Conservative Hot Topics

Why aren't immigration and taxation 'hot topics' for the Conservative party to debate at their conference next week?

Conservative supporters could fall asleep listening to debates on "marketing to children" and "cheap flights"!

Of mice and men

If Pentonville Prison is "overrun with cockroaches and vermin" caused by leftover meals, how come there is sometimes "not enough food" for the inmates? Do the mice get served first!?!

How honest are inmates when they fill out 'customer satisfaction' surveys in prison?

The chief inspector's report revealed 43% of prisoners, down from 64% in 2005, said staff treated them with respect.

Private education, education, education!

If privately educated children earn more (and pay more tax) whilst saving the taxpayer the cost of their education, why do private schools still need to justify tax advantages worth an estimated £88m per year!?!

How can Tony Blair trumpet Labour's 'achievements' in raising school standards if many poorer families still "dream" of a private education?

Gordon's jobs

How will Gordon Brown create 100,000 jobs in 'Green' technology?

Will he create research jobs for 100,000 in the public sector or profitable new markets that the private sector could exploit?

How much will he subsidise each role by!?!

Fighting corruption?

How much cash can Romania and Bulgaria look forward to receiving when they join the European Union next year?

The EU has threatened only to give them three-quarters of the cash they are entitled to if they don't set up "agencies to handle millions of euros worth of EU farm aid".

If the agencies aren't set up, why should they receive any farm aid at all? You can be corrupt with three quarters of our money, but not all of it!

Cameron "proud to be English"?

If Gordon Brown readily admits he is "proud to be Scottish and British", will Dave Cameron ever admit he is "proud to be English and British"!?!

Party funding

Why should the taxpayer be expected to part-fund Labour Party policy development?

Raising Heckles!?!

How many Muslims are sympathetic to the views expressed by Abu Izzadeen when he recently heckled Home Secretary John Reid?

Irish talks

Were 'leading members' of the Irish community ever consulted before Police raids on IRA suspects in London during the 1970s and 1980s?

So why should the Police "consult a panel of Muslim leaders before mounting counter-terrorist raids or arrests" now?

Members of the panel will offer their assessment of whether information police have on a suspect is too flimsy and will also consider the consequences on community relations of a raid.

Could the lives of British citizens now be sacrificed for the benefit of community relations!?!

Tory tax cuts

Would £20bn of tax cuts proposed by the Conservative Party's Tax Reform Commission be more acceptable if they were funded by £20bn of cuts in welfare benefit rather than cuts to schools and hospitals?

Welsh Health Tourism

How did a Welshman, campaigning for prostate cancer patients in Wales to be offered the same treatment available in England, manage to be treated on the NHS in England?

Are English patients, campaigning for patients in England to be offered the same treatment available in Wales, able to cross the border for treatment!?!

Military homes

Will Armed Forces personnel who are given taxpayers' help to buy their first homes be expected to relinquish some of their pension rights?

Other first-time homebuyers in the South East will now be competing for expensive homes against military personnel they are subsidising!

Payment by results?

If Liberal Democrats believe that schools should be rewarded for enrolling 'underperforming children', should other pupils' parents reward the school if it keeps them out!?!

Schools do not improve by enrolling undisciplined children!

Care costs

Why should anyone in England or Northern Ireland be expected to make plans for their future healthcare costs in old age when it's free if you have less than £21,000 in savings!?!

Do Welsh and Scottish residents pay higher rates of income tax to fund healthcare provision in their old age? Does the Department of Health think that's fair!?!

Criminal Injustice System

How long had carjacker Paul Wales spent in prison for eight driving convictions prior to knocking down and killing a grandmother?

He had amassed four convictions for taking a vehicle without consent, three for driving while disqualified and one for reckless driving.

He has never held a driving licence.

He was an accident waiting to happen yet the criminal justice system insisted on giving him the benefit of the doubt rather than protect the public!

Racial inequality!

Is Chief Supt Ali Dizaei guilty of racial discrimination for claiming that drug users are known to be "predominantly white, middle class men" even though the authorities focus on young, black men?

Ironically, Dizaei opposed passenger profiling when the current terror threat is from predominantly Asian, working class men!

Holy Smoke!

Why should the Pope be expected to apologise for quoting a 14th Century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things?

English ignorance, Scottish arrogance!

Why does David Cameron think the English are "ignorant of Scots and Scotland"?

Safety first!

A new law comes into force on 18 September 2006, which the government says could save up to 2,000 children per year from death or injury in road accidents.

Ministers have rejected a proposal to reduce the blood-alcohol limit for drivers under 25 who "are more likely than older drivers both to have road accidents and to fail alcohol tests".

Office Christmas Party!

Does the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs have a riotous Christmas Party each year!!?

Some achievements, some brass!

Gordon Brown hailed Mr Blair's achievements, listing Northern Ireland, hospitals and schools, high employment and economic stability as highlights.

Schools support small business!

Should schools have exclusive school uniform agreements that support small local suppliers or let them be undercut by supermarkets that threaten "High Street choice"!?!

