It had to happen...

Great story in the Daily Mail's Ephraim Hardcastle today.

London Tonight reported on a newborn lamb and asked its viewers to name the creature.

Ninety-five per cent of votes went to one name and the show quietly dropped the idea.

The name: Mohammed.

Here they come...

The Guantamo Four are arriving in Britain today despite the fact that none of them are British.

The BBC runs profiles of the foursome but fails to explain how they came to be arrested in the first place.

Brief extracts and a question or two:

Jamil el-Banna, a mechanic, is a Jordanian. He has been detained in Cuba since early 2003 following capture in Gambia in November 2002. The father-of-five has never seen his youngest daughter who was born in April 2003.
Why did he leave his pregnant wife to go to the Gambia?

Libyan-born Omar Deghayes grew up in Brighton, was privately educated and studied law at British universities. Amnesty International said he wanted to be a human rights lawyer. (Of course he did.) But he dropped out of university and travelled to Afghanistan, where he married and fathered a son. Mr Deghayes was arrested in Pakistan shortly after the fall of the Taleban and was transferred to Cuba.
Why did a private schoolboy travel to Afghanistan? I doubt it is the destination of choice for most students on gap years or even drop outs. If he was after some artificial enlightenment (which as a good Muslim he would not be allowed) there are enough drugs available in this country without resorting to travelling to a backward society thousands of miles from "home".

Abdulnour Sameur is an Algerian army deserter who came to Britain in 1999. He was granted refugee status in 2000. He lived in south Harrow, London. He was given leave to remain in the UK but travelled to Afghanistan because he found it hard to live as a good Muslim in Britain.
Why? Thousands of others seem to manage combining Islam with living in this country.

Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer, originally from Saudi Arabia, had been living in the UK since 1996. He is reported to have travelled to Afghanistan in August 2001 to carry out voluntary charity work.
As you do, because there are no charities in this country. Although, he was a bit unlucky going there just a month before the Twin Tower terror attacks.
He lived in London with his wife and three children, all British citizens, and worked as an interpreter for a firm of solicitors. A fourth child has been born since his capture. He has never seen her.
He must be wondering who the father is...
At least he is on his way back to Saudi Arabia. How long before he is back in the UK?

Only in Wales...

A Welsh stationery firm has been sacked after it produced a calendar that accidentally omitted St David's Day.

The calendar appeared on a leaflet about leisure services in Ceredigion and includes other international festivals.

A council spokesman said: "Ceredigion County Council has thoroughly looked into this matter and apologises for any distress caused."

Distress caused? Are these council idiots so removed from reality that they believe "distress" will be caused by leaving a date off a calendar in a country that until recently sent almost every man down a mine?

Meanwhile, in other news in the principality Richard Brunstrom, chief constable of North Wales, has tested the security of his police headquarters in Colwyn Bay, Conwy, currently being refurbished at a cost of £3.4m, by breaking in.

Is there anything this buffoon will not do for publicity?

EU - The Truth

Is it not time for the truth about the EU to be revealed?

It is a stitch up between France and Germany because they are still furious that the USA respectively saved them and beat them in two world wars.

Revenge is a dish best served cold and now the French and the Germans are getting their knives and forks ready.

Brown lets down the country

Yesterday, Gordon Brown signed the EU Constitution despite having conspicuously failed to give the British people the referendum he and Labour promised in the 2005 General Election manifesto.

The constitution will still be debated by the Houses of Commons and Lords but to what end? Even if they decide that it is not in Britain's best interests (and it isn't) what good will that do? Does anyone seriously think that the EU will turn around and say, "Okay chaps, we made a mistake. We will abandon the whole idea"?

The only way to get out of this mess is to get out of the EU.

Black's was not a victimless crime

Earlier this week Conrad Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, was sentenced to six years (give or take) in prison for fraud and obstructing justice.

The right wing historian Andrew Roberts, a friend of Black, railed at the sentence saying, "This was a victimless crime."

One thing Black's malfeasance wasn't was a victimless crime.

Black's behaviour directly affected thousands of lives. His actions led to his newspapers being sold to the Barclay twins. Hundreds of people were summarily sacked or made redundant causing hardship to their families.

English for English schools...not American

And on the subject of education: when will the Americanisation of schools stop?

Why are exams now called SATs?

No more testing time for schools...

The Daily Mirror reports that "high-pressure exams" for 11-year-olds will be scrapped according to Children's Secretary Ed Balls.

Children sit English, science and maths tests on the same day at the end of junior school. Now they will be able to sit them "when they feel ready".

Another example of children being mollycoddled - what is wrong with testing? The 11-plus didn't harm children because in those days there was a real education to be had, not just the chance to be socially engineered.

It's apparently part of (yet another) overhaul of the education system. The Mirror reports that "Pupils as young as four will also get to learn a modern foreign language that could include Urdu or Mandarin. And teachers will be urged to work lessons into other parts of the school day by translating lunch menus and taking the register in another language."

Yes because saying that will help when reading out a list of names!

Guantanamo Four have no place in Britain

On Friday it was announced that four "British residents" would be released from Guantanamo Bay within weeks.

The four "Britons" are Omar Deghayes, Jamil el-Banna, 55, Sameur Abdenour, 34, and Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer, 39.

Abdenour claims he was sold to the Americans after travelling to Afghanistan and admits obtaining false identity papers. El-Banna was arrested in Gambia after he went there, he claims, to meet a shipment of machine parts to be used to set up an edible oil factory. Deghayes lived in Brighton but moved temporarily to Afghanistan, as you do. Aamer moved to Britain in 1996 but in 2001 he was apparently working for a Saudi charity in Afghanistan!

None of the men are British nationals: Deghayes is Libyan; el-Banna is Jordanian; Abdur-Raheem Aamer is a Saudi; Abdenour is an Algerian army deserter - so why has Gordon Brown asked for their release?

The Pentagon says that all four men are dangerous. They claim that el-Banna is a leading recruiter and financier for al-Qaeda; that Deghayes is an al-Qaeda associate and Abdenour has undergone combat training in Afghanistan.

Abdur-Raheem Aamer is returning to his native Saudi Arabia but the others are coming to London. Again, why? If they have to be released, they should be returned to their own countries. We have enough people already here with a hatred of this country without importing more.

Let's use phone taps and abandon 42 days' detention

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, has announced that she wants to hold terror suspects without trial for 42 days, up from the current 28 days' internment.

Last night on BBC TV's Question Time, an audience member asked why phone tap evidence could not be used in court.

Baroness Ashton, leader of the House of Lords, repeated the excuse that if it was used then the security services would have to reveal how it is carried out.

Why?

When someone appears in court for speeding or jumping a red light, the police don't explain how a Gatso works.

If there is tape of Muhammed telling Abdul he wants to blow up a nightclub to "kill the slags", what does it matter how it was obtained?

Refuse collectors are not supposed to refuse to collect

Some media commentators wonder why we rarely win any sporting events. We still hark back to 1966 for our last (only) major football win and to 1977 for the last time we had anything to cheer about in tennis.

It could be something to do with the fact that we are raising a nation of wimps - children who are told that everything has value and that nothing is second class (especially not their education).

The Health & Safety Executive refuses to let anyone take even the slightest risk. Their mantra seems to be "What do you want to do? You can't."

And now binmen in Havant, Hampshire are are told that they cannot pick up black bags of Christmas rubbish in case they hurt themselves.

Local people, who usually put out household rubbish and recycling on alternate weeks, had wanted extra collections over Christmas.

The council agreed to let them put out a black bag alongside their wheelie bin. But the dustmen decided to ignore the bags and used the council's own rules as their rationale. The rules state that only rubbish in wheelie bins is to be collected while any other rubbish must be left.

