Sacking Sinn Fein Bus Drivers?

Did Sinn Fein councillors ever get sacked from their day jobs if their continued presence posed "a health and safety risk" to their customers or does it only apply to BNP councillors?

Is Ken Livingstone worried about the threat to democracy of sacking an elected representative of the people for his political views? "Elected politicians should only be able to be removed by the voters or for breaking the law".

Gutted

I bet Condoleeza Rice is gutted that poet Roger McGough (whoever he is!) has pulled out of compering a gala concert (in Liverpool!) that she is due to attend.

I am!

Blue Petered

Why should Blue Peter badge holders receive free-entry to 200 attractions across the UK?

Is it a hidden BBC subsidy of "horribly white, middle class" children?

Basic social care "must be free" in England

Why should elderly English people not expect the same level of state-funded social care as they would receive in Scotland?

Free personal care for the elderly in Scotland now costs more than £200m per year and provides for payments of £145 a week for the personal care costs of elderly people in care homes, plus £65 for nursing care.

In England, anyone who has assets of more than £20,500 has to pay for personal care.

Using your vote

How can the UK electorate vote in forthcoming local elections when Labour are as sleazy as the Conservatives, the Conservatives are New Labour lite and the Liberal Democrats are, errm, Liberal Democrats!?!

Indian Foeticide

How many pregnant British women of Indian descent travel to India to ensure their foetus is male?

Christian News Awards for Excellence

"British Muslims contribute hugely to this country's success, prosperity and culture and it is only right that this is recognised." - Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary. How?

When are the next "Christian News Awards For Excellence"?

Drugs money

How much responsibility should the parents of a schoolboy have for finding a new school when he has already been excluded from one school for selling cannabis?

The schoolboy received £1,500 in compensation as Devon council was too slow in finding him an alternative school!

Are Police investigating the source of his cannabis supply?

Council strikes back

My only experience of the council strikes today was that the roads were clearer on the way to work this morning! The libraries and leisure centres may well have been shut today but I wouldn't know as I'm at work so can't use the facilities anyway!

The 'threat' of more council strikes, if linked to a reduction in council tax, is something I look forward to! How many other people would support a 50% reduction in council tax if coupled with a reduction in "essential services"!?!

Why should I be expected to work to 68 so that I can pay the pensions of council staff who retired at 60?

No council strike in England!

According to the BBC, there will be a council strike today in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and the UK. England is not affected!

Essential Council Staff strike

Today's council pension strike should be used as an opportunity to identify non-essential council staff whose work provides no benefit to the public. Would anyone be upset if there were fewer Council Diversity Officers!?!

Can I look forward to a council tax refund for today's lack of "services"!?!

MCB to condemn Sharia Law?

Will the Muslim Council of Britain condemn Afghanistan if Abdul Rahman is executed for converting to Christianity which is against Sharia Law?

41% of British Muslims oppose the introduction of Sharia law in parts of the UK.

English sporting success

Will Tony Blair be congratulating England's competitors at the Commonwealth Games as heartily as he has done with Scotland's team?

Scotland has done superbly well with 11 gold medals and sixth place in the medal table - Tony Blair

Poorly performing England came a lowly second with just 36 gold medals!

Norman Kember - Liberal Democrat?

Could the foolhardy and naive Norman Kember be anything other than a Liberal Democrat?

Parlez-vous Anglais?

Would Tony Blair and Jack Straw flee a summit if an Englishman insisted on making a presentation in French?

Questions for Harriet

If Harriet Harman is unable to appear as a guest on BBC1's Question Time as she was "mysteriously withdrawn at the last minute", should she remain an elected representative when she is not prepared to face the electorate?

Unfortunately, this is standard Labour policy when facing hostile questioning. Radio 4 frequently struggles to find a Labour spokesperson when discussing controversial events. Does Radio 4 keep a record of such "no shows"?

Educational spending

Why does Gordon Brown think that increasing state school spending per child to private school levels would improve the educational prospects of a generation?

