Letter from Joanna Lumley - Gurkha Justice campaign

Dear Fitaloon

Thank you so much for your support of the Gurkha Justice campaign. We are overwhelmed by the support the campaign is receiving.

As you may know, on Friday, the Government badly let down the Gurkhas. The new rules they have announced will exclude the huge majority of ex-Gurkhas who retired before 1997 from claiming citizenship in this country. They've given five bullet points that virtually cannot be met by the ordinary Gurkha soldier.

It is so obvious that the treatment of the Gurkhas has been a great injustice. To treat them like this is despicable.

The strong reaction by the public and press should show the Government that they simply cannot get away with this outrage.

I'm ashamed of our adminstration. We will be challenging this decision in the courts and in Parliament. We will not stop now.

This is not a party political campaign: it's simply one for justice. I am so grateful though for immediate support from MPs from all Parties, including amongst others Conservative leader David Cameron and Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg.

Nick Clegg has agreed to put a vote to Parliament this Wednesday calling for a fair deal for Gurkhas. This vote on its own won't change the Government's ruling, but would be an overwhelming signal to the Government that they need to think again.

We need all MPs that support the Gurkha justice cause to turn up and vote for a proper deal for Gurkhas on Wednesday. Can I ask that you take a couple of minutes right now to ask your MP to do so?

You can send a message to your MP directly at www.theyworkforyou.com - please ask them to support the Gurkha Justice motion on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, there will also be a Gurkha Justice rally and protest against the Government's decision, starting at noon in Old Palace Yard, Westminster. Many MPs have already committed to support the vote and join me and others at the rally. I know it's awfully short notice, but if you can, please do come along as well to add your support.

If you can pass on this message to others as well that would be fabulous - and if they sign up to www.gurkhajustice.org.uk we can keep in touch with them directly in future.

Lastly, again, thank you so much for your support. It means so much to us. I spoke today to Lt Madan Kumar Gurung, who has been at the forefront of the campaign since it began. He said to me that he has no fear for the Gurkhas any more, as he knows the loving hearts of the British people will not let them down. With your support we won't.

With warmest good wishes,

Joanna
www.gurkhajustice.org.uk

The Embarrassment Dance

Gordon Brown shows how to embarrass your whole country. Please just resign.



The original is here




YouTube - Gordon Brown - the dance of the comedian

Shocking ComRes Poll for Labour

A ComRes poll in tomorrows Independent will show the following

CON 45(+5) LAB 26(-2) LD 17(-1)

What more is there really to say. Labour are falling apart at the seams. The Lib Dems who you think would manage something better are also dropping. The Tories are looking forward to a massive majority based on these polls. It cannot come soon enough.



politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Tories move up 5 with ComRes

Jonah Brown curse hits Mexico

Less than a month ago Our Jonah met the Mexican President and infected him with his own form of illness, the Jonah Jinx. Gordon Brown is surely not the man that any President or World Leader wants to meet these days. The Pakistani president even pulled out of Press Conference with Jonah.

Now we have Swine Fever and an Earthquake in Mexico. What more can this man do to the world.

Please sign the petition to rid us of this man who is making the world fall apart at the seams.

Hat Tip Habib Butt on PB.Com

Labour Lords a'Lying

Just another routine story of Labour destroying our Democracy. Two Labour lords are set to be suspended for a year after being caught out by the Sunday Times. If anyone in business was found out taking what were essentially bribes they would be thrown out without any thought.

As Lord Taylor put it

"rules are meant to be bent sometimes".

It just seems that with Labour they are meant to be bent, distorted and just plain broken all the time.

Two Labour peers face suspension from Parliament over 'cash for amendments' - Telegraph

Lies, Damn Lies and Labour lies that kill

I have noted on a few occasions the problems with the RAF Nimrod and the problems it has experienced culminating in the crash of Nmrod XV230 that cost the lives of 14 servicemen over Afghanistan. We have litany of issues that this crash has brought to our notice but the most applaing is that basically this type of Nimrod has not been airworthy since it was built and in particular changes to allow air refueling caused the Nimrod to be an explosion waiting to happen.

Now The Independent tells us that Bob Ainsworth lied about a report on the Nimrod. Bereaved relatives were not told of 26 faults which inspection found could threaten aircraft's safety

A report into the safety of Britain's ageing fleet of Nimrod spy planes, which a defence minister claimed did not reveal "any significant airworthiness issues", exposed almost 1,500 faults – 26 of which threatened the aircraft's safety.

Eight of the faults posed risks of fire and explosion, the cause of the catastrophic loss in September 2006 of a Nimrod in Afghanistan. Fourteen servicemen died after leaking fuel was ignited by a hot air pipe, causing the aircraft to explode...

... It found that the initial general condition survey – a visual inspection of the plane – revealed 1,495 "observations", 26 of which had "potential airworthiness implications".

These included chafed wiring, damage to an oil pipe and chafed fuel pipes, all of which could have led to a "fire and explosion". A further nine observations were categorised as "serious engineering issues requiring immediate action".

The MoD ordered the rapid rectification of all the problems on the ageing Nimrod fleet. However, 12 of the 18-strong fleet remain grounded while aircrews fix the problem that resulted in the explosion in Afghanistan.

So whilst these repairs were going on Bob Ainsworth the Defence Minister wrote to families of those servicemen killed, stating that the

"report by QinetiQ on the Nimrod has been received and it does not identify any significant airworthiness issues".

This was an utter and complete fabrication. The letter from Mr Ainsworth also made no mention of the fact that the MoD had ordered a thorough strip-down of the Nimrod to see whether there were any deeper, less visible problems.

This is just yet further news of the deep and dirty corruption that stains this government. Bob Ainsworth should resign immediatlely and Gordon will need to issue yet another apology for his stinking corrupt Government.

Defence minister glossed over Nimrod safety fears - Home News, UK - The Independent

Second Best

Second Best, that's what we get when we fiddle with the election system.

After the fifth count using the wishy-washy sandals and cardigan voting system(STV) at the Aboyne, Deeside and Donside By-Election and despite beating her opponent by over 170 votes in a "normal" first past the post vote Jo Pick came second to Rosemary Bruce.

So instead of getting the best candidate we have now elected a councillor who is on more peoples second most OK person list. This voting system is of course a Lib Dem preference and now we see why. Anything that can produce this sort of result is surely a travesty of true democracy.

Unfortunately for us, accepting second best, has become what we expect in this nation.

I do hope that Rosemary can juggle her family life, Office Manager job (As hubbies 30k Diary Secretary) and the work of a Councillor,, or will being a Councillor be second best to helping her hubbie.

Call me a sore Scottish Tory but this sort of result is a joke. Second Best democracy at work. Maybe Dr David Starkey had a point when he called us a

"Feeble little nation. The Scots and the Welsh are typical small nations with a romantic 19th century-style nationalism."

Full result here. Makes interesting reading. Note the lack of any Labour candidates, even the BNP put up a candidate.

Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside by-election result announced - Donside Today

Welcome Home

After six months we can rest a little easier now as my Brother-in-law has been in Afghanistan. Each and every time there has been bad news in Afghanistan over the past 6 months it has been a fraught time in the house as we wait to here what has happened.