Council leader David Gillett said the binmen are wrong. He added: "They've picked up bin bags for the last 100 years and it hasn't bothered them. Why are they suddenly worrying about it?"

In fact, Councillor Gillett is wrong. It wasn't that long ago that dustmen used to go into people's back gardens, hoist metal bins onto their backs and carry them to the dustcart. It is only in the wimpy times that we live in that councils decreed that bins must be plastic and then that householders must leave a bin bag or wheelie bin "on the edge of their property" without any thought for the housebound or feeble.

In addition, when the PC brigade decided that binmen should be renamed "refuse collectors" - we didn't realise that meant that sometimes they would just refuse to collect.

More madness in Europe

If ever there was a reason to withdraw from the madness that is the European Court of Human Rights then the ruling that said a convicted murderer should be able to father a child by his ex-jailbird wife is it.

Kirk Dickson and his wife Lorraine met via a prisoners' pen pal scheme - he was convicted of murder and is serving life for kicking a man to death for refusing to hand over cigarettes, and she was inside for a £27,000 benefits fiddle.

The court decreed that the British government was wrong to stop the couple becoming parents and that it was a denial of their human rights. Further, it awarded them €5,000 in damages and €21,000 in costs.

How can becoming a parent be a human right? What about the child? What chance will it have? The court said that a public interest in punishment and the upbringing of the child was merely "public opinion".

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mrs Dickson said: "I know some people think that Kirk should have thought about whether he wanted children before he committed murder, and others think I shouldn't have married someone serving a life sentence if I wanted another child."

Another child? She already has three children. It was her failure to declare maintenance payments from her first husband when making fraudulent benefits claims which got her sent down in the first place. She was already bankrupt and had convictions for deception and conspiracy to defraud.

This is just another example of the perverse nature of our "partners" in Europe and the sooner we leave them to it, the better.

The late last post....

In one of Enid Blyton's Secret Seven books Peter, the leader of the eponymous band, writes a letter to his grandmother. He posts it in the morning and it is delivered that same afternoon.

Contrast that with today when a first class letter is not always guaranteed to arrive the next day despite an ever increasing tariff.

In recent years one can no longer open the post before one leaves for work. Now the morning delivery is being abolished totally.

Under the new regime 60 per cent of post will not be delivered before midday and the first delivery will not be made before 10.30am.

The Royal Mail has already pushed back delivery times by one hour in the run up to Christmas. The organisation says that the changes are necessary because of a new EU green directive which limits the speed of the mail lorries that criss-cross the country during the night to cut fuel emissions.

Hmmm, my opposition to the EU is no secret but postal deliveries have been getting later and later - and more expensive. Is the EU statement just an excuse by an organisation that is getting worse and worse.

Once again Gordon does his impression of Manuel "I know nothing..."

So, the Labour Party received £400,000 from one donor David Abrahams - albeit through intermediaries. Two people apparently donated £100,000 each - yet Gordon Brown knew nothing about it.

He knew nothing when donations were made in the cash for honours scandal - even though the party was almost bankrupt and then was awash with money. He did not think to ask where the money had come from.

Labour's favourite copper Sir Ian Blair knew nothing about the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes even though cleaners at Scotland Yard knew the police had killed an innocent man.

How credible is it that both men were unaware of massive events in the organisations that they lead?

It's nothing to do with security...

When politicians want to do something they have a number of tactics at their disposal.

Bribery - tax cuts.

Force - taxation.

Fear - they say they need to do something (usually curtail liberty) to protect us.

Now the EU has said it wants to fingerprint all children from the age of six.

Why?

Not because it wants to be able to keep tabs on everyone and is a backdoor way of creating a huge database.

Oh no, that's not the reason at all.

It is to prevent "child trafficking".

Yes, of course it is. To keep our children safe, we must entrust their details to some enormous organisation that is rife with fraud and corruption.

As Benjamin Franklin said, "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."

Keith Olbermann on YouTube describes the situation in America

How long do you want Gordon?

Gordon Brown asks us to trust him to bring economic stability for the long term.

Must have been a different Gordon Brown who has been in charge of the economy since May 1997.

Prison doesn't work... nor do holiday camps

HM Prison Birmingham, in Winson Green has launched a "decency agenda".

This means that prisoners should be called by their Christian names and warders should knock before they enter cells.

The "decency agenda" was prompted by an official Government study of the jail that concluded that the 1,400 inmates at Winson Green were not living in a "good environment".

A spokesman said, "First names of prisoners are now given on all cell cards. Members of the Senior Management Team address prisoners by their first names, preferred names or by using the term 'Mr'."

The scheme is a bid to treat prisoners with respect, she added.

This follows on from a report that warders are wearing carpet slippers to patrol prisons at night so as not to disturb prisoners' sleep with their big hobnailed boots.

Mr Mackay would be turning in his grave - and Genial Harry Grout would be having a field day at Winson Green - if he wasn't already too busy running Slade Prison. Even Mr Barraclough didn't go as far as calling Fletcher and Godber "Norman" and "Lennie".

Several years ago, I was in a pub quiz team and one week the captain, Reg, announced that he might be away for a few weeks as he was due up in court and could be sent down. "It'll be okay, though. I've done it before," he said.

I was amazed. The thought of going to prison scared the life out of me - nowadays, I am sure I would still not like it but it doesn't sound too bad. Three meals a day, pool tables, TV in my cell, library, computer games - it almost sounds okay to do bird.

Prison doesn't work bleat the liberal bleeding hearts. Well, when it sounds more like a holiday camp, of course it doesn't. When the Regs of this world are happy to get banged up.

Prison should be a deterrent and so unpleasant that no one would ever want to go back. That means it should be a punishment not an alternative holiday camp.

And while on the subject our useless Justice Minister Jack Straw has commented on a report that said non-violent offenders should be punished but not necessarily jailed... say their victims.
Research shows that 81 per cent of those affected by crimes such as burglary and vehicle theft would prefer "effective" sentences to harsh ones.

Straw said: "This research suggests when offenders receive vigorous effective community sentences - combining punishment and rehabilitation - it can go some way towards comforting victims."

What a load of cobblers. Who conducted this research?

A few years ago, then Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf said that he didn't believe that most people wanted first time burglars jailed.

He is right.

Most people do not want first time, second time or any time burglars jailed. They would much rather see them hung by their testicles from the nearest lamppost.

Hip, hip Boooooo

Today the government announced that the useless Home Information Packs will be necessary for all properties from 14 December.

Housing Minister Yvette Cooper claimed that they would help first-time buyers by providing them with more information.

However, earlier this month, the National Association of Estate Agents warned that fewer large properties were coming onto the market than in earlier years. They claimed that Hips were amplifying problems in the housing market that had been caused by higher interest rates and a slowdown in price growth.

The BBC helpfully has posted an FAQ on Hips. Three that caught my eye (my italics):

How will I organise getting a pack?
Some estate agents will offer to act as go-between for pack providers. No doubt for an additional fee.
Alternatively, homeowners maybe able to approach pack providers direct

I have read that these packs could cost up to £1,000 - is this true?
This is probably a bit of an overestimate - but you can probably expect to pay £400-£700 for a Hip. Potential buyers will not have to contribute to the cost of a Hip. However, they may want to get their own local authority searches done and mortgage companies will still insist on a proper valuation. So, yet more money to be paid out.

I am buying a property. How much store should I set on the information in the pack?
The information will be useful but it may soon be out of date. Your solicitor may well advise that you get your own searches done. Your mortgage provider may also want fresh property searches. In other words, they may well disregard Hips. So what is the point of them in the first place?

Aids epidemic overstated...

At the start of this year, I posted a blog wondering why people are so ready to believe that "experts" have it right when they predict disaster because of global warming.

