From the Right Side

Criminal Record for Overfilling a Wheelie Bin

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:58:00 +0000

Oh, my God! What a bloody country we have become - a nation of 'jobsworths', petty bureaucrats, regulators, local government Fuhrers and publicly-paid-for snoopers.

Lord Desai on Gordon Brown

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:24:00 +0000

Labour peer Lord Desai on his glorious leader:

Blair was like champagne and caviar, Brown is more like porridge or Haggis.

This is how we do things here, Mr Lamb

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:10:00 +0000

It seems that 'officials' are quite happy to see large areas of Norfolk disappear under water, with the consequent disappearance of a number of villages. The local MP, Norman Lamb is shocked by how this decision was arrived at:

What shocks me is that profound, devastating implications are being discussed at a conference between delegates without the communities affected being part of the decision at all.

Where has he been? Doesn't he know by now that this is how we do things here?

Take notice of the people! What a quaint concept.

The Truth About Immigration

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:07:00 +0000

The truth will out - eventually.

What many of us have known for some time:

Ten years of record immigration to Britain has produced virtually no economic benefits for the country, a parliamentary inquiry has found.

Global Warming?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:58:00 +0000

For your sceptical reading pleasure, by way of Watts Up With That?, a news article from the Washington Post:

The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consul Ifft, at Bergen, Norway.

Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers, he declared, all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met with as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm.

Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared. Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts, which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds.

The date of the article? November 2, 1922.

Ho, hum.

Wasting Police Time

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:36:00 +0000

This is beyond parody:

The children's television character Basil Brush is at the centre of a police investigation after an allegation that an episode of the programme was racist towards gipsies.

Tall MPs to Make up Third of Tory Ministers

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:47:00 +0000

David Cameron has defended his pledge to give a third of ministerial jobs in a future Tory government to tall MPs, although he admitted that imposing 'all-tall' shortlists would a 'step too far'.

It was a fact of modern Britain, he said, that average height had increased, and that too many Tory MPs were unrepresentative of this trend in contemporary British society.

Mr Cameron said the party was 'pushing very hard' to get more tall candidates from all walks of life to stand as Tory candidates in seats, especially marginals, it needs to win to form a government.

He said that 'there are not enough good tall candidates coming forward, not enough getting through to the later stages of selection and then not enough getting selected.

With organisations like 'Lofty to Win', we have encouraged more tall candidates to put themselves forward...We've gone out to find tall people in various walks of life who would make good politicians and try to encourage them to get on to the list and stand for Parliament...If we exclude tall people, which the Conservative Party has for too long, you exclude an extremely talented part of the population.

Mr Cameron denied that this policy represented an attack on the remnants of the old-guard 'nasty' party. 'Of course, there will always be room in the modern Conservative Party for short, dumpy and un-photogenic candidates - for people like Oliver Letwin and Michael Gove – but they can't be allowed to dominate a modern, compassionate Conservative Party that seeks to be representative of modern Britain'.

Stop Press: A new Conservative Task Force - 'Where Have All The Fatties Gone?' - has been established under the chairmanship of Ken Clarke to examine how representative the Tory party is of modern, obese Britain.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:12:00 +0000

History provides many examples of a British Army being asked to operate under appalling handicaps by the politicians responsible for British policy, but I doubted that the British Army had ever found itself in a graver position than that in which the governments of the last twenty years had placed it.

Maj-Gen Noel Mason-MacFarlane – May 1940

From Ewan Butler's Mason-Mac: The Life of Lieutenant-General Sir Noel Mason-Macfarlane (1972)

The Glories of Sharia Law

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 10:16:00 +0000

King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia during his recent visit:

I should like to take this opportunity to call upon our Muslim brethren living in Britain to be honest and upright Muslims and worthy British citizens, striving to build and construct so that they may convey the true image of the principles of Islam - those eternal principles of love, mercy and moderation.

And in case you need to be reminded, here is an example of the 'love, mercy and moderation' of which he speaks:

A Saudi woman has been sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison after she was the victim of a gang rape.

Right on, with the oh-so-PC BBC

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 10:07:00 +0000

'Typical, bloody typical', as my old man would say.

The BBC stoked controversy yesterday by announcing plans for a 'contemporary' nativity play featuring Mary and Joseph as asylum seekers instructed to report to the nearest passport office.

The only saving grace is that the hour-long 'event' will be broadacst on BBC 3 - which means that no one will watch it.