Tomorrow we will welcome him back to RM Condor in Arbroath, but sadly not nine of his friends and colleagues who gave their lives serving our country. In addition there are a number of others who have been injured, some seriously, who we should not forget however hard this government tries to hide the true facts of the cost to our forces of the war in Afghanistan.



BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Marines return from Afghanistan

Gurkha Justice Campaign

Please sign here.

Gurkhas are fighting for Justice. They want the same terms and conditions as their UK and commonwealth counterparts.

Britain has had no greater friends than the Gurkhas. They have served all across the world in the defence of our Country for nearly 200 years. Over 45,000 died in the two World Wars as part of the British Army. They are still fighting in the British Army today.

You may have seen in the media that the Gurkhas have been fighting in Parliament and the Courts. Step by step, things are getting better - but there is a long way to go.

The Government decision of 25th April 2009 on Gurkha settlement rights is yet another huge betrayal of the Gurkhas who have served our country.

Only a tiny fraction of the Gurkhas who retired before 1997 will win settlement rights under the new policy. A Gurkha will have to have served 20 years or more or won one of a handful of medals: the big majority of Gurkhas served for 15 years under standard army policy.

You can read the full details of the Government's decision online.

Gurkha Justice Campaign

Please Gordon just Resign

Please sign this. If only so we don't get anymore cringe making videos like this one.


Petition to: resign. | Number10.gov.uk

Budget Quote of the Day

They are not married to prudence. Indeed, the Prime Minister — the former Chancellor — divorced her many years ago. They are now holding a drink and drugs party on the poor lady’s grave, inviting everyone to come along and spend as much borrowed money as possible

John Redwood taunts Mr Brown over his claims of economic prudence

It must be bad for Gordon.

Things must be bad for Gordon when the local rag, the Press and Journal, has a story like this in the paper. As Nicola Barry says

Apologies have to be spontaneous to be worth anything. The successful apology requires empathy, the strength to admit fault, failure and weakness. The real success of an apology lies in its delivery. So many people say “Sorry” thenfollow it with “Actually, you see . . .”, which is not a real apology but along, rambling justification for whatever you did or said.

Famously the P&J was supposed to be so parochial that it reported the Titanic sinking as "North East Man dies at Sea.

The Fourth Estate really is waking up to Gordon Brown. Maybe this will be McBride's lasting legacy.

For our politicians, sorry really is the hardest word - Press & Journal

Rosemary Bruce - Office Manager

I see our prospective Liberal Democrat Councillor Rosemary Bruce in the Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside by-election advertises herself as an Office Manager.

She is currently an office manager, but has previously worked in both training and hotel management

Strange. I thought she was the Diary Secretary for her Husband, Malcolm Bruce M.P. , at a cost of about £28,500 to us, the general public.

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Liberal Democrats

The IMF's damning verdict

Via the Coffee House we have this story about just what the IMF thinks about the state of our economy. So Gordon's story of us being best placed to comeout of this recession is revealed as just more bunkum from this truly awful Prime Minister. From the devastaing story I have this:

The IMF also suggests (p xiii) that a further $250bn of capital will be needed for UK banks. Don't expect to see any of this in the Budget - this is the truth that dare not speak its name. It is airbrushed out, there will be small print in tomorrow's Budget saying "excluding financial interventions". As the IMF makes crystal clear, this is anything but a footnote. The £190 bn figure is for what is described by the IMF report (p45) as "net costs of direct support to banks, expected eventual costs of guarantees; and costs, net of recoveries, of central bank liquidity provision." When all is done and dusted, flogged and floated, the UK banking crisis will go down in history as the biggest fiscal disaster in peacetime history. And the Brown-Balls tripartite bank regulation system will go down as perhaps the biggest single calamity in modern UK economic history

Meanwhile across at the centre of Gordon's nest of trickery what are they doing, no, not working out a way fix all these problem, oh no, they are trying to blow a smokescreen over all the bad news by concentrating on MP's expenses.

Now whilst this is a worthy endeavour, it is really nothing for Gordon Brown to get involved in. This is something that Parliament must sort out itself, and not something that Gordon should be deciding on.

However what we do get out out of this is one of the strangest ever performances by a Politician I have ever seen. The video shown below is just downright strange. As the erstwhile Dr Crippen says:

I have in the past been chided for speculating about the Prime Minister's mental capacity but this odd concatenation of "la belle indifference" bordering on anosodiaphoria with inappropriate smiles, and the odd dyskinetic gesticulations does make one wonder if he is playing from a full deck of cards. Maybe the video was released without his permission.

When I first watched this, I start to laugh, but then I realised this is the person who is supposedly running our country. I didn't laugh for long. Nick "Toenails" Robinson of the BBC has this to say on his blog about Gordon's decision to do this.

At first, Gordon Brown insisted that the question of how to reform MPs' expenses was a matter for Parliament not for him or the government.

Indeed, when proposals very similar to those he's outlined today were defeated in the Commons, he missed the vote and many of his colleagues backed the status quo.

Later, he called for an enquiry to report after the election.

Then, under pressure, he brought forward the timetable but rejected calls for him and other party leaders to lead the way to reform.

The anger generated by the home secretary's claim for the cost of an adult movie watched by her husband seems finally to have convinced Mr Brown that - fairly or not - he was getting the blame for a system that the public regards with anger and contempt.

Proposing reform and getting it agreed is, of course, a very different matter and will require many, many MPs - and not just the prime minister himself - to perform a U-turn.

The IMF's damning verdict | Coffee House

How Gordon Brown will beat the Recession

According to the Telegraph:

The Prime Minister is due to be immortalised on the animated sitcom alongside its main characters – schoolboys Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh, and Kenny McCormick. In the episode to be aired later this year, Mr Brown becomes part of an international plot to steal money from aliens in a bid to solve the global recession.

Next week nailing jelly to the ceiling.

Gordon Brown to appear on South Park - Telegraph

Charlie surfaces in the Strathy

Via Guido I find that Charlie has surfaced in the Strathy and is at his hypocritical and condescending best. He obviously regards anyone in the area as a hick. Well worth a read just to have a good laugh.

He might just find out that the people of the area are a bit more aware than he thinks about the sort of sewer rat he is.

Already the first letter is in the paper here.

Time to trim the tip top team?

Published: 15 April, 2009

Sir, - As your Labour correspondent Charlie Whelan is implicated in the production of the scurrilous emails by Damien McBride at 10 Downing Street, I trust (not a word the special advisor or political officer group would recognise) that you will ensure his rapid exit from your team. Perhaps across the railing of the Moet roof garden on the 10th floor of Strathy Towers!

Hacked off by hypocrisy - Strathspey and Badenoch Herald

Tory MP Green will not be charged

Amazing that, MP doing his job is not charged!

Will be another embarrassment for Gordon's Government and indeed the Civil Service.

Update: What the CPS said

I have considered whether there is evidence of any additional damage caused by the leaks in question. I have concluded that the information leaked was not secret information or information affecting national security:

It did not relate to military, policing or intelligence matters. It did not expose anyone to a risk of injury or death. Nor, in many respects, was it highly confidential. Much of it was known to others outside the civil service, for example, in the security industry or the Labour Party or Parliament. Moreover, some of the information leaked undoubtedly touched on matters of legitimate public interest, which were reported in the press.

Ouch! Spliffer will not be happy.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Tory MP Green will not be charged

A question for Sir Gus?

