Honouring 'The Fallen'

If you haven't seen this then I recommend you watch it. It's available on BBC IPlayer and is being re-shown at other times on the various BBC channels.

Three hundred British troops have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in seven years - a death toll film-maker Morgan Matthews set out to honour in a three-hour programme. What drove him to make such a harrowing documentary?

For a year Morgan Matthews has been on a mission to reconnect the British public with the human cost among British forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was 12 months ago that he started work on an ambitious TV programme to chronicle all those who have died for Queen and country in these ongoing wars.

Matthews recalls well how the project crystallised in his head. He had been "flicking through a newspaper" and noticed "on about the fourth or fifth page... a report of the latest British service personnel to be killed, with a small thumbnail picture and a couple of paragraphs".

If you do watch it then be prepared, it is at times not easy viewing, and at times just plain distressing, but in my humble opinion, it is worth making every politician watch this before they blandly say we have done our best. It is also just plain humbling to watch the bravery of those left behind. After you have watched this programme then maybe, like the film maker, you will be able to say

"When I hear news, as I did this morning, of two people who have died, I think of them as people. And I think about the families behind them."

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Honouring 'The Fallen'

Blair 'will not quit yet as MP'

Brown showing what he would do to Blair.

Strange how this story came out today. Will this be the last spin of the Blair top. I'm predicting a kicking for Labour in Scotland so hopefully he will get the message and do the decent thing tomorrow.

Blair 'will not quit yet as MP'

Recognise NHS success, says Blair

Should be a short Speech!

Hat tip I'm Backing Blair for the Image.

BBC NEWS Politics Recognise NHS success, says Blair

Blair sends Cabinet into Scotland

Apparently Mr Blair in a final realisation that he is about to be kicked out in Scotland is sending the "Big Boys" into Scotland, thereby sidelining poor old Jack McConnell our humble First Minister.

According to the Times

Tony Blair has ordered his Cabinet colleagues to clear their diaries and spend time in Scotland over the last ten days of the election campaign in a desperate attempt to turn the tide on the Nationalists.

I should think Alex Salmond will be laughing all the way to Holyrood at this. I don't think Blair has quite cottoned onto the fact that Labour is dying in Scotland at the moment and sending up the Blair lackeys will just make it worse. The examples of Milliband and Gordon Brown being seen in Scotland should make quite a few more votes move away from Labour.

The Times goes on:

Downing Street says that Mr Blair wants to plant the message in voters’ minds that, while they may consider voting SNP because they “fancy a change”, that cannot be viewed as a safe vote because of the SNP’s independence aim.

This is again shows the lack of understanding of what is going on in Scotland. After 10 years of mis-government and the woeful Lab/Lib/Dem coalition at Holyrood, it is not that Scotland "fancies" a change, it is that Scotland demands a change from their current corrupt government.

Now I'm not saying vote SNP to get this change, but with our voting system, I am saying vote anything but Labour and their trough feeding lackeys the Lib Dems. It is time to send a message to Blair/Brown that they are no longer wanted in Scotland or indeed in the rest of the UK.



Blair sends Cabinet north in late challenge to SNP

Blair - Kiss of Death

I wonder if Mr McConnell really wanted all this help from Blair. I suspect he couldn't say no but would have liked to.

Mr Blair dismissed accusations that he was seen as a liability to the Scottish Labour campaign. He said 10 years in government meant it was inevitable that he would become a controversial figure, but that he was able to look back on Labour's achievements with real pride.


BBC NEWS | Scotland | Blair backs McConnell's campaign

Police told Blair would resign if cautioned

According to the Telegraph:

"Make no mistake, Scotland Yard was informed that Mr Blair would resign as Prime Minister if he was interviewed under caution," said a source. "They were placed in a very difficult position indeed."

Just imagine if I said I was to resign my post at work to the police rather than be interviewed under caution. I would rightly be laughed out the door and told to go and resign. So we now have two levels of justice. One for the rest of us and one for those in government.

Just some more of the hypocrisy that this Labour Party uses to hang on in government.