I pointed out that in several cases "experts" have got it wrong including Aids in the 1980s. I wrote: "In the 1980s the 'experts' predicted that by the end of the decade every family in Britain would be affected by Aids; we would all know someone who had died of Aids. Billions of pounds were spent telling us to change our behaviour. Twenty-five years later, the Aids explosion hasn't happened. Guess what? The 'experts' were wrong."

Now, top scientists at the United Nations have finally admitted they have long overblown the scale of the global Aids epidemic. Flying in the face of its own doomsday forecasts of an ever-expanding Aids nightmare, a UN report published today reveals that the threat has been declining for nearly a decade.

New infections have also been calculated at 2.5million, a cut of more than 40 per cent from last year's estimate.

While Aids activists have warned in the past that all sections of society are at risk, the UN Aids agency's latest annual report says that in most parts of the world, outbreaks of the disease are mostly concentrated in gay men, intravenous drug users and prostitutes.

Will the gay activists now apologise and admit their error? Don't bet on it.

EU are taking us for mugs again...

The Daily Mail today reports that benefit claims by eastern Europeans have more than doubled in the past year as migrants continue to arrive at the rate of 700 a day, ministers admitted.

Didn't the government tell us that 1) only 20,000 eastern Europeans would come here (not the near 1 MILLION that have arrived), 2) that those that did would fill much-needed jobs (what about the 5 MILLION "economically inactive" Britons?) and 3) that they would be a boost not a drain on the economy?

Why are they entitled to any benefits, having not contributed to the system?

Word has also reached Poland of generous benefit payments to eastern Europeans with children - including a rule which allows workers to claim certain benefits related to children even if they do not travel to Britain and remain in their homeland.

This is utter madness. How can we be giving £145million away to people who have done nothing to earn it? Answer: Because we are in the EU.

The Mail illustrates this with a graphic (below):

Good news for Ian Blair...

The Metropolitan Police Force are investigating the missing CDs containing personal data from HMRC.

How Ian Blair must be rubbing his hands in glee. This latest government cock-up gets him off the front pages (till his next cock-up) and almost makes some people forget about the fact that he, too, along with Alistair Darling should be shown the door.

But only some people...

Move over Darling

How is Alister Darling still in his job?

Not that long ago politicians would resign if something went awry in their department. As the boss they take ultimate responsibility - or at least they should.

In April 1982, then foreign secretary Lord Carrington said that he would have to resign when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands - even though he had nothing to do with it and it was Margaret Thatcher's poor diplomacy that led to the war.

The head of the Inland Revenue (now Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs), Paul Gray, has done the decent thing and resigned.

It is high time that the chancellor followed his lead and fell on his sword.

UPDATE: The Daily Mail reports: "Meanwhile, Paul Gray, the £190,000-a-year chairman of HM Customs & Revenue [sic] who resigned yesterday, is set to remain on full salary pending a deal to let him retire on a full pension. Mr Gray, who was praised for quitting 'as a matter of honour', will not lose a penny by falling on his sword." Hmm, would that we could all resign in such circumstances...

FURTHER UPDATE: It has now been revealed that Paul Gray did not do the decent thing but was sacked by Alister Darling.

Another government disaster...

Unbelievably, the Government has lost details of 25 million child benefit recipients. The information including bank details - contained on two disks - was sent to the National Audit office by unrecorded delivery. In the House of Commons today the deputy chancellor (Gordon Brown still runs the economy) Alistair Darling apologised for what he said was "an extremely serious failure" but insisted people were not at risk from ID fraud.

Can anyone now seriously believe that the government can be trusted with ID cards?

Ken the clown

Why do British politicians rush for the dressing up box the minute they go to a foreign country?

The latest to make himself look like a complete pranny is Ken Livingstone.

Visiting New Delhi, he is pictured clad in a fetching shiny green turban and cape (below). As far as I am aware this is not Livingstone's normal attire. He cannot claim that he is respecting cultural sensitivities because the man behind him - an Indian - is dressed in normal clothes.

Why do our politicians adopt such a patronising attitude?

Another waste of taxpayers' money

In July 1948 Nye Bevan opened the first NHS hospital. Its aim was to provide health care - preventative as well as curative.

He would be turning in his grave to learn that between 2005 and 2006 the NHS performed two dozen taxpayer-funded hymen replacement operations, official figures revealed.

Labour MP Ann Cryer said: "We have to also ask whether our National Health Service should be providing this sort of facility. I don't think it should be available on the NHS."

The Department of Health said "certain cosmetic procedures" are available on the NHS "to secure physical or psychological health".

The NHS was created to cure people of illnesses, not for people to have tattoos removed, sex changes or for women to have their fannies tightened.

Time to end the safety camera nonsense...

I have been looking at satnavs recently and so many of them have as one of the features a “safety camera” database.

Why do the manufacturers insist on calling these hideous devices “safety cameras”? They are not safety cameras – they are speed cameras.

If you drive over the alcohol limit, you are not driving safely but as long as you don’t break the speed limit the cameras will not flash you – even if you are swerving all over the road.

If you drive while high on drugs, you are not driving safely but as long as you don’t break the speed limit the cameras will not flash you – again even if you are swerving all over the road.

If you drive without tax or insurance or an MOT, you are not driving safely but as long as you don’t break the speed limit the cameras will not flash you.

They are speed cameras – they are there to catch you speeding and thus raise revenue. Any safety measures are purely incidental not intentional.

It's not just Blair - the whole police is run by insensitive cretins

Richard Brunstrom is the chief constable of North Wales Police. He is also the copper who handed his force suntan lotion (even though north Wales has one of the highest levels of rainfall in the UK); dressed up as a druid; believes hard drugs should be legalised (he said that heroin was not "very, very, very dangerous"); thinks speeding motorists are as anti-social as muggers (in 2003 he called for the number of cameras to be trebled); spent £4,000 of taxpayers' money in 2001 investigating "anti-Welsh" comments by The Weakest Link host Anne Robinson and, surprise surprise, is a keen supporter of the European Union (he once said, "I don't think I have ever felt English. I'm a passionate European and I'm passionately in support of devolution in Wales").

Brunstrom has an obsession with speeding. He used pictures of a decapitated motorcyclist at a road safety summit to put his point across without even having the basic courtesy to ask the permission of the family of the dead man. The picture showed the man's head on a grass verge, encased in a helmet with the visor raised and his eyes still open. His widow and children had not been told the full details of how he died to spare their feelings. To make matters worse, Brunstrom sent an email to head of press, Bethan Jones Parry: "We must have better slides than the suicide. Not enough. Not gruesome enough. Motorcyclist is outstandingly good."

Why is this insensitive buffoon still in his job? Where is the tact? Where is the intelligence?

Brunstrom, like Ian Blair, is an utter disgrace to the Queen's uniform and should resign in shame but he won't because people like him have no shame.

UPDATE: After criticism from his local police authority Brunstrom said he would show the pictures again if "safeguards" were in place. He has also criticised the media for running the story.

He said: "I clearly placed too much trust in the behaviour and integrity of journalists. I allowed others to exploit a position that I did not anticipate.

"The error of judgment I was referring to was misplaced trust. I have been called naive, that may be apparent. This was intended to be a celebratory meeting."

A celebratory meeting? A celebratory meeting that was showing pictures of a dead man?

Brunstrom must go.

No more money for Scottish sports...

Congratulations to Glasgow on being chosen to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Just as long as they don't expect us English to pay for it...

In the name of God, go!

Sir Ian Blair's position as head of the Metropolitan Police Force is now completely untenable.

As I have said before, he cannot remain as Britain's most senior policeman. Yesterday his force was found guilty of 19 "catastrophic" failures over the shooting of the innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes. The force was fined £175,000.