If the Civil Service wanted the police to investigate Damian Green over some minor leaks which now appears to have been all hyperbole, makes you wonder why they won't look into the McBride affair a little bit more thoroughly. Even the Sun wants to know!

Perhaps there are still some more e-mails or other embarrassing documents out there just waiting to be found?

Mandarins under fire over arrest of top Tory Damian Green - Times Online

Families of Hercules XV179 crash to Sue MOD

Why the families need to take legal action is beyond me. The Coroner has already issued a verdict of unlawful killing and criticised the MoD's decision not to fit "explosive suppressant foam" (ESF) around the plane's fuel tanks, which experts said could have saved their lives. This means that the MOD surely has a legal liability to pay Compensation and as the report says the MOD have already said

"Our deepest sympathies remain with the families of the RAF and Army personnel who lost their lives when hostile fire shot down Hercules XV179 in January 2005," he said.

"We have apologised to the families for the shortcomings identified at the inquest and by our Board of Inquiry, and we have enhanced the protection of our aircraft, including fitting explosive suppressant foam to all Hercules operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The MoD awaits the full details of this legal challenge from the families' lawyers. Compensation is always paid in cases where there is a proven legal liability."

Compensation should be paid without the need for recourse to taking legal action which can only be more distressing for the families of the victims.

My previous posts on the Hercules crash are here.

Families of 10 servicemen who died when RAF Hercules was shot down launch legal action against the Government - Telegraph

Shurely some Mistake

Surely the mixture of Smeargate and Alcoholics on the bru is a mistake!

Mr Purnell defended Gordon Brown’s response to the smears against Conservatives planned by Damian McBride.

“Gordon Brown acted swiftly and fully as soon as he found about this. He accepted the resignation of Damian McBride he then wrote to every involved expressing his regret and has asked for the system to be strengthened,” he said.

"This was shocking and totally unacceptable way to behave and the Prime Minister has dealt with that".

Mr Purnell also said that the government was taking action to identify alcoholics who were claiming benefits, by sharing data between agencies and offering help to those people,

"It's not of any help to an individual or a families if we just allow them to remain an alcoholic and have their lives blighted by it," he said.

"If we can help people to get sober that can help make a massive difference to their lives”.

PoliticsHome

A Fairy Story

Once upon a time in a far off country their lived some pigs who wanted to rule and they were, the Old Major who sadly died before he came to real power, Snowball who took over from the Old Major and ruled the country for a while trying to do good things but ultimately failing before being knifed in the back by, Napoleon a true tyrant and a villain, who then ruled the country aided by his puppies, Jessie and Bluebell and his right hand man Squealer who manipulated the country to excuse, justify, and extol all of Napoleon's actions.

And then one day Squealer, on his master's orders went just a little bit too far...

... and we all lived happily ever after.

Let us hope!

Gordon Brown draft apology:

Just in from No 10 this apology

"What people have to understand is that this crisis started in America before spreading to Britain. It was in America, not here, that these people started to publish their blogs. When the practice then caught on in Britain we no idea that it would get out of hand so quickly and lead to these problems.

And of course I have regrets that I did not stop the mostly right-wing people who started using these blogs to criticise the government. That's something I am sorry happened. And I also regret that then certain people who used to work for me, and have met from time to time, started planning ways to respond to these unfair attacks on me by right wing bloggers. They were a little too enthusiastic and got caught. Again, that is something I regret.

But I don't think focussing on such tittle-tattle for a minute longer helps anyone, least of all me. Instead, we need to remember that this blogging started in America and spread here. Now we must focus on taking the decisive action to stop this blogging doing any more damage to me, I mean before it does any more damage to public confidence in our political process. And it started in America. Thank you."

Source: Three Line Whip

Update: The Excuse, I didn't do it, a fat boy snuck up and did it and now i'll stop all the fat boys

Dear Gus
I am writing about the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, and the proposals I want to make to tighten this up. I am assured that no minister and no political adviser other than the person involved had any knowledge of or involvement in these private emails that are the subject of current discussion. I have already taken responsibility for acting on this - first by accepting Mr McBride's resignation and by making it clear to all concerned that such actions have no part to play in the public life of our country.
I have also written personally to all those who were subject to these unsubstantiated claims. Mr McBride has apologised and done so unreservedly. But it is also important to make sure such behaviour does not happen again. Any activity such as this that affects the reputation of our politics is a matter of great regret to me and I am ready to take whatever action is necessary to improve our political system. I would therefore now like a more explicit assurance included in the special advisers Code of Conduct that not only are the highest standards expected of political advisers but that the preparation or dissemination of inappropriate material or personal attacks have no part to play in the job of being a special adviser, just as it has no part to play in the conduct of all our public life. I also think it right to make it a part of the special advisers contract by asking our political advisers to sign such an assurance and to recognise that if they are ever found to be preparing and disseminating inappropriate material they will automatically lose their jobs. I think you will agree that all of us in public life have a responsibility to ensure that those we employ and who are in involved in our parties observe the highest standards. Like the overwhelming majority of figures in public life across the political spectrum, I entered politics because of a sense of public duty and to improve the lives and opportunities of those less fortunate than me. My undivided focus as prime minister is on acting to make Britain a fairer, safer and more prosperous nation and, in particular, on guiding the country through the current economic difficulties. The public would expect no less and would also expect the highest possible standards from all their politicians and all those who work for them.

Yours sincerely Gordon Brown

Why bother the current code of conduct for SpAds already covers what McBride did and he should have been sacked and not allowed to resign.

Gordon Brown draft apology: blog crisis is global :: Iain Martin

Crisis hits North Sea oil search

Two articles in the last couple of days highlight the impact the current recession is having on the Oil and Gas industry and how it will impact Aberdeen and the North-East of Scotland in particular. The first in the FT is here and the second in the Herald is here.

As usual at the root of the causes is the way this government has such a short-term view on how to tax the industry and the time it takes them then to react to changes. Labour has consistently managed to ensure that companies regard the North Sea as a risky place to invest because of the ever changing taxes and rules that they apply. This is detrimental to the long term investment decisions that the Oil and Gas companies must make to develop new and modified sources of Oil and Gas and drives them to invest in other areas of the world where the fiscal model is more geared to the long term.

A year ago I had this to say on what Gordon was doing to the Oil industry. It seems that what I was saying then has come to pass quicker than even I expected. I reiterate what I said then

This just goes to show that despite our "Jonah" trying to sell himself as a wonderful Leader and former Chancellor is nothing of the sort. He has dug the UK into a deep hole and now has nothing to extract us from it.

Now, in this difficult period, we see the huge impact that this has on the Industry and its future in the UK. Investments dry up quicker than in other areas as risk is lower. As a result of this the government itself loses, not only just now, when the tax revenues are at their most needed, but also in the future, when we will need to pay off the huge debts that Gordon Brown has burdened the country.

It is worth reflecting on the fact that the FT quotes the fact that about 1 in 8 of the 400,000 jobs in the the Oil and Gas Industry may well go in the next two years, the majority centred around the NE of Scotland. If this does come to pass this will be a disaster for the area which has little other sustainable industries to fall back on. Urgent action by the Government is required, unfortunately, having taken and spent the money in the good times, they have nothing now left to fall back on, which gives rise to a pretty bleak outlook for the future of the industry and the whole area.

