Below the belt!

In this period of turmoil over the teacher being "convicted" for religious hatred in the Sudan, it should be in the best interests of all living in Britain to behave in a civilised way.

Down in Cornwall someone or some persons are being decidedly un-Christian and exceedingly nasty. They have taken against Yvonne Hobson who is a curate at a church near Newlyn. What exactly she has done to cause such hatred I do not know, apart from one thing. The perpetrators claim to be expressing "hatred of women priests". This justifies arson attempts?? Never in a month of Sundays!

Now I am not a believer in the concept of women being priests, but that is based on theological understanding and sacramental practice. Others disagree with me and the part of Christian thinking to which I belong. But I have no wish to denigrate, harm or abuse those that do. They have all the right in the world to a freedom of expression and belief.

So leave this woman alone. Let her not be afraid or harrassed. Those responsible for this outrage get down on your bended knees and PRAY!!!

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Fighting talk?

Last night on the BBC's Question Time, during a response to a question on whether the BNP leader and David Irving should have be invited to the Oxford Union, David Dimbleby changed tack a bit. He asked Caroline Flint, a government minister, if she would appear on a Question Time programme with Nick Griffin, the BNP Chairman. She looked her most steely and sanctimoniously said no. On the other hand, Alan Duncan, for the Conservatives, said he would and would relish the chance to beat him in debate. Bravo Mr.Duncan!

Caroline Flint is an odd cove. Perhaps she is not best placed to chew over the immigration debate with Griffin. She had a tussle with immigration herself. Her first husband, a Libyan who she was keen to forget, had been dumped by her, and, according to him, got deported in a fairly undignified manner. In addition to this, she is something of a have-a-go heroine in that she was involved in foiling an armed robbery with her second husband.

Ms Flint should ask herself why so many people are prepared to vote for the BNP. Perhaps it is that they can make political hay by highlighting the totally inept way this government has handled the whole issue of immigration. We get foreign criminals feted and innocent immigrants hounded. Isn't she better off, even if she won't do it herself, getting New Labour to change their poncy stance, rectify their erroneous attitudes, and take on the BNP in debate.

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Sniffer Dog Required

Yes, one sniffer dog, with good nose for sniffing out trouble at the heart of New Labour's crumbling empire. Single-minded snout control freak of the highest canine order. And one that can recognise that Jack Straw couldn't sniff the difference between a stink and a scented rose!

Today the Justice Secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Gordon Brown had "absolutely no knowledge" that proxy donors were used to give money to the Labour Party. The prime minister would have "stopped it immediately" had he had "a sniff that this was going on", Mr Straw said. But hold on a minute! Jack was chief bottlewasher for this single candidate election for Labour leadership. Did his political experience not for one minute suggest that he should be asking where all the donations for Gordon Brown's "campaign" were coming from? Why on earth was the General Secretary never asked if everything was kosher in the party's coffers, particularly after the cash-for-honours scandal and Brown's Downing Street declaration that he was going to change things?

Come off it, Jack! You're simply not believable on this one.

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Caught Redknapping!

I find some of the actions taken by some police officers in this country quite bizarre. Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is alleged to be involved in corruption in football. If so, then the police have a duty to react and be seen to be following due procedures. But an element of common sense must be part of the way things are done. Redknapp strenuously denies any such involvement. But his anger today is really over the way he and his wife have been treated.

He was "deeply upset" that his home was raided at six o'clock in the morning with Sun press photographers in tow, when the allegations had "nothing whatsoever to do with me". What loon of a senior police officer thought this was a good idea? Did he not bother to check that Redknapp, a Premiership manager was out of the country at the time? He was at a Champions League match in Germany! Some detective work! Why so early in the morning? It just seems like a vulgar publicity stunt.

His wife was alone, had the living daylights scared out of her and a barely used computer taken. Was ten in the morning too late for them?

As Redknapp says, this is not the way we want society conducted. Wake up, you coppers!

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Harriet gets harried

Harriet Harman says she acted "within both the letter and spirit of the law" in the row over David Abraham's disguised donations. That the whole scheme was illegal is now common knowledge. Gordon Brown said so yesterday. Ms Harman is surely a better politician than she gives herself credit for. I would have thought her antennae would be buzzing with enthusiastic questions. But no, she gladly accepted the cash for her deputy leadership campaign (after she was elected) with only the barest minimum of inquiry.