PM Gordon Brown and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith have both given Blair their backing - for now. The mayor Ken Livingstone has also said, "The idea that people farther up the food chain somehow bear... responsibility is nonsense."

It is not nonsense at all. The ultimate responsibility for any organisation always always rests with the head. If a building falls down, the architect is responsible not the brickie who worked on the site.

Why is it that this government and its acolytes can never take responsibility? Why is it always time to draw a line and move on?

The sooner Ian Blair is removed from his post and replaced with a policeman who sees his job as nicking villains and not being obsessed with diversity the better.

The surveillance society...

An interesting new book has landed on my desk. The Road to Southend Pier details Ross Clark's struggle against the surveillance society.

Britain’s Information Commissioner said that we are sleepwalking into a surveillance society so Ross Clark decided to find out if that was true.

These are some of the facts uncovered by Mr Clark:

• There are 4·2 million CCTV cameras in Britain, one for every 14 people
• In 2004 Melbourne dismantled its 23 cameras because they did not justify the A$500,000 they cost annually
• Britons are the third most spied on people on earth; only China and Malaysia spy more on their citizenry
• In 1998 Newham introduced a facial recognition software. Unfortunately, it didn’t work on sunny days and had a tendency to confuse young people and women and had a tendency to recognise black people
• Despite the claim that DNA is foolproof – it isn’t. If everyone in Britain (60 million people) was on the database the chances of a mistake being made by misidentifying someone’s DNA at a crime scene is actually one in 16
• In 2007 John Reid admitted that the Prevention of Terrorism Act had been drafted in such a way that people on control orders i.e. terrorists could not have their fingerprints and DNA taken
• In 2007 the Home Office admitted that despite the plethora of CCTV, DNA databases, tagging and police surveillance it had “lost” 322 registered sex offenders
• In 2005 2,000 people randomly volunteered to be surveyed for the biometric ID card. It took an average of seven minutes and 56 seconds to record the information. To cover the entire country would take 905 man years
• Between April and June 2007 the six largest European airlines lost 1·12 million pieces of luggage – this at a time when passengers and their baggage are supposed to be monitored every step of their journey
  
  
  
  

A transport question...

When did a "normal service" on trains become a "good service"?

The cat is out of the bag...

So despite the lies and obfuscation of Gordon Brown, Geoff Hoon et al the truth has been revealed by Valery Giscard d'Estaing: the treaty is same as the constitution.

He told France’s Le Monde newspaper: “The institutional proposals of the constitutional treaty are found complete in the Lisbon Treaty, only in a different order and inserted in former treaties.

“Above all, it is to avoid having referendums thanks to the fact that the articles are spread out and constitutional vocabulary has been removed.

“The proposals in the original constitutional treaty are practically unchanged…

“Just lift the lid and look in the toolbox – all the same innovative and effective tools are there, just as they were carefully crafted by the European Convention: a stable presidency, a streamlined Commission, a Parliament with genuine legislative rights, a Foreign Minister, even if he has been given another, inadequate title… and the most advanced charter of fundamental rights in the world.

“When the day comes that men and women with sweeping ambitions for Europe decide to make use of this treaty, they will be able to rekindle from the ashes of today the flame of a United Europe.”

So, Mr Brown, over to you. In 2005 you stood on a manifesto that said that you would give the British people a say on the constitution. Surely, you are not going to renege on a promise?

Let us have our say...

The Scottish question is untenable...

The West Lothian question has again been raised. David Cameron is accused of threatening the future of the United Kingdom by suggesting that Scottish MPs should not vote on matters that affect only England.

There is no logical reason why Scottish-based MPs should have a vote on English matters (prescription charges, university tuition fees, etc) while English MPs have no say on events in Scotland.

Am I in favour of an English parliament? No.

It is not about the break-up of the Union - Labour already put that train on the track with the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland and Wales assemblies. All three are a waste of time. Why do politicians always think that the answer to a question is more politicians? It is not. We could get along equally well without the Greater London Assembly, the elected mayors, the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland and Wales assemblies. Perhaps those employed by those organisations might not, but their worries are not ours.

Stop Scottish MPs voting on purely English matters or stop giving Scotland English money.

The Daily Mail graphically illustrates the disparity.

Blair is on the way out...

The incompetent head of the Metropolitan Police Force is in trouble again.

Sir Ian Blair's deputy and the man who hopes to succeed him, Paul Stephenson, has been forced to write a letter of support for his beleaguered boss after Blair wrote him a letter accusing him of disloyalty.

Stephenson had agreed to forgo his annual bonus forcing his boss to give up his own £25,000 payout.

Now London's mayor Ken Livingstone has come out in support of Ian Blair. He said: "Politicians are skulking around in plots against the Commissioner, and by extension the Met as a whole, while crime in London is falling and police numbers are at record levels."

Hmmm, wasn't Blair supposed to be New Labour's favourite policeman? Now he has the odious Livingstone on his side. I give him till Christmas...

When is Passover in the Square?

On the way into work this morning I saw advertisements on the tube for Eid in the Square which invited me to join Muslims in celebrating the end of Ramadan.

The event to be held in Trafalgar Square on 20 October 2007 is organised by the Muslim Council of Britain and supported by the Mayor of London.

Am I being naive in looking forward to similar celebrations for Passover and Easter? Can you imagine the odious Ken Livingstone welcoming London's Jews or Christians in the same way he prostrates himself before Muslims?

The further folly of being in the EU

Mirek Kryszczak works in England as a builder. His wife and son remain in Wojciechy, Warminsko-Mazurskie in northern Poland and he sends them most of his wages.

He also sends them £78.43 a month in child benefit even though his wife and child cannot speak English and have never set foot in England.

Mrs Kryszczak works in a bar where she earns £166 a month, only just double what we, the British taxpayer, give her husband.

When the Kryszczaks were visited by the Sunday People, they had luxuries such as a large-screen TV in the living room and a computer with flat-screen monitor. Hubert Kryszczak was playing computer games. A bowl on the coffee table in the comfortable living room was brimming with sweets and chocolates. There were other TVs in a bedroom and the kitchen.

Mr Kryszczak said: "When I found out about the possibility to legally claim benefits for my child, I decided to give it a go. Why shouldn't I get the money I am entitled to?"

That's the folly of being in the EU. He should not be entitled to money paid supplied by the British taxpayer. He is fit, healthy and working - he is doing the right thing and looking after his family. He should not be getting additional help from me.

Why are we erecting a monument to a former terrorist?

The prime minister Gordon Brown is to unveil a 9ft statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square.

Why?

What link does he have to this country?

He was the leader of a terrorist organisation that used to punish people by putting a tyre filled with burning petrol around their necks.

On his release from Robben Island he eventually became president of South Africa - good for him, and good for South Africa but I repeat what has that got to do with this country?

Why is Nelson Mandela being honoured outside the Mother of Parliaments?

At this rate it won't be too long before the stature of Gerry Adams is ready for Trafalgar Square...

What's the weather like?

And more on “global warming”.

At the start of the year the Met Office issued their seasonal forecasts and said that the weather would be warmer than average. They never mentioned floods.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: “Our seasonal forecast in April was not very accurate and we have to hold our hands up to that. It just demonstrates that seasonal forecasting is still in its infancy and we have to work at it to refine our forecasts.”

If they can’t predict weather three months ahead, how are we supposed to believe that they know what will happen in 50 years?

Enough already about global warming protests

Many years after Greenham Common in which "wimmin" protested at the sighting of American missiles on British soil, the latest bunch of the great unwashed have turned up at Heathrow to protest, predictably, about global warming.

The camp is said to cost taxpayers £7million for policing over the week of its existence. I am all in favour of protesting - as long as it is peaceful - but this group say they are protesting to raise awareness of global warming.

