Nadine Dorries - whatever happened to the right of free speech??

It appears that Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid Bedfordshire has had her blog closed down at the behest of lawyers working on behalf of the Barclay brothers, owners of the Daily Telegraph.

The millionaire Barclay brothers who own their own island, Brecqhou, part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, C.I., made the news recently over their actions in Sark HERE

Ms. Dorries, who was herself the target of some Telegraph finger pointing, had been complaining that the way the Telegraph is 'dripping' their disclosures is 'torture' for MPs & subsequently she queried the motives of the Barclay brothers on her blog. At which point, apparently, lawyers leapt into action, contacted her ISP & had her blog closed down & removed from public perusal.

I say 'appears' & 'apparently' because, with her blog closed down, Ms. Dorries is unable to communicate exactly what has happened.

As a taxpayer & member of the public, my feelings towards the tender sensibilities of MPs fearful of exposure via the Telegraph, is to repeat their favourite mantra of 'nothing to hide, nothing to fear' back at them.

However, also as a member of the public, I am very concerned that the words of an elected representative of the British people can be censored in this way by 'big business' - or by anybody, come to that.

Luckily, as I understand it, she can quote freely from her blog in Parliament, under Parliamentary privilege. That decision is up to her.

I may or may not agree with what Nadine Dorries has to say but I 100% support her right to say it. Isn't that what free speech is all about? Isn't that what democracy is all about?

Or has free speech & democracy become as dead as a dodo in Britain 2009? And if so, who is to blame?

Victory for Joanna & the Gurkhas

Congratulations to Joanna Lumley for her work on behalf of the Gurkhas & for winning a stunning victory. She has been a brilliant tactician & has out-manoeuvred the Government & its Ministers at every turn. Now all we need is for her to get involved in politics as an MP & to fight for electoral reform in the same way that she has fought for the Gurkhas.

There are some honest MPs out there....

Not my own MP, but an MP around my area, Annette Brooke (Lib Dem) does realise how appalled the general public is over the scandal of MPs expenses & has spoken out strongly in the local paper saying that MPs should not be above the law. She also talks about her own expenses in the same article.

Annette's stance is a welcome change from the attitudes of many at Westminster & proves that there are honest MPs about.

Mr Speaker shows himself up

I have just sent the following letter to my MP, Robert Syms, expressing my opinion of the Speaker & his recent performance in Parliament:

'I have just watched Speaker Martin on TV. Never mind his apologies - they are far too little & far too late. He fully demonstrated his incompetence by having to ask the Clerks for advice. He is so arrogant & out of touch that he never thought he could be brought to book. He may not be responsible for how the MPs filled in their expense forms, however, he has certainly creamed off his own expenses as much as he could & has tried at every turn to block transparency of MPs' expenses - using taxpayers' money to go to Court to prevent it. He is despicable & needs to be sacked - NOW'.

He should not be allowed to remain in his position any longer. He has brought the position of Speaker, usually a respected & honourable one (e.g Betty Boothroyd) - into disrepute. He has in fact brought the whole House of Commons into disrepute through his incompetence & his obdurate attitude. He should not be allowed to resign at his own convenience - he should be sacked - immediately.

I notice Gordon Brown was, as ever doing his McAvity role & remained away from any involvement in the proceedings.

David Cameron calls for a General Election - ASAP

I've just been listening to David Cameron launching his EU Election Campaign. I was pleased, though very surprised, to hear him calling for a General Election as soon as possible after June 4th.

In many ways he is following the wishes of at least some of the electorate (there are currently at least two petitions asking the Queen to dissolve Parliament), rather than being proactive. However, it shows that at least he is listening & reacting to the voters.

It is now up to all the Partys to show how receptive they are to voters' wishes to ensure that never again can there be a repeat of the thievery, cheating, venality & tax evasion that has been revealed in the pages of The Telegraph.

Human Rights for our Troops

I was very pleased to hear today that the High Court has decided that British servicemen & women do have the protection of the Human Rights Act when they are on active service. As I understand it, this judgment would mean that the MoD has a legal duty to supply proper equipment.

Surely Britain must be the only so-called democracy that sends its troops out to fight with sub-standard or non-existant equipment? Has the MoD no shame? Has the Government - who funds the MoD - no shame? Of course, none of them are going to be at risk of being killed or injured.

Millions (or is it trillions) of pounds available for banks & their directors who have behaved disgracefully. No money available, however, to provide necessary equipment for our troops.

Oh, and apparently, the MoD will be appealing against the judgement in the House of Lords!

So while criminals - terrorists, murderers, drug addicts, rapists & child molesters - can claim the protection of the HRA, the MoD want to deny this same protection to our troops. Fair? Just?

Payback Time

Of the three main Party Leaders David Cameron has, in my opinion, responded the swiftest to the concerns of the electorate. While Nick Clegg has tried to respond, he has been hampered by the fact that his MPs seem to want to argue the toss and therefore his proposals/orders haven't had the same 'grab appeal'.

As for Gordon, he's still wondering what his MPs have done wrong & hasn't yet realised that the majority of voters are white-hot with anger. He has taken some action, in suspending Elliot Morley - the MP claiming for a non-existant mortgage - but even that took until lunchtime, by which time Tory Andrew MacKay was dust. He and his MP partner, Julie Kirkbride had claimed expenses in a manner not dissimilar to Labour Ministers Balls & Cooper.

Meanwhile, MPs seem to be banding together against the Speaker. He has not filled the role of Speaker well. He has spent taxpayers' money trying to keep MPs' expenses secret. Why? Has he something to hide?