Provocative!

When will the Government follow Richard Branson's lead and tell public sector workers threatening to strike over pay levels that they should get stuffed resign and get a job elsewhere if they want a pay rise!?!

I might even end my self-imposed ban on buying Virgin branded products!

Pork barrel education?

How are the best state schools in middle class areas continuing to improve compared to poorer areas when schools in 'disadvantaged' areas have received the biggest funding increases?

Have the increases been wasted!?!

Is discipline more important than money!?!

University of life?

Will lecturers sacrifice some of their recent pay increases so that English undergraduates don't face tuition fees of upto £7,000 per year!?!

"Around 12,000 staff earn top salaries [ of more than £50,000] compared to just 2,000 a decade ago."

Number Crunching

75,000 - CIPD net forecast for new jobs in 2008.
275,000 - CEBR forecast for jobs taken by migrant workers in 2008.

Good vibrations?

Which "Tory policies are resonating with the public"!?!

'Green coal', a "Progressive Alliance " with the Liberal Democrats or no new Grammar schools!?!

Teenage pregnancy

Would the Government have more success in reducing the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe if it removed services and welfare benefits that make life easier for teenage mothers and force them to be more of a burden to their own families?

Teenagers need to be responsible and held accountable for their own actions.

Cowboys and Native Americans!

After ten short years in power, some educational common sense from the Government!

"Boys in nursery schools should not be discouraged from playing with toy guns and other weapons".

When will the Government shoot sack the teachers who oppose this!?!

"I think this is a clear example of gender stereotyping." - Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT.

Soar-away super-rich

Is Brendan Barber, the TUC General Secretary, attacking the "soar away super-rich" as they don't have to endure the public services his members 'offer' to the rest of the nation!?!

Cowards afraid of democracy?

The murderers of Benazir Bhutto are "cowards afraid of democracy" - Gordon Brown.

Brown rules out autumn election - October 2007

Pour encourager les autres?

How many schools would improve only if more weak teachers were sacked!?!

"Failing schools improve fastest when they are "twinned" with successful ones [ ] but may first involve removing weak teachers"

250,000 qualified teachers no longer work in England's schools!

"In this country, it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others" - Voltaire.

EU feeling faint?

How much power has Britain given away following the signing of the Lisbon Treaty just last week!?!

Plans to end health queues in EU
"The European Commission will propose that any EU citizen should be entitled to care elsewhere, if the treatment is allowed in their own state."

BBC - Britain's Benefit Culture?

Is single mum Carol Jackson really below the official poverty line of £265 when her weekly income of £219.63 is topped up by free rent (£50), free council tax (£22.95), free school dinners, free dental costs and "several other expenses"?

Why isn't she able to work 40 hours per week like most people!?!
"At the razorblade factory, they were offering 27 hours' work a week on the minimum wage of £5.52 an hour. This meant Carol's weekly wage would be £149.04."

Would she have had fewer children if the state didn't pay her to raise them? It would be a far more effective way of reducing child poverty!

Despite the BBC profile, does Carol get a discount on her TV licence!?!

Change is in the air?

Good to see that Liberal Democrats are as decisive as ever....

20,988 votes for Nick Clegg.
20,477 votes for Chris Huhne!

"We want to change politics and change Britain" - Nick Clegg.

"I said when I launched my campaign that we needed to change in order to win." - David Cameron.

"Let the work of change begin." - Gordon Brown.

It's dark up north!

Lung cancer 'link to lack of sun'

North West cancer deaths 'higher'

Food for thought?

Will large increases in world food prices lead to large cuts in European food subsidies!?!

Why aren't farmers the greatest beneficiaries of 40% price increases rather than the greatest victims!?!

"Without support for poor farmers and their families in the hardest-hit countries, they will not be able to cope" - FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf.

Mugged by Labour?

If parts of central London are blighted by high crime rates, why do the residents keep voting Labour!?!