As I said before, is there anyone who is still unaware?

Ian Blair - In the name of God, go!

One Blair has gone - now it's high time for a second to leave his job.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission report into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes says that Metropolitan Police Force commissioner Sir Ian Blair was "almost totally uninformed" about what happened at Stockwell tube station.

This is simply unbelievable - either Blair knew what happened and lied about it - for which he should resign - or he didn't know in which case he is incompetent and should be sacked.

The report lays the blame squarely on Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman. It says that he "misled" senior officers by failing to tell them the dead man was not one of four wanted suicide bombers.

If Blair did not know, he should have done. He should have asked questions of his senior men; he should have made it his business to find out before making any public statements.

The buck stops at the top and the top, for now, is Sir Ian Blair.

Show some backbone, man, and do the honourable thing. Your time as head of the Met is as already tarnished as that of the man whose surname you shared was at No 10.

In the name of God - go!

Cameron gets it wrong... again

While the floods cause mayhem and even death, it would seem reasonable to ask the Government why so little preparation was done to combat potential disasters. After all, they are constantly banging on about climate change - the weather to you and me - and how it affects us all so having some plan about how to cope might just seem sensible.

But no, as usual, this country is caught on the hop: too much rain, the wrong kind of snow, leaves on the track, the list is endless...

So, one would imagine that opposition parties would take every opportunity to bash the Government. So what does David Cameron do? Swans off to Rwanda, while his own constituency is under water. Why? It was a longstanding commitment say aides. Nonsense, a disaster in this country and even more so one in your own constituency overrides any "longstanding commit" to foreigners. Once again, Cameron shows that the Tories are not fit for anything...

Preaching to the converted

Today the world will be watching Live Earth, Vice-President Al Gore's concerts to raise awareness of global warming.

What planet are the organisers living on?

Is there anyone who is unaware of global warming?

George W Bush is a disgrace to the office of the president

On Monday, 2 July 2007, President George W Bush commuted the 30-month jail sentence of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Scooter Libby, for perjury. Now it seems as if Bush will grant Libby a pardon.

The Republicans have long thought that they can do what they want. Now, it seems as if they know there will be a Democrat in the White House in 2009, or at least not a neo-con so they are just blatantly ignoring the rule of law and setting themselves up for being out of power.

Cheney is probably one of the most evil men to have held the office of vice-president and Bush is to stupid to go against him. Roll on January 2009 when we see the back of these disgraceful men.

Good riddance to Blair- his final traitorous action

In a parting shot, Tony Blair signed the EU constitution after promising that he would not.

In more than 40 further areas of policy — covering energy, tourism, space policy, transport, civil protection and migration — Blair also surrendered Britain’s right to veto EU decisions.
The innocuously titled "Annex 1" consists of just two closely typed pages. However, it contains areas where Britain will no longer have the power to veto EU decision-making, including specialised courts; intellectual property rights; citizens’ initiatives; transport; space policy; energy; culture; tourism; sport; civil protection; immigration and frontier controls, crime prevention and police co-operation.

Get us out of the EU.

Rushdie knighthood

In the recent Queen's Birthday Honours List, the novelist Salman Rushdie was awarded a knighthood. I have never read a book by Sir Salman so I cannot comment on whether his work is worthy of such an accolade.

However, Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Ejaz-ul-Haq has said that the award is insulting Islam and may lead to terrorism.

It may come as a surprise to many Muslims but not everything that is done in the west is done with a view to upsetting Muslims.

Who is Ejaz-ul-Haq? He is the son of former Pakistan president Zia ul-Haq.

"If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the prophet Mohammed, his act is justified," he said, according to the translation by the Reuters news agency. "If Britain doesn't withdraw the award, all Muslim countries should break off diplomatic relations."

Okay, you cut off diplomatic relations - we will cut off all aid. Let's see who suffers most...

More rubbish ideas

The government has decided in its infinite dumbness to halve rubbish collections in much of the country.

Unsurprisingly, people have started arranging their own rubbish removals. Until today, I was unaware of the existence of environmental crime officers. But apparently, they exist.

The Environment Agency is setting up a special intelligence unit to tackle the illegal rubbish disposal gangs.

Graham Holdsworth, an environmental crime officer with the agency, said: "This is becoming a key issue. We are experiencing increasing problems and we need more people on the scene. There is a huge difference between local sporadic fly-tipping, which is directly related to the rubbish collection, and organised environmental crime which is similar to drugs trafficking."

Similar to drugs trafficking? No, it isn't. You simply cannot compare someone dumping rubbish illegally to a person who brings illegal drugs into the country.

Once again, a massive overreaction by some buffoon who works for the state.

You can wipe out these illegal dumpers with one easy move (unlike drug trafficking): reinstate weekly rubbish collections.

The betrayal of our children continues...

The latest fad from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is to introduce a new beauty diploma that studies ancient Egyptian make-up, hairstyles in society and cuticle care as a substitute for traditional GCSEs in history, geography and the sciences.

The diploma, one of 14 work-related courses to be introduced in secondary schools by the end of the decade, will count for either six GCSEs or three A-levels, depending on the level at which it is taken. There will be little time left for any other qualification beyond the core subjects of English, maths and information and communication technology.

Thousands of pupils taking the diplomas will, in effect, drop subjects such as modern languages, history, geography, science, design and technology and art, or study elements of them through the diploma.

A spokesman for the DfES defended the diplomas and said that their strength lay in the involvement of leading employers in their design.

"Accusations that the hair and beauty diploma content is in some way ‘dumbed down’ are as predictable as they are incorrect," she said. "The diploma will give students a broad and robust education that introduces them to the range of skills and experiences they need for work. It is a highly practical course.

"Students can elect to study optional subjects such as history just as every other student chooses optional subjects."

How can history be optional? How can ignorance of what makes and made this country great ever be optional?

(with Julie Henry)

Harry stays at home

So if Iraq is not safe for Harry, why is it presumed to be safe for Tom and Dick?

Picture says it all

Well done Arsenal Ladies

Congratulations to Arsenal Ladies who today achieved the Quadruple!

Well done to boss Vic Akers who has done what even Alex Ferguson couldn't achieve - winning four trophies in one season: Premier League, the FA Cup, the Uefa Cup and the League Cup.

Up the Gunners!

The return of John Reid

John Reid, thought to be a potential challenger to Gordon Brown, has announced that he will resign as Home Secretary when Tony Blair goes and will not serve under Gordon Brown.

Reid has always been regarded as a man of ambition which is why his decision to stand down has been regarded as surprising.

Perhaps Reid agrees with my analysis that Gordon Brown is the Jim Callaghan of his generation and when Brown leads Labour to defeat in the next General Election, he will be in a perfect position to launch a leadership bid once Brown steps down.

Reid can link himself to the three successive Blair wins and distance himself from the Brown premiership and say: "Nothing to do with me, guvnor. I didn't do it cos I wasn't there. Don't blame me - it just isn't fair."

Have we heard the last of John Reid? I very much doubt it.

It's ALWAYS the cover-up what does for them...

This morning Lord Browne, the former BP executive, woke up with his personal and professional lives and reputation in tatters.

He is not disgraced because he is gay - which he is.

He is not disgraced because of some business failing.

He is disgraced because he lied to a court.

He is also facing the loss of £15million - probably one of the most expensive lies ever told.

Browne told the court that he had met his exotically named ex-boyfriend Jeff Chevalier while jogging. In fact, he met him through an internet escort agency.

Many people in this busy day and age meet lovers online. Apart from the escort bit, Lord Browne was no different.

He was also probably embarrassed at people knowing that he had met his boyfriend on the internet and especially that he was a former rent boy. When the affair went sour Chevalier reverted to type and tried to sell his story to The Mail on Sunday.

