labour. It's all a bit like a point-to-point race. Anything could happen!

Sedgefield result

Phil Wilson (Lab) 12,528 (44.77%, -14.11%)
Greg Stone (LD) 5,572 (19.91%, +8.02%)
Graham Robb (C) 4,082 (14.59%, +0.19%)
Andrew Spence (BNP) 2,494 (8.91%)
Paul Gittins (Ind) 1,885 (6.74%)
Toby Horton (UKIP) 536 (1.92%, +0.36%)
Chris Haine (Green) 348 (1.24%)
Stephen Gash (Eng Dem) 177 (0.63%)
Tim Grainger (Ch P) 177 (0.63%)
Alan "Howling Laud" Hope (Loony) 147 (0.53%, +0.15%)
Norman Scarth (Anti-Crime) 34 (0.12%)

Lab majority 6,956 (24.86%)
11.06% swing Lab to Lib Dems

Ealing Southall result

Virendra Sharma (Lab) 15,188 (41.48%, -7.28%)
Nigel Bakhai (LD) 10,118 (27.63%, +3.19%)
Tony Lit (C) 8,230 (22.48%, +0.91%)
Sarah Edwards (Green) 1,135 (3.10%, -1.52%)
Salvinder Dhillon (Respect) 588 (1.61%)
Dr Kunnathur Rajan (UKIP) 285 (0.78%)
Yaqub Masih (Ch P) 280 (0.76%)
Jasdev Rai (Ind) 275 (0.75%)
John Cartwright (Loony) 188 (0.51%)
Sati Chaggar (Eng Dem) 152 (0.42%)
Gulbash Singh (Ind) 92 (0.25%)
Kuldeep Grewal (Ind) 87 (0.24%)

Lab maj 5,070 (13.85%)
5.24% swing Lab to Lib Dems

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No charges on 'cash for honours'

Did they get away with it? Were they innocent all along? Whatever the facts, it leaves us all feeling that New Labour under Blair spun out of control.

We shall see as this all unravels tomorrow morning. I'm just glad the sleazy side seems to have gone. That ghastly Campbell, the philandering Prescott.....................!

And they had the nerve to criticise John Major. Hypocrisy? Coming up big time!

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Better late than never!

The American government is coaching US troops on Iraqi culture. Maybe they should have done that at the start, but then that Rumsfeld guy was in charge, and he would not have approved!

Let's hope they can take the Texan drawls and Boston "park the car in Harvard Yard" accents, otherwise those Iraqis are in for a whole bunch of fruitless conversations!

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Cultural chaos

If there is hypocrisy from people about Jacqui Smith's cannabis admission, then there is mountains of it with those who commit "honour" killings. Two thugs , who were the father and uncle of Banaz Mahmod, killed in the name of supposed honour. This young woman had fallen in love. They ordered her execution because they believed she had shamed the family by falling in love with the wrong man. Who were they to condemn her?

They raped and tortured her. In the name of what, precisely? Surely not Islam? There are far too many in this country with a perverted sense of village honour. Cannot one imam get up to say how wretched this all is? Those who think like this, even if they do not go as far as to commit murder, need to be told it is evil, let alone incompatible with a democratic society.

An accomplice had said "I swear to God it took more than two hours. Her soul would not leave her body - it took over half an hour. I swear to God, my foot was on her back. I was kicking or stamping on her neck to get her soul out." And he thought God would want him stamping on her neck like that? What a perversion!

We must rid society of this menace. All decent Muslims must do something to serve the memory of Banaz Mahmod, a woman who died at the hands of those who were kin but had themselves mortgaged their own souls.

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Ealing Southall By-election

Ballot rigging? Undue influence on the polls? Is it back? Seems like it has happened in Southall, as the police begin a vote probe. An investigation has been launched after a complaint from the Labour Party about alleged electoral offences in the by-election. This is not against anyone locally, but the esteemed Daily Telegraph. Oh dear!

The Telegraph posted details on a website claiming that the postal votes showed the result could be very close. Not exactly rocket science (or rocket prescience!) as the shinanigans down there are seeing votes going in all directions. But a bit naughty all the same.

