Increasing calls for Referendum on EU treaty

Nu-Lab’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband is apparently still trying to claim that the EU constitution had been "abandoned" and MPs would be able to see how the new treaty was in the UK's best interests.

It is lost on no one that the so-called 'Treaty' is almost identical (a cut and paste job) to Miliband’s "abandoned" constitution.

Former Europe Minister Nu-Lab MP Keith Vaz is now also calling for a referendum on the EU treaty. Speaking to a tabloid newspaper he said: "I believe the time has come for the government to hold a referendum and decide once and for all Britain's place is at the heart of Europe.”

"The British people should have a chance to vote in a referendum on the treaty which will enable us to continue our engagement with Europe."

Nu-Lab MP, Ian Davidson, has suggested to the BBC that he believed up to 120 Nu-Lab MPs would support a call for a referendum.

There are also calls from opposition MPs and Trade Union representatives for a referendum. If both these apparently diametrically opposed groups feel so strongly on the subject it needs to be taken very seriously.

It is certainly difficult to imagine how Gordon Brown can legitimately continue to push his European agenda without a specific mandate on the issue. Not on a democratic basis.

UK Government mandates revolting images on tobacco products

Nu-Lab are to force manufacturers of cigarettes and other tobacco products to print what amount to obscene images, apparently created on the orders of the European Commission, on their products.

The images include diseased mouths and lungs; there will be 15 of them.

Nu-Labs Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, Justified it on the basis that the existing written warnings were apparently beginning to loose their impact.

I do not smoke and I do not particularly want these revolting images thrust in my face by the state – and they will be. Every time I go into a newsagent’s, every time I am anywhere near anyone who smokes.

I am sure that if smokers can tune out written warnings they will be able to tune out these pictures, or buy a more pleasant looking cigarette case. What will the state do then? It is impossible to believe smokers are not already perfectly aware of the possible consequences of their habit.

One of the messages is “Smoking causes fatal lung cancer” That is an over simplification. It may cause it, but some people smoke and manage to avoid lung cancer, fatal or not. Also some people never smoke and are not exposed to smoke and still get cancer and die.

One hopes they don’t start a campaign against STDs, who knows what revolting and obscenely graphic images these health fascists will plaster all over condom vending machines.

The Poor UK Summer: Global warming or just bad weather?

YouGov have conducted a poll on this summer's poor weather:

They asked if respondents thought the bad weather was, wholly or partly, due to climate change.

The vast majority 58% felt that "There have always been wet and gloomy summers and this was just another of them.".

A minority of around 33% did think climate change may be involved.

Interestingly, the older respondents were much more likely to attribute the poor summer to the vagaries of the British weather, than their less experienced counterparts.

When split by age 64% of those aged 55 and over, probably having experienced quite a few dodgy British summers, crouching behind a wind break, in foul weather, on a beach in July, put it down to just another bad summer.

Whilst only 48% of those aged 34 and under were inclined to take the same view.

Was it only months ago experts were predicting record breaking summer temperatures and hosepipe bans?

UK Government s DNA database includes over 500,000 inaccurate records

It seems that Nu-Lab’s National DNA database now contains over 500,000 records with false or inaccurately recorded names.

Apparently some of the problems are caused by people fibbing to the police about their actual names. Whatever next? “It’s Michael Mouse, honest officer” ;-)

Given this, one has to wonder how many record have the wrong DNA profile attached, or other ghastly errors.

Civil rights group Liberty’s Director, Shami Chakrabarti, suggested that the problems with the database raised serious questions about the police’s unrestrained permanent fishing expedition drive to keep expanding the database to include those arrested for non criminal offences, such as dropping litter.

What next one wonders, walking on the cracks in the pavement? ;-)

A further cause for concern is that the database contains DNA profiles of around 150,000 children, a significant number having been arrested and then found to be innocent.

She pointed out that: "It is bad enough that we have a DNA database stuffed with innocents not charged with any offence” “Now it turns out we don't know the accuracy of the data. How many Postman Pats and Donald Ducks have entries on a system worthy of the Keystone Cops?"

Once you are on the system, even if arrested as a result of mistaken identity, your profile is never removed from the database.

It’s never likely to happen with the antidemocratic undertow in the way Government seems to operate these days, but the system needs to be radically overhauled, root and branch. With an independent system for expunging records, stringent limits as to when DNA data can be taken and provision for temporary records that are expunged after an investigation. Otherwise it is just another tool for a potential police state.

All these wonderful policing tools such as, ever more powerful computers, DNA databases and wall to wall CCTV...