It was not the fact that Lord Browne is gay that did for him; it was the cover-up of the circumstances of meeting Chevalier.

As Jonathan Aitken discovered it is the cover-up - or to put it bluntly the lie - that does for you, not the original "offence".

Another silly fashion...

is people wearing bluetooth devices when walking around the shops, in a pub or even at gym. It looks silly as Iain Dale recounts with this amusing story today.

Labour MP Blue in the Tooth
Let's get one thing clear. It's not cool to wear bluetooth device when you're not in your car. So when Labour MP and Defra Minister Barry Gardiner wandered into the Commons to have his breakfast this morning wearing one, you can imagine the reaction of some of his fellow MPs. One Tory wag piped up: "Just finished your night shift on the cabs, Barry?" How cruel.

The Iranian Hostages - it gets worse

A little while ago, I wrote a piece agreeing with my colleague Toby Harnden's assessment of the behaviour of the fifteen captured sailors and Marines.

The British servicemen did not defend themselves and then rather than giving name, rank and serial number allowed themselves to be used as pawns in a propaganda game.

This week I have learned more details of the capture.

The fifteen servicemen were captured by just six, yes, six Iranians. Could they have avoided capture? Certainly - they had more than double the personnel of the Iranians. The Britons were also armed.

Now Private Eye reveals that they were captured because thanks to some top brass's ego, a publicity stunt went wrong.

Bureaucracy is sending people blind

One of the worst afflictions that can befall someone must surely be to go blind. It must be much worse if their sight could be saved.

This is the fate befalling 16,000 people who could have benefited from Macugen, a treatment for age-related macular degeneration, the biggest cause of blindness in Britain.

The treatment costs £5,000 a year but primary care trusts which are short of money have imposed such strict criteria on its use that many doctors do not even ask permission to prescribe it.

Figures obtained by the Conservatives under the Freedom of Information Act show that just 268 requests to use Macugen were made last year. Of those, 193 were granted.

Harold Thorn, 87, from East Sheen in south-west London, has lost so much of his sight that he can no longer read a newspaper. He has been refused Macugen twice by Richmond and Twickenham primary care trust.

He said: "I keep trying to be positive, but I find it very hard. If they can’t give funds for people who are losing their eyesight, what does the NHS pay for?"

I can tell Mr Thorn: it is spent on sex change operations, tattoo removal and other unnecessary procedures as well as paying for an army of bureaucrats.

People like him, nearing the end of their lives, are expected to suffer in silence.

(with Laura Donnelly)

Gordon Brown - The Sunny Jim Of Our Time

Today The Daily Telegraph is running a story that Tony Blair is likely to resign on Tuesday.

Apparently, he will go in an attempt to limit the expected electoral damage in next Thursday's local elections.

The story goes on: "Even Mr Blair's most loyal supporters concede his unpopularity is so deep that his resignation could actually improve the party's showing, particularly in Scotland which Labour may lose control to the nationalists.

"The move could also wrongfoot his opponents and even cushion any political fallout for Gordon Brown if, as expected, there is a rout of Labour in the chancellor's Scottish backyard."

However, I believe that whenever he goes - next Tuesday, next month, after the summer - that it is all over for Gordon Brown.

If - as expected - Brown does become PM he should call an immediate general election (as should have Jim Callaghan in 1976, and John Major in 1990): he has no mandate to govern.

I can tell you now that Brown won't call an election. He will claim that he has to have time to "bed in" to show the electorate what he is like.

That's the problem - what he is like.

Frankly, Gordon Brown comes over if not "psychologically flawed", then certainly as a bit peculiar.

Lord Turnbull, the Permanent Secretary at the Treasury from 1988 to 2002, who can claim to know Brown well, said that he had a "very cynical view of mankind and his colleagues... He cannot allow them any serious discussion about priorities. His view is that it is just not worth it and ‘they will get what I decide’. And that is a very insulting process You can choose whether you are impressed or depressed by that but you cannot help admire the sheer Stalinist ruthlessness."

Brown has two choices: go to the country when Blair resigns to get his own mandate (and lose); or hang on until 2010 and lose then.

Either way, he will be seen as the Sunny Jim of our time.

NHS car parks pay for patients...apparently

I don't know why I am still amazed by Tony Blair's rhetoric - after ten years I should be used to it - but I am.

As anyone who has ever visited a sick friend or relative in hospital knows, the parking fees are astronomical.

Now Tony Blair has said that they have to be exorbitant or else the NHS would have to face cuts. The PM, confronted at a meeting of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee, said NHS trusts needed the cash and losing it would mean cuts. Leaked minutes of the 20 March meeting said of Mr Blair: "He defended hospital income from parking charges as otherwise the money would have to come from patient care."

What???

The parking fees, which vary widely, have become cash cows for NHS trusts which raked in more than £95million in England last year. Mr Blair and Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt are resisting growing demands to scrap them or enforce capping.

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb said: "The PM is blind to what is happening. Excessive hospital car park charging can become a tax on sickness, hitting those on low incomes and the elderly hard."

And Labour MP Sharon Hodgson said: "The burden of car parking and other travel charges just adds too much financial stress and strain to many cancer patients and others with serious illnesses. The Government needs to show sympathy, at least by exempting certain patients from parking charges."

The parking fees apparently pay for doctors and nurses. It was only a while back that he was telling us that we couldn't have cheaper petrol because the tax pays for "schools'n'ospitals".

Does every tax pound fund the NHS?

What do we pay National Insurance for?

Vote Labour!

Packs that are not Hip

From 1 June 2007 it will be illegal to sell a house/flat without a Home Information Pack.

The pack will include a certificate which rates a property’s energy efficiency. Packs will also contain details of the lease, local searches and a list of items included in the sale.

Packs will cost more than £400 but if you don't have one, you can be fined £200. Failure to produce a pack, however, will not be a criminal offence.

The packs are widely opposed by members of the property industry, including the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the National Association of Estate Agents. Last week, it emerged that only 1,000 people have trained as inspectors, out of the Government’s target of 7,400.

Nick Salmon, the commercial director of Harrison Murray estate agents and founder of campaign group Splinta – Seller’s Pack Law Is Not The Answer – said that many homeowners will "do the maths" and risk the fine. "There is a great deal of anger among homeowners who do not see the point of these packs and consider them yet another stealth tax," he said. "Sellers have nothing but contempt for the new law and many will go ahead without HIPs, especially as a potential fine is less than the cost of the pack."

Once again, this Government has proved itself to be incompetent and inept.

(With Roya Nikkhah)

We don't need an English Parliament - we have the UK one

Iain Dale argues in The Daily Telegraph that David Cameron will now have to support some measure of devolution for England and, therefore, an English parliament.

Iain says that "An English Parliament need not result in more politicians, bureaucracy or spending."

It need not but if it comes to pass it certainly will. Our council taxes will go up to pay for yet another unnecessary layer of bureaucracy and yet more professional politicians who can't seem to make a living in the real world.

If you believe in the Union then it is time to abolish the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland parliament and assemblies. The strength of this country lies in unity and the union and splitting it only serves those in Europe who would prefer England not to exist at all.

'Orrible murders

I know this is supposed to be just politics, but it's my blog and I'll post what I want to...

Here is the brilliant cover of my new book...

The 15 servicemen have let us down

As I have said before I am glad that the 15 sailors and Marines are home safely. However, they haven't exactly covered themselves in glory since their return. By selling their stories they have demeaned their uniform.

