The buck stops with me.... now move on.

The defence secretary says he takes full responsibility for decisions which allowed the 15 sailors and marines held by the Iranians to sell their stories.
Des Browne, speaking for the first time since the row, said with hindsight he could have done things differently and said "ultimately, the buck stops here".

And ..... what now?

There was a time when taking responsibility meant actually just that, when the phrase "the buck stops here" preceded some sort of serious action and in all probability the resignation of the said individual.

Sadly, as with everything that is NU Labour, the usual conventions do not apply. Time and again they come on the television, apologise that things are not as they should be, tell us that lessons will be learnt and then go back to their troughs and produce more of the same.

As for Mr Cameron, we now hear what he thinks about the Government and MOD's initial decision to let the sailors sell their story. I guess we would have heard from him earlier but I suspect it took a couple of days for his focus groups to let him know what his opinion was.

Mr Browne is due to make a statement on Monday: for his handling of this debacle and for his complicity in the deaths of all our servicemen I hope he resigns, but I won't hold my breath.

Navy personnel to be released from captivity.

It truly is excellent news that the 15 members of the British Navy who were illegally seized by the Iranians in an act of war on the United Kingdom are to be released.

I have already read on several comments pages on the MSM and on several blogs that this act vindicates Blair's Governments cowardly stance on the whole affair.

Maybe we will truly continue to see peace in our time through appeasement and the rewarding of terrorists and rogue states. Who knows what is in the wind, 25 years since the Falklands and new calls for a return of the Malvinas to Argentina along with the "renegotiation" of ownership of oil rights in the region.

Britain under Blair and Nu Labour has become like a wounded animal, let's hope that are friends in the EU can keep the wolves at bay!

After all, with 80 odd percent of our laws coming from them and such a large net contribution from our economy, I am sure they will be only too pleased to speak up and act on our behalf, just like they did during this latest crisis. Didn't they?

Two Hundred Thousand Asylum Seekers to get Amnesty

Up to 200,000 asylum seekers will be allowed to remain in Britain because Home Office officials admit they will never be able to track them down.
The extraordinary amnesty is the latest embarrassment for Home Secretary John Reid, who has staked his reputation on his pledge to make the department 'fit for purpose'.
So says the article in the Daily Mail: Nu Labour Failure - Again

Home Office officials also stated that 18,000 immigrants are set to be deported because they have committed crimes in the UK.

18000 immigrants - a quarter of the prison population, 25%.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We remain confident that we will be able to clear the entire current legacy of cases by July 2011."

2011 - 4 years from now, and yet still they come!

John Reid has staked his reputation on his pledge to make the department fit for purpose. Where to start! The only reputation Mr Reid has is the one he shares with the rest of the reckless, duplicitous, anti-British traitors and liars that riddle this Government and NU Labour at all levels.

And as for embarrassment, don't make me laugh. When will people wake up to the fact that nothing embarrasses these people; they don't care about what you think of them, they don't care what you think of their policies, they don't care what you think of what they have done to your country, they don't care about you at all, not even the tiniest bit.

Nu Labour may have already caused irreparable damage to this country, and yet where are the voices of opposition? Looking to Cameron or Campbell for any sort of opposition is a total waste of time. They stand idly by as this country is turned into the cesspool of the world.

Is it not enough that we have seen our freedoms severely curtailed, taxes raised to an all time high, waiting times (real waiting times not massaged Government figures) for medical treatment at an all time high, deaths in hospital from super bugs at an all time high, huge numbers of the population unable to get access to a dentist, unemployment (real unemployment not massaged Government figures) at an all time high, crime rates (real crime rates not massaged Government figures) at an all time high, our Armed Forces reduced to third world levels and no longer able to provide the necessary support for our brave service men and women, Health and safety rules beyond all reason, stiffer sentences for dropping a Ginsters wrapper than for committing assault, speeding motorists surcharged to pay for domestic violence teams!, being told to apologise (and pay compensation) for something that came to an end 200 years ago (200 years for f%$#s sake), and many many many other things that have befallen our once great nation.

As a well known man recently said: "I am conscious that when an essential core of our democratic freedom risks being undermined, subsequent generations will hold to account those who were able to raise their voices yet stayed silent."