The Metropolitan Police said the matter is being "thoroughly investigated". Leaving no vote unturned?

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Home Secretary smoked cannabis!

That's the headline in every paper and on every TV news programme it seems. Top news story with the BBC. I wonder how many former pot smokers the BBC has? This is all a nonsensical load of rubbish. Who amongst us has not done something untoward in our early years? Jacqui Smith should be held to account for her work as Home Secretary, not for her student days.

This country has a huge amount of latent hypocrisy bubbling under the surface. If I remember some of the things I did at that age, well I cringe at the thought. I saw Alastair Stewart of ITN rather pompously ask Ms Smith about this. What were his student days like? Paragon of virtue, no doubt.

Every day, as we get older, we should try to behave better and learn from experience. The fact that we DO misbehave, or do illegal things, or just simply make mistakes as we grow up, does not mean we cannot work towards a better society later on.

So I say to the pompous questioners - leave well alone. This is a non story in content. It's just hyped up by the media, and they have a few oddballs in their midst. Ms Smith should not concern herself with this ridiculous pastime created by the media.

It's just a case of casting the first stone.

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Sedgefield By-election

Tomorrow is also the Sedgefield By-election. Tony Blair's exit from the House of Commons must be the fastest in history. He didn't even sit on the back benches for a second. Somehow it seems odd that he's gone. Brown is definitely not the same, but we all knew that. Those books on the dispatch box were there at PMQ's. I would dearly love to see what would happen if they were not there, or some devil pinched them just before noon!

Sedgefield is a party-switching place. The UKIP candidate, Toby Horton, stood against Blair in 1983, when Blair was anti-EU and Horton was kind of pro. The BNP candidate, Andrew Spence used to be UKIP. Plus there has been a bit of a squabble between the main parties, and the BNP is claiming press censorship by the Northern Echo.

The result may see New Labour's shine in Sedgefield finally wiped away. There are quite a few candidates that could take a chunk out of Blair's votes. After all, Reg Keys helped a bit!

Stephen Gash, English Democrats - "Putting England First"
Paul Gittins, Independent
Tim Grainger, Christian Party "Proclaiming Christ's Lordship"
Chris Haine, Green Party
Alan 'Howling Laud' Hope, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Toby Horton, UK Independence Party
Graham Robb, Conservative Party
Norman Scarth, Anti-Crime Party
Andrew Spence, British National Party
Greg Stone, Liberal Democrat
Phil Wilson, Labour Party

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Ealing Southall By-Election

Tomorrow, 19th, is the day for voting in the Ealing-Southall By-Election. What a contest! Probably the best by-election for years. The place is not short of surprises. The Tory candidate, Tony Lit, fast-tracked into the Conservative Party, having been cheek-by-jowel with Tony Blair at a fundraising bash only last month. Mr. Tony (TB that is!) went off with a cheque for £4,800 to put into New Labour's coffers. David Cameron was aware of all this and seems unperturbed.

Meanwhile Ming Campbell is hoping Nigel will pull off something for the LibDems. New Labour has had a load of councillors defect to the Tories. And George Galloway is in town to raise the temperature. There's an Official Raving Loony and a few unofficial ones. Any bets on this bunfight could prove worthwhile, as anything could happen. Dr. Jasdev Singh Rai, Independent, is putting up a strong fight. Of the other two independents, well their tents have folded. Gulbash Singh is in the Tory marquee now, and Kuldeep Singh Grewal is hitched to the guy ropes of the New Labour Big Tent. The only sure thing is that the Labour Party's vote last time is up for grabs.

Nigel Bakhai, Liberal Democrats
John Sydney Cartwright, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Sati Chaggar, English Democrats - 'Putting England First!'
Salvinder Singh Dhillon, Respect - Peace, Justice, Equality
Sarah Janet Edwards, Green Party
Kuldeep Singh Grewal, Independent
Tony Lit, David Cameron's Conservatives
Yakub Masih, Christian Party 'Proclaiming Christ's Lordship'
Jasdev Singh Rai, Independent
KT Rajan, UK Independence Party
Virendra Kumar Sharma, The Labour Party Candidate
Gulbash Singh, Independent


If asked who I thought would win, I'd say anyone could. Labour could just hang on. Tony Lit could win because votes go in all directions from Labour. If six candidates got roughly even numbers of votes, the winner could be in on less than 25%. Not likely, but a casual observation says that New Labour has upset the local community and the cards haven't settled on the table yet.