My colleague Toby Harnden writes an excellent article about this on his blog. He says: "Lasting damage has been done to Britain's reputation, never mind that of the RN and Royal Marines...Servicemen and women should be held to a higher standard than civilians, though listening to the six of the 15 who spoke on their return it was hard to believe these were military personnel...Why did many of the 15 believe it was appropriate to greet the news of their release with giddy excitement, grins, waves, back-slapping and grovelling gratitude to President Ahmadinejad?...Why were the 15 apparently unprepared for what was mild mistreatment and some fairly basic mind games?"

Toby is absolutely right.

Finally, I had always assumed I would never suit a military career: I am too fat for a start. Having seen the pictures of Leading Seaman Faye Turney, I am not so sure. Fit is not the word...

In the Navy

Thankfully, the 15 sailors and Marines captured in "Iranian" waters are home safely.

As the media debated on the rights and wrongs of a married mother of a small child on the frontline, what did amuse me was Faye Turney's rank. Even in these feminised, PC days she is still Leading SeaMAN Turney - oh, how that must have stuck in The Guardian's craw.

It's just not fine

Once again the Government goes after the motorist. From Monday 2 April anyone who is fined in court will have to pay a £15 surcharge on top of their fine to help victims of domestic violence.

Home Office Minister Baroness Scotland said: "We are hitting criminals in the pocket to make sure that crime doesn't pay."

Fine you think until you learn that real criminals - rapists, murderers and the like - won't have to pay and that money collected won't actually go the victims of domestic violence. Oh no, it will go towards expanding the number of independent domestic violence advisers on the public payroll.

So that's good - yet more people dependent on the state for a living.

Vote Labour.

Put Plod on the pavement

The Sunday Telegraph reports that three out of four people do not know a single policeman in their neighbourhood.

This is despite the fact that there are more employed police now than ever before.

There are now also more specialist directives in the police, many concerned with "diversity" and "the community".

There are a few simple measures to get the public back on side of the police.

Get police back on the beat. Let the public see them. Get out of the panda cars and use their legs. I would be interested to see how many rapes, robberies and other serious crimes were committed on the day after the Tube bombings when the streets were flooded with police.

Stop dressing police as some kind of paramilitary force - get back to the old-fashioned uniform. Is it really necessary for the police to wear fluorescent jackets or have "Metropolitan Police" (or whatever) embroidered on their sweaters. What else could they be?

Stop persecuting motorists. Despite buffoons like Richard Brunstrom, the "car-driving community" is not a force for evil.

Stop banging on about diversity and "serving the community". It really does not impress anyone.

It's not rocket science...

Medics on the march

Today in London hundreds of medical staff are protesting about the way in which junior doctors are hired.

I have seen footage from the march on two television channels and the people who are marching are predominantly white. On the rare occasions I have been to a hospital (to visit the sick) or go to a GP (although at the moment I don't have one), the vast majority of doctors are coloured.

So what happens to all the white ones? Do they all end up in private practice?

Bring back the poll tax

Following the abolition of the rates, we had the community charge or poll tax. That helped to bring down Margaret Thatcher. In 1991 John Major introduced the council tax and the bills have been rising steadily and sometimes not so steadily each year.

In London my bill contains precepts for the local council, the police and the London Assembly. As I have pointed out before the London Assembly was sold as costing the average Band D payer about 3p a week or £1.50 a year. It currently costs me more than £300 a year for what I believe is an unnecessary layer of government.

The poll tax was described as unfair because the duke in his castle pays the same as the widow in her hovel.

At first glance this may indeed seem unfair. But the council tax pays for the local council and the services it provides. If the duke pays double what the widow pays, does that mean that his bins are emptied twice as often? If he is burgled, do the police double their efforts to catch the criminals? If his castle catches fire, does the fire brigade turn up twice as quickly? If his children go to a local school (unlikely I know) do they get a better education? If he is ill, does the doctor come out or does he get seen in half the time at the local hospital? (Again, unlikely I know because he would have private education for his children and private health care for his family.) What do you think?

It could even be argued that those who have private health care or send their children to private schools should receive a reduction in their council tax because they are not "using" all the services.

The reason council tax bills are so high is because they have to pay for all the unnecessary staff hired by councils.

If local councils spent their, sorry our, money on schools, hospitals, the police, and keeping the streets clean, bins emptied and paid councillors an allowance (as they used to), council tax bills could be slashed.

Lied to from the start

The Sun today runs an interesting piece by Ruth Lea, the director Global Vision, on the EU. She says that her organisation polled people on their views on the EU: should we leave, stay in a looser economic market or stay in and obey the rules.

Unsurprisingly, a quarter wanted to leave, a quarter to stay and the other 50 per cent wanted to stay in a free trade union but opt out of political and economic union.

On the same page, The Sun's leader column says: "Our political leaders must listen to the new organisation Global Vision.

"They must say NO to any attempt to raise from the dead the idea of a new European Constitution. They must REJECT any extra interference. They must LISTEN to the British people by taking back powers from the Eurocrats.

"And they must DEMAND that the EU goes back to being the Common Market that was envisaged at its birth half a century ago."

The Sun is wrong. The original purpose of the EU's founders was always an economic and political union - it was never intended just to be a "common market".

The whole story is told in detail in my colleague Christopher Booker's excellent book The Great Deception.

Is Ian Blair fit for purpose?

One some times has to wonder about the fitness of Sir Ian Blair to be commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Force.

On the Jean Charles de Menezes tragedy, he stated that he was unaware that an innocent man had been murdered until the next day. Why? With ultimate responsibility for the force, he should have known.

Blair either did know in which case he is a liar, or he really didn't know and he is incompetent.

Now we learn that he attended a dinner at which a fellow guest was Lord Levy, currently under investigation in the cash for honours row by the Metropolitan Police Force. Blair knew that Michael Levy was going to be present (he asked not to be seated near the peer or his wife), so what on earth prompted him to attend?

Stop the witch hunts

This really has gone too far. Racism has become the new witchcraft. You don't actually have to be a paid-up member of the BNP or National Front to be smeared with the tag "Racist!" There is also no real defence - how does one prove that one is not something?

Patrick Mercer, by all accounts a supporter of black soldiers, has been sacked by David Cameron for alleged racist remarks he made about ethnic troops. The fact that what he said may have been true is deemed to be irrelevant.

Hertfordshire police spent time and money investigating racism on a television show. Three stupid girls were alleged to have bullied another woman. One of the so-called aggressors has been left suicidal by the accusations. The "victim" herself claimed that she did not think she was racially bullied.

Now the Crown Prosecution Service has decided that what occurred was "clearly offensive" but "not criminal".

I do not live in Hertfordshire but if I did I would want to know how much money was wasted on this stupid "investigation". Irrespective of my colour, I would want to know how many burglaries went uninvestigated? How many mugging victims were offered "counselling" rather than the police spending time tracking down the perpetrators? How many cars were stolen or broken into?

The police must stop taking part in the government's plan for social engineering and get back to doing what they are paid for: stopping crime, and investigating and apprehending criminals.

Dislike of someone different from you (however irrational) is NOT a crime. It is an OPINION.

Home for failures

We are told that the EU is of benefit to us all - although what that benefit is I'd like to know. Tony Blair, once part of a party that was anti-Europe, is now pro-Europe. Neil Kinnock and more of him anon was virulently opposed to Europe. David Cameron had instructed his shadow cabinet not to discuss Europe on pain of sacking.

If the EU is so good, should we not send our brightest and best to work for it, our most brilliant minds, our most innovative thinkers? Who do we send? A man who lead the Labour party to two general election defeats; another who couldn't even get re-elected by his own constituents and a third who was twice sacked from the Cabinet and was lucky not to get his collar felt by the fraud squad.

It's treated as a second, very well-paid home for failed politicians. It's contemptible and the sooner we leave the better.

This says what politics should be about...

We don't want mini cops

Today, Muslim troublemaker Abu Izzadeen has been arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism.