It can not have been lost on some of NU-Labs ‘former’ Marxists, Trotskyists, etc., that if only the Soviet empire had been able to hang on, for just a few decades longer then the Berlin wall might well have fallen the other way and the Stasi could have been busy,, improving upon these new policing techniques.

Media Hot air over Diana Thanksgiving Service

Why is the attendance, or non attendance, of Camilla at the thanksgiving service for Diana, Princess of Wales worthy of so much news space?

It was organised by Princes William and Harry in memory of their Mother. It seems after thinking about it Camilla has decided, probably with advice from press officers, not to attend.

She said "I'm grateful to my husband, William and Harry for supporting my decision."

So it seems it’s ok by them. So what’s the problem?

This is a family thing and if it were only that she would probably have attended, but there is a public element.

The hypocritical media love to whinge and moan like maiden aunts about anything to do with Diana. Her 'Evitafication' proceeds apace. How long before they start thinking about beatification as well?

Camilla is probably not attending because, on balance, the political fallout from the media trying to make up and sell news will be marginally less detrimental if she does not, than if she does.

So she is probably trying to protect her family by not attending.

Maybe the media ghouls can look at something more newsworthy now…

Faint signs of a less supine stance from some government MPs on EU Referendum

After being closeted with Angela Merkel, the architect of the sly ‘It’s not really a constitution it’s only a Treaty’ con, Gordon Brown, spine no doubt stiffened by Angela and still wriggling to avoid a referendum at any cost bluffed that:

"The proper way to discuss this is in the House of Commons and the House of Lords."

Of course the last thing he wants is to put it directly to the people.

But it is not a matter for the “House of Commons and the House of Lords” as the mealy mouthed GB attempts to claim. The current Government were elected on the basis that it would be a matter for the electorate decided by referendum. No referendum - No mandate.

Trade union leaders have made it clear they are intending to press for a vote at next month's TUC annual congress, demanding the UK electorate are allowed to vote on the EU treaty, pointing out the obvious - that the new EU reform Treaty is:

"substantially the same as the EU Constitution rejected by the French and Dutch electorates in 2005". and condemning it as a blueprint for a: "centralised government, including an EU president, a Foreign Minister called a High Representative, a diplomatic service and an EU public prosecutor".

It seems that some Nu-Lab MPs may actually have some principles. Having been elected on the promise of putting the former constitution, now a treaty, to the electorate in a referendum some 40 of them, led by Ian Davidson, MP for Glasgow South West, are ready demand the Prime Minister re-open talks on the treaty, or hold a referendum.

There is also a suggestion that they hope to use a rewritten treaty to change EU directive on freedom of movement agreed in 2004, that prevented the murderer Learco Chindamo, being deported.

One does note though that they are not actually demanding a referendum quite yet, only if they don’t get what they want - and they should be demanding one, having all been elected on the promise of putting the former constitution, now a treaty, to the electorate in a referendum it should actually be put to the electorate, if MPs like the form and contents of the treaty, or not.

To paraphrase the State propaganda short on benefits cheats still being aired - No ifs. No Buts.

EU Directive further erodes UK’s control of it’s borders

So now we have it. The UK no longer controls who can and can’t reside within it’s borders. Not if they are Nationals of an EU member State.

A European Union Directive agreed in 2004 by Nu-Lab’s Jack Straw covering freedom of movement within the EU ensures that it is virtually impossible an EU national who has lived in the UK for 10 years or more.

Much the same way as we can’t deport our own nationals - That tells you something in it’s self.

It is interesting to note here that Gordon Brown is hoping to be able to sign away even more of parliament’s powers to the EU in October, if he can successfully avoid a referendum, when he agrees the EU Constitutional ‘Treaty’.

Then there is Nu-Labs 2000 Human Rights Act, nursemaided by the then home secretary – you guessed it Jack Straw that makes it pretty difficult to deport anyone at all.

Of course CFD does hope that mention of this does not make Learco Chindamo who murdered Philip Lawrence in 1995, feel unhappy, as it is NU-Labs pathetic failure to deport him back to his native Italy that raises the problem in the first place.

This must make one question the point of the Human Rights Act, or indeed much of the pointless and duplicating legislation Nu-Lab have foisted on the nation since they came into power.

It is time to very seriously consider revoking the Human Rights Act.

It is a classic piece of poor and pointless legislation that takes what is actually useful to the nation in it from pre existing rights and laws, then foists much that is an inconvenience, or worse, on the nation because those that drafted it never followed the ramifications of it through to their logical conclusion.

UK Homeowners take a double hit on ‘searches’ costs because of HIPs

It seems that major mortgage lenders do not trust searches contained within HIPs (Home Information Packs) because they are commissioned and purchased by the sellers.