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Bishop loses gay employment case

A gay man has won his case for unlawful discrimination after he was refused a youth official's job by a Church of England bishop. The man in question, John Reaney, had told the tribunal hearing his case that he was left "very embarrassed and extremely upset" following the meeting with the Bishop of Hereford and said he felt like "a total waste of space". Those were his thoughts, but he knew very well before he went for the job what the position of the Church of England is. Whilst some Anglicans may blur the boundaries of faith, the traditional teaching is that a homosexual lifestyle is incompatible with adherence to the Faith.

This is very much a battle of secularism against the professed claims of the Church. The floodgates have been opened by New Labour, that paragon of all things muddled. I liked Germaine Greer's recent remark about Tony Blair's attempt to ingratiate himself with the Pope. She claimed, as a self-style "atheistic Catholic" herself, that the Roman Catholic Church saw Blair as "doctrinally confused".

New Labour is giving us confusing laws, which when interpreted by the legal system, leave one side feeling bruised. The Bishop of Hereford should appeal, otherwise the secularists will come knocking for another issue to wrestle with.

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Regional assemblies will be axed

Regional assemblies, which oversee the spending of tens of million pounds on housing, transport and planning, are to be scrapped, the government has said. New broom? Probably one with thick bristles, because the carpet in the former Deputy Prime Minister's office needs a good brushing with all the mess that's landed on it.

These quangos were never a democratic success. They have been a political nightmare, with self-serving placesitters having a good time. When the voters in the North-East (another "region") pushed the local assembly into the long grass by saying NO in a referendum, Prescott just acted the fool. Even now, these cash-guzzlers are giving life until 2010. Why not kill them off today? It would save an awful lot of money.

I somehow think a backroom deal has been done.

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West Midlands police state?

The BNP has posted a fairly long diatribe against the activities of West Midlands Police. My point in all the activities of the police in this country against the BNP is that it is a complete waste of time acting as agents provocateurs. It only gives the BNP the rightful excuse to say that the police are interfering in the democratic process.

If lawbreaking occurs, let the accused stand trial for transgressing the law. But we should all be on our guard against the police acting as some kind of guardian of the electorate's wellbeing.

What the BNP accuse West Midlands Police of is a simple disgrace if true. Will New Labour bring these ballot riggers to justice? The very idea that 400 nomination signers were contacted defies all that is seen as being of British fair play and decency. Let the Chief Constable say that he wants the BNP banned as a legal political party. But he can't because that would expose him as political busybody.

If it's the BNP now, what about the Christian Party (seen as anti-gay) or UKIP (seen as anti-establishment) or Respect (let's get George today). We need to nip it in the bud!

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What a week!

I've been off line, so to speak, because I didn't fully understand the problem solving world of Blogger. These new-fangled things work well when they do, but it's the devil's own business when it goes wrong.

I've just managed to fathom it out by myself and can post again. Looking at the support groups, it seems I'm not the only fish out of water on occassions!

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Fourth of July

Yesterday was the Fourth of July, Independence Day in the USA. I've celebrated three such days in my life (in the US that is) and thoroughly enjoyed the party spirit each time. There was virtually no talk about George Washington, or the "British are coming", or any real reference to history. Each one was just a fun day celebrating freedom. I sort of thought at the time that maybe the British themselves may have wanted similar freedoms, but were lumbered with Lord North and his successors. It was a different route we took.

Americans have two great holidays, the other being Thanksgiving, which again is treated as an allcomers event. And as I quite like turkey, with all the fixings, this day is a treat for me too! The Fourth of July is not, it seems, considered an exclusively American celebration. Selfridges in Birmingham were selling all kinds of American food items and fancy goods, so that we could join in the fun at home. They didn't say having an American round was an essential aspect for such a party.