Would it be cheaper to pay private schools to run state schools and apply their methods, including higher levels of discipline, in the state sector?

Hygiene in the private hospitals

Is basic hygiene failing in a third of private hospitals in the UK?

Why should taxpayers be expected to tolerate such low standards in state funded hospitals when they do not even receive tax relief on private healthcare costs?

Uncle Gordon's 10th Budget

Predictions for today's budget:

The poor will be rewarded for not working.
Pensioners will be rewarded for not saving.
Income tax allowances will not increase with inflation.
'Green' taxes will increase.
No wholesale reform of the welfare state.
Taxes will increase for those in work.

Inciting hoaxers

Why has the Ripper hoaxer been jailed for so long? Eight years seems excessive when Abu Hamza was only jailed for seven years for inciting murder and racial hatred.

In the Dark

Should anyone be surprised that John Prescott was "in the dark" about the millions lent to the Labour Party?

£1m was stolen from John Prescott's office without him noticing!

Political funding

Why should the general public be expected to fund political parties when nearly 40% of the population did not vote in 2005?

Hopsital job cuts

Why has management at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent allowed staffing levels to increase to such an extent that 1,000 jobs can be removed yet the "Department of Health [is] reassured services would not be cut"?

Compulsory redundancy should be used wherever possible so that management only retain the staff they want. Voluntary redundancy runs the risk of losing the best staff as they will easily find jobs elsewhere!

Pension responsibility

Stephen Timms, the minister for pensions reform, considers that "it could not be the responsibility of taxpayers to bail out failed corporate pension schemes".

Does he also consider that it should not be the responsibility of taxpayers to bail out failing public sector pension schemes in the future?

Racist Palestinians?

Why aren't Palestinian demonstrators taking to the streets and targeting European, British and US buildings as well as threatening to kidnap their citizens not accused of racism by the BBC?

Britons would be if the roles were reversed!

Heart Disease

Good news: Statin drugs "can reverse heart disease"

Bad news: Only available in Scotland and Wales?

SNP voting on English matters

Will English MPs support the Government's controversial Education Bill if it reduces England's subsidy to Scotland through the Barnett formula?

The Scottish National Party (SNP) may vote against the Bill, not because they agree or disagree with the reforms themselves, but because the Bill could reduce the funding of public services (to English levels!?!) north of the border!

St. Ken's Day

It's not just St Patrick's Day, we celebrated Russian New Year in January, Chinese New Year and this year, for the first time, we will celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid in Trafalgar Square - London mayor Ken Livingstone.

Ken celebrates every day except St. George's day which is uniquely hijacked as "an anti-racism event [] held in Trafalgar Square" rather than a celebration.

No English self-determination here

If unelected Lord Falconer thinks identity cards "should be compulsory", why is he unable to see a case for an English Parliament "not today, not tomorrow"?

Would he change his mind if Labour had fewer Welsh and Scottish MPs?

Housing Asylum Seekers

Why aren't asylum seekers all housed in safe Liberal Democrat constituencies like Richmond and Cornwall?

It's an inequitable life

Why aren't University lecturers removed when they mention research suggesting that women live longer than men!?!

Beating Child Poverty

How could the Government ever hope to reduce child poverty when, by definition, it increases each year as those in work earn more?

You are officially poor if you live on less than 60% of Britain's average household income, once housing costs are taken into account.

How does the Government discourage poorer people from having too many children? Fewer children would automatically reduce child poverty!

Jedi English

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has decided that the 2011 Census should ask a question on national identity.

Do you consider yourself to be Welsh, Scottish, Irish or British?

I am none of the above. I am English.

Health Benefits Of The 1984 Miners Strike?

Are compensation payments to miners for respiratory disease and vibration white finger reduced for their lack of exposure to such dangerous conditions during the 1984 miners strike!?!

Clamping Down On Foreign Students

The Police are to be given new powers to issue on-the-spot fines to foreign drivers who break British traffic laws and used to escape prosecution by giving a false address. Foreign drivers failing to pay immediately would have their vehicles clamped.

