Just a few questions. Mr/Ms Candidate

YouTube - The Crow on The Cradle

A friend of mine sent me the following by email today:

Thought you might find the following useful if any candidates visit you:

1. What is in your manifesto concerning the State Pension? – we receive amongst the lowest state pensions in Europe and are well below the national poverty level of £165. 00 per week.

2. What is in your manifesto about single sex wards in hospitals?

3. What is in your manifesto regarding free UK wide travel on all forms of public transport (buses, trams, and rail) for OAPs, to encourage independence and greater mobility, as well as helping the environment and reducing demand on care services?

4. Why are we still sending our soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq when it is none of our business? The terrorist threat is here in England.

5. What is in your manifesto about getting rid of the regional assemblies?

6. What do you propose to do about the broken promises made by Gordon Brown and Tony Blair? –

Pensions in line with Europe;

No means testing for pensioners;

Further education for everyone;

Cutting crime;

More NHI dentists.

7. Tony Blair said in his election speech that he did not want to live in a country where people had to sell their homes for health care – where do you stand on that?

8. Where do you stand on MP's and councillors’ salaries, pensions and expenses?

I wouldn't have thought of asking many of those questions - I will now!

A future fair for who,Gordon?

Gordon asks us to look at his achievements. Where? What? Bankrupting the country?

A future MORE than fair for those MPs accused of fraud over their expenses as taxpayers will pay all their legal fees

A future more than fair for this family too

A future not so fair for the families facing Gordon's 'secret tax'

Labour's unfair use of NHS employees' email addresses to try & force them to sign a pro-Labour petition

Labour's unfair use of personal NHS data to send alarmist mis-information

Perhaps a future not so fair for pregnant women in Britain?

These people don't think Labour are providing 'a future fair for all'

Welcome to Britain?

I've been out of the country over Easter - only to other EU countries - but the sense of freedom there is fantastic compared to the UK.

I started off by flying into Valencia, Spain. Heading for Passport Control I lined up to show my passport to one lone security guy in a kiosk & then walked to pick up my bags from the luggage hall. That was it - security checks over - the pleasures of Spain and the rest of Europe lay open at my feet.

Over the weekend I saw very few police and didn't see any drunkeness or fighting in the streets either. I went into both smoking & non-smoking bars. Over there, despite the grip of the EU, freedom of choice still exists.

I flew back into a small local UK airport, negotiated about 10 zig zags to reach the entrance to 'Security'. This was represented by three men & women in white shirts/dark trousers that we had to show our passports to. Behind them were 3 or 4 big blokes in suits standing with their arms folded. Behind THEM were about 8 - 10 men & women in black or navy outfits standing across the entrance to the luggage hall. Big notices 'Remove your passport from any folder' - obviously the mother of whoever designed these notices forgot to teach him/her the basics of British good manners and the use of the word 'Please'. Another round of notices saying it was 'forbidden' to take any photographs - the mantra of 'Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Fear' doesn't seem to apply to officialdom being observed by us plebs.

When we went into the luggage hall, the men & women in black/navy continued to circulate around that area eyeing the passengers up and down. They had flash tags on their uniforms which I think said either 'Border Agency' or 'Border Control Agency'. Looking back, I saw one passenger who had been 'passed' by the passport checking person being stopped & pulled to one side by one of the blokes in suits - he was subsequently allowed to continue into the luggage hall.

Amongst the passengers were some ex-pats returning for a visit - they made some very scathing remarks and I don't imagine they'll be visiting again any time soon. 'Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Fear' is the great Labour mantra. I had nothing to hide but I certainly felt I had something to fear in that a supposedly democratic country considers it's quite OK to greet visitors to the UK and its own citizens in this impolite and intimidating manner. The airport is in a supposedly tourist area. As a tourist I would have been repulsed by my initial sight of the UK. I doubt I would ever bother to visit again. Why not visit and spend my money in a country that welcomes me with smiles and open arms?