Izzadeen, whose real name is Trevor, came to public notice when he barracked the home secretary last year in east London.

The footage has been shown continuously on the TV news channels and what is immediately apparent is the ridiculous decision to abandon the minimum heights for coppers.

While Trevor rants on, a miniature cop is occasionally seen in the background, looking, it has to be said, as if he wished he were somewhere else. Anywhere else.

I know the reasoning behind the abolition of the height restriction was to encourage more ethnic minorities to join up (for which read Asian), but what is the point of mini cops if they can't protect the public because they are about 4foot tall?

When will Blair be arrested?

Last December I suggested that, despite what Tony Blair's spinners were saying, the cash for honours row was far from over.

And this morning we learned that Blair was interviewed by the police again last Friday. The Metropolitan Police Force issued a statement: "The prime minister has been interviewed briefly to clarify points emerging from the ongoing investigation. He was interviewed as a witness, not as a suspect and co-operated fully"

Now at last No 10 is saying that they don't know if Blair will be interviewed again. Rumours are also rife as to why Scotland Yard asked for a news blackout for almost a week. Many suggest that the reason was to ensure that Lord Levy who was arrested for the second time this week was not tipped off.

It all started so well ten years ago and now Blair leaves office with Iraq hanging about his neck and mired in sleaze. Even John "Back to Basics" Major was never interviewed by the police while in office as part of a criminal investigation.

But this investigation is far from over. Don't rule out Blair facing a third interview and this time one under caution. After all, Knacker of the Yard has been known to arrest those who were previously only "helping with inquiries".

The real Gordon Brown

The usual reason given by celebrities for going on reality shows is that they want the public to see the real me. The "real" them is usually the reason why their careers have gone down the pan in the first place. That's by the by.

In the current issue of GQ Gordon Brown, the man who hopes to be the next prime minister, tells interviewer Piers Morgan that "I would like people to know more of me".

Why? Who cares what the real Gordon Brown is like? As long as he runs the country properly, he could be a miserable, dour Scotsman for all we care.

Oh.

I don't believe in coincidences

On 14 December 2006 Tony Blair's official spokesman (PMOS) was asked by journalist Joe Murphy if the Prime Minister was that day to be questioned by the police in regard to the selling of honours. The PMOS denied any such interview was going to take place.

Later that day Lord Stevens of Kelpworkington released his report into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed. Oh, and the police interviewed Tony Blair in regard to the selling of honours.

Yesterday (30 January 2007) Tony Blair's close aide Lord Levy was arrested for the second time in the police investigation into the selling of honours. This time Levy was questioned about conspiracy to pervert the course of justice - an offence that carries a possible life sentence.

This morning police raided homes in Birmingham and arrested nine men suspected of terror offences.

Call me a cynic but given the previous behaviour of this government in "burying bad news" was the timing of the arrests a mere coincidence?

The EU is not to blame this time

This morning Tony Blair said that Catholic adoption agencies would not be given an exemption from gay rights laws, meaning that they will have to close because they cannot in all good conscience place children with homosexual couples.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said he was disappointed, but said he hoped there might still be some way the agencies could "continue their work".

He added: "It does seem to me we are having a new norm for what marriage is, because I think normally children should be brought up by a father and a mother and I think that we hold that that is extremely important. The government has a right to legislate and homosexual couples are also able to adopt in other agencies but we want to hold onto this principle."

There is more to this story than a mere battle of "equality". The ruling is part of the Equality Act 2006, inspired by EU directive 2000/78 - "a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation'' . That directive bans any form of "discrimination based on religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation''.

Tony Blair's government chose to extend the meaning of "employment and occupation'' to adoption. The directive also has a clause which says that the EU "respects and does not prejudice the status under national law of churches and religious associations''; and that "Member States may maintain or lay down specific provisions on genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirements which might be required for carrying out an occupational activity''.

In other words, the government did not need to force the Catholic Church to close its adoption agencies but did so in the name of the great god diversity.

Can you imagine other countries like Italy and Poland copying Blair's lead? Once again, Blair is on his own. Devout Catholic Cherie must be so pleased.

So much for global warming

For the last few months "experts" have been banging on about climate change and global warming. We are all apparently killing the planet. We will all soon be living in tropical climes.

Guess what?

This morning I woke up and there was a layer of snow covering my roof, my car and the ground. What happened to the tropical climate?

When I got to the station there were announcements of "severe delays because of multiple signal failures due to the adverse weather conditions".

Could London Underground have not checked the weather forecast and taken precautions to prevent the "multiple signal failures"? After all, we are told what the planet is going to be like in 100 years' time - so why don't they know what it's going to be like this week? It's not as if snow in January is a new phenomenon - it has occurred before.

It makes you think - if "experts" can't get the weather forecast correct, why do we place such faith in their long term predictions?

In the 1980s the "experts" predicted that by the end of the decade every family in Britain would be affected by Aids; we would all know someone who had died of Aids. Billions of pounds were spent telling us to change our behaviour. Twenty-five years later, the Aids explosion hasn't happened.
Guess what? The "experts" were wrong.

In the 1990s we were told that the Millennium Bug would have a devastating effect on our lives. On 1 January 2000 planes could fall out of the sky; your mortgage would be taken from your bank account twice or was it three times? Or, it would not be taken at all and the banks would repossess your home; car accidents would multiply because traffic lights would fail. So much would go wrong. Billions of pounds were spent telling us to change our computers or fix the ones we had. Remember the stickers "Y2K Compliant"? New Year's Day 2000 dawned and nothing happened.
Guess what? The "experts" were wrong.

A few years ago we were told that everyone apart from vegetarians was at risk from mad cow disease. Anyone who had eaten a beefburger in the past ten years (or was it 20?) would fall victim to this hideous infection. Millions of healthy cattle were destroyed. Farmers went bankrupt. Supermarket shelves were empty. Billions of pounds were spent telling us to avoid beef products. And yet, and yet... the devastation never came.
Guess what? The "experts" were wrong.

A year or two back we were told that bird flu would have devastating effects on our lives. Millions were at risk. We would all die of this dreadful infection. What happened? One swan in Scotland felt a bit poorly sick.
Guess what? The "experts" were wrong.

Just a few examples but the "experts" have been wrong time and time again. Why is everyone so sure that they are right about global warming?

To access the police, go on-line

Once again the Old Bill gets it wrong.

On London Underground Tubes there are a series of posters showing a mix of six coppers and PCSOs with the legend "Police Notice Do Approach These People".

The idea is that the Metropolitan Police Force has assigned six coppers to each of the 630 neighbourhoods in London to tackle anti-social behaviour such as graffiti, vandalism, etc,

All well and good except in order to contact your local neighbourhood bobby you have to go on a website.

Surely, the people most in need of a reassuring word are the middle-aged and elderly, many of whom will not have internet access. Those most au fait with the technology probably won't need to call the cops.

Is a free telephone number too much to ask for, Sir Ian?

Hungry? Forget your principles

Earlier this week French police banned an organisation called Solidarity of the French from handing out pork soup to homeless people because, they claimed, it discriminates against Jews and Muslims.

On Tuesday the ban was overturned but on Friday 6 January the Council of State, France's highest administrative court, confirmed the police decision.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said: "This decision clearly establishes the discriminatory dimension of such an operation, from which people of Jewish or Muslim faith are de facto excluded."

How many Jews or Muslims are actually living on the streets of Paris? From my experience both those communities tend to take care of their own.

Now, thankfully I have never been homeless but I would imagine that if I was living rough and someone offered me free food I would be grateful for whatever they gave me.

People in certain positions cannot afford to be choosy. The choice is simple - eat it or go hungry. I know which I would prefer.