Some mortgage lenders are now insisting that they will only offer mortgages if searches are carried out by the buyer's solicitor, others will accept the HIPs but only if the buyer’s solicitor guarantees them, against anything that might threaten the marketability of the property the searches fail to turn up.

This is effectively resulting, in lenders legal representatives commissioning their own searches and passing the cost on to the purchaser.

So the searches are being paid for twice. Once by the seller, because the government is forcing them to and then again by the purchaser.

The party formerly known as the Conservative’s housing spokesman, Grant Shapps, noted that: "This is yet more proof that HIPs are almost completely and utterly worthless.” “Gordon Brown cannot claim to be on the side of homeowners unless he scraps this disastrous scheme."

The Fib Dems’ housing spokesman, Paul Holmes, lambasted HIPs as: "a shambles", saying "It is unbelievable that the Government did not foresee these problems," "The packs are clearly not worth the paper they are written on."

Unbelievable indeed, considering that concerns about possible partiality and reliability of information and searches contained within HIPs are by no means new.

In fact the government were perfectly aware of the potential problem, as exactly that concern was expressed in a report for the office of the (then) Deputy Prime Minister old ‘Two Jags’ himself, in March this year.

Concerns were raised in it as to how independent the report would be if it was commissioned by the seller - and tellingly, concern over whether or not the report would be acceptable to mortgage providers.

So Nu-Lab did have an idea the problem might well surface but chose to chance it anyway…

Government preparations for English Council tax revaluation continuing behind the scenes

Yet more evidence (as if anyone with a modicum of sense needed it) that Nu-Lab politicians wouldn’t know the truth if it were to walk up to them and roundly slap them in the face with a halibut ;-) as they so richly deserve.

‘Caseworkers’ working for the Valuation Office Agency, the people tasked with increasing council tax assessments, who in turn come under HM Revenue & Customs have been issued a new handbook.

It is a 120-page job, freshly updated in June. It contains helpful advice to these state sponsored professional snoopers. Things like how to measure architect’s plans and the size of gardens. Instructions to penalise homes, which have pleasant surroundings, good schools and fast road links.

So it seems, that despite having ‘officially’ shelved plans for a Council tax hike, after fierce protests, this ‘shelving’ is actually a sham to keep the voters quiet. Nu-Lab have reportedly briefed the agency that: “it is imperative that every opportunity is taken to maintain and further improve the extensive electronic database built up during the revaluation exercise."

Eric Pickles, the shadow local government secretary, said: "Official Government documents prove Gordon Brown's council tax inspectors are still moving ahead with his plans to hit nice neighbourhoods with higher council taxes.”

He revealed that close to a million covert photographs of homes in England had been surreptitiously taken by the government and pointed out that this secret revaluation would ensure Gordon Brown was poised to implement a council tax hike immediately after the next general election, should Nu-Lab win.

Despite this a Department for Communities and Local Government spokesperson still claimed: "There is no revaluation taking place, or underway.” Possibly even ‘technically’ speaking not actually untrue.

Clearly not actually a full on revaluation, but there is little doubt that no opportunity to quietly gather information is being lost and everything is being put in place that can be to take advantage of that - so fast that English homeowners won’t have time to blink when Gordon decides the moment is right to lower the boom on them.

Will Sachem Brown agree to sell another Island to the Europeans

Does anyone here remember the Wappinger Confederacy or the Manna-hata, a tribe of native Americans who lived on the east coast of what is now the USA who were part of it?

What about Peter Minuit? He was born in Wesel on the German Rhine probably of Huguenot Walloon descent.

Now in 1624 when the Spanish invaded and occupied Wesel. Minuit escaped to Holland. He went to the Dutch West India Company's colony of New Netherland and became Governor.

One of his first actions was to legitimize European occupation of the territory, he called together the native sachems and agreed a purchase of the island that the settlement of New Amsterdam had been built on with trinkets and cloth valued at 60 guilders, then worth about 112 pounds (0.7 kg) of silver.

It has been suggested that the Sachems were not absolutely clear as to exactly what they were agreeing to at that meeting.

As many of you will be aware that Island is now known as Manhattan Island, part of New York City in the USA.

There is a modern day parallel here - with another Island. One off the North West coast of Europe. Known as Britain.

The thing is that most native American Sachems, or chiefs were not royalty, or kings. They were chosen by the community - elected - and there were usually multiple chiefs, both peace chiefs and war chiefs. The Chiefs were effectively elected and only loaned their power by the people of their tribes to be used on their behalf.

Rather like, as a (not quite) random example, British members of Parliament.