And my musings end here by saying that when I was in California some time ago on the Fourth of July, I couldn't help but look up at the parched dry hills, knowing we were as far away from Paul Revere's stomping ground as he was from London. California and the American Revolution? It's a bit like celebrating Christmas in Australia. You have to get your mind around a few mental obstacles.

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Tory Front Bench

David Cameron is giving some some the 2005 intake a chance. Both Justine Greening and Adam Afriyie come across as just the right people to promote Conservative thinking. When I look at the Labour front bench, with the likes of Des Browne (now shiftily trying to do two jobs!) and Jack Straw, the new Justice Minister, I wonder what has befallen us.

Cameron hasn't yet got it all sorted. For one thing, the Conservative website is decidedly short on informing people of what policies are on offer. Rather there is a fair amount about the challenges facing us. If he and his new team can take on board such ideas as an English Parliament and proper local government accountability and involvement (as opposed to Hazel Blears' window dressing offers), and be more forthright about EU governance, then we could see far more people returning to the Tory fold.

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Four Hats Harman

The Conservatives have already taken to calling Ms Harman "Four Hats Harman" as she juggles her new roles as Labour's deputy leader, party chairman, leader of the Commons and minister for women. I would say this shows exactly why we need a devolved government in England, with things being done properly.

Not a very good start!

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Salmond does the decent thing

Alex Salmond is apparently entitled to two salaries, but he has insisted he will only take one. This is an honourable approach.

Under the terms of the Scotland Act, politicians sitting in both Holyrood and Westminster, are entitled to an MP's salary of £60,000 plus a third of the £53,000 paid to MSPs. Nice little earner. I think this just goes to show the mind of that great devolutionist, Gordon Brown, who was very much behind this recipe from hell.

He still thinks England has got a fair settlement. He won't hear the last of this. Like Blair's legacy is the killing fields of Iraq, Brown's will be the day the English hung him out to dry (metaphorically speaking, of course!).

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Aussies and Oil

Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has admitted that securing oil supplies is a key factor behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq. Are we surprised? Snake oil is it?

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Boris Johnson for London Mayor!

The idea is being floated that Boris Johnson should run for mayor. Mayor of the Greater London metropolis and not the City of London, of course, so no Dick Whittington ambitions for Boris. But it could turn into a jolly good pantomine all the same, with Ken Livingstone and Garry Bushell (for the English Democrats) giving fine turns for the media too.

Some have expressed surprise, others think it a splendid idea. Personally, I think that this scrambling for a candidate by the Tories is putting the cart before the horse. Why not a proper primary, where candidates put themselves forward? That way the fittest will survive the hustings and be a genuine choice of the party and the people.

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Madness in the Magistracy

A magistrate is under investigation after refusing to deal with a defendant wearing a full Muslim veil. Ian Murray walked out of a case at Manchester Magistrates' Court last week because Zoobia Hussain, 32, of Crumpsall, was covered by a niqab. His mistake, apparently, was not to say why he walked out. So the powers-that-be (the Judiciary of England and Wales) are "investigating".

The Magistrates' Advisory Committee in Manchester is working with the magistrate to investigate the incident, a Judiciary spokesman said. "Once that is done, a decision will be taken as to whether a full investigation will take place. Such an investigation would be conducted by an appeal panel of local magistrates." Here again, common sense has left them and their brains are bereft. What do they want to know that they don't already know. My guess is that, as Mr. Murray is a taxi driver, their pernicious minds have decided he must go through a hearing of some sort to find out what his political beliefs are, etc, etc.

I'd like to put the Judiciary spokesman up as a contestant on To Tell The Truth! Three people, dressed from head to toe, all claiming to be Zoobia Hussain. "My name is Zoobia Hussain and I have been accused of criminal damage." Let the smartarse pick which one he thinks it is!

In all the ramblings from the Judiciary no mention of the stupidity of somebody turning up in a form of dress that makes identification impossible. The woman is accused of criminal damage for heaven's sake. Why on earth should she be allowed in court dressed like that in the first place. How can anybody brought in as a witness say categorically that she was the culprit? "I think it's her, your honour, I sort of recognise the shoes, but I couldn't be certain".