Where are the voices of opposition?

I'll tell you where, HERE!

No room for justice

I am taking a bit of a liberty by cutting and pasting from the comments section at the Daily Mail. If anyone objects, let me know and I'll take it off. It talks about the consequences of the prison fiasco and what I see as the Governments culpability in the death of an innocent woman.

There is already a crime of corporate manslaughter, why not one for Government manslaughter?

It's a terrifyingly familiar story. Twice the courts had the chance to put drug addict Sean Francis behind bars for beating his girlfriend and threatening to kill her. Twice they let him walk free.

So what happened next? Less than 24 hours after his second release, it emerged yesterday, Francis stabbed Wendy Billing to death in front of their toddler son.
There'll be many more cases like that in the months ahead.

When Francis struck last September, magistrates and judges were already under intense pressure from the Home Office to ease prison overcrowding by granting bail and awarding non-custodial sentences.

Today Ministers have cranked up that pressure tenfold, with a panic-stricken letter to the courts urging them to set free all but the most serious criminals.

How could they so shamelessly neglect their duty to protect the public?

For years, Ministers have been warned of the desperate need for more prison places. Why, the Home Office's own statisticians predict we may need another 20,000 by 2011.

Even if Home Secretary John Reid gets round to providing all the 8,000 extra places he promises - and there's precious little sign of that - he'll still be more than 12,000 short.

Who knows how many more Wendy Billings will have to pay with their lives for the Government's abject failures?

Remember Tony Blair's promise, all those years ago, to be 'tough on crime'? Of all his empty pledges, it's turning out to be the emptiest of the lot

EU police powers or police state?

According to the Observer:

"The EU faces a damaging split over moves led by Germany to impose a radical law and order package. If enacted into European legislation, it would allow armed police to operate with impunity outside their home countries, privatised armed 'sky marshals' on civilian flights and a wide range of joint operations against alleged illegal migrants."

"The plans are provoking opposition in Whitehall and among senior British police officers. Many of them recall how, in 1996, a Dutch parliamentary inquiry revealed that tonnes of illegal drugs had been exported from the Netherlands to Britain with the assistance of Dutch undercover agents, who had allowed informants to run amok.
'We have learnt the hard way how difficult it is to regulate undercover operations,' one source said, citing a series of high-profile Customs and Excise cases that collapsed in the Court of Appeal after irregularities came to light. 'We need to be extremely wary.'"

When I first read it I was of the opinion that it should be opposed at all costs, but when you consider that most of the law of this land is dictated by Europe, why not have a European police force. After all, detection rates in some police "service" areas are as high as 3%, could foreign police "forces" do any worse?

Mind you, the EU does not have a good reputation for the practical application of cooperation

For example, what was the response when Mr Reid faced the first crisis over prisons last year, and asked his European counterparts to accommodate some of their nationals currently in British jails? NO,NO,NO,NO,NO!

You see, when it comes to Europe it is always a one way street.

I don't blame the EU, after all the same principal applies here as to most things, if you don't like it, leave. No, the problem unsurprisingly is with Nu Labour who are determined to finish off any independence this country has, and they are making good progress.

So why not let foreign armed police into Britain, let them make the news by either shootings in public or lots of high profile arrests, after all, when you consider that the majority of new applications to the Northern Ireland police service were from Polish Nationals, we're half way there already.

Of course, a radical alternative might be to consider the EU as a trade partnership instead of allowing it to continue imposing it's will on oppressed Nations who at no time voted for it, but then, that would be called democracy, and this is Great Britain after all!

EU faces split on police powers

The Roman Empire is gone.

Do Nu Labour not realise that the Roman Empire is over, or do you think they all sat back recently to watch the re-showing of The Running Man with Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Gordon's latest priority is to support England to host and win the football World Cup in 2018.

Firstly the fact that a Scot is supporting England in this matter has not gone down to well up there, but Mr Brown also said in a statement:

"My ideal scenario is that Scotland play England in the final and Scotland win. But if we don't qualify, or we go out in an earlier round, then I would transfer my allegiance to the other home nation, England."

Hmm, upset the Scottish, unimpress the English and IGNORE the Welsh!