"It's a terrible area for crime, the police don't seem to do anything about it. I'm afraid to walk around the streets late at night because you just don't know what will happen." - Resident John Lutchman, 60

National Health Socialism (NHS)

The NHS condemns anyone who dares to improve their chances of surviving breast cancer by buying additional drugs!

Hospital Gourmet?

Would hospital food be better if patients had to pay for it!?!

Restaurants providing poor quality food rapidly go out of business!

No Go4 Hajj!

"I am ashamed to say to my friends that these are Muslims who have taken our money." - Fake visa scam victim Dr Nadim Nayar, £25,000 out of pocket.

Would Dr Nayar have found it more acceptable if Christians had taken his money!?!

Good news for Labour!

Bright poor children 'slip back' - BBC News online

"It's a terrible thing that children from poor backgrounds, who are bright, end up actually not getting a very good start in life.

They end up in schools that aren't very good and end up poor as adults and that's a terrible waste of talent and it's also basically wrong, it's just unfair." - Sutton Trust chairman Sir Peter Lampl.

Poorer adults tend to vote Labour...

Lightsabers to be banned next!?!

Why aren't existing laws enough to prevent the murder of five people with Samurai swords in recent years!?!

"Anyone breaching the ban [on Samurai swords] will face six months in jail and a £5,000 fine."

Number Crunching

£450m - UK "Development funding" for Afghanistan announced today.

£30m - Unaffordable cost of funding Police pay rises agreed through arbitration.

Scotched Police?

If Scottish Police have received the full 2.5% pay rise as agreed through arbitration, why do they need to consider strike action!?!

"Every police officer in the UK is to be balloted over whether they want to lobby for the right to strike."

Straw man statistics

How can Jack Straw be sure that only 1% of the 11,000 early release prisoners have committed a further offence when 2m crimes are never investigated and more than 50% of criminals reoffend overall?

Reasons to torture?

60 reasons why "water-boarding" should be used in extreme cases?

"These are crimes that targeted innocent people. Students and school children were among the victims. Nothing can justify the crime" - Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem.

Buying votes with other people's money?

If David Cameron really wants to help householders facing sharp increases in their mortgage payments next year, why not offer the electorate tax cuts!?!

Ball Games here?

Will the Government pay for damaged cars or broken windows when ball games are played in residential areas!?!

"No Ball Games" signs exist for a reason!

Police pay rises please?

Do Police forces in England and Wales deserve higher pay rises when they can track down Welsh rugby international star Gavin Henson and arrest someone who walks into a Police station but ignore 2m other crimes!?!

No Balls games!

When will Ed Balls introduce job centres at schools so that 'disadvantaged' parents can drop their children off at school, collect their benefits and ignore local vacancies each day!?!

"Social services information and welfare support for parents will be located in school buildings, along with counselling and advice for helping with their children's behaviour or health problems."

Conrad Blackened?

Why does the BBC consider that the most important currently in the UK is Conrad Black's six-and-a-half year prison sentence?

Is it because he defrauded shareholders or that he used to own a right-leaning newspaper!?!

Education, Education, Education?

After one decade in power, why aren't schools already "world class" under Labour especially when they now cost the taxpayer £49.5bn per year!?!

Is Labour doomed to failure by encouraging the "disadvantaged" to have more children when they have neither the motivation nor the knowledge to help in education of their own children!?!

Cost in translation?

"Councils urged to translate less" - BBC News online.
"Sometimes translating big annual reports into lots of languages which very few people read isn't the best use of money." - Hazel Blears

"News and audio in 33 languages" - BBC News online language translations!

The Rise and Fall of the House of Threadneedle Street?

Where was the pressure on the Bank of England to curb house price increases by raising interest rates in the last couple of years?

The Bank of England should resist pressure to cut interest rates to protect housing wealth as it is responsible for keeping non-asset inflation at 2%.

Even so, it will be difficult for the MPC to ignore house price declines when the committee all own houses!

Department of no workers or pay?

If Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) staff are unhappy about their pay and conditions, they should resign and get a job elsewhere rather than go on strike.