It's getting crazier by the minute!

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Brown's PMQs debut

Gordon Brown is no actor, so he was never going to be remotely like Blair at the dispatch box. His first PMQs was interesting. He didn't rely on the great folder, the binder full of answers to anticipated as well as tabled questions. This was used by Blair, who would flick through it nervously to see if the right sticky label was pointing to the answer he needed. John Major and Margaret Thatcher used the same system. However, Brown had a couple of sheets of plain A4 to read. If the answers weren't there, he batted them off from his memory. The A4 sheets were resting on two green books. These books raised the dispatch box higher, so his trade mark delivery of moving his left hand around in crab-like motions was unimpeded.

He looked a tad nervous, but then who wouldn't on their first outing in such an arena as the Prime Minister. I thought he was a bit studious, a bit evasive, but generally straightforward. Thank goodness he stopped Blair's nonsense of harping back to the Tories' time in office when he was stuck for something to say.

Cameron did OK. Ming Campbell has suddenly found a way of asking six questions. Ask three instead of one in each of your two allotted questions. Nice ploy, and it worked. Brown answered all six. However, the Speaker, who was on jovial form, appeared not to realise. Those bewigged men sitting in front of him will have alerted him to this.

Brown has got off to a steady start, but I guess his propensity to grumpiness will soon come out and Dave and Ming will see their chance, as will the SNP and Plaid Cymru stalwarts. Surprisingly, George Galloway makes no effort to raise his profile. Now he could be a spark to liven the Brown gloom!

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Ronnie Biggs moved on "compassionate grounds".

Ronnie Biggs! What can be said about him? If I was a tabloid editor, masses of stuff. I'd make sure I got the circulation up on the days I had a go. Ronnie Biggs became a kind of lovable villain as far as the tabloids were concerned, although to be fair they did usually mention the reason he was a villain. The violence of the Great Train Robbery, leaving the driver to live out his life in pain and misery, was the reason. But on a set of scales, the violence was often outweighed by the lovable villain's exploits, mainly in Brazil.

Why mention Ronnie Biggs? Because he has just been moved from Belmarsh high security prison to the more gentle climes of Norwich Prison. And the powers-that-be don't really know what to do with him. He is 77 years old, and, as his son said, "can hardly walk, will never speak again, cannot eat, drink, read or write but he's still deemed a threat to society." This is where the Prison Service makes a fool of itself. A man who has MRSA, skin cancer and cataracts and needs 24-hour nursing care is never in a thousand years going to be "a threat to society". Yet they have no method, it seems, of expressing common sense. (His son Mike said it was a victory for common sense.)

Far better for them to say that Biggs will remain in custody, for his own good. However, the Prison Service, you can bet, is racking up a bigger bill for his stay at Her Majesty's Pleasure than any hospice or nursing home would.

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By-Election Blues?

The two parliamentary by-elections in Ealing-Southall and Sedgefield are hotting up. The parties are racing to get their candidates selected and nominated before it's too late. In Southall it's beginning to look like a case of which is the best Indian. I looked around various blogs and game up with this gem!

"No Sikhs are going to vote for a bloke called Nigel."

Oh dear! Looks like the Liberal Democrats have failed to impress this particular person. The blogger also points out very succinctly -

"Respect are seen as ‘Shariah Socialists’ so no Sikhs are going to vote for them either."

Shariah Socialists? Like Kosher Socialists? or Catholic Socialists? Now Christian Socialists I do know. A lot hang about in the Church of England! Why not Sikh Socialists as well?

But there is little respect for the Tories -

"Tony Lit will flop." - Looks like David Cameron will need all the visits he can pack into a tight agenda!

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Red Blooded Veggie Burgers?

One odd thing Gordon Brown has done is to appoint Hilary Benn as Agriculture Minister. As a vegetarian, Mr. Benn was getting to know the livestock farmers at the showground in Stoneleigh yesterday. He's quite chirpy about his new job. The farmers not so!