FT.com / Companies / Oil & Gas - Crisis hits North Sea oil search

Guido Fawkes lights a bonfire under the Telegraph

The following was written by Guido on the My blogs part of the Telegraph. Makes interesting reading on their part in this whole shabby affair.

I quote

There are a lot of bitter, jealous journalists at the Telegraph and you have behaved shamefully over the McBride story. You even tipped off Downing Street in advance as to exactly what I was up to. It reflects on you a lot more than it does on me.

You revealed sources, broke a confidence, breached a signed non-disclosure agreement and behaved like patsy's for McBride.

You still failed to spoil the story. Your political team is about as weak as it gets, that is why you sucked up to Downing Street.

The Telegraph was once run by gentlemen for gentlemen. This would never have happened under Deedes or Charles Moore.

Do Your Worst

Guido Fawkes : My Telegraph

Lucky - The Lynx Effect

A couple of days ago I wrote about the fire at Strachans in Aboyne. What I hadn't thought of was that just a day later we would have a Chimney Fire in our house. Luckily there was no major damage and just some embarrassment at having to call the Fire Brigade. If you look closely at the photograph above you will see that the metal grate at the top of the Chimney is heavily blackened, it was at one point glowing a very good shade of red with the heat.

The fire itself was caused by something that should not have been in the fire. Just at the end of the night we were burning some extra cardboard and in a box of cardboard someone had put an aerosol can of Lynx deodorant and a plastic inhaler, why and who we are not sure.

I had not long put the box into the fire and replaced the Fire Guard when we heard a small pop this, we think, was a small plastic inhaler used by one of my sons. I was just looking at the fire to see what had caused this when there was an enormous bang as the aerosol can exploded. The force of the blast blew the fire guard out of the fireplace and sprayed ashes and sparks around our lounge. Luckily, even though I was only sitting about 4-5 feet from the fire, the guard did it's job and stopped most of them from getting past it. Almost immediately we could hear a roaring as the chimney went on fire with the debris blown up the flue.

By now smoke alarms were going off around the house, we have 4 all mains and inter-connected, we dialed 999 and got the fire brigade called out as it looked as if the fire was taking hold. I then poured water on the fire to extinguish it and shut the doors to the lounge to try and stop the fire. Luckily it burnt itself out fairly quickly and within 5 minutes all signs of smoke and flames had stopped coming out of the chimney.

The fire brigade, despite being located 6 miles away and being a retained crew, arrived within 15 minutes and checked the house out thoroughly with a heat-sensing camera to ensure it truly was out. After a quick cup of coffee and filling in a report about the fire they were off happy not to have had as much work as the previous day.

It was only then I realised how lucky we had been. If the guard had not been up it is likely that the whole lounge would have been showered with red hot debris and sparks and we could have had a much more serious situation. As it is we got away with no damage apart from our blushes. The combination of melted plastic and other debris could have caused quite serious injuries apart from setting fire to the lounge. The photo below shows the two offending articles.

The other thing we realised was how lucky we are to have retained firemen available in our rural area as if the the EU has it's way we may not be so lucky. I'm glad to see that this is an area that our local prospective Conservative Councilor Jo Pick is highlighting in her campaign for the local by-election on the 23rd April 2009. As usual we see the Lib Dems at their hypocritical best saying they support the opt out of the EU directive when one of their number in Scotland voted to end the opt out along with two Labour MEPS.


MicroShaft Blog: Honest Guv it Wasn't me!

Honest Guv it Wasn't me!

Literally 20 minutes before this happened I was in this shop purchasing some potting soil for my wife. I have a genuine alibi for the time of the fire as we were walking round Loch Kinord very shortly after this.

We went past at about 6pm and it was a real mess with the roof down in both the main shop and the big extension at the back.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | North East/N Isles | Firefighters tackle Aboyne blaze

Where is Macavity?

The Daily Mail speculates that the Damian Green affair might be Gordon Brown's Watergate. It might well be if it carries on and gains legs as it has this weekend. Despite all "Spliffer" Smith's attempts to portray Green as the Devil incarnate, all we see is the desperate misinformation of a dying goverment and the stench of corruption.

Just in case you don't think this is going to be a problem, just realise that the Big Feartie, our own Macavity the Cat has yet again disappeared from view, preferring to put out his minions to try and save his hide. This is the man who has now written two books about "Courage", this is the man that is supposed to be our "Moses", this is the man who is the great Leader of the World's Economic Recovery, so where is he when he is needed?

Yet again this man is cowering in his Bunker hoping this will just blow over and that he can avoid all or any of the blame for the actions of his government. Even his beloved Sun is turning on him calling this Country a Police State , here and now.

And yet again we hear that the real story may yet be still to be released. The murky goings on of this Government and it's Political minions is starting to unravel. The jobs for the boys and the cash for honours are coming home to roost not a moment to soon. Let us hope that they don't reach into the Police or we are all in trouble.

Could this be Brown's Watergate? | Mail Online

Conspiring to tell the Truth

Conspiring to tell the Truth - that's what Damian Green is currently being charged with by the Police. His crime is to have gone against a Government that brokes no opposition to its Stalinesque methods.

As Fraser Nelson says today in articles in the Spectator and the News of the World, he has committed no crimes, just done his job as a responsible and respectable MP. If he has then by his own admittance then Gordon Brown is guilty of the same crime and not just on one occasion. As Gordon says it's not a mole it's just someone who is concerned about the public interest.



Fraser finishes off his article in the Spectator with the following words.

So it’s no excuse for Brown to say that the system went crazy during Green’s arrest. It should make him wonder what kind of monster has been created. It’s no use for Michael Martin to let it be known he’s hopping mad. He can still act. To signal the seriousness of what happened last week, he can resign – not out of guilt, but out of protest. Green’s arrest is a wake-up call for all of us, but no one more so than politicians. The last ten years have been about giving the system more power and money. It’s gone way, way too far. Now’s the time to fight back.

The problem is how does the ordinary punter do this today. We are now in the grip of a government that steadily and surely over the past 11 years has managed to begin to control our thoughts, words and deeds. We spend our lives wondering if what we say or write has been misinterpreted or could be deemed as somehow racist, stereotypical, anti-feminist, anti-government or a whole class of other possible indiscretions. We are scared even to put out the "wrong" sort of rubbish or to dare to drive a car by ourselves or even holiday abroad.

It's gone so far that now is the time to fight back to stop the erosion of our liberties, to stop those who would wish us all to lie down and just do as they say rather than stand up and fight and question what is happening to this country of ours.

When David Davies resigned earlier this year he gave a speech outlining the reasons he was making his stand. I thought at the time it was strange decision as I felt he could make his views heard much better from his then position but supported what he was highlighting. Now I know that, perhaps, he had realised just how far this government has gone to turn us into a Stalinesque Society.

David Davis said this in his speech

But in truth perhaps 42 days is the one most salient example of the insidious, surreptitious and relentless erosion of fundamental British freedom.

And we will have shortly the most intrusive identity card system in the world. A CCTV camera for every 14 citizens, a DNA database bigger than any dictatorship has, with thousands of innocent children and millions of innocent citizens on it.

We have witnessed an assault on jury trials, a bolt against bad law and its arbitrary use by the state.

And shortcuts with our justice system, which will make our system neither firm nor fair and a creation of a database state opening up our private lives to the prying eyes of official snoopers and exposing our personal data to careless civil servants and criminal hackers.