They are not Princes in their own right. They do not own the country by right. They are elected.
Any power they hold and wield as an MP is only to be used on behalf of the electorate and is loaned for a limited period of time by the electorate.

It is not transferable; they cannot confer it on any other person, or bodies. If MPs and Prime Ministers want to give away or sell those powers, the citizens powers, on loan, held by them in trust, then they need to go back to the citizen and specifically ask the citizen’s permission. That is known as a referendum.

Yes Sachem Brown that means you and your fellow political class Cronies. You have no right to give, or sell, those powers to Brussels; they are not yours to give.

You promised not to without a referendum, now for once honour your party’s tarnished word.

The Manna-hata should have been more careful of what they were agreeing to - so should we.

The trouble with Greens...

The trouble with Greens in general and especially Green toadying politicians, is that they don’t think through what they are doing and will almost certainly end up having their rear ends thoroughly savaged by the ‘law of unintended consequences’ time and again…

The latest instance? The EU, desperately stampeding like demented green lemmings, set a target of ensuring 10% of petrol and diesel is sourced from renewable sources by 2020 – in other words bio-fuel.

Presumably an attempt to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide - Sounds ok if you don’t think about it too deeply.

If you do think about it more deeply though, like say a UK-based team of scientists who published those thoughts in Science.

Then you might think that reforestation and habitat protection are an enormously more preferable direction to go in because forests absorb up to nine times more CO2 than the production of biofuels could save, using the same area of land.

Dr Righelato one of the authors pointed out that: "In all cases, the amount of CO2 sequestered (by forests) over a 30-year period is considerably greater than the amount of emissions avoided by using biofuels,"

If you want to make biofuels then so-called second generation biofuels are better, made from waste products like used cooking oil or feedstocks such as straw, grasses and wood (lignocellulosic material) rather than grains or palm oil.

A major problem with the growth of biofuels is that it is actually leading to increased deforestation.

Apart from being counter productive in reducing carbon dioxide, something that will bother many, it is also contributing to deforestation of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia, as the land there is turned over in massive chunks to palm oil production to feed the increasing demand. Something else that should cause concern.

On top of that those forests are the only home of the Orangutan and as their natural environment is destroyed to feed the demand for palm oil the poor Orangutan is being driven towards extinction.

Orangutan rescue centres in Indonesia are having to cope with an influx of orphaned baby orangutans saved from forests cleared to make way for oil palm plantations. Significant areas of Tanjung Puting National Park, the world's most famous protected area for orangutan, are under threat from oil palm plantation.

And that should concern us all.

It is a hideous irony that the well meaning blundering of Green Politicians, who really don’t think further than the end of their noses, are actually busy ‘paving the road to hell’ by actively harming the environment and contributing towards driving a great Ape towards extinction.

Now three bedroom home sellers in England to be forced to pay for HIPs

The UK Government is now feeling confident enough to start forcing sellers of three bedroom homes to pay for Home Information Packs from September, practically indistinguishable in effect from a new tax on offering a property for sale.

There was not too much fuss from four bedroom homeowners and now Nu-Lab are picking off the three bedroom property owners, having first allowed the impression it may not happen - once any objections to that have died down it is likely to be the rest of the market.

What they call defeat in detail.

Nu-Lab were probably mindful of rumblings of discontent from trained inspectors who had been expecting to milk the market for big bucks and were complaining about the poor return they were getting on their training so far. Having a whole new class of 3 bedroom cash cows to milk should sweeten them up.

NU-Lab’s Communities Minister Baroness Andrews is trying to claim that:

"HIPs and EPCs can help families to save hundreds of pounds off their fuel bills, and cut a million tonnes of carbon a year,"

Yeah - and a pair of scissors will help you ‘cut your electricity bills in half’ too.

HIPs could only actually save a purchaser money if the purchaser pulls out of a sale because they think the bills are too expensive and a purchaser can find out exactly the same thing, at no cost to anyone, by just asking to see the bills.

The government funded and created tool the Energy Saving Trust, claims the average consumer (weasel word) could cut their fuel bills by (more weasel words) as much as £300 a year if they follow the recommendations in the EPCs.

One wonders how much it might cost the average consumer to actually follow those recommendations and how long it would actually take to recover the expense in fuel savings…

The Baroness went on to try to claim HIPs, “have the potential” –

Weasel words that mean they might not actually do it at all then, like ‘Up to’ in a diet ad, prefacing ‘6 inches off your waist’

- “to reduce the millions of pounds wasted by consumers when buying and selling a home, by increasing transparency and competition in a process that hasn't changed for a generation.”

What is it about Nu-Lab? If anything is over a few years old they seem to think it needs to be junked and replaced - including the democratic process.