Mr Brown is understood to view a successful World Cup bid as the sort of publicity coup which Mr Blair has enjoyed following London's success in landing the 2012 Olympics.

It's like Cool Brittania all over again.

Never mind the fact that the economy is facing melt down, the prisons are full, crime is rampant, "real" unemployment is at it's highest ever, sectors of society are plotting to overthrow the nation - Gordon Brown will give us the games.

Marvellous.

Link

What a shambles!

I knew 2007 would be an interesting year, still only in the first month and already things are going from bad to worse. Remember the crisis with there being no room left in prisons, and our heroic Home Secretary telling us all that the crisis was over?

Well guess what, it isn't, in fact it's worse than ever.

On Tuesday, places could not be found for up to 300 criminals. Police stations and even court cells are having to be used to accommodate prisoners with no place else to go.

However, it does appear that there is a solution and perhaps it is this that the Home Secretary is relying on to sort out the problem.

You see, yet another convicted murderer has absconded from Leyhill Open Prison, in South Gloucestershire. The man absconded during a "work placement" at a vinegar factory on Thursday morning at 10:06 a.m..

This is the same prison that has on average one prisoner a week escaping.
Of those that have already escaped, 22 were murderers, five had convictions for manslaughter, 24 were drug dealers, 57 had been convicted of robbery, seven of rape and 125 had committed burglary.

So there you have it, wait another few weeks Mr Reid and there will be plenty of places available in Britain's leaky prison system. Oh, and whilst your at it, get on the phone and arrange for additional migrant workers to go to Gloucestershire.

After all, it appears that the local industry is really struggling to recruit people.

Prisons are full to bursting point in new blow to Reid

Murderer absconds during work placement

Dispatches - Undercover Mosque

Well, having watched half the programme I got bored and decided to give the rest of it a miss. I have to say that there were no surprises, anybody who chooses to look beyond the MSM drivel and main party spin at what is really going on in this country and throughout the world cannot be under any illusion anymore.

The obvious question that the programme does raise is whether or not the Police, Prosecution Service and Government will carry out an immediate investigation followed by criminal proceedings in the same way as they did in the case of the BNP leader.

Having followed the trial of Nick Griffin, and heard some of the comments on last nights programme, there is more than enough evidence to press charges. Even those who felt that it was correct to prosecute Nick Griffin for his comments at a private meeting must agree that his comments and those of his co-defendant were nothing compared to what was seen last night.

"An army of Muslims will arise," predicts one preacher. Another said British Muslims must dismantle British democracy, they must live like a state within a state until they are strong enough to take over.

That's our country they are talking about Mr Blair, when are you going to do something about it?

UPDATE: It appears that Nick Griffin has written a letter to the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, it will be interesting to see if anything comes of it.

Nick Griffin has written the following letter to the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police:

Respect the Civil Service!

I was having a conversation with my Dad the other day about the state of today's newspapers. Although not a daily reader, his preferred read is the Telegraph.

It's not a paper that appeals to me because it appears to be written by, and for, people who live in a different society to me and pretty much everyone else I know (sorry Dad).

My attention was drawn (thanks once again Nobby) to a comment piece by Richard Wilson (Lord Wilson of Dinton was Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service from 1998 to 2002).

Lord Wilson explains that the:

"The Service has done its best to change while remaining true to its traditional values of integrity, selection on merit and political impartiality. Work by Mori shows that over the past two decades, when trust in most professions has not changed, there has been a noticeable rise in trust in civil servants."

"Hordes of visitors come from overseas to learn how we do it."

Who is he trying to kid? And what about his assertion that the Civil Service is now smaller than in the 1970s.

Having read the article in full, I was at least pleased to see that he has the good grace to finish on a joke:

"Civil Service reform is important, but it needs to be accompanied by a hard look at the role of central government. As Gordon Brown has said: ''The British way is to break up centralised institutions that are too remote and insensitive and so devolve power." We live in hope."

As another famous Richard Wilson might put it, "I don't believe it."

Rebuilding trust in civil servants

More Nu Labour Success!

Not content with detection rates on crime in some areas being as low as 3%, the Government illustrates it's tough on crime stance with the news that nearly 50% of the tiny minority of criminals that are actually caught get off with a fine or a warning.