Police told Blair would resign if cautioned

Blair finally admits full scale of war casualties

Tony Blair has been for a long time embarrassed by his decision to take the country into war in Iraq. No more telling example of this is in the article above. Extracts below:

The Independent has learned the figures will show that 114 British soldiers were seriously hurt in Iraq from 2004, compared to 46 during the invasion of 2003.

In Afghanistan, the figures reveal that the casualty rate rose last year to 30 seriously hurt, compared to two for the previous year. The rise was caused by a Taliban offensive last summer, and raised fears that it could rise sharply again when the next, expected, offensive gets underway.

Last night, MPs on all sides called for figures on the wounded to initiate a debate about how British casualties are treated at home. Some MPs contrasted how UK casualties returned home with little publicity whereas in America returning casualties are treated as war heroes.

The refusal to publish casualty figures has helped the impact of both conflicts on communities across the country to be underestimated. In many cases, seriously injured soldiers have had to cope with loss of limbs.

One final point on the article is the following:

The publication of the figures next week is unlikely to end the row. Some campaigners believe they are suspiciously low, but the MoD will insist they are as accurate as possible. They have been processed by the Defence Analytical Services Agency. "It has been a massive job," said one source.

The only bit of this that has been massive has been getting Mr Blair to acknowledge these figures, he would still rather have them covered up. He cannot admit he was wrong.

I also note that he has come out in favour of the Falkland War, which has it's 25th anniversary this year. Speaking to the historian Simon Schama on a website interview he said:

(Mr Blair) agreed it had been a "scary gamble". "But when I look back, yes, I have got no doubt it was the right thing to do," he said."But for reasons, not simply to do with British sovereignty, but also because I think there was a principle at stake which is that... a land shouldn't be annexed in that way and people shouldn't be put under a different rule in that way." He noted that the British casualty figures were higher than those for the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. When you look back on it and you talk to the people who were there at the time, and as I say I wasn't even in Parliament at the time, but I think it took a lot of political courage actually to do that."

You should note the the line in bold where Mr Blair tries to justify his invasion of Iraq, This man is unbelievable!

It is well to remember that in 1982 Mr Blair was a member of CND and would have called the Islands Malvinas and demanded United Nations authority etc etc.

In addition we have the following again from the Independent:

Wives of serving soldiers being made to 'feel like second-class citizens':
The wives of British servicemen feel they are treated like "second-class citizens" and regarded as an "irritation" by the military establishment while being left to cope alone with the constant fear of their partner being killed.

Just one more embarrassment for Mr Blair.

Wives of serving soldiers being made to 'feel like second-class citizens'

Ministers finally admit full scale of war casualties

Lost in the Brave New World of NHS

Push for Personalised Services

Lost in the Brave New World of NHS

Have a look at the two posts above and contrast the difference between the Imaginary that Mr Blair thinks exists, because he would never have to do this himself, and the Reality that people are finding.

This is a minor example of what happens out there in the "real" world, not what the politicians think happens. In the Independent article Jemima Lewis says

Luddite though I may be, I am far more computer (and consumer)-literate than many of my parents' generation. It is the most fundamental principle of the NHS that it should be accessible to all, yet these well-meaning, sloppily executed reforms may create a two-tier system of access. The young, determined and scientifically minded will be able to find their way to the best care. The old-fashioned, impatient or technologically inept will give up in despair - myself included.

Whilst in the BBC article Mr Blair called for

"truly personalised" services with people given the information and power needed to choose a school or hospital.

This is typical of this government who thinks that everything is rosy out there as they regard us from their High Towers.

And as for the comment from Patricia (Best year so far) Hewitt that

Technology is really expanding what is possible.

She wouldn't know what "Technology" was if it slapped her round the chops. As the shadow Health Secretary put it

Rather than more warm words, what people want is for the government to trust the professionals.

Push for Personalised Services

Lost in the Brave New World of NHS

Blair called to account over abandoned troops

The Independent on Sunday reports today that

British soldiers returning from war are suffering unprecedented levels of mental health problems amid claims that the long-standing "military covenant" guaranteeing them proper care is in tatters.