No one forces them to work at the DWP thanks to Labour's record employment levels. Other employers are bound to recognise their good work ethic, low abseentism and ability to cope with change in an endless bureaucracy!

"29.07 million people were in work in April to June, one of the highest figures on record" - Source: DWP!

Panic, I'm Islamic!

With 1.6m Muslims living in the UK, what were the chances that the BBC would make a programme, "Don't panic, I'm Islamic" featuring Mohammed Hamid who is now accused of Islamic terrorism!?!

"The BBC paid for Mr Hamid and fellow defendants Muhammad al-Figari and Mousa Brown to go on a paintballing trip at the Delta Force centre in Tonbridge, Kent, in February 2005. The men, accused of terrorism training, were filmed for a BBC programme called Don’t Panic, I’m Islamic, screened in June 2005. "

Prison lottery?

Should similar crimes receive similar prison sentences or should the punishment vary depending upon whether there are any prison 'vacancies'!?!

"Lord Carter of Coles will advise jail sentences in certain cases should be given only if there are empty cells - in a bid to balance demand with supply."

Educational nightmare

Would a "growing proportion of middle-class parents" be giving up on a state education if secondary schools were rising up an international league table of reading and maths standards?

How many working class parents would want their children to be educated privately if they could afford it but are condemned to a state education!?!

"In 2000, the UK was placed eighth in maths and seventh in reading - the UK in the latest table is in 24th place for maths and 17th for literacy."

"In 1996 the government spent £27.2bn in the UK on education, by 2006 yearly spending had risen to £49.5bn, the ONS said"

Return of the Do-gooder?

"The Sudanese people I found to be extremely kind and generous and until this happened I only had a good experience. I wouldn't like to put anyone off going to Sudan." - Gillian Gibbons.

Has Gillian learnt nothing about the Darfur region of Sudan!?!

"The United Nations (UN) estimates that the conflict has left as many as 450,000 dead from violence and disease"

"The Sudanese government has suppressed information by jailing and killing witnesses since 2004 and tampered with evidence such as mass graves to eliminate their forensic values"

Unfair?

How many of the 1.92m traffic fines issued in 2005 were not paid as the drivers were unlicenced, unregistered, uninsured and untraceable?

Which group of drivers are the greatest risk to other road users!?!

Number Crunching

64.1% - Vladimir Putin's share of vote in Russia.
35.3% - Tony Blair's share of vote in 2005.
0.0% - Gordon Brown's share of vote in 2007.

"Merging of the state and a political party is an abuse of power and clear violation of international standards." - Goran Lennmarker, head of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly.

Crony row as Labour peers grab lucrative quango posts.

Rewarding illegality?

Are politicians wanting publicly funded political parties to avoid more illegal donations like tax evaders who want to be exempt from paying tax because they've been caught!?!

Parliamentary them and us?

"This is a case which is unfortunate, unintentional, innocent misunderstanding, and as British Muslim parliamentarians we, Baroness Warsi and myself, we feel proud that we've been able to secure Gillian Gibbons's release." - Lord Ahmed on the release of Gillian Gibbons

Why was Lord Ahmed unable to describe himself as a mere British parliamentarian!?!

Child Poverty

Why do people who cannot afford to raise their own children keep producing more!?!

"The [Joseph Rowntree Foundation] report is also concerned that the number of children in working families that need to escape poverty is rising."

Do Government targets to reduce child poverty encourage poorer people to have more if they know the state will pay for their upbringing!?!

When in Rome?

Why should any immigrant expect that local laws and customs will not apply to them!?!

Number Crunching

3.2m People working more than 48 hours per week.

so that

8.0m Economically inactive people don't have to!?!

Dodgy Dossier Donation

Is there a greater penalty for breaking electoral law than merely repaying a dodgy donation!?!

Trevor Phillips

How can Trevor Phillips stand up and say that good schools "should consider limiting places for middle-class pupils to admit more children from poor homes" when his own children are being educated privately?