More than 600,000 offenders last year were dealt with without even being brought before a court. They escaped with cautions, official warnings or on-the-spot fines.

The report by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College, London makes grim reading with murders increasing over the lifetime of this Government by more than a third from 600 in 1997 to 820 last year, violent crime up along with increases in all areas of criminal activity.

This report comes out at a time when the Government is spending so much money on adverts trying to scare people away from benefit fraud. No ifs, no buts, you may find yourself with an interview under caution and a criminal record.

5 years for murder, open prison, home visits, a fine for committing 980 shop lifting offences, 3 months for GBH, a caution for sexual assault, prisons full, Government sleaze, foreign criminals at large, no criminal record check before entering the country, human rights for criminals, householders not allowed to defend themselves, Cash for questions, loans for peerages ...............

With just about everything in this country becoming a crime, from 1 mile an hour over the speed limit, rubbish in the wrong bin, not seating 12 year old children on booster seats, through to revving your engine in a racist manner, and fox hunting, it's no wonder that crime is on the increase, the law has become a joke.

The penalty for continually stealing from your local shop is less than that awarded for disposing of your rubbish in the wrong bin. The jail time for "offending "someone is likely to be four times longer than if you assault them.

Still, with real unemployment in this country running at its highest for decades, perhaps it is appropriate that one particular trade should see such a marked increase, after all, this Government is definitely leading by example.


Half of criminals get off with a warning or a fine

Exam Grade Inflation out of control under Nu Labour

"The scale of "grade inflation" in schools and universities since Labour came to power is laid bare in official figures today.
The number of A grades at A-level and top honours degrees has soared more than 50 per cent since 1997."

How could anyone be surprised, it's another measure of the success this Government has brought to this country. Not enough people succeeding, move the goalposts - NHS failing, change the measures that are reported against - unemployment too high, disqualify some groups from the statistics.

"The Government-backed review of the degree classifications system, headed by Leicester University vice-chancellor Bob Burgess, is expected to report on a possible alternative later in the year.
Widespread disagreement among university bosses has delayed its conclusions but it is expected to recommend a new system based on a simple pass/fail grade.
This would be backed by a detailed transcript of students' achievement.
The review has already concluded the ancient system is "unfit for purpose". "


Government-backed review! Unfit for purpose!

Say no more.

Scale of grade inflation laid bare as 50 per cent of students gain top honours

Hypocrisy, hypocrisy, hypocrisy, hypocrisy, hypocrisy.

I have to take my hat off to Tony Blair, he certainly leads from the front. Just when I thought that the hypocrisy of certain members of his Ministerial Team could not be equalled, he puts them all in the shade.

First he presides over the effective dismantling of the Armed Services as a serious fighting force, and now when things have gone too far he starts a debate on what kind of Armed Forces we all want.

Get it, we're all in it together now, nothing to do with us Guvnor, we've only been in power for a decade.

The problem is Tony, we've seen it all before. Perhaps we could have the "Big Arms Convention" in which you ask along carefully preselected cross sections of people who totally agree with everything you say. Or perhaps you could form a consultative committee to advise on what sort of service we want, made up of "the right people".

You wrecked the Armed Services the same way that you have wrecked the whole country, fix the problems, don't fix them, whatever we think, your going to do what you want anyway.

But I for one will remember it was you who chose to reduce funding to such an extent that huge parts of the Forces have had to been mothballed, it is you that have deprived our troops of the equipment that desperately need.

You are the Prime Minister, you bloody hypocrite.

Ballerina comes under attack by facist thugs.

Well, here it is as promised. 2007, the year that none of us will ever forget.

Simone Clarke has come under attack from protesters outside the venue in which she is to perform.

After having her privacy invaded by the Hacks at the Guardian, we now have the spectacle of "Unite against Fascism " representatives demonstrating the values of our modern day democracy.

In Nu Britain under Nu Labour it is now seen as offensive to hold any views that conflict with the state view and anyone who dares to challenge this view should be hounded from their job and treated worse than any criminal. What could possibly define fascism more than this?

Words fail me other than to say to the Unite against fascism people, look up the word in the dictionary whilst holding up a mirror .........

Anti-individualistic, the fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts the individual only in so far as his interests coincide with those of the State, which stands for the conscience and the universal will of man as a historic entity. ... The fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value. ...