The Ciggy Police Are Here

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:25:00 +0000

Another nail in the coffin of the liberties of free-born Englishmen:

Thousands of council staff are being trained to police the smoking ban in bars, restaurants and shops in England.

Exactly what sort of "training" is required to know if someone is smoking? Are these people completely stupid?

Ian Gray, policy officer for the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and chief trainer for the government course, said..."These officers do not have to identify themselves when they go into premises and they can even film and photograph people to gather evidence..."

Another bunch of snoopers added to the public-payroll, at a cost of £29.5m - but that is a government figure, so I expect you can double that, and add the number you first thought of.

This country has moved beyond satire.

Where Does All the Money Go?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 15:36:00 +0000

Colin Parnell, the chairman of the Peterborough branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, on government support for small business:

The Government is spending £2.6 billion each year supporting small businesses, but we don't know where that money goes.

I think that Mr Parnell has neatly summarised the attitude of many of us towards government spending as a whole.

Tony Blair: Time for the Men in White Coats

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:55:00 +0000

The quote of the day comes from an (unnamed) Labour MP reacting to yesterday's speech by Tony Blair to Labour Party activists:

If he genuinely believes that this is not doing serious and lasting damage, we don't need the 'men in grey suits' to tell him to quit - we need the men in white coats.

Roy Hattersley Believing the Impossible

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:07:00 +0000

...and, finally, the Alice in Wonderland Award for believing something impossible before breakfast goes to old blubber-mouth himself, that old-Labour stalwart and failed politician - Roy Hattersley - for the headline to his story in this morning's Times: How Prescott can save the party and his reputation.

The Perverted Priorities of Modern Law Enforcement

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:04:00 +0000

As they used to say in examination papers, compare and contrast the following passages:

1. A mother has spoken of her fury after police refused to chase her sons' stolen motorbikes — because the thieves weren't wearing helmets. Pauline Nolan, of Droylsden, Greater Manchester, claims traffic officers told her they could not pursue the pair in case they fell off and sued the police force.

2. When Diane Fountain encouraged her 12-year-old daughter to recycle, the last thing she expected was a letter from the council threatening her child with six months in jail. But after a cardboard box was found next to the overflowing recycling point with young Anna Fountain's name on it, council officials decided something must be done. The 12-year-old was issued with a notice stating that illegal dumping carries a £50,000 penalty and possible six-month jail sentence.

These two stories tell you all you need to know about the perverted, and inverted, priorities of law enforcement in today's Britain.

MPs: Pigs, Snouts and Troughs

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 12:35:00 +0000

From the BBC:

MPs have been criticised after reports some are calling for a 66% pay rise, taking salaries to £100,000 a year.

If there were any logic or justice to the way things are organised in this country, MPs would be paid the average salary. Perhaps then they would appreciate more directly the impact that the policies they implement, and the taxes that they raise, have on ordinary people.

Half of them would be challenged if asked to run the proverbial whelk-stall. As for the others, if they want to make more money let them get a different job. No one forces them to become MPs and, God knows, there are enough hopefuls queing up to take their places. Perhaps if the laws of supply and demand were to be applied strictly, we could end up in the happy position of MPs paying the public for the privilege of being an MP. At least then we would get a financial return out of them, and they could serve a useful, if minor, purpose.

What They Really Think About Us

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 11:41:00 +0000

This is what they really think of us:

We have a citizenry which can be caricatured as being increasingly unwilling to be governed but not yet capable of self-government.

This was said by Matthew Taylor - Tony Blair's chief adviser on political strategy and the former head of the centre left think tank the Institute of Public Policy Research.

The arrogant, patronising, condescending little !**$!!*'s

Envirodoxy Rules! OK!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 13:01:00 +0000

Envirodoxy: an attitude of mind revealed by an inability to think independently, coupled with an acceptance as scientific fact the worst-imaginings of some client-change scientists and green campaigners.

Usually associated, particularly amongst politicians, with a strong psychological need to pontificate, preach, and regulate, combined with a lack of faith in human adaptability and technological innovation.