As consumers, we may be benefiting in the short term from the low prices and the attractive offer that supermarkets can present to us, but in 10, 15, 20 years time, the prices we pay for our... supermarket goods, may actually be rather higher than we would wish. - Philip Hollobone, MP for Kettering.

Anonymous assault

Why is the complainant whose imaginary assault led to a five year prison sentence for Warren Blackwell to remain anonymous?

Will she be charged with wasting Police time!?!

The court recommended that the complainant's details be shared with police forces across the country in case she tried to repeat the accusations.

Uninsured drivers

A teenager who killed a doctor while driving without a licence or insurance has been jailed for four years.

"I hope the sentence passed on this man will make others think long and hard before getting into a car and driving without a licence or insurance." - Sgt Pete Jell, of Thames Valley Police.

Unfortunately for the Sergeant, motorists caught driving without insurance on average receive a fine of £150 and three penalty points. Hardly enough to deter anyone!

If all motorists caught driving without insurance were jailed for four years, would Dr Margaret Davison still be alive?

Skills shortages?

Apart from driving, what skills gap does blind, eight fingered Omad Aziz fill in the UK economy?

The defendant, who has just three fingers on his right hand and suffers from leg tremors and is partially deaf, receives £520-a-month in incapacity benefit.

How many job opportunities does Omad provide to Social Services!?!

Oh no!

A national strike involving hundreds of thousands of workers is almost certain to go ahead.

If public sector workers are unhappy with a 2% pay rise, why not resign and get a job in the private sector rather than make strike threats?

The Ruth is out there!

How can "flexible working, time-share and good quality part-time work" be "worth up to £23bn to the UK economy"!?!

"My message to business is clear, this is not about political correctness, this is about improving your profit margins." - Ruth Kelly.

If such plans did improve profit margins, businesses would already have adopted the plans!

Will Ruth's plans also be available to men?

Gnome sweet gnome!

Are Police guilty of harassment if they wake a householder up at nearly midnight to warn him that a gnome in his garden is considered offensive by neighbours?

Would the Police be so concerned if the neighbour didn't happen to be a former Policeman himself!?!

Single White Men

"Most of our media, our schools and our workplaces and so on are to some extent geared to the interests of single white men." - Trevor Phillips.

Oh yeah? So how did a married black man become the first chairman of the new equalities commission!?!

Mr Phillips "had previously opposed the new commission" but clearly found a £160,000-a-year post too tempting and did a 'Neil Kinnock'...

Something to celebrate?

"When I see a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf or a hijab, I don't feel threatened, I celebrate it." - Ruth Kelly MP.

"In some areas, 70% of the population of a school can be from an ethnic background." - Steve Acklam, Chief Executive of School Governors' One-Stop Shop.

Not cricket!

How likely is it that Dalbir Singh, 18, will be found and deported by the authorities having disappeared whilst on a school cricket tour from the Punjab?

Why would he only be "recommended for deportation"!?!

Statements...

"British citizens who happen to be born Muslim have to accept responsibility for the anger there is against Islam."

"British citizens who happen to be born Jews have to accept responsibility for the anger there is against Israel or America."

Which statement is unacceptable?

Which statement was made by Labour MP Denis McShane?

Save our jobs!

Would Labour MPs be less fearful of losing their jobs were Tony Blair to remain as leader if they were paid the average annual UK salary of £24,000pa rather than £59,000pa!?!

Depressed Prisoners

Why should any prisoners be given anti-depressant drugs?

Prisons are supposed to be depressing places to be!

Buying Public Sector Votes?

Will an "unambiguous commitment" to increase public sector expenditure by the Conservative party lead to better public services or merely more pay for civil servants?

More vegetables?

How will pupils benefit from cooking lessons?

When 38.4% of GCSE English students earned a 'D' grade or less and 45.7% of GCSE Maths students earned a 'D' grade or less this year, they won't even be able to read the recipes!

More vegetables anyone!?!

Britain "better than 20 years ago"?

If Britain was better now than it was twenty years ago when Mrs. Thatcher was Prime Minister, would the BBC fail to mention it?

Schools out!

Why hasn't Ruth Kelly already shut down the Jameah Islameah Islamic school at Mark Cross?

Whilst Police search it as part of an on-going anti-terror investigation, the Chairman of the Association of Muslim Schools in the UK, Dr Muhammed Mukadam, reveals that:

"it hasn't been registered by Ofsted and therefore technically speaking it shouldn't be operating as a school at all."

Trouble makers!

Will Labour reduce the benefits available to teenage mums to discourage them from becoming pregnant in the first place if they are raising "tomorrow's potential troublemakers"!?!

Uniform savings!

"Expensive school uniforms cause worry for parents in low-income families and can leave their children feeling isolated and the target of bullies. - Helen Dent, Chief Executive of the Family Welfare Association.

Maybe low-income parents could save some money by giving up cigarettes, alcohol and fast food joints for a couple of weeks!