Do as I Say but .......

....Not as I do.

No in fact it's worse than that. This Government is not saying that caring parents shouldn't have the best possible opportunities for their children, they are actually stopping thousands from having the same opportunity that is available to "their own".

Watching the various politicians on the television and radio defending the position that whilst it is OK for everyday parents to have to put up with ever reducing assistance in special needs for their children, it's perfectly OK for a Government Minister (who can afford it of course) to pay for a proper standard of care for her children's needs.

In case you missed it, it is they, including the MP involved, who are removing the same opportunities from the rest of us.

It makes me sick. They all make me sick.

Prisoners on the run

The head of the Prison Service has confessed he does not know how many inmates are on the run from open jails.

Director general Phil Wheatley said there was not an accurate system in place to count the numbers recaptured after absconding.

Apparently this "astonishing" admission has put fresh pressure on Home Secretary John Reid.

I very much doubt that, in case anyone has yet to notice, NOBODY in this bankrupt Government cares.

Whatever happened to the missing foreign prisoners, nothing, what will happen with these missing prisoners, nothing.

The premature release of more than 1,000 foreign prisoners who were due to be deported led to the sacking last year of Charles Clarke, Dr Reid's predecessor as Home Secretary.
Dr Reid told the Commons Home Affairs Committee last month that the loophole which allowed the releases had now been closed. But he admitted more than 300 wrongly released prisoners, including one murderer, were still free.

The new row comes 24 hours after Derbyshire Chief Constable David Coleman refused to release pictures of two escaped murderers amid fears it might breach their human rights.

See. So what if people are being robbed, assaulted even murdered by people who should still be under lock and key, that doesn't matter to these people. What's the worst that could happen, a few more stories in the papers, an article on the television, soothing words, then nothing, business as usual.

And what of the opposition parties:

Tory Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: 'The chaos in the Prison Service continues under John Reid. It is outrageous that the Government does not even know how many prisoners are on the run.
'Yet again the public are put at very serious risk by this Government's incompetence.'

And Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Nick Clegg said: 'It is really yet another symptom of the Government's self-inflicted overcrowding crisis in our prisons.'

Well there we are, that's telling them, that will have some impact on Government policy.

Nothing should surprise any of us anymore, the way things are going, this time next year we may well look back to now and think, we never had it so good.

Prison boss confesses: I don't know how many inmates are on the run

MORE Government Hypocrisy

Most recently it was local hospital department closures being defended by the very same people who were pushing through the closures, now, yet again, it is one standard for the general population and another for the "elite".

THE child of a cabinet minister, who used to be a key part of Tony Blair’s education team, is to be sent to a £15,000-a-year private school.
The child, who is understood to have dyslexia and could not be named for legal reasons, is going to the home counties school because it is understood the child’s parents feel that their youngster’s needs cannot be adequately dealt with within the state sector.

During the minister’s time spent working in the education team, the government was criticised for closing a number of special needs schools, arguing that such children’s needs could be adequately met in regular state schools.

Of course it is only right that any caring parent should do the very best for their child, but these are the same people who are telling everyone else that the service provided is totally acceptable, just not for them.

What message does this send to the parents of other children with special needs who have not got £15000 a year to spend?

What is the difference between a Dictatorship,in which the favoured few have access to the very best whilst the rest of the population are forced to put up with ever diminishing and failing services, and the present Government of this country?

No it's not a joke, really, what is the difference?

Privacy cloak for minister who sends child to fee school

Same sex marriage - for it or against it, you WILL accept it!

It appears that certain Christians in this country are seen by many to be the enemy, what with the EU threatening Christian groups who do not wish to be told what they should think, and now Exeter University Evangelical Christian Union being suspended from the student guild and having bank accounts frozen.

The reason for this is that the guild decided to ask members to sign a statement of religious belief.Similar groups have been accused of discrimination against non-Christians and gay people. The union is seeking a judicial review at the High Court.

I think that the fact that only white, Christian, straight people are not allowed to group together with similar people, whilst everyone else can have hundreds if not thousands of organisations that by their very title exclude the rest of us, is outrageous and should no longer be tolerated.