The state has security powers to clamp down on peaceful protest and so-called hate laws to stifle legitimate debate, whilst those who incite violence get off scot-free.

This cannot go on, it must be stopped, and for that reason today I feel it is incumbent on me to take a stand.

To those above must now be added the the terrible crimes of "Conspiring to Tell the Truth"
and "Just Doing your Job".

The story, as it is revealed, of the arrest of Damian Green, may just be the final catalyst to the general public, just as the PBR was earlier this week on the economy, to understanding just what has happened under the insidious direction of the Labour Government. It may just be the time when they say no more and demand we get rid of the pestilence that now threatens to devour the freedoms we so rightly prize in this country. I can only hope that we do not have to suffer for much longer.


The system overreach must come to an end | Coffee House

Tony Benn says we are a "Police State"

Who would have thought Tony Benn would have this to say when a Labour Government was in Power

"It is a total breach of what accords the privileges of parliament and therefore, the electors. His computers have been searched, his e-mail has been frozen."

He said that it was tantamount to a Contempt of Parliament. "Once police can interfere in parliament, then we're into a police state."

Could I have said it better.

Well perhaps then David Davis can. he said

"For five years I have avoided using the phrase 'police state'. But the sort of things going on here is what you expect in a police state, a banana state. This is the most extraordinary event of my parliamentary career."

Nick Clegg gets in on the act as well.

Mr. Clegg called the arrest of Damian Green "a mayday warning for British democracy."

"We have one of the most unaccountable, secretive forms of government anywhere in the modern world.

"Now we have an opposition frontbench spokesman raided by anti-terror police. It's the kind of thing you'd expect in a tinpot dictatorship."

He said that he had consulted with Lord Carlisle who told him that he had "no idea why anti-terror powers could have been used in the first place."

"We need a parliament that can hold the government into account. Our parliament is neutered."

So that's just about all the main parties covered.

Now we await the "Spliffer" or Snot Gobbleer to tell us why this all in the greater good. Oh they have here is the story according to the Daily Mash.

THE Prime Minister last night began the elimination of his enemies as he pledged to cleanse Britain of the virus of dissent.

Crowds cheered and threw rotten fruit at Conservative MP Damian Green as he was dragged from his bed in the early hours by the Prime Minister's anti-treason officers.

The traitor Green was questioned for nine hours before confessing. His whereabouts are now unknown though Downing Street said he was in a place where he could do no more harm.

More arrests are expected today as Mr Brown makes an example of all those who would seek to destroy our faith in his wisdom and kindness.

According to Downing Street the Prime Minister questioned Green personally and was able to secure the names of more than 20 co-conspirators after the application of electrodes and a small wet sponge.

A spokesman said: "Listen well, treacherous scum. We know where you live. Do not try to hide from us. You will simply prolong your inevitable journey into the realms of pain."

He added: "All of those who have at any time questioned the Prime Minister's actions and judgement must surrender immediately.

"We can then begin the joyful process of re-ordering your thoughts and returning you to full productivity."

The people have welcomed the purge with many leaving bouquets and gifts outside Downing Street. Meanwhile primary school children in Reading have made a collage depicting the Prime Minister cuddling a baby horse

Politics Home

A curious statement from Gordon Brown

Hat Tip to Guido for the piccie

I don't often read Conservative Home , it's a bit right wing for a Tory like me, but this article is just exactly what I am thinking about the Damian Green affair.

According to Sky, the word from Downing Street is this:

"This is a matter for the police...The Prime Minister had no prior knowledge of the arrest of Mr Green and was only informed after the event."

Two classic Brownisms here. First, the washing of one's hands of any involvement in a controversy if it seems that negative publicity might result, by saying it is in the hands of an outside quango/ agency/ the courts/ investigation/ report/ independent adjudicator/ study, etc (delete as appropriate). In this case, it is the police.

The second is this - there is a denial of involvement, but the denial relates only to a specific part of the chain of events, in this case, the actual arrest of Damian Green. There is no denial that the PM knew of the investigation or knew that a senior Conservative was allegedly involved. Important questions like whether the PM or other senior ministers gave a go ahead for action are not covered in the statement.

For the sake of our democracy, I would love to be proven wrong, and be shown that the PM genuinely knew nothing about the police action against Damian Green.

Let me give you just one recent example of how Brown's careful use of language can give rise to a misleading impression. At PMQs, the day after Barack Obama was elected, most MPs were given the impression that the PM had telephoned Obama and congratulated him. I spoke with a top newspaper political correspondent who was certain this was the case. This is what Brown actually said:

"Before I list my engagements, I am sure that the whole House will wish to join me in sending our sincere congratulations to Senator Barack Obama on winning the presidency of the United States and writing a new chapter in history in doing so. The bonds that unite the United States and the UK are vital to our prosperity and security and I know from talking to Senator Obama that he will be a true friend of Britain. The Government look forward to working with the new Administration as we both help people fairly through the downturn. I also want to pay tribute to Senator McCain, who has shown the characteristic dignity that has marked a lifetime of service to his country."

At the time, it sounded to most people that the "talking" he referred to was very recent - indeed, that is what is implied by using the present continuous tense, rather than saying "when I talked with Obama". In reality, Brown didn't speak with Obama for some time after, and was upstaged by Nicolas Sarkozy, much to our PM's chagrin.

The point is merely this - it is too early to tell what Brown knew or didn't, but experience shows one needs to study his words very carefully indeed before reaching any conclusions.

Fraser Nelson in the Spectator writes

Part of me hopes there is more to Green’s arrest than this. I don’t want to think I live in a country where anyone, far less opposition politicians, can get banged up for scrutinising the government in this way. And what will the public think tomorrow morning: “naughty Mr Green” or “what kind of police state is this?” No wonder No10 is stressing that Gordon Brown had “no prior knowledge” of what looks like calamitously heavy-handed policing. This could end up being a disaster for him.

Couldn't agree more.


CentreRight: A curious statement from Gordon Brown about the Damian Green affair

Terror in Mumbai

The killing of at least 125 people in India and the wounding of over 300 more, must rank as one of the worst organised terrorist acts since 9/11 outside of Iraq.

This type of horror is just difficult to understand from the rural depths of Aberdeenshire.

And alongside this is the news of the death of 2 more Royal Marines in Afghanistan.

It brings to mind the comparison of the minor problems we are having with the current Financial Crisis and if we can afford to splurge out at Christmas.

My thoughts are with with all the victims of these atrocities and their families.

Bombay (Mumbai) attacks: India points the finger at Pakistan

MP Arrested for doing his Job Shock

Apparently the Tory MP Damian Green has been arrested for doing his job by revealing details that might be embarrassing to the current Zanu-Labour government.

Our Glorious Leader apparently knows nothing about it and his hench-woman "Spliffer" Smith also denied any prior knowledge. However Boris Johnson has admitted knowledge of the event and had apparently advised police against this action.

According to the Daily Mail

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green was accused of an obscure offence of conspiring with 'misconduct in public office' after a Whitehall official was also held.

Counter-terrorism police are understood to have descended on his home in Kent without warning and arrested him over claims that he leaked confidential Government documents.

Many questions remain over this and it will be interesting to see how it plays in the media over the next couple of days.