The fact is of course that EPCs are EU imposed requirement largely as a result of pressure by the green lobby - but much of the political elite would prefer the citizen didn’t dwell on that, or even know it.

They also probably would prefer it if you didn’t dwell on the fact that the EU only requires their subject states to ensure they are carried out every 10 years.

So why have Nu-Lab gone so far over the top? So much further than the EU required?

Well, apart from the fact that it will add to the client population dependant on the state, energy assessors will be required to log details of the properties into a central database that will hold records for 20 years.

Now the Valuation Office Agency, which is responsible for council tax valuations, has apparently applied for access to that database.

So crafty old Gordon Brown is effectively actually charging home owning sheeple something between £400 and £600, at current estimates (expect them to rise soon), to fund Government compliance with an expensive EU requirement - and also supply all the information required to reassess their council tax bills.

And he can claim green credentials for doing it!

No matter what you think of his morals or the reliability of his promises you have got to admire the man’s, truly breath taking, devious cunning…

UK Police Chief calls for price controls, tax hikes - and increases in police powers

The government campaign, publicly spearheaded by NU-Lab’s John Grogan, to raise extra revenue on alcohol gathers pace and now they have got Nu-Labs ‘politicised policemen’ weighing in amongst others.

The Chief Constable of Cheshire, Peter Fahy, (surprise, surprise) wants yet more police powers to stop drinking in the street and is urging his political masters to increase taxation on alcohol and raise the legal drinking age to 21.

Jon Stoddart, the Chief Constable of Durham Police, is supporting his ‘suggestions’ as “sensible” and the Chief Constable Northumbria Mike Craik is also calling for hikes in taxation on alcohol.

Maybe if these highly paid (evidently ineffective when it comes to drunks) police managers actually bothered effectively enforcing the existing applicable laws in those locations where it may be needed, before demanding new ones they might have more credibility.

Chief Constable Fahy amply demonstrates his authoritarian anti free market tendencies by also demanding the Government set price controls on alcohol. Calling for a high minimum price to be set for alcohol that it will be illegal to reduce, or discount.

"The supply of alcohol should not be left to the market," he liberally remarked…

This man is actually rather scary. This is a precedent we should never allow to be established.

UK Government survey claims majority in favour of rubbish bin tax

Very few householders in the UK can be unaware of the State campaign to levy extra charges for rubbish collection. The Government wants to get local councils to impose new "incentive" charges on homes throwing out the most rubbish. There was talk of having chips fitted to rubbish bins to monitor how much rubbish was thrown out.

It is highly contentious and has met with much public resistance, including popular petitions.

Basically more stealth Taxation - brought to you by the Original Taxmeister himself the PM Gordon Broon, disguised as Green measures.

Imagine the surprise the other day when DEFRA released the results of a poll it had carried out purporting to show that 52% of the population were avid for the new tax to be introduced. How did the phrase those questions?

A DEFRA spokesman stated the ‘findings’ of the survey would be taken into consideration by ministers in waste disposal developing policy. You just bet they will. One wonders if they will give similar weight to petitions against the proposal, or surveys that might show less public enthusiasm…

Curious that a government department produces a survey that supports the Government line on such a contentious issue…

The police really do seem younger every day.

It used to be said you can tell you are getting older when the police start looking younger.

A teenager could be forgiven for worrying about advancing old age, based on the fact that a Police Force in the UK (Thames Valley) have decided to recruit two 16 year olds.

Granted they are community support officers, not actual police officers. Never-the-less the uniform is very similar - and no doubt intended to be, the less observant members of the general public are likely to take these youths of police officers.

One sees this sort of thing in fiction and now Thames Valley are apparently intent on creating their own version of the ‘Bow Street Irregulars’.

The Police ‘Union’, the Police Federation, pointed out that "These children are going to be put in a uniform the public believe to be of a police officer and be expected to take on responsibilities on the streets,"

Man does not live by caffeine alone.

A teenage girl in County Durham, in the UK made the mistake of knocking back seven double espressos - Wow!

She had to be rushed to hospital when she developed a fever and started hyperventilating.

It seems she was under the impression the coffees were single measures and overdosed on caffeine.

She said: ” I was having palpitations, my heart was beating so fast and I thought I was going into shock”

"My nerves were all over the place.”

HIPs Inspectors complain they have been hard done by

It seems that there is much perturbation on the Home Inspector Forum website. Inspectors are attacking the Government for failing to fully implement the scheme. They are bleating that they may face financial ruin if the delay in implementing HIPs (Home Information Packs) continues.

An inspector from Eastbourne, East Sussex, complained that if they could earn their training fees back they would count themselves lucky and get out of the business. Another felt they had wasted £4,000.