"The goal is to ensure that no school has more than a certain percentage on free school meals, or more than a quarter under-performing on regular tests."

Freedom of speech?

When will the Oxford Union invite Gillian Gibbons and the editor of Jyllands-Posten to talk about freedom of speech?

Where are the anti-fascist protestors!?!

2020 vision?

3m extra homes to be built by 2020.

80% of English teenagers will get five good GCSEs by 2020.

Equal pay for men and women by 2020.

Britons to "work longer" by 2020.

What's Gordon's 'vision', apart from keeping power!?!

Fuelling resentments?

Should we welcome news that fuel costs could rise by 10% in January if it reduces energy consumption, helps to save the planet whilst reducing the amount of money that can be spent on cigarettes and alcohol!?!

The Government clearly thinks it's good news as it's just promised an additional £700m in aid to Uganda to "fight poverty"!

PS How can the Government continue to offer aid to the Third World when it's seriously overdrawn!?!

Buy-to-lose mortgages?

When Northern Rock has received a £25bn loan from the British taxpayer to keep it running, why should shareholders expect any return on their investment or have a say in who should be allowed to buy it out!?!

Northern Rock should have been allowed to fail, shareholders should have lost their shirts!

Correct Grammar?

If Grammar schools are "ghettos for the advantaged" that are "potentially beneficial" for those attending from higher and lower income groups, when will the Conservative Party offer to create more of them?

Consulting the masses?

Has better pay for MPs translated into better legislation and a better quality of life for the UK's electorate!?!

"A Committee of Public Accounts report says consultant pay rose by 27% in two years to an average of £110,000, after a new contract was introduced in 2003. But working hours decreased, and figures suggest productivity fell by 0.5% in the first year of the contract."

MPs' £87.6m expenses claim bill

Ex-MPs 'struggle to find new job'

'MPs should cut summer holiday'

Every cloud...

After Northern Rock and the HMRC debacle, some good news for Gordon Brown...

England fail to quailfy for Euro 2008!

At least Gordon is no longer the least popular man in England!

Security Improvements

Would security improve at HMRC if more people were sick more of the time!?!

PS How many fraudsters will use news of this security breach to 'defraud' their own accounts and blame it on parties unknown!?!

PPS Are the chickens coming home to roost for Polish parents fraudulently claiming child benefit both in the UK and Poland!?!

Missed Opportunity?

Are the personal details of those Members of Parliament who have children, such as Diane Abbot, Ruth Kelly, David Cameron and Gordon Brown, included in the Inland Revenue files that have gone missing!?!

Darling Bets Of November!

Will the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, bet his taxpayer funded and index linked pension that Northern Rock repays £24bn of government backed loans plus interest!?!

What are the "quality assets" that Northern Rock mortgages are secured against if house prices are falling!?!

Bugger!

"All my savings were in Railtrack and Northern Rock"

Uncovered Mosque?

If Ofcom has rejected Police claims that Channel 4's Dispatches programme "Undercover Mosque" was distorted, will West Midlands Police now consider prosecuting people featured in the programme!?!

"On the evidence (including untransmitted footage and scripts), Ofcom found the broadcaster had accurately represented the material it had gathered and dealt with the subject matter responsibly and in context."

Number Crunching

20,000 - Peter Hain's target for reducting incapacity benefit claimants thanks to "tougher work tests".

2,400,000 - Incapacity benefit claimants in the UK.

Hollow Britain?

Why are record numbers of people leaving the UK?

Is it the threat of terrorism?

Is it the record number of immigrants?

Is it the quality of NHS care?

Is it the crime rate?

Is it the traffic congestion?

Is it the quality of schools?

Or the tax increases to pay for all of them!?!

"Labour's largesse on its priorities - health, education and overseas aid - has seen spending rise from 35% of gross domestic product to 42%."

Border Controls

What's the point of having tighter border controls if the UK's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, wants residents from Russia, the Middle East and North African countries to join the European Union!?!