The aptness of the term is illustrated by the responses of MPs to a Rough Guide survey on climate change. The following are just a sample, but illustrative of the views of all but a handful of MPs which are published in today's Independent:

Climate change is the most serious threat to human kind ever. Ben Bradshaw (Lab)

The most difficult challenge that Governments have faced since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. David Chaytor (Lab)

We must make the green agenda central to everything we do and, in that agenda, climate change is the issue which overrides all others. It is the biggest threat facing our planet... David Cameron (Con)

My own opinion is that it is more important than any other challenge we face (and that is saying a lot with nuclear proliferation, international terrorism, pension meltdown and other worries being very strong candidates). James Arbuthnot (Tory)

Climate change is a threat greater than any other faced by mankind and is therefore the most important political issue of our time. Norman Baker (Lib)

The position of any who disagree with the new Envirodoxy has been aptly described by George Orwell:

At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas of which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question. It is not exactly forbidden to say this, that or the other, but it is 'not done' to say it... Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness. A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given a fair hearing, either in the popular press or in the high-brow periodicals. George Orwell

European Union Accounts

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 12:30:00 +0000

The House of Lords may be happy with EU accounting procedures, but Marta Andreasen - who was suspended by the European Commission in 2002 (before being sacked in 2004) after going public with worries that its accounting system was open to fraud - is less charitable:

These changes of more than €20 billion that have surfaced in some chapters would certainly cause heads to roll and the prosecution of the directors if they happened in the private sector.

Who do you believe? Difficult choice.

The Poetry of Politics

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:33:00 +0000

Hart Seely of the Los Angeles Times has been lamenting the exit of Donald Rumseld, and the consequent loss of material for American comedy. In passing, he re-presents some of Rumsfeld's...er...thoughts...as a form of existential poetry. For example:

It's amazing.
Once in a while,
I'm standing here, doing
something.
And I think,
"What in the world am I
doing here?"

It's a big surprise.

So, why not try the same with our own politicians? The following 'poems' are lifted directly from the speeches made by Blair and Cameron to their party conferences earlier in the year.

Green Declaration, by David Cameron

I grew up in the countryside.
I've always loved the outdoors.
...I'm quite keen on trees.

In Praise of (Modern) Marriage, by David Cameron

There's something special about marriage.
It's not about religion.
It's not about morality.
It's about commitment.
...It is about we - together,
The two of us,
Through thick and thin.

That really matters.

And by the way,

It means something whether you're
A man and a woman,
A woman and a woman or
A man and another man.

Challenges, by Tony Blair

The future requires restless courage:
To know and act upon the coming reality
However hard the challenge it holds.

And when the two,
Conviction and courage,
Combine their strength...
They beat them

And in time what was a challenge,
Becomes part of the new consensus.

The BNP, Freedom of Speech and Gordon Brown

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 18:38:00 +0000

I must admit that I cheered when I heard that Nick Griffin and his colleague had been cleared, unanimously, by the jury at Leeds Crown Court. But depression immediately returned with Gordon Brown's reaction that the law would need to be looked at again. His credo, to paraphrase the quote often attributed to Voltaire, would appear to be:

I disagree with what you say, and I will defend to the death the right of the state to use all the means at its disposal to stop you saying it.

This man must never be allowed to become Prime Minister. There is the frightening possibility that he could be worse than Blair.

Jon Snow, Religious Think-Tanks and the Red Poppy

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 11:57:00 +0000

Jon Snow has become very precious and self-important about the wearing (or not-wearing) of the poppy. He claims that his decision is, in part, a reaction against "a rather unpleasant breed of poppy fascism"!

Do news-readers know no bounds to their self-importance?

Preciousness is not only limited to newsreaders, however. Religious think-tanks, too, can have their day. Ekklesia claims that wearing the red-poppy has become 'politically correct'

Jonathan Bartley, the co-director of the think-tank, claims that "There is a political correctness about the red poppy, which often goes unnoticed", and is urging people to wear a white poppy. As Melanie Phillips might say in her column, "Oh, purlease!"

So, when you wear your poppy (as I hope you will), make up your mind whether you're a 'fascist' or a PC-freak.

For my part, I shall wear it in remembrance of the men and women who gave, and are prepared to give, the ultimate sacrifice. We owe them everything.

Labour's Contempt for the British People

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 11:26:00 +0000

Nick Clegg is being too restrained in his criticism of Labour over the lop-sided extradition treaty with America. His remarks follow John Reid's astonishing admission that government ministers had not held a single negotiating meeting with their American counterparts before signing the treaty.

Nick Clegg quite rightly criticised the government for showing "real contempt of Parliament" by acting in such a "cavalier fashion". Even worse, though, is the contempt they have shown for the British people in signing this treaty. By accepting such an unequal treaty they have demonstrated that they are prepared to privilege the interests of the US government over those of our own people.

What is doubly sad about this whole episode is the Conservative climbdown in the House of Lords earlier this week, which the Liberal Democrats rightly characterised as a "feeble and positively shameful" surrender.