Interesting to note that senior Conservatives (code for DC) described the move as "Stalinesque" an oblique reference surely to the fact that this has all the signs of the snot-gobbler at work. Surely not he is too busy working out how to cover-up his screwing up of the PBR on Monday.

Apparently the details revealed were as follows:

The information Mr Green is accused of leaking includes a Home Office memo revealing that an illegal immigrant had been working in the House of Commons as a cleaner.

Another leaked document suggested a cover-up by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith of a massive Government blunder.

It suggested the Home Secretary was warned that thousands of illegal immigrants had been cleared to work in sensitive Whitehall security jobs but accepted advice from her officials for a news blackout on the affair.

Another story showed Labour whips had drawn up a secret list of MPs likely to oppose plans to introduce 42-day detention without charge, and a leaked letter from Miss Smith to the Prime Minister revealed she had warned the recession would lead to a surge in crime.

All of these appear to be more than in the Public Interest.

Terror police seize Tory MP Damian Green over 'immigration leaks to the media' | Mail Online

Revolting Lib Dems in Aberdeeenshire?

According to the Press and Journal the Lib Dems are Revolting in Aberdeenshire

AN OUTSPOKEN councillor who resigned from Aberdeenshire’s Liberal Democrat group claims others may soon follow her lead.

Debra Storr said as many as six could quit the council’s ruling group.

If that were to happen the party would lose its majority of three, with the SNP becoming the largest party.

This is all resulting from the fallout from the Donald Trump affair and the associated votes.

The SNP had this to say

The council’s SNP group leader, Joanna Strathdee, said she was worried the Lib Dem group might lose its focus.

She said: “I hope that the leadership do not get too preoccupied with their own internal Liberal politics and continue to focus on delivering quality services to the council taxpayers of Aberdeenshire.”

Whilst Independent councillor John Cox said

it was disappointing to see the Lib Dems in apparent disarray, but he was in no doubt where the fault lay.

He said: “We have two or three councillors who have shown no respect for their colleagues, who have shown no respect for the north-east community, and seem to be throwing the toys out the pram at the moment.”

Rebellion ‘stirring’ in Liberal Democrats - Press & Journal

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'

Calling International Rescue

Yesterday via his sidekick Alistair Darling, Gordon Brown delivered the final Budget for Nu-Labour. In true form Gordon is lumbering under the impression he is an economic genius when, in fact, he is the man that has dug us into the biggest hole Britain has ever been in, wants to more than double the depth of the hole and left us with little hope of being rescued.

Gone yesterday were all the hopes of Tony and his cronies and back came the 70's style socialist budget that will once again destroy this country of ours. All the work that the Tories did in the eighties and early nineties has been and will be destroyed on the back of Labour's profligacy and ineptitude.

Our debt for the country will double in less than three years to one Trillion pounds on the most favourable of forecasts. This is the biggest gamble in the history of the nation taken by a man who supposedly based his thinking on Prudence.

No wonder George Osborne described the plans as

"a huge unexploded tax bombshell timed to go off under a future economic recovery".

Osborne then went on to describe the position of our country as follows

"He's giving £20bn in giveaways and taking back £40bn in higher taxes, including the major rise in National Insurance, a tax on the jobs and incomes of middle Britain," he said.

"It is confirmation of the time old truth that all Labour chancellors run out of money and all Labour governments bring this country to the verge of bankruptcy.

"Stability has gone out of the window, prudence is dead, Labour has done it again."

"That means the chancellor is borrowing more on the nation's credit card than all previous governments put together."

Not only is he taking on all this debt in the forlorn hope it can pull him out of the biggest hole this country has ever been in, but he is doing it without the proper due process of Government.

Has he forgotten that he is not a one-man band, Yesterday was not a Pre-Budget Report but a full blown Budget. Potentially it was the budget that will lumber this country with it's biggest ever deficit and Gordon wants to pass it off as a minor issue barely worth 90 minutes of discussion in Parliament. This is truly a disgrace and must be remedied.

Nobody is saying that no action is required but whatever action that is taken should be subject to proper and full scrutiny by both House's, Some of the changes may even be illegal unless presented to Parliament as Iain Dale asks here.

John Redwood will also be asking the questions about where the discussion and debate are and records his thoughts here.

In summary this nation is currently in a very deep hole, covered in the proverbial, Gordon is trying to make the hole even deeper, deeper than has ever been seen, and covering us in a truly unbelievable amount of the proverbial, and he has no ropes long enough to extract us from the hole and no ideas on how we will survive in the murky depths of the hole and no idea of the true depths the hole will eventually plumb.

It looks like we will again be calling in International Rescue, in the form of the IMF, to extract us from the hole at a later date and to burden yet another generation with the results of Socialism.

Labour New town - Reykjavik-on-Thames

Is the UK the next Iceland? Willem Buiter reckons there is a “non-trivial risk,” what with sterling dropping like a stone and long-term gilt yields beginning to edge up.

The risk of a triple crisis - a banking crisis, a currency crisis and a sovereign debt default crisis - is always there for countries that are afflicted with the inconsistent quartet identified by Anne Sibert and myself in our work on Iceland: (1) a small country with (2) a large internationally exposed banking sector, (3) a currency that is not a global reserve currency and (4) limited fiscal capacity.

Full post here on Buiter’s Moverecon blog


FT Alphaville » Blog Archive » Reykjavik-on-Thames

Should Have gone to Specsavers

A spoof of the recent Barclaycard Advert.



The Original



H/T Theo Spark

No Snatch for Brown

No Snatch Land Rovers for Gordon Brown instead he gets not one but two BMW "Tank's" at a cool 2 million each. Shows how much he cares for our Armed Forces when he spends this on his lily livered hide and still spends pennies on our Service personnel.

According to the Times he even has two of them

Two of the BMWs are understood to be permanently available to Brown. One is kept at Downing Street while the second is based in his Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency in Fife.

Tell that to our personnel serving in Afghanistan and Iraq and who are crying out for decent equipment.

BMW 'tank' shields PM from Al-Qaeda - Times Online

Foy off say Foy Residents

According to the Telegraph

Residents of Foy, the Herefordshire village chosen by Lord Mandelson to form part of his baronial title, have expressed dismay at their unexpected association with the Business Secretary.

I assume from this, that they don't want to be associated with the cheating, lying, scheming and just plain dishonest man that Mandy is. Can't say I blame them, especially when the connection seems so vague.

Andrew Meek, who lives in the cottage once owned by Lord Mandelson, said:

"People here find the whole thing irritating because he doesn't have anything to do with the place and hasn't done since he left.

"He is not particularly well thought of locally, and I think people would like to have been consulted before he took the title. But I suppose that's what politicians do."

The fact that he never "consulted" anyone in the village is completely within character as Mandy famously doesn't discuss business with just anyone as he is so honest and open.

Villagers disown Lord Mandelson of Foy - Telegraph

The Bully that is Paul Dacre

Agreement with Polly Toynbee is something I seldom have, but her article on Paul Dacre, the Daily Mail editor is something I am in complete agreement with.