Deportation Rights and Wrongs

If complaints from immigrants being deported could mean delays in deportation to hear the case, how many will complain!?!

"HUNDREDS of failed asylum seekers have been allowed to stay in Britain because they were so rowdy that airlines refused to take them back to their own countries." - Scotland On Sunday.

Benefits of migration?

Are increased security costs at railway stations, airports and ports deducted from the economic benefits of immigration or an additional benefit as it creates new jobs!?!

"The security budget, currently £2.5bn this year, will rise to £3.5bn in 2011"

Protecting the Public?

"Tobin was sentenced to life for sexually assaulting [two fourteen year old] girls, but was released after ten years in 2004."

"Tobin was found guilty of murdering Angelika Kluk in September last year. He hid the bound and gagged body of the 23-year-old Polish student beneath the floor of the Glasgow church where he worked. He was jailed in May for a minimum of 21 years."

If only the people who released Tobin were directly impacted by his actions rather than an innocent woman...

What do Angelika's parents think about British justice and protecting the public?

Alcoholic benefits?

Should welfare benefits be cut by 10% to reduce alcohol consumption?

If a 10% increase in alcohol tax really "could cut all alcohol-related deaths by between 10% and 30%", why not raise it by 20% instead!?!

Aspiring

Should the 'Aspire' programme focus on why state education fails so many black (and white!) pupils rather than why so few apply to Oxford University?

"The biggest challenge has been the academic leap and I have felt short-changed by the state system, but there has been so much support from the college and when I have struggled and needed extra help, my tutors have been available." - Michael Isola

Laban Tall has the answer though, send them to Africa!

Sticks and stones?

"The air is thick with suspicion and unease. It is not good for the Muslim community, it is not good for society." - Muhammad Abdul Bari, Muslim Council of Britain.

Is that a threat?

Conviction Politics!

Will David Cameron call for rape suspects to remain anonymous until conviction and also call for increased sentences for women who cry rape or is he just trying to woo the female vote!?!

Going, going, gone for martyrdom?

How is the general public being protected when someone found guilty of terrorist activities with an ever-increasing desire "to go for martyrdom" is released on bail until December 6th!?!

If words never give an indication of intent, were Finnish authorities right when they didn't arrest Pekka-Eric Auvinen after he posted "death and killing is not a tragedy... Not all human lives are important or worth saving" but waited until he had murdered eight people a couple of weeks later?

Should we be more concerned that the "Lyrical Terrorist" worked at Heathrow Airport or that she was a woman!?!

Going down to University!

Will the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge continue to improve in a league table of the world's top universities if they are forced to admit more "disadvantaged" pupils!?!

Stannard and Deliver!

Will John Stannard, the new "Champion for gifted and talented children", condemn proposals to close the most successful school in Stoke-on-Trent that just happens to be a Grammar School!?!

Parental responsibility?

How many parents keep to the speed limit in the UK?

It's likely that many parents want speed limits cut, but only for other people.

Alan Balls!

"And the days where many people could leave school at 16 without qualifications and work their way up into a fulfilling and rewarding career are behind us." - Schools Secretary, Ed Balls.

"Alan [Johnson, Education Secretary] is a product of the Labour and trade union movement, born into a working class family, he left school at 15 with no qualifications. He became a postman at 18." - www.labour.org.uk.

The Conservatives haven't changed!

They still sack anyone who expresses the view of the general public!

In unrelated news..

'Thousands' pose UK terror threat.
"In Iraq, Algeria and parts of East Africa, especially Somalia, he said, the "al-Qaeda brand" had expanded and now posed a threat to the UK."

Number Crunching

5% - The most 'Gifted and talented pupils' to receive special help in England.

25% - The most gifted and talented pupils awarded 'A' grades at A-level in 2007.

Migration Row Tories?