All true - and normally most of us would probably have considerable sympathy for anyone who had suffered as a result of State incompetence.

In this case though – sympathy somewhat lacking.

We are all acutely aware that when this EU inspired stupidity was first mooted it looked like it would be a licence to print money for the so-called inspectors and a convienient means for the State to spy on households, for tax raising purposes.

The people who ‘trained’ up to be inspectors clearly did so in that belief - and they must have known they would be milking people selling their homes, thanks to yet more pointless state forced unnatural regulation in the honest lawful exchange of property between individuals.

So to hear these inspectors complain that their parasitic careers may now be still born and that their ‘investment’ in training may have been wasted is not exactly guaranteed to elicit sympathy.

From the point of view of a homeowner it looks more like natural justice.

Let’s hope it puts off any likeminded individuals who might hope to profit from honest citizens by participating in some future state oppression of the populace.

Finally a ‘main stream’ UK party making vaguely libertarian noises

Finally the Tories are making some vaguely libertarian noises about reducing red tape and subjecting bloated Whitehall empires to annual rounds of ‘deregulation’.

It remains to be seen if such a thing could ever actually really happen.

Needless to say the Socialists in the form of Nu-Lab’s John Hutton are trying to talk it up as a lurch to the right and a fatal mistake. Well they would wouldn’t they, it is one of their areas of weakness.

Now whist it is clear Nu-Lab love regulation for regulation’s sake and would really prefer that citizens had to ask their permission (and preferably have to pay to do so) to do anything - why is reducing regulation suddenly ‘right wing’? Given that Broon has been making noises claiming to be about to do exactly that for ages.

Presumably the response would be an Orwellian it means what we say it means.

Could it be that this is the first sign of sense from Dave the Chameleon’s ‘the party formerly known as the Conservatives’ and it is actually worrying the Broon party machine?

After all with all this talk of the 'Broon bounce' and a big Nu-Lab lead in the polls, Broon must be cursing that he may find it difficult to take advantage of the chance of a snap election, with the “don’t mention the EU Constitutional referendum” albatross hanging round his neck.

Despite the lack of political comment in this direction - A snap election could turn into a referendum and maybe a judgement on previous Nu-Lab manifesto lies. Uncomfortable for Broon

Homeowner arrested after burglar falls to his death

A 56 year old homeowner in Manchester woke up to find a 43 year old intruder in his 4th floor flat, after some sort of confrontation the intruder fell 40 feet from a window. He suffered severe head injuries and later died in hospital. An occupational hazard you might be forgiven for thinking.

Needless to say the police arrested the householder and have now released him on bail, no doubt after fingerprinting him and taking a DNA sample. He could now face questioning on suspicion of murder.

The CPS (Criminal Protection Service Crown Prosecution Service) and ACPO (the Association of Chief Police Officers) have said that any householder can use reasonable force to protect themselves or others, or to carry out an arrest or to prevent crime.

Why was it necessary to arrest the householder? The police could hardly claim they didn’t know where he lived and one would have thought the aggrieved householder would have been willing enough to make a statement, or they would have within most people’s memory…

It used to be that the police had some care about arresting apparently law abiding citizens attempting to thwart a crime.

It used to be that the police made some attempt to catch burglars and prevent burglaries themselves. Sadly, since they have had to jump through hoops to meet ridiculous ill conceived state targets and political initiatives, it begins to seem as if they find it so much easier to find reasons to arrest the non criminal ‘community’ and improve Nu-Lab’s dubious crime statistics and inflate the DNA database.

A local voiced what many people will be wondering:

"If the guy who fell out of the window was breaking into the property then why was the homeowner arrested?"

Why indeed…

Gore alleges anti climate change conspiracy

Al Gore is alleging there is a global conspiracy against him and the so-called ‘scientific consensus’ on anthropocentric global warming.

He claimed, at a forum in Singapore, that the Exxon Mobil Corp, together with other unnamed ‘carbon polluters’, are waging a secret campaign to dispute the theory.

He went on to claim that "In actuality, there is very little disagreement." and alleges that "the deniers” (the infra green luddites just love that term) ”offered a bounty of $10,000 for each article disputing the consensus that people could crank out and get published somewhere,". "They're trying to manipulate opinion and they are taking us for fools,", he bleated.

Get real!

I suspect it’s Mr Gore who is doing his level best trying to manipulate public opinion, there is ultimately probably a lot more money and power at stake for his side and him personally than for anyone else - and that when all is said and done he and his cronies will turn out to have been taking people for fools.