Hilary Benn, another deputy leader contender, has said he rejected the donation from Janet Kidd (the cover person in this case) after being told by one of his team, Baroness Jay, that the money was actually from Mr Abrahams. So did Hilary not say anything to the other contenders? Poor Harriet. Got lumbered, didn't she?

All that this tells us is that New Labour, or Bean Labour as we now know it, is full of some people capable of being quite nasty to each other. What was Theresa May saying about the Tories being seen as the nasty party?

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Ron Paul's Your Man!

Every American should read this - and then make sure they VOTE FOR RON PAUL!

Ron Paul 2008

Quote "Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation’s capital. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. He is known among his congressional colleagues and his constituents for his consistent voting record. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution."

He's your man, folks!

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Dodgy Donors

Gordon Brown, the part-time MP job sharing with an MSP, is in a real bind. He gets the Labour Party to announce that the only person who knew of the dodgy dealings with a property man, David Abrahams, was the General Secretary, Peter Watt. This turns out to be bogus nonsense of the first order. Now we find out that Harriet Harman took cash from Abrahams via an intermediary, that Hilary Benn knew of these dubious dealings but turned a donation down and that Baroness Jay was well versed in Abrahams and his money "laundering", (or was he just hanging it out to dry?).

Last night on Newsnight, the ever ready Geoff Hoon, who makes Humpty Dumpty's use of English seem inadequate, was trying his best to put a different light on true facts. Much to Jeremy Paxman's surprise Hoon had the brass neck to say he saw things "differently". Asked whether the Prime Minister had full confidence in Harriet Harman, Hoon said yes. When it was pointed out to him that the PM was asked 7 times to state this, and that it was only on the seventh that Brown reluctantly said he did, Hoon flatly dismissed it all by saying he saw the transcript differently. Geoff Hoon's understanding of truth has been honed in another galaxy.

But what on earth is the Labour Party thinking of? They knew this David Abrahams was hanging about Labour meetings, he was known to quite a lot in the hierachy, and he has an active desire to see his planning applications succeed. Does Gordon Brown think we are all morons? The story is one full of deceit, spin, and dissembling. And they still haven't found someome to take Sir Alistair Graham's place as Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life after SIX MONTHS. So much for wanting to put integrity back into public life!

I hope the police take a serious interest in all this. Slag heaps come to mind.

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Lifestyle Choices

They say parking attendants can be bolshie buggers at the best of times. But then there are those who park in very improper places, so it probably needs a person with the patience of a saint to patrol the streets and car parks checking that all is in order. The only thing I think is missing from the parking enforcement "industry" is common sense.

In Leicester, a certain Laura Howard, heavily pregnant with child, decided to go to her local Tesco. She parked in a baby and child bay. She thought this was OK. Not so. She got a £90 penalty for it. When she complained to Tesco, they were sympathetic but took the Pontius Pilate route to problem solving. They advised her that all parking matters were handled by Safe Park UK, who lease the land from Tesco. Enter Brian Walker, operations manager for Safe Park UK. When Ms Howard contacted this company he was mindful to say "There are signs saying that if you park here and you don't have a child then you will be fined and this lady did not have a child. Pregnancy is not a disability. It is a lifestyle choice and these bays are aimed at being wider for buggies." He went on about the law and such.

Well, Mr. Walker, I suggest you get a grip and show a little compassion and common sense next time. You were the the result of your own mother's "lifestyle choice". Hope you weren't a big baby!

Tesco have done the decent thing and paid the fine. However, Mr. Walker is sticking to his method's of motherhood control.

Which makes me think what sort of innkeeper Brian Walker would have made on the first Christmas Night. "Sorry, there's no room at the inn. Pregnancy is a lifestyle choice, you know."

Do times change?

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Knickers!

This morning, my young son aged six announced to his sister aged five, "I heard on the radio last night that a person went into a pub without any knickers on!" "Did they? Really?" came the inquisitive reply. "Yes!" he said, with an air of superior knowledge. I liked the reference to "a person". Very modern. New Labour would be pleased.

This bathroom banter reminded be suddenly of my maternal grandmother having a conversation with a resident of the Yorkshire village she lived in. Discussing the problems of a local girl who had "fallen pregnant", my grandmother was concerned about the girl's wellbeing and was suggesting what the future might hold for her. The woman conversing with my grandmother was in a world of her own. She suddenly said "You'd think she would have been OK. After all, she was wearing knickers, wasn't she?" All my grandmother could do was drop her jaw!