They have investigated details of problems reported by returning service personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan and reveal that

More than 21,000 full-time servicemen and women who have served in Iraq, as well as army reservists, have developed anxiety and depression.

Apart from terrible toll on service personnel the paper also reports on the fact that the government is doing little to help those who return to our shores injured or maimed, it reports

The extent of the hidden costs of war is exposed in the same week that five British soldiers were killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq, the highest death toll since 2003. A total of 6,600 British troops have been injured in Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 600 flown back to Britain for treatment. But Combat Stress and the British Legion say that even these figures grossly underestimate the real scale of the psychological injuries among troops. The charities warn that the true cost in terms of family breakdown and broken lives will not be felt by society for at least a decade.

They accuse the Ministry of Defence of abandoning vulnerable soldiers, some of whom experience crippling nightmares and flashbacks, by closing dedicated military hospitals and putting troops in civilian wards.

One senior Serviceman, Air Marshal Sir John Walker said

He believed that the military covenant is at "breaking point". The former head of Defence Intelligence Service and deputy chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee said: "Has the covenant been broken? Well in my opinion it has certainly been stretched to breaking point. This relationship should be based on trust, and I am afraid sending our forces into an illegal war is a severe breach of trust."

At the end of this month, Britain will become the only country in Europe without a dedicated military hospital when it closes the doors of Haslar Hospital at Gosport, Hampshire.

Meanwhile an MoD spokesman said that the defence budget had increased and that junior soldiers had received a substantial pay rise.

That should really help!

Independent Online Edition > UK Politics

How Blair has stood by Niger Claim

Do you know what the "Niger Claim" is. According to this article it is notorius and first surfaced in Britain.

You might not know it by that name but is has led to one of the biggest on-going disasters the world has seen. The "Niger Claim" refers to how Iraq was attempting to get its Uranium from Niger for Saddam's supposed nuclear programme.

Unfortunately the "claim" as reported by the Indepedent

which was picked up by President George Bush in his January 2003 State of the
Union speech three months before the invasion, was used as a key piece of
evidence to justify the war. But the alleged incriminating documents forwarded
to the UN nuclear agency were found to be a crude fake.

turned out to be a fake.

The Independent goes on to say

The fallout from the flawed intelligence has claimed a slew of victims in
Washington, including the scalp of the Central Intelligence Agency chief George
Tenet.
Yesterday, almost four years after the Iraq invasion, the nuclear
dossier led to the toppling of a central White House figure, when Lewis
"Scooter" Libby, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of
perjury.
However, despite the CIA's reservations over the central claim that
Saddam was allegedly attempting to buy yellowcake from Africa for his nuclear
weapons programme, and the White House having formally backed away from the
report, the British Government still clings to its original position.

So now you know what the "Niger Claim" is. Perhaps Mr Blair will use the Elf Defence to justify his claims.

Oh, by the way pop along to Iraq Dossier for more details on the work of fiction that took us to war.

Independent Online Edition > Americas

Cluedo Game

The BBC were last night stopped from broadcasting an item about the "Cash for Honours" scandal that has Tony Blair's fingerprints all over it (The Scandal that is).

The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, a well known lackey of Tony Blair, obtained the injunction on Friday night at a hearing which lasted about two hours at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Lord Goldsmith's office said he had acted

"Completely independently of government" on the matter.

Back in the land of reality various people have speculated on who the injuction might cause embarrassment to. Benedict White implicates Lord Levy, hints from Iain Dale point at him also.
Guido meanwhile points to Ruth Turner or Sleazy Levy. Interestingly the BBC early on had a photo of Ruth Turner on their article.

My take is it's probably both of them with more than a hint of Tony Blair in there as well.

Charges relating to this now look imminent.

Positive Proof that Tony Blair is a ..........

Tony is 3rd right at the back.

Thanks to the BBC.