Has he listened to himself? I know he is probably preaching to the converted and that the faithful will not like to question his assertions - but he sounds just a little like a conspiracy theorist, not too far from the Islamist claims that the CIA and MOSSAD blew up the twin towers, or that the CIA, or some other US government agency, have a captured flying saucer tucked away at a secret base.

To really hook the suckers in with this one he needs to work the CIA into it, at least, big business is good, but it still needs a little something extra to really get the conspiracy nuts going…

Now what are my chances of getting $10K for this?

Zero, Zip, Zilch, Nil, None, Nought, Nowt - if I had to guess...

Foreign Office Minister advocates UK gives up Permanent Seat on UN Security Council

Former UN Deputy Secretary General and now newly minted UK Foreign Office Minister, Lord Malloch-Brown (what is it with Nu-Lab PMs littering the ranks of the not necessarily derserving high and mighty with namesakes?) is advocating the UK gives up it’s seat on the UN Security Council to the EU.

Nice to know the Foreign Office Minister has Parliament and the UK’s very best interests at heart then ;-)

After all, we can be 100% sure the EU would vote just the way we would want, in every set of circumstances, knowing how similarly the French and Germans see things to us, in all circumstances. Surely the French should be falling over themselves to give up their seat.

Day, Cold, Hell, In?

This was obviously in his master plan last October, while he was still the UN's Deputy Secretary General, when he advised EU diplomats in Brussels that the EU would eventually have single seat within the UN. "I think it will go in stages. We are going to see a growing spread of it institution by institution," He went on that he hoped it would happen "as quickly as possible. I'm a huge fan of it."

When confronted with this evidence the Foreign office argued that had made those comments before he was made a Government minister.

Oh well that’s all right then - So are they suggesting he lying then, to suit his words to what his audience wanted to hear - and does not still hold those views? Possibly quite a plausible argument when considering a politician’s words, but would you want to bet on it?

Or did his words reflect his true intentions and loyalties? If so where exactly are his primary loyalties?

With the UN or the EU?

Why would a PM who was loyal to parliament appoint someone like that?

Recommended Read

If you have not come across it I must recommend ‘FAT’ by Rob Grant, Published by Gollancz. ISBN 978-0-375-07820-8

Set in the UK, in a scarily (barely) immediate future, who’s probability wave appears to be in the process of collapsing, as Schrodinger might say, even as I write.

It is a good read - funny and also makes some seriously telling points.

In his preface he says:

” When somebody does something you don’t like and then tells you they did it for your own best interest: run. Run till you drop. And don’t look back” - Excellent advice…

Parents left with limited options now make more use of A&E

This one is an absolute classic. Dr Patricia Hamilton head of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, is complaining that parents in the UK are now more willing to take their child to A&E with a minor problem, such as a fever, instead of dealing with it at home or calling their GP.

Oh really! She might try the experiment of calling NHS direct out of office hours herself. She could claim she had a small child and they were running a fever. She would find that the advice she was given, especially if it is filtered through non-medical parental perceptions, was effectively to go straight to A&E, do not pass go, do not collect £200.

Now most people are very reluctant to go to A&E. Despite the frankly untrue claims of being seen within some fictitiously tiny amount of time, we all know that it can only be counted as a personal miracle if you are really seen within 2 hours, as opposed to being assessed by someone - possibly a cleaner :-) - and then put to the back of a very long queue behind a retarded thug barely retraining their natural urge to random violence and a 15 year old single mother with a flat head and one continuous eyebrow. Recent personal experience you will no doubt deduce…

So the average parent, or indeed anyone sensible, would have to be pretty desperate to use the average A&E at all and would probably be more that happy to take even advice from their own GP as an alternative if it were actually possible to speak to them.

So then not more willing then, just faced with fewer opportunities to avoid it.

So perhaps she really needs to direct her comments to the incompetent Governmental department in question or ditto hospital ‘manager’. Then she could be given duff advice and told to wait uncomfortably for and indefinite period.

Whilst complaining about parents actually using A&E she also took the opportunity to get in a plug for the Government’s propaganda line on the (probably soon to be crime) of childhood obesity and on the ever encroaching ‘menace’ of child binge drinking.

At least the latter has regulations and laws, that if actually enforced would work well enough to prevent it, though this is unlikely to stop the government from passing a whole raft of entirely pointless unnecessary legislation that will cause some unexpected consequences far worse than the so-called problem.

Our privacy is not in the governments gift

I was going to do a piece on the Labour State’s ever expanding DNA database, presumably, whatever lies they come out with, eventually destined, if only by political ‘gravity’, to contain a record of all UK citizen’s DNA.

However I came upon this excellent commentary on it by Sam Leith in the daily Telegraph entitled “Our privacy belongs to us not the Government”, so include the link here - it is well worth a read.