This paragraph should give you a flavour

Dacre, the nation's bully-in-chief is, like all bullies, a coward: he refused to go on the Today programme yesterday to argue his case. He never dares face his critics, happy to fry alive all and sundry, never apologising, never explaining. There is a good reason for this: the stance his paper takes on just about everything is so internally contradictory and inconsistent that he could never survive even minimal scrutiny. The Mail's mishmash of lurid scandal, bitching about women and random moralising zigzags all over the place, dishing out pain and praise often according to who it has succeeded in buying with its limitless chequebook, or who has infuriated it by selling their wares to another bidder.

Now I'm sure the Guardian has no liking for Dacre but this is a bit more than the Guardian having a go. It exposes the strange link between the two little bullies Dacre and Brown and their even stranger friendship. Polly has this to say

One reason why it's easy to despair of Gordon Brown is his incomprehensible and grovelling friendship with Dacre, Labour's worst enemy. Where was Brown on the eve of his party's disastrous Glasgow East byelection? He was far away at Stratford-upon-Avon, watching Hamlet with his good friend Dacre. The Mail plays a curious cat and mouse game with Brown, sometimes praising his moral qualities on inside pages while assaulting Labour on its front page. Dacre is said to be very close to the Browns - which makes you wonder about the spinning of the PM's much-vaunted moral compass.

The Guradian also has a potted history of Dacre here. An interesting point is the final paragraph

One of Brown's first acts in office was to abandon proposals for supercasinos, a plan which had been the target of a fierce campaign in the Mail.

This maybe shows how deep the relationship is between the two.

Polly Toynbee: Judge Dacre dispenses little justice from his bully pulpit | Comment is free | The Guardian

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918.

In the United Kingdom, although two minutes of silence is observed on 11 November itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday. Ceremonies are held at local war memorials, usually organised by local branches of the Royal British Legion – an association for ex-servicemen.

It is also a good time to remember all those who are currently serving in defence of our nation both here and in the many places of conflict around the world. Some day, let us hope, they will no longer need to do this. Let us hope that time is close.

The following video is of a song by one of my favourites song writers, Eric Bogle, a Scot who has lived in Australia since 1969. He wrote this song over 30 years ago after visiting the WW1 cemeteries in Europe. Here it is performed by the Corries.

Well how do you do, young Willie McBride,

Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside

And rest for a while 'neath the warm summer sun

I've been working all day and I'm nearly done.

I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen

When you joined the dead heroes of nineteen-sixteen.

I hope you died well and I hope you died clean

Or Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene.

Chorus :

Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly,

Did they sound the dead-march as they lowered you down.

Did the bugles play the Last Post and chorus,

Did the pipes play the 'Flooers o' the Forest'.

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind

In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined

Although you died back there in nineteen-sixteen

In that faithful heart are you ever nineteen

Or are you a stranger without even a name

Enclosed and forgotten behind the glass frame

In a old photograph, torn and battered and stained

And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.

The sun now it shines on the green fields of France

The warm summer breeze makes the red poppies dance

And look how the sun shines from under the clouds

There's no gas, no barbed wire, there's no guns firing now

But here in this graveyard it's still no-man's-land

The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand

To man's blind indifference to his fellow man

To a whole generaation that were butchered and damned.

Now young Willie McBride I can't help but wonder why

Do all those who lie here know why they died

And did they believe when they answered the cause

Did they really believe that this war would end wars

Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain

The killing and dying was all done in vain

For young Willie McBride it all happened again

And again, and again, and again, and again.

Does Gordon have the courage to Ride in "Snatch" Land Rover.

No, is the simple answer, yet he expects our troops to do it. Despite all his bletherings about how much money he has or will spend, the problem is that at the moment there is no choice. Not enough helicopters and not enough of the new vehicles on the ground.

When Gordon or one of his minions travels to to Iraq or Afghanistan, they seldom travel in anything but planes and helicopters, which are what the soldiers would choose as well if they had enough of them.

I attended a families day recently for the Royal Marines and saw the vehicles they would be using on the ground on their current tour. They still included the "snatch" Land Rovers and Vikings that have caused so many deaths.

According to the Telegraph

The recriminations over the resignation of SAS officer Major Sebastian Morley in protest over the Ministry of Defence's "gross negligence" in forcing his troops into the vulnerable vehicles spilled over into Prime Minster's Questions. Gordon Brown was asked by Gerald Howarth, the shadow defence minister, if he accepted that when Major Morley deployed in Snatch he "had no choice whatsoever contrary to all the assurances given to commanders that they would have whatever equipment they require?"
Mr Brown said the Government had "done our best in recent years to provide the equipment that is necessary" spending £1 billion on 1,200 new armoured vehicles.
Families and opposition MPs rounded on Gordon Brown, criticising his evasive answers in the Commons on the day another British soldier was killed in Afghanistan.

Col Bob Stewart, who used the flimsy Snatch during his time as a commander in Bosnia in the 90s, said the Prime Minister's comments that the Government had "done its best" was not enough to prevent the loss of 34 lives

"The Government certainly has not done it best. If they had done their best they would have found other vehicles that would have saved lives. They might have ordered these better vehicles now but its too late for the 34 people soldiers who have already died in Snatch. This problem has been highlighted for many years now but only now have they came round to the idea of addressing it.

Let us not forget this is not a new problem Have a look at this article from June 2006 nearly 2 1/2 years ago on the exact same problem. The BBC reported then:

Our correspondent says 18 British troops have been killed by
roadside bombs while travelling in Land Rovers. It equates to almost a quarter of British soldiers killed in hostile action, Conservative MP Roger Gale told the Commons. "These vehicles are widely recognised to be inadequately armoured to withstand roadside bombs and in consequence are seen as a soft target for insurgents," he said.

Des Browne the multi-tasking Defence Secretary responded

"This is a serious issue. I've asked for a review into this," he said. "There are medium and long-term plans in relation to vehicles and I will be looking in the short-term at what we can do to respond to the situation."

So 30 months and a further 16 lives later our forces are still being forced to use this vehicle. This is government ineptitude on a gross scale.

As usual this government is doing too little too late. It has done this in almost all its aspects of government be it defence, the economy, foreign policy, policing, environment or the NHS. It is incapable of preventing problems and can only apply a sticking plaster on the gushing wounds it has helped create.

The only good thing is that people are now seeing this and will again give Brown and his minions a bloody nose as they vote in Glenrothes, the constituency next door to his own, and return an SNP MP.


Gordon Brown accused of 'evasive' response over SAS deaths - Telegraph

President Obama - Cameron:Important moment for world

Conservative leader David Cameron said Mr Obama was the first of a new generation of world leaders.

"In electing Barack Obama, America has made history and proved to the world that it is a nation eager for change," he said.

"This has been an exciting and inspirational contest with two great candidates.

"In these difficult times people everywhere are crying out for change. Barack Obama is the first of a new generation of leaders who will deliver it - he has my whole-hearted congratulations.

"This is an important moment not just for America but for the world.

"Barack Obama's victory will give people a new opportunity to look at the United States and see her for what I believe she is - a beacon of opportunity, freedom and democracy."

Let us hope this is the first of a number of changes in World Leadership to rid us of stale and discredited leaders.


Ananova - Cameron: Important moment for world

Sack this Idiot - Quentin Davies

I see Quentin Davies was forced to make an abject apology to the father of one of the soldiers killed in Afghanistan according to the Telegraph:

The defence minister Quentin Davies has been forced to make an "unreserved apology" to the father of the first woman soldier to be killed in Afghanistan following remarks he made about the safety of military vehicles.