We are only 5 days into 2007 and already the thought police have intruded into so many things that I know things will definitely get far worse before they get better, if they get better.

From the BBC website
Christian students in legal fight

and from Cranmer:
EU: ‘Accept same-sex marriage or face expulsion’

From BA..d to worse!

Over the years, British Airways has seen some turbulent times ranging from the Freddie Laker and the Virgin Airlines competition debacle through to the more recent staff uniform and crucifix saga.

Amongst other events, the recent summer terrorist scare in which thousands of passengers were severely disrupted amply illustrates problems within BA regarding it's ability to respond to the needs of it's customers.

The recent disruption to service caused by severe fog resulted in thousands of bags going missing; two weeks on, and many passengers are still affected with up to 15000 items waiting to be reunited with their owners.

The fact that there is still such a big problem is bad enough, but it now appears that BA are actually profiting from the misery caused.

Passengers who wish to find out about their missing property are being made to ring a premium rate number which sees BA getting up to half of the 3p-a-minute cost of calls, and some desperate callers say they have been on the phone for up to ten fruitless hours, trying and failing to recover bags which in many cases are filled with long-overdue Christmas presents.

BA admitted it did make money from calls to its baggage number, but insisted the charges were necessary to offset the cost of running a call centre in Newcastle.

BA are solely responsible for the loss of passengers luggage and as such all costs should be picked up by them.

The sheer arrogance shown by so many of today's big businesses towards their customers is staggering and would make shocking reading were it not for the fact that such arrogance is commonplace in the public sector and within Government at all levels.

Fortunately it is quite easy to show BA what we think of their attitude, take your business else where. As for the public sector, despite the era of so called "choice", would that it were so simple.

BA profits from lost luggage debacle

New Year - New Tax Incentive (only this one is paid to someone else if they get you to pay more tax)

Tax inspectors are being offered bonuses of up to £ 2,000 to squeeze more money out of workers.
They can earn up to three per cent of their salary if they track down more unpaid tax.

This comes at a time when taxes are already at an all time high under Nu Labour even though services stand at an all time low.

Official figures show the taxman takes nearly a quarter of all pay, compared with less than 19 per cent before Labour came to power in 1997.

In 1997, the average worker paid an income tax bill of about £2,900. Today, the average worker pays nearly £5,000.

A typical worker has been forced to hand over an average of almost £120,000 in tax to Gordon Brown since 1997.

Fortunately we should all be due a tax reduction this year as the effect of mass immigration starts to bring in the massive financial benefits promised by the Government - sorry what's that you say, oh that's next year, or the year after or maybe the one after that.

Taxmans bonus for making you pay more

Equal rights?

An Iraqi-born leisure centre worker has been awarded more than £100,000 after winning a discrimination case against his employers in Flintshire.

The company in a statement claimed that Mr Al-Jumard had shown "aggressive and inappropriate behaviour towards staff".

Mr Al-Jumard complained to his employers when two white men, who refused to share a whirlpool bath with two Asian men, were given a refund.

The tribunal in Abergele declared that the manner in which the company bowed to the wishes of the two men revealed its attitude to such issues.

Tribunal chairman Sheila Warren said: "The way that was dealt with was indirect discrimination and showed the attitude of the respondent company to issues of race."



The issue in this case is not one in which anyone was refused entry to the centre but one in which individual visitors did not wish to share with other visitors. What we are talking about is taking away the right of individuals to choose who they associate with, forced integration.

According to the tribunal, two white men should not be given the right to decline a whirlpool bath with two Asians, yet the two Asian men it seems have that right.

Following on from the recent revelations that various councils up and down the country such as Croydon are holding Muslim only sessions, we now have a situation in Wolverhampton where they have started running ethnic minority only swimming sessions.

Wolverhampton City Council employs special life-guards and instructors for the sessions, which are open to the city's black and asian residents only, and the regular workers have to leave.

As a result of flawed PC legislation and wholesale discrimination, we now have a situation in which a white person cannot refuse to share with an asian person, whilst at the same time asian and black people can refuse to share with white people.

This type of discrimination cannot and must not be tolerated, there has to be a decision made. Do we have freedom of choice or do we have forced integration, you can't have it both ways.

Ex-centre worker wins race case