Here is another excellent piece, this time in the Guardian, by Henry Porter on the subject.

You know you really need to worry when both the Telegraph and the Guardian are worried about something…

IPCC: De Menezes never had a chance to surrender

The British Police generally do a difficult job fairly well. They put their own hides between the rest of us and danger. Every now and then a police officer will pay the price for that, with their health or their life.

The average citizen of the UK would probably not want to swap them for any other nation’s police forces.

That is why it is so appalling that they appear to have fallen down so very badly in the case of poor Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian electrician, who had apparently over stayed his visa.

According to the Independent Police Complaints Commission the Metropolitan Police released, what was described as, "incorrect information" - saying Mr de Menezes had been challenged and "refused to obey" and kept claiming he had been wearing suspicious bulky clothing when he had not.

The report said:

"The IPCC investigation team understands that Mr de Menezes did not refuse to obey a challenge prior to being shot and was not wearing any clothing that could be classed as suspicious.”

"However there is no suggestion that the challenge is one that an innocent man would have understood, or that Mr de Menezes was given instructions that he could have chosen to obey."

On the face of it, but for the grace of God, it could have been any of us. Well any youngish male who had a bit of a tan and dark hair, one suspects, based on the profiling.

What were they playing at? By the sound of the IPCC report he was not carrying a rucksack, or wearing clothing that could have concealed a bomb. By the sound of it he was never given a realistic opportunity to ‘come quietly’.

One worries that even if he had put his hands in the air and said ‘I surrender’ he would not have survived his encounter with the Met.

Obama threatens Pakistan over al-Qaeda

It seems Barack Obama is getting overly feisty in his efforts to get himself the Democrat ticket.

Talking about possible terrorist targets in Pakistan he said: "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will,"

Nice to know how concerned he is over national sovereignty. He’ll play along giving it lip service - as long as he can get his own way. But if he is baulked then an act of war is presumably not out of the question.

Pakistan’s President Musharraf has certain difficulties dealing with al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in areas bordering Afghanistan. They are wild and in many respects virtually autonomous, controlled by tribes.

I hope Mr Obama is only trying to sound tough and hoping this will play to the domestic hawks, but the fact is President Musharraf has been a key US ally in it’s ‘war on terror’ since 9/11 and this is the thanks he gets.

Obama’s grandstanding makes him look pretty feeble to his own people and doesn’t seem likely to exactly strengthen his hand domestically.

It is also enough to make everyone else think twice. On the face of it Obama seems to think, if the rest of the world doesn’t jump when he says frog then some ass kicking ‘military intervention’ may be in order.

The new EU Constitutional ‘Treaty’ is virtually a ‘cut and paste job’

The official English translation of the New EU Constitutional ‘Treaty’ is now out – It has not gone unnoticed that they waited until Parliament were off on their 10 week summer break.

They have taken out the actual word 'constitution' and have avoided enshrining legal status to the EU flag, motto and anthem.

They have done a Find/Replace on ‘Foreign Minister’ and changed those references to ‘High Representative’. Mmmm - ‘Catchy’. They must have been reading Lord of the Rings again.

Conservative foreign affairs spokesman, William Hague, pointed out:

"We can see clearly what a cut-and-paste job this is from the old EU constitution. Virtually everything that was in the old EU constitution is in this treaty."

William Hague is pretty much spot on there. It also includes a handy replacement ‘ratchet clause’ lifted more-or-less word for word from the constitution allowing the EU to scrap national vetoes and sidestep referendums. All the rage with the european elite these days.

So much for Gordon Brown and his smokescreen ‘red lines’. How does he look at himself in the mirror each morning when he shaves?

UK Drs reduce home visits by half in 10 years

The latest official figures on UK GPs show more consultations are now carried out by telephone and nurses see one in three patients. More damning, home visits carried out by GPs has halved in ten years.

Figures also show they are putting in on average seven hours less work per week yet also doing more consultations.

One wonders if they can fit the extra consultations in because they are reluctant to do home visits.

Ten years ago if your child had a temperature of 103 °F (39.5°C) chances are your Dr would come out to do a home visit. These days (certainly out of hours) you are told to take them to the nearest NHS direct facility, probably a few miles away.

It’s OK if you don’t work, but most Drs are effectively office hours only and getting a non emergency appointment is not always easy.

Seems that GP’s practices are taking some of the workload hospitals used to carry too, maybe this is having an impact.

It is all probably done so it looks good in Government ‘targets’, but is it actually good for the patients?

Many would say the difficulty in getting a home visit from a Dr from your own practice, or even from someone at all, outweighs any theoretical gains.