Perhaps now he will also apologise to SAS commander Major Sebastian Morley who resigned in disgust at the "gross negligence" of the Government to equip Special Forces troops.

Quentin Davies is not fit to lick the boots of any of our service personnel and should be sacked by his masters.

Tobias Elwood at Conservative Blogs had this to say.

Regimental ties were a plenty at Defence Questions yesterday, with Conservative Members queuing up to demand an apology from the newly appointed Procurement Minster and turncoat Quentin Davies.

The Minister struck a very lonely figure indeed on the Labour Front Bench as no less than six Conservative MPs asked him to apologise to the House of Commons, indeed, to the British Army for suggesting that British military commanders based in Helmand Province were choosing the wrong vehicles to take out on patrol.

As if there was a choice. Dozens of soldiers have been killed or injured using the soft skinned 'snatch landrover', a relic of the Northern Ireland hostilities, so called for its role in plucking undesirables off the streets of Belfast; an asset in Ulster but now a liability in Afghanistan. There have been repeated requests for this vehicle to be replaced and, last year, the Government finally conceded. To avoid a lengthy procurement process the MOD bought the reliable and heavily armoured Mastiff and Jackal vehicles 'off the shelf' and these are now arriving in Helmand.

We waited in vain for a proper apology. When the Minister makes his first trip to Afghanistan he will quickly learn about the limitations commanders have in relation to mobility and protection. Until then the Defence Secretary might want to keep him on a tighter leash...

The cry for a tighter leash would be better said as letting him off the leash to wander aimlessly like the turncoat he is.

Who would want this man on their side in any battle.

Minister forced to apologise for Army family insult - Telegraph

Quentin Davies - An idiot

A request I sent to Malcolm Bruce's office today.

I note that Mr Bruce is down for a Topical Question this afternoon at Defence Questions. As the Next of Kin of a serving Scottish serviceman currently deployed in Afghanistan, can I ask that he might ask a question about the suitability of Quentin Davies for a Ministerial Role at the MOD in the light of his statements this weekend, in particular his statement as follows "Obviously there may be occasions when in retrospect a commander chose the wrong piece of equipment, the wrong vehicle, for the particular threat that the patrol or whatever it was encountered and we had some casualties as a result.", in reference to the use of so-called "Snatch" Land Rovers. The impact this sort of statement has on the morale of those serving at the moment makes this sort of crass idiocy beyond belief.

I realise that Mr Bruce is not my MP but his constituency is the closest to mine and those of many of the service personnel currently serving in Afghanistan who are based at Arbroath.

Yours in hope

Minister accused of 'insulting the memory of soldiers over SAS chief slur' - Telegraph

MSP's hack the Hack's

Superb, just what you would expect from some Politician's and some real Hack's.

A charity football match between MSPs and sport pundits was abandoned after the bad-tempered game erupted into a mass stand-off between the two sides

The story in the Telegraph continues

The game started with players exchanging aggressive banter, but the flashpoint came after 40 minutes when Labour's John Park and BBC commentator Chick Young both went for the ball.

Mr Park's tackle was mistimed and Mr Young had to be stretchered off. He labelled the MSP team an "absolute disgrace" and claimed he had been left with six stud marks in his leg.

The MSP was ordered from the pitch by the referee and replaced, but relations between the two sides got worse in the second half when at least one punch was thrown.

Players from both teams squared up to each other, pushing their opponents in the chest. The referee decided he had seen enough and abandoned the match after about 55 minutes with the score 6-2 to the politicians.

The referee apparently said he'd never seen anything like it. He refs a lot of kids' games and said under-10s behave better on a Sunday morning."

H/T Easter Road on Political Betting

MSP football match abandoned after mass stand-off - Telegraph

Plods Guide on photography

Ever wondered where you can take photographs? According to the Register this may be tightened up with the usual excuse of terror laws.

Terror Laws due to be passed this autumn, could provide Police with a new and significant power to stop individuals taking photographs.

This follows reassurances from Home secretary Jacqui Smith that there is "no legal restriction on taking photographs in public places", which is why she will shortly be issuing police with updated guidelines on ... how to enforce legal restrictions on photography.

However according to the Register things may be changing as

Far more worrying is s.75 of the Counter-Terrorism Bill, even now tracking its weary way through the Lords. This makes it an offence to "elicit or attempt to elicit information about" members of the armed forces, intelligence services, or policemen, where this information could be of use to a terrorist.

Names? Addresses? Photographs? Since almost every other item of anti-Terror law has eventually been broadened out beyond its original scope, there must be some concern that once in place, these new powers will be used to make life uncomfortable for anyone wishing to photograph police at demonstrations. Or just police anywhere?

After all, if you are out demonstrating, you probably have a political axe to grind, and as far as New Labour are concerned, the dividing line between political activism, extremism, generally disagreeing with our current plight and involvement in Terror is increasingly fuzzy. Woe betide you disagree with our Glorious Leader or would like to enquire of an Officer's number as he cudgels you into the back of the van.

Home Office guides plods on photography • The Register

Nato's Afghan forces 'hit limit'

Coalition forces in Afghanistan have

"now reached their limit"

according to General Sir Michael Rose, former commander of UN forces in Bosnia.

What does he mean by this?

General Rose, who has recently returned from Afghanistan, says while the international community is clearly committed to a victory there, serious operational problems remain which could still undo NATO's mission.

He also points out that there are only 8,000 servicemen and women in a vast swathe of territory that is home to more than a million Afghans.

He then goes onto say

As in all insurgency wars, winning the confidence and consent of the people of Afghanistan will always be more important than winning any particular tactical level military battle against the Taleban

This is not new thinking and particularly not new thinking for Britain. The "Emergency" in Malaya (as was) was won by this sort of tactic, getting the people on board and using them to win the war. We and the USA in particular have been very poor at achieving this both in in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gen Rose also suggests forming Afghan tribal militias to aid western forces and the Afghan army.

"By winning the support of the Pashtun tribes who live on both sides of the border and by developing a sympathetic understanding of their complex tribal systems, it should be possible to achieve security in the key eastern and southern areas of Afghanistan,"

However, he does believe the war is being won - at least on a military level - for now.

"Afghanistan is not Vietnam, it is not even Iraq. The insurgency war that is being fought in Afghanistan today is militarily winnable and it is slowly being won."

How long it would take to win this war and how many of our servicemen's lives this will cost is not clear and this should be a huge concern. Only by getting the people of Afghanistan and Iraq involved can we really hope to see this war won without many years of conflict.

BBC NEWS UK Nato's Afghan forces 'hit limit'

Darling scraps Brown's Golden Rules

The Brown "Golden Rules" are no more.

No more boom and bust - Ha!

FT.com / World - Darling to scrap Brown’s fiscal rules

Service for fallen Scots soldiers

Last night I dropped my Nephew, Ben, off with his Mum, Gill, after he had spent the weekend with us and his granny, aunt and cousin's. Today he will attend a Special Service for Gill's Husband and Ben's Stepfather Captain John Mcdermid and the 36 other Scottish servicemen who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq in the current conflicts.

Ben will march with some of his school to honour the Scottish Servicemen who have given their life in the conflicts. Let us not forget them. RIP.

Also let us think of Ben's father who is currently abroad on active service and the many others who are serving with him and in other locations.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Service for fallen Scots soldiers