Iraq Dossier

The above linked site details the investigations of Chris Ames as detailed below:

Iraqdossier.com is intended to provide a definitive and authoritative account of the UK government's September 2002 dossier "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction". It does not contain conspiracy theories. Its purpose is to put on one site all of the evidence that shows how the dossier was "sexed-up" by the government's spin doctors and how the government carried out a co-ordinated strategy to cover this up. It includes material from the various official inquiries into the dossier, documents placed in the public domain by other sources and information obtained by Chris Ames through requests under UK Freedom of Information legislation.

The existence of this site reflects the inability or reluctance of the mainstream media to uncover and tell the truth about the dossier.

Lies and Libel This site lists specific instances where named individuals have lied in connection with the dossier. Readers should not think these allegations have been made lightly or in ignorance of the libel laws. All the examples given cite the evidence that shows them to be justified.

Worth looking at as summaries are the following

• Highlights


• Blairs Lies


• Campbells Lies

That should keep you going for a while.

When you have read this, think about what the dossier acheived. It has led us into a disastorous war with too many victims to number and an ongoing siutuation that is killing hundreds more each day.

Most people would agree that Saddam and Iraq were a disaster. Regime change was needed in some form, but our direct intervention with little or no plan for the future has created a bigger disaster.

Too have confirmed to us that we have been systematically lied to by this government on this and many other things should be beyond belief, but we have, as a nation, now become so used to it, that we accept it as a 'norm'.

We must get rid of this government before it totally destroys us as a nation.

Welcome to IraqDossier.com — Iraq Dossier - the facts

Blair's other Mass E-Mail

My understanding is that our glorious leader has never attended the return of bodies or attended the funeral of members of the Armed Forces killed in Iraq an Afghanistan.



Hat Tip to Beau Bo D'Or

Not me Guv - Blair defiant over Iraq security

I see our glorious leader has assumed no responsibility for the situation in Iraq, He said

" he bore no responsibility nor would he apologise for the "terrible" security situation in Iraq. "I don't think we should be apologising because we're not causing the terrorism. "It's being caused by internal extremists who are linking up with external extremists. And 80-90% of that violence is in or around Baghdad and it's being caused deliberately in order to stop the government of Iraq - which 12 million people voted for - from functioning."

So his lack of forethought prior to the Invasion of Iraq should not be taken into account. Did he think that the extremists would sit on their thumbs and say thank you. This man is beyond belief and must be got rid of as soon as possible. When will Gordon Brown have the balls to stand up and say it's time to go Tony.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Blair defiant over Iraq security

I did it my way - So bugger the rest of you

Worth a read, what initially comes through is that Tony believes he is right about everything and bugger the rest of you. More later.


Exclusive: Tony Blair's Exit Interview - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com

Blair announces Iraq Withdrawal to Media.

I see our "Glorious Leader" is announcing his plans for withdrawal from Iraq.

Tony Blair is expected to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of UK troops from Iraq.

The prime minister is due to make an announcement in the House of Commons on Wednesday in which he is expected clarify the details.

Mr Blair is expected to say hundreds of troops will return from Basra within weeks with more to follow later.

As usual the announcement is made first to the newspapers and media rather than to Parliament. Not surprising this as the "Glorious Leader" seldom wants to be associated with debates on Iraq in the House of Commons.

As usual the details are leaked to the press with no real substance and are probably aimed at quieting his back benchers after todays bad news in the Polls.

From what little details are available it looks like the promised withdrawal will be longer and slower than expected, though I'm sure this will be glossed over.

As my wife wrote on Political Betting

"Whatever decisions this government have taken over Iraq, it has been been for their own political agenda rather than the good of the Iraqi people or the British military"

"I have concerns about how much involvement the commanders on the ground in Iraq have had in the withdrawal details and media operation before this announcement was leaked."

"Before every newspaper in the UK has it on their frontpage, I hope that the MP’s sitting in the chamber remember that comment (A Downing Street spokesman said: “It is right that the prime minister should update Parliament first").when they read about before they troop into the HoC tomorrow!
Still never let it be said that Blair has ever shown any regard for the British soldiers and their families injured or killed, or parliament when he could not be bothered to even turn up for the last debate on Iraq. Watching the panarama programme last night I was struck by how little media coverage has been given/allowed or figures issued for the casualties in Iraq.