As a resident, I looked around and felt a wave of depression sweep over me at the thought of what Britain has become under Labour and its totalitarian Socialism/Communism. Will May 7th bring any good news with it?

Eleven Million Voters Can't Be Wrong

Pension Decrease April 2010

When Alistair Darling gave his Pre-Budget Report he said that State Pensions would be rising by 2.5% in April. He omitted to mention that the rise would apply to the basic element of the Pension only and not to any contracted out payments/SERPS, or any graduated benefits.

Local Pensioners' Groups, in partnership with the National Pensioners' Convention have decided it's time for the worm to turn and are sending the letter below to Alistair Darling.

If you're a pensioner or you've got family or friends affected by this - please get involved & contact Alistair. Together we CAN bring about change. There's eleven million votes in it........

Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
HM Treasury
1 Horse Guards Road
London
SW1A 2HQ

Dear Chancellor

As a pensioner in receipt of graduated pension and/or SERPS I am writing to express my anger at your decision not to uprate this part of my state pension in April 2010.

Some years ago the Government committed itself to a guaranteed 2.5% minimum increase in the state pension, and your decision to only award this to the basic element is both unprecedented and extremely damaging. Furthermore, when making your pre-Budget statement in the House of Commons you did not make it clear that this year’s increase in the state pension would only be partial.

Millions of pensioners in receipt of an additional pension rely on this to maintain a modest standard of living, and believed that when contributing to SERPS they were entering a contract that would guarantee an additional pension that would be subject to an annual increase. You have now reneged on that contract and as advocated by the National Pensioners Convention, I urge you to reverse your decision in the forthcoming Budget.

Yours sincerely

Now you see it, now you don't

I've got your money

So Gordon Brown feels he can laugh about a £500bn bailout of the banks? But guess who's paying for it and guess who helped get us in this disastrous situation?

I'm sure I heard on the radio this morning that every radio, TV & news media company were poised with bated breath expecting Gordon Brown to finally announce the 2010 General Election date over the weekend.

I've been listening again since I got home this afternoon - zero, zilch, nada.

Did I dream it or has Mr Indecisive bottled out again?

Remember Dunblane?

At the time of the Dunblane shootings there were all sorts of rumours that it and the perpetrator, Thomas Hamilton were linked to a paedophile ring right at the heart of the Establishment and this was why some of the files were to be sealed for 100 years.

Be that as it may, there have now been more disturbing stories about child abuse in Scotland, particularly from a young woman called Holly Greig, who claims she was abused, as a child, by an Aberdeen paedophile ring and attempts to cover this up by the authorities - culminating, just before the weekend in the arrest of an investigative reporter - who was doing just that - investigating. Here is what he has to say (this video has now been pulled by YouTube, however you can still see it at Fausty's ).

Old Holborn & Dark Lochnager have blogged about this much better than I ever could - read their accounts, follow their links and see what action you think needs to be taken.

UPDATE 27/02
The Palestine Telegraph is running with this story.

Tears of a Clown?

It is a long time since I have been so angry with any politician's action as I was after reading about Gordon & Sarah sobbing publically on TV about the death of their baby daughter and their son's ill-health.

Are there no depths that this self-serving couple will not sink to in an attempt to gain sympathy and votes from the public?

The death of a small child is always tragic for the parents and they do have my condolences for that - but to use that death as a vote catcher beggers belief.

Don't forget, this was the man who said his family were private and off-limits - until he needs some extra votes to continue his 'fat-cat' lifestyle it seems.

If this subject is really so gut-rending for Gordon and Sarah surely they would have told Piers Morgan beforehand to avoid the topic completely? Or even said, in response to his first question on the subject, that they didn't wish to talk about it?

Instead they charged in, tear ducts at the ready to publically wallow in the topic. Vile and disgusting.

'Tears for Socialism' seems to be all the rage this weekend with both the Browns and Alasdair Campbell bursting into tears on TV.