Do times change?

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Blundering On!

To think that the UK is now subject to endless mishaps and misery! At least, that's what it feels like. On Tuesday, the Chancellor (a part-time MP job sharing with an MSP like our Prime Minister!) was still grinning when he thought he'd scored a point or two against the opposition over Northern Rock. Yesterday, the smirks were gone from both of them. The whole sorry episode of the missing CD file reflects on the way Government ministries or quangos are run. I find myself in that long list of names floating around somewhere. It's all become a bit like hunt the thimble. Everybody that's keen, from opportunist thieves to careerist quangoites ("I found it first, Prime Minister!") will be like ferrets in a sack.

The government has stuffed their offices full of cheery, but mostly ill-equipped, young people who have not the understanding or common sense to realise when errors could be that serious. There is a culture of make do, can do, and won't do all mixed up. Job cuts, ever more workloads, and no doubt forms that need hours of intelligent deciphering make up life for these workers! It is literally the Ministry of Mayhem, as the Daily Mail puts it today.

If ever there was proof that the idea of ID cards in the UK was a monumental mistake, it is here on a plate. All those Gordon Browns out there. Check your identities right now. You could be mistaken for a grumpy Scotsman trying to hide the rubbish under the carpet!

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Blair's Chinese Chatters

Tony Blair hasn't been out of office long, but by this time next year he could be a multi-millionaire just by waffling the time away at other people's expense. He has been accused of "gold-digging" and "money-sucking" after he reportedly charged £240,000 for giving a speech in China. 40 years ago if you'd told the Labour Party that this would be the way an ex-Prime Minister from their ranks would behave, they'd have thought you barking mad.

So it seems now that politics is just a way to make money. How depressing!

Although some Chinese thought it an honour, the China Youth Daily said "It was like listening to some domestic county or city-level official making a report, and his viewpoints did not have too many new ideas. That being the case, why did the local political and business sector spend such a huge sum of money to 'buy' this speech, and was it worth it?"

Many in the UK may well say the same for the shenanigans of the last ten years.

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On being old in Parliament

Whilst idly surfing the net, I came across Charles Pelham Villiers. This man was MP for Wolverhampton for 63 years! He was Father of the House (well, he deserved it!) and a notable voice for free trade long before others caught on to the idea. When he died, aged 96, he was still in the House of Commons. What do they say about being old today? Good grief, Sir Menzies Campbell is a youth compared to such a person.

So long as you have your mind, isn't a bit of wisdom and maturity a tad better that youthfulness and naivete all the time?

The amazing thing about Villiers was that as he almost lived to see the 20th century he could say he entered Parliament in the reign of William IV. Some going, I'd say.

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On getting in wrong

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police chief won't resign because, as he says, difficult things have happened on every police commissioner's watch. He is very sorry for what has happened, that is the whole tragedy surrounding the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station. But it was the Force in the wrong not him personally. In that he may well be right.

However, the Independendent Police Complaints Commission says today that Sir Ian "attempted to prevent us" from getting on with the enquiry. He says not. They say, as does the solicitor for the de Menezes family, that "17 witnesses said they had not heard police shout a clear warning before firing". Sir Ian maintains otherwise.

The trouble with all this is that there may not be a smoking gun, but there is certainly a smelly rag in the middle of all this. It will keep up the smell until somebody extinguishes it. I don't see much point in getting at Ian Blair, I don't see much point in any more enquiries. Yes, the truth has been sullied, but until honour is restored back into public life, our police service, government institutions and lawmakers will be dancing around playing the blame game for all it is worth.

That the tragedy has happened is appalling in itself, but given that, the only person to be well out of all this is Jean Charles himself. Cut down in his prime, villified in death as a cocaine addict and the rest by certain media hacks, his name will live on as a symbol of how wrong we can get it in this world. Yes, the innocent do suffer for the guilty. I do not know how Jean Charles got on after his entry through the Pearly Gates, but he will be with others now. And maybe he has a full understanding before him of the truth of it all!

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Yet more mess

As soon as Liam Byrne put his mobile phone down, his mind must have gone to immigration statistics. Surely? But sadly no, the case appears.

