Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Having, through a mix of laziness, business & the 'we're all going on a summer holiday' feeling not blogged here for almost a month, I was kicked back into action by the report on Sky this morning that over the last year someone in Britain has been spied on by the 'powers that be' every minute.

That's right, every minute of last year someone has had their phone calls, their email, their text messages or their personal data 'snooped' on.

These surveillance powers were originally claimed by the government to be necessary to prevent terrorism. A laudable objective - saving lives & preventing another 07/07 has got to be good - right? Most of us would agree with that?

However, these powers were subsequently 'opened up' for the use of Local Authorities and a whole raft of of other groups - basically Uncle Tom Cobley and All - with the result that my local Council used surveillance powers meant to prevent terrorism, for checking where a 3 year old school place applicant lived and to spy on people shell fishing . Cambrideshire Council used these same powers to check up on paperboys' & girls' paperwork. It appears that Councils generally have been abusing these powers and are continuing to do so.

Back in February 2008, the BBC had this to say - and it looks as though things have only got worse. A worrying point, Google any of these links and the majority appear to be 2008 or earlier. Have these abuses become so commonplace that they're not even considered newsworthy now?

British people now live in the most spied upon state in the world (by its own government) according to an article & survey in The Register. Chris Huhne commented on TV this morning that the current government need to realise that 1984 was meant as a warning - not a blueprint.

So, under Gordon Brown we now have a surveillance state that Joseph Stalin could only dream about. Official snoopers that Erich Honecker and his East German Stasi would have given their eyeteeth for.

Peaceful protest appears to be no longer allowed with 145 complaints about police behaviour during the recent G20 protests and with at least one death under investigation.

Where did we go so badly wrong? Britain 2009 seems to be a million miles away from the country that Harry Patch and his friends fought for. How can we restore it?

Getting to grips with anti-social behaviour

While this Govt of None of the Talents (GONTS) continues to ruin the country, it's nice to see that local jobsworths on the Councils are continuing to do their best for the crime statistics by targeting OAPs for 'crimes' of anti-social behaviour.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8153073.stm

Well, it's so much easier to threaten & harass OAPs rather than tackle thugs who might respond in a personal & anti-social way isn't it?

And they still get another box ticked, another crime solved.

Councils - don't you just love 'em?

Double glazing sales calls on your mobile?

You may have already heard about this but, early next week apparently, 15 million UK mobiles will be on a directory which will mean that anyone with time & £1 to spare will be able to contact the owners of those numbers. It’s easy to unsubscribe but, again apparently, it must be done before the beginning of next week to make sure that you are ex directory. If you, like me, have an ex-directory, number witheld landline & subscribe to TPS (ah, bliss, no more double glazing sales calls as I start serving up dinner) you may want to suggest it to your friends and family who have UK mobiles or they could be swamped by unsolicited messages and calls. Removal is recommended by the BBC - see link HERE

To remove your number click on the link below, you'll need your mobile phone with you to do this as they text you a code
1, http://www.118800.co.uk/
2, Click on ‘Ex Directory’ at top right hand side of page, from there it’s straight forward (apparently).

Alternatively, you can text 'E' to 118800 from your mobile, they send you an SMS......... Funnily enough, I've sent them an 'E' today from both my UK mobile phones - have I had an SMS back? No, I haven't. So I've already drafted my email to the Information Commissioner's Office I'll hang fire until lunchtime tomorrow & then send it if I haven't had a response.

I emailed about this to some of my friends - one of them came back with the comment that by contacting the company in any way you were merely validating your mobile number & what happens if later on, they sell their whole database, complete with your validated number? His suggestion was just never to answer a call where the number is not already in your phone book. So, two different suggestions for dealing with mobile calls you may not want - the choice is yours.

UPDATE 17/07

I had tried emailing the Information Commissioner to complain but a) you have to fill in a long form & b) you have to have contacted the original company first & failed to get any result. Typical bureaucratic toothless talking shop it would appear - no wonder the govt are so light hearted about the continual losing of data - there seems to be no real punishment for flouting all the data/information protection laws.

So I emailed Working Lunch instead. They have had the 118800 boss on the program again - a different boss this time - and he explained how the new singing, dancing 118800 site would be all things to all men (and women). He also said that they were working their way through the 1,000s of opt out requests they've had. See the interview HERE

Armed Forces Day 2009

Today is Armed Forces Day. Today is the day we honour our Armed Forces. Today there'll be parades - and bands - and celebrations. Today we'll hang out the flags - already the Union Jack & St George's Cross flags are fluttering from one of my upstairs windows. Today we'll wear our badges - I still have a Union Jack badge that the Sun sold back during the Falklands war to show support for our troops - and I'll be wearing it today.

Tomorrow the widows & widowers, orphans & bereaved parents of our Armed Forces will continue to cope with their loss. Service personnel who have returned home minus limbs, blind or horribly scarred will still be like that. Those who have returned with their minds torn & confused will waken to another day of bewilderment.

Today, while we celebrate, let's also remember tomorrow's people.

Iraq Inquiry

With the promised Iraq Inquiry finally going to take place, you may like to watch this YouTube video HERE

Today's the Day

Today's the day we have to decide - to vote or not? If we choose not to vote, are there any consequences? If we do vote, which Party should we vote for?

If we don't vote, we can hardly complain when the Same Old Party gets in & continues to run things in the Same Old Way - which didn't work before & will certainly not work now, with the country almost bankrupt.

I can't/won't tell you who to vote for - that's your decision - but perhaps before each of us votes, we'll take a moment to think about the sort of life we want and the sort of life we want for our children & grandchildren & vote for the Party we think can best provide that. Even if that means voting for a Party that isn't the one the family always supports and has voted for for generations.

Best of luck with your decision - and I hope we all make the right one.

E-mail to Gordon

Over on Sky, there's an email that's purportedly going to be sent to Gordon from his not-so-very-loyal MPs begging him to stand down.

Unfortunately they waste time & words buttering him up.......

A much simpler & shorter one could be :

Dear Gordon,

We have supported you as our unelected PM for two years now. During this time you have made a complete dog's dinner of it. Sadily you are just not up to the job. According to opinion polls you are the most unpopular British PM of all time. You have completely ruined the British economy, firstly by selling off all our gold at a bargain basement price, secondly by borrowing, borrowing & more borrowing during the good years instead of saving for a rainy day, by not regulating the financial services properly & by not letting your appointed Ministers get on with their jobs without constantly micro managing over their shoulder. Now that the rainy day is here, you've mortgaged our childrens' & our childrens' childrens' futures to bail out greedy & incompetent bankers while hardworking British families are losing their jobs, their houses & their families. 'No more repossessions' has a fine ring to it but the banks & building societies are just ignoring you & throwing families onto the street. Thanks to you and your cronies (let's not forget McBride & Smeargate), Labour's standing at the polls has never been lower & today we are likely to get completely swamped in both the Local & EU Elections. A lot of that is due to the expenses scandals & we have to admit almost all our MPs have been caught out. However, you have also been complicit in this - how about claiming expenses for your flat when you also had a Grace & Favour residence in Downing Street?

For the good of the country, for the good of the Party you must stand down immediately. If you refuse to go quietly, we will get the Opposition to call for a vote of No Confidence & we will vote with the Opposition. It's your choice Gordon, but either way you are going. You have untill 12 noon to consider your actions. After that the No Confidence vote will be requested.

Your Backbenchers