The government is primarily concerned with foreign lorry drivers who give false addresses to avoid prosecution, and are never chased up.

Overseas motorists often avoid punishment over minor offences because of difficulty in chasing up non-payment of fines or court appearances.

Will a similar scheme be introduced for EU students not repaying their student loans!?!

University Strikes

Are English taxpayers expected to cover any increase in the pay of Scottish University lecturers when Scottish students do not pay top-up fees?

We do recognise that academic wages have fallen behind in the last 20 years, but it is not as easy as people think to find new money. - Universities Scotland spokesman.

Drunk women

If a third of women who are raped are drunk, why is the Home Office spending £500,000 to encourage men to obtain consent rather than warn women of the dangers of being too drunk? Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

Mike O'Brien, the solicitor general, has mooted a law change allowing juries to decide whether a woman who drank alcohol was too drunk to give consent.

Would this law change also apply to drunk drivers who were too drunk to realise they could not drive!?!

English stars shine at Academy Awards?

Can it be assumed the UK stars shining at the Academy awards are English?

The BBC ignore them on the Welsh or Scottish homepages and so by default they must be English. This is despite them not appearing on the English homepage either!

Tessa's savings accounts

Does Tessa Jowell's split from her husband mean that she can receive half of the £344k payment without declaring it to any parliamentary ombudsman?

How long did it take Tessa Jowell to notice her mortgage payments had ceased?

Zimbabwe

Zimbabweans may be suffering from "increasing food shortages, rising unemployment and runaway inflation" but at least they can console themselves in having removed many of the colonial oppressors who knew how to run farms well.

At what point should land be returned to the former white owners to prevent mass-starvation in Zimbabwe?

Good golly!

Should it be illegal to display golliewoggs in shop windows?

The Times reports that West-Mercia police siezed three gollies and "consulted appropriate partner agencies and the Crown Prosecution Service" about whether an offence had been committed or not before deciding it may just be "insensitive" to display them in future.

French birds

Will the UK government ban French poultry imports if bird flu cases are discovered amongst French flocks?

If it was the other way around, France would ban British poultry imports before you could say "BSE".

Tax on ignorance

£10bn Tax Revenue lost to the exchequer through tax avoidance measures by accountancy firms.

£7.6bn Tax Revenue overpaid to the exchequer by Britons failing to claim all the allowances they are entitled to.

No return to Grammar schools?

If an Ofsted report shows that "the highest satisfaction ratings were among parents of children in grammar schools, with 72% rating them excellent or very good compared with 33% for all schools", why is no political party seeking to expand Grammar schools across the UK?

There must be support (and votes) for any party that moves beyond the left wing media bubble and appeals directly to the parents of current and prospective grammar school pupils.

Backing Off Cameron

John Major has called for Tory 'right wingers' to support David Cameron. Why support a Conservative Party led by David Cameron if it is going in the wrong direction and will become a reflection of New Labour?

Unique failure?

How widespread are the failures within the Probation service highlighted by the murder of financier John Monckton?

Had he not been murdered, how would the failures have been highlighted? Will other cases handled by the four suspended probation officers now be reviewed urgently? Their lack of diligence is unlikely to be unique to this case.

Would Damien Hanson's attendance at an anger management course really have prevented the murder?

Necessities of college life

Are weekly EMA grants up to £30 really necessary to keep young poeple from 'poorer' backgrounds in education up to the age of 18?

Education minister Maria Eagle said EMAs helped young people pay for essential costs such as travel to college, lunch, trips and books and equipment.
However, the BBC choose a poor example to support the minister's claim.

"I smoke so it [EMA grants] helps me get some cigarettes and just general things. Even if I just want to go to the shop and buy some chocolate or some earrings." - One 18-year-old benefiting from the weekly £30 EMA grant.

Youngsters used to get Saturday jobs to keep their smokes and alcohol, now the Government provides the money! Welcome to welfare!