I've just witnessed his moronic approach to being a government minister. On the BBC's Daily Politics he was asked repeatedly by Andrew Neil if he knew the correct figures for legal immigrants. "If you'll forgive me (said several times during the interview), I've left these stats behind" and then went into a kind of flustered grinning. Andrew Neil could not get any sensible reply from.

"What does British jobs for British people mean?" asked Neil. Again a rather tortuous answer of nothingness came back. "Keith Vaz says, if it means giving British people advantages, then we will get some kind of employment apartheid." "I've spoken to Keith and he's wrong." "British jobs for British people is straight out of the BNP's policies. I've seen it on a leaflet." Byrne just waffled on, not even bothered by the fact that New Labour was now copying BNP policies.

Incredible, isn't it? What could be better for those who want to whip up a storm on immigration than another incompetent minister for immigration? The gravest thing in all this is that Byrne sees some humour in his incompetency!

At the end Neil showed Rory Bremner taking off Peter Hain adding up figures on a calculater. "100,000 Lithuanians, 20,000 Latvians......... Take away..... That leaves 11. Can't be right!"

Byrne then quipped "We're getting something a bit better than a calculator now." Again all jokes! Iain Duncan Smith, sitting next to him, muttered in amazement.

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Another fine mess!

I still can't believe you can be the CEO of a bank and not know where all the loans your bank grants end up. That is who you sell them on to in these wonderful "repackaging" jobs. Because of the so-called credit crunch, the public is now aware of the dodgy dealings that the banks have been getting up to. Funny that if any small business went into their bank and told the manager breezily "Oh, I can't remember who I've sold to, but I'm sure I will find out in time" they would be marked down with a big black pen in the credit ratings! No such ignominy for the blustering bank officials themselves.

Jenna from Houston, Texas, tells the BBC Online "I am a loan officer working in sub-prime lending. At the present time, I am looking for a job in other industries as we are facing a 20% reduction in our company. I have learned that lending to people with spotty credit and the promotion of ARMs was not the best of ideas. I am thankful that I was always quick to dissuade borrowers from ARMs, as I had my reservations about them even two years ago. Encouraging 100% financing with ARMs is a recipe for disaster, as proven by the hike in foreclosures on homes this year."

Charles Prince, otherwise known as Chuck, has just resigned from being Chairman and CEO of Citibank/Citicorp. What was he thinking over the last two years. That it was all fine and dandy selling loans and mortgages to people with "spotty credit"? Did he have any reservations, like Jenna? It really does defy belief! And we could all fall foul of this nonsense. I hope Chuck doesn't get more than ten cents in payoff!

The late great British comedian Tony Hancock, in the "Blood Donor" takes umbrage at the tone of the doctor about to take some of his blood. "I didn't come here to be insulted by a legalised vampire!" he intones, feeling that the doctor has not taken sufficient interest in this momentous act of selfless giving.

It would seem that in the financial world we now have been insulted by legalised fraudsters, quite able to offer the unsuspecting, the less capable, and the downright gullible all kinds of dodgy deals. Or at least they did. Hopefully the game is up. But no prison walls beckon, though. This has all been allowed to happen by a nod and a wink from the powers that be.

It can only get better, folks!

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In the short term

Gordon Brown has set out the "long-term changes" he thinks the UK needs, in his first Queen's Speech as prime minister. I really do hope this lot is not in for the long term. Being led by a part-time MP, a man who has virtually no understanding of the needs of England after he and his colleagues butchered the constitutional framework of the UK, is no joy.

Vince Cable, the Acting Leader of the LibDems (his Equity card is in the post!), got it about right when he accused Brown of producing a legislative programme with no new ideas and "no vision," saying he "cut a sad figure". Sad figure indeed!

It's all about coercion, new powers and quangos. New Labour can't help themselves when it comes to "ideas". Democracy? It would be a fine thing, but when you only have the active support of 20% of the electorate, acting tough seems to be the watchword.

And as for working with the Iraqi government "to deliver security, political reconciliation and economic reconstruction", it beggars belief. Did you see the BBC's excellent "No Plan, No Peace". Using a Lonely Planet guide and the back of an envelope, Bush and Blair created mayhem. But the classic was the dimwitted British official who insulted the Iraqis when they said they had a meal prepared for the new masters, only to be told "Oh, we're having dinner elsewhere".

Can you believe these Foreign Office mandarins? No! We are being led by clueless, arrogant people who are only answerable to themselves.