Obviously the "Glorious Leader" will be hoping that this announcement will be part of his legacy as Prime Minister, unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth, his legacy will be Iraq but it will be a hollow legacy.

His real legacy will be how he brought us into the war via a series of lies and half-truths, His legacy will be the hundreds of thousands of dead civilians because of a horrific lack of foresight, His legacy will be the thousands of dead soldiers and allied personnel and finally his legacy will be the grieving families of all the British Armed forces killed in Iraq.

Let us hope that this withdrawal is accomplished safely and that Iraq will be a more peaceful place.

Perhaps I am cynical but tomorrow may also bring other announcements that may not reflect well on the Blair government.

UPDATE 21-02-2007 12:48

Amazing as prophesied by my Wife and agreed by me news of further interviews in the "Cash for Honours" scandal is released this morning. Oh what fortuitous timing. This continues the unbelievable stench that now surrounds Mr Blair.

Let us only hope that withdrawal from Iraq has been properly discussed, correct strategies have been developed and politicians have not been forcing the pace.



BBC NEWS | UK | Blair 'to confirm Iraq timetable'

Cool Britannia - RIP

Cool Britannia has finally rolled over and died- RIP. Now if only Mr Blair and his tired and knackered NuLabour party would just do the same.

I see Mr Gallagher from the Beatles tribute band Oasis has launched a scathing attack on Mr Blair. He said

people had thought Mr Blair "was going to be John F Kennedy", but he was now "saddled" with the Iraq war.

He went on to say

"When the Labour Party got in it was all about children and education and yet 10 years down the line there's people saying that kids are better off in Poland... I don't really think there's anything left to vote for. That's why people don't vote... why people would rather vote for celebrity talent shows than would vote for politics."

On the Tories and David Cameron he had the following to say

To say no comment is typical of him and his party copping out. They wait to see what Tony Blair says...and then they move in behind and switch it and change a little bit. It's like a song writer who's eternally ripping off someone else's song and just changing the odd line a little."

Which is a bit rich since most of his songs seem to be a ripoff of the Beatles.

It's interesting to note that By 1998 the Economist was commenting that "many people are already sick of the phrase," and by 2000 - after the fall of Britpop - it was being used mainly in a mocking or ironic way. Much the same then with Mr Blair and his party.


BBC NEWS | Politics | Oasis's Noel attacks Blair record

Nuclear review 'was misleading'

I see Mr Blair tried his usual trick of promising one thing and delivering another.

A judge ruled that the consultation process before the decision last year had been "misleading", "seriously flawed" and "procedurally unfair".

Having been found out our Mr Blair went on as usual and

said while the ruling would change the consultation process, "this won't affect the policy at all".

So basically he won't change his policy whatever the outcome. Now I wonder where he has done this before and what the consequences of that have been.

Initially Mr Blair had said that before any decision was taken to build more stations, there would have to be

"the fullest possibly public consultation and the publication of a further white paper setting out our proposals."

This is what the judge has found to be completely untrue.

Each of the major parties had a comment on the above

Green Party spokeswoman Sian Berry also said the Energy Review had merely been a "rubber-stamping exercise".
Shadow trade and industry secretary Alan Duncan described it as "an astonishing ruling" which showed up the government as "fundamentally deceitful."
Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Chris Huhne said: "The judgement really shows you can't perform a 180-degree U-turn on a matter as important as nuclear power without a proper public debate. It's a real slap in the face for the prime minister's sofa style of government."

P.S. I have no problem with the idea of Nuclear Power. It's the process that I am concerned with and the dictatorial way that Mr Blair tries to do Government.


BBC NEWS | Politics | Nuclear review 'was misleading'

Watergate taunts rile Blair as calls to quit grow

And more references to Nixon. What a damning legacy he will leave.

The Scotsman - UK - Watergate taunts rile Blair as calls to quit grow