And watching Brown at the dispatch box delivering his bon mots on the new constitutional recipe he has cooked up, I noticed a huge green tome propping up his notes. This tome was placed on the dispatch box so as to allow him to excercise his left hand at the appropriate height. It is still moving around like a crab on cocaine!

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A Constitutional Curate as PM?

With a lot of things in life we don't get everything we want. The British Constitution is a good example. Currently, we have a Prime Minister of the UK who represents a Scottish seat (a sizeable chunk of his workload passed on to an MSP!), but who has cavalier ideas for England. Brown is the first Prime Minister since the Earl of Home (later known as Sir Alec Douglas Home) to represent a Scottish seat. Before Lord Home, it was Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, a 100 years ago. However, unlike them and other MPs from Scotland of their time, they truly came to a United Kingdom parliament. Brown presides over a hybrid of his own making, and that of the devious Falconer and shifty Blair.

Now he thinks he's got some good ideas for meddling even more. Of course, none of this affects his own backyard, with its over-representation, over-financed devolved government, and the rest. He has two deluded suggestions on offer. First, he has proposed "regional ministers" in the made-up EU-inspired regions of England. So we are getting England carved up for good by a Scot? The best of these "regions" is the so-called South-East. This vaste swathe stretches from Banbury to Bognor, from Dover to Oxford. It has no cohesive community feel about it whatsoever. But this matters not to Gordon Brown, who speaks of Britishness as if it were a dose of medicine to be taken at regular intervals to ward off any thoughts of parity for England.

Just as we have appointed ministers for each region of England, I propose that to increase the accountability of local and regional decision-making the House consider creating committees to review the economies and public services of each region - and we will propose a regular question time for regional ministers.

Second, he denies England by saying -

But while we will listen to all proposals to improve our constitution in the light of devolution, we do not accept the proposal for English votes for English laws which would create two classes of MPs - some entitled to vote on all issues, some invited to vote only on some. We will do nothing to put at risk the Union.

Is he thinking straight? What on earth is he if he isn't a class apart from English MPs? The man needs corrective therapy, but then what's new. Blair was semi-detached in his thinking. If you crossed him, he would just say "well, yeah, look" as if to say "shut up, the decision's made!" Any risk to the Union is from this benighted fist-clunker!

Now is the time to rise up and let this new PM know what we think. The people of England are not going to be trifled with by a man who has democratic deficiencies on this scale!

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Virgin Media being courted by rich suitor

Anyone on cable in Birmingham has had more suppliers than hot dinners, it seems. Just as we've been getting used to the rebrand from Telewest to Virgin, along comes the money bags group, Carlyle, with a takeover bid. Am I bovvered? Well, if they use their coffers to get UKTV up off their backsides to give us proper widescreen TV then the answer is NO. Currently all UKTV programmes come in a 4:3 format with widescreen programmes squeezed into the frame! Apparently it's all down to lack of cash. That should not be the case with Carlyle! (UKTV is partly owned by FlexTech, in turn part of Virgin Media.)

The viewer was just getting some benefits from Virgin Media it seemed. Let's hope the full package is yet to come.

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Gordon's looking tired already!

As I write this post, Jacqui Smith, the new Home Secretary, is addressing the House of Commons. Gordon Brown is sitting behind her in his Prime Ministerial seat on the Government benches. He looks exceedingly tired, blinking as one who is sleep deprived, with greying baggy eyes, trying to listen to Ms Smith. Heavens, he's only been PM a couple of days. If he wants to have more cabinet style government, why not let Ms Smith get on with it and have himself some proper sleep.

Apparently he was miffed that he was not woken up on Saturday morning before 6pm. Gordon, we need a Prime Minister not a wannabee Zombie!

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Police State or what?

For those who think Britain is some kind of "bobbies on bicycles, two by two" sort of place, then this little YouTube offering is a salutory lesson. I've long since thought that our police have corrupted themselves on the altar of political correctness.

Watch this piece. It is telling, not only in the lack of training some officers have, but in the way it reveals the insiduous totalitarianism of some politicians posing as democrats but who are really the opposite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP9RV-69000

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