Let's not give Brown "the long-term". Let him go now!

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Liam Byrne fined over car mobile use

I'm totally against the use of hand-held mobile phones whilst driving. Having nearly been run down as a pedestrian on a couple of occasions, I can see how easy it is to lose control of a vehicle whilst fiddling with the phone. Liam Byrne, the Immigration Minister thought he was more important than any road safety consideration. Being fined for such usage, he told the court he had been taking an important call on a deportation matter.

If he knew it was that important, wouldn't he think it just might take his concentration off the road?

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Christmas should be 'downgraded' says Labour think tank

The Institute for Public Policy Research is a New Labour outfit full of churlish republicans and rather un-British types. Their latest 'investigation' has come up with the idea that Christmas should be downgraded and other festivals given more prominence. By other festivals, they mean non-Christian.

These people never seem to get it, do they? Whether this country has everyone on their knees on a Sunday morning or only a handful, it is still the overwhelming desire that such celebrations as Christmas be kept. Those without a faith, those with a bit, those with a lot, enjoy the central message of Christmas.

The IPPR also wants to end to "sectarian" religious education and throw the Bishops out of the House of Lords. A really repressive secular state is no doubt envisaged with clerics being watched and spied upon lest some counter-culture activity is allowed to occur.

There are some in New Labour who have a wretched controlling gene mixed up in their DNA. I can't believe it's inherited, so they must have obtained it recently, maybe in some initiation ceremony for control freaks. Eek! I'm fantasising too much!

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Conspiring with conspiracies

Just like the events surrounding the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, it seems the David Kelly death will remain with us for a considerable time.

The events surrounding his death leave many at the heart of government with loads yet to explain, but I suspect we can all get on with other things as it's unlikely to happen. Blair's regime comes out of all this with a very unsavoury smell hanging over it.

What was he thinking in 1997 when his mantra was "It can only get better!". It got a hundred times worse for a lot of people and Blair's ten years at the top has only served to give him the wherewithall to pay for his mortages. Mortgages which were granted on a basis that not many other citizens could get.

But that's life!

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High cost of justice

The Metropolitan Police have today been found guilty of endangering the public over the shooting dead of a man officers mistook for a suicide bomber. Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead (in front of others!) at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July 2005. Officers fired at de Menezes seven times.

The police have been fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £385,000 in costs. The whole trial cost £3.5 million in public money. All because they dug their heels in and wouldn't admit to making a mistake.

Surely we can live in a society where it is possible to admit mistakes for the sake of everyone. Or are we doomed to see every single organisation hide behind weasel words and expensive lawyers, all claiming to have "robust" measures in place?

Let's hope the Metropolitan Police and the chief himself, Sir Ian Blair, will spend a night reflecting. And a good night it is to reflect, being that it is All Saints Day!

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Media responds to Mills outburst

Be careful, be very careful, if you decide to have a go at the British press. Most of them are vipers living in a warm nest ready to pounce. Heather Mills/McCartney let it all out on GMTV and she gets a load of bile in return. I'm not necessarily interested in the divorce of the century, as the media hacks delight in saying. They make the rules, they instill the discipline or punishment if we break them.

The rather priggish Amanda Platell, an Aussie import now imparting her morality messages in the Daily Mail, came out like a puff adder! She burbled, "No-one who watched her yesterday can now be in any doubt about the extent of her self-delusion." Nice stuff, eh!

All I'd say is let Kate McCann, who never wanted publicity in the first place, hide from these vampires!

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Huge fine for anti-gay US church

A church in the United States whose members cheered a soldier's death as "punishment" for US tolerance of homosexuality has been told to pay $10.9m (£5.2m) in damages. Quite right too!

It is one thing to believe that homosexual practice is a sin, but it is very much another thing to be shouting epithets at a funeral convoy. In this case a soldier, having died in Iraq serving his country, was targeted. Some Christian charity these people hold. But let's be clear, the 70 or so odd bods from the self-styled Westboro Baptist Church represent no-one but themselves.

The problem with much of Middle America is that they are religious before they are Christian. How can it be right to say "Thank God for Dead Soldiers"? It is all a bit like the Pharisee telling God how good he was, and what a lousy man the tax collector praying next to him was! The tax collector said sorry to God for being a sinful man.

Any chance these modern day pharisees will say sorry?

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