"Many insist: 'Enoch Powell was right'. Enoch, once MP for Wolverhampton South-West, was sacked from the Conservative front bench and marginalised politically for his 1968 'rivers of blood' speech, warning that uncontrolled immigration would change our country irrevocably. [ ] He was right. It has changed dramatically." - Nigel Hastilow, Current (!) Conservative hopeful for Halesowen and Rowley Regis.

"[Trevor Phillips] said population changes and immigration were happening at unprecedented rate and there was "no going back".

Will Trevor Phillips be summoned to explain his views by the Conservative Party Chairman as well!?!

Byrning ears!

Will Liam Byrne MP be able to claim the £100 fine and £35 costs for using a mobile phone whilst driving as expenses if he was taking "an important call on a deportation matter"!?!

Trevor Phillips on sharing

How can Trevor Phillips know that people accept "shar[ing] services such as schools and hospitals with new arrivals" when his own children attend private schools so they only have to share facilities with the children of other fee-paying parents!?!

"Phillips flirted with standing for London Mayor until he decided the issue of private schooling for his children would put his family under unfair scrutiny."

Soft as a rock?

If house prices fall just 10% in the UK, what will be the taxpayers' exposure to bad debts at Northern Rock?

Union matters?

Are any public sector unions campaigning against more immigration as their members have to work harder!?!

"Some individual local authorities are experiencing more challenges than others" - Hazel Blears, Communities Secretary.

Time for a right-wing educational experiment?

Rather than close the Ridings School in Halifax, "the worst school in the Country", after ten years of failed Labour gimmicks such as "new buildings, experiments with "superheads", Ofsted "hit squads" and a stream of ministerial visits", wouldn't it be better if right-wing educationalists were given a chance to prove what works!?!

Predicatably, the National Union of Teachers would rather condemn another generation of pupils to a poor education rather than lose some of it's members!

Go and search?

If "Black people were almost seven times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by police last year", why isn't the arrest rate seven times lower if they are being unfairly targeted!?!

"Of those black people stopped, 13% were subsequently arrested. This compares to 12% of stops leading to arrest across all ethnic groups."

Recycled Rubbish?

Did Welsh and Scottish MPs vote on whether English councils should be given the power of "pay-as-you-throw" rubbish charges?

Whatever happened to the BBC 'exclusive' that such plans had been shelved just one week earlier!?!

Child Poverty Unit

Should the new Child Poverty Unit focus on why 69% of UK Muslims of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin live in poverty yet have the highest number of live births per female by age 45 at 4.0 and 3.7 !?!

Thought crunching!

Conservative proposals for an "English Grand Committee" threaten then Union.

Gordon Brown's proposals for "Commons committees for each English region" strengthen the Union!?!

PS Why is Harriet Harman doing Gordon's dirty work!?!

Sour sixteen?

Should sixteen year olds be allowed to vote when they cannot be trusted to have a credit card or drive a car!?!

The violence of not smacking?

If "three and four-year-olds are more physically aggressive than most adults", is the children's commissioner right when he calls for a total ban on smacking!?!

"Those [children] who do not [learn to regulate their use of violence] are more likely to become aggressive adults."

At least we will know who to blame in a decade when the violent crime rate soars!

School tax?

As a Scottish constituency MP, why is Gordon Brown deciding how surplus school budgets should be "taxed" at 5% and re-distributed to other schools only in England!?!

GPs see the future?

Are 87% of GPs worried about the future as 57% of them know they are being overpaid and expect it to end!?!

Why stop at obesity?

Should parents receive a letter from their child's school to warn if the school is not providing a satisfactory education!?!

Shawshank hotel?

How does anyone manage to smuggle - and hide - plasma TVs or budgies in prison cells!?!

"[ ] his call prompted a massive search of jails, uncovering a large haul of contraband including mobile phones, plasma televisions and pet budgies."

What would a massive search of jails in the UK discover!?!

Ending child poverty

What is being done to discourage the poor from having so many children!?!

Childhood obesity

Should bullying of obese children be encouraged until they are a normal weight!?!

Where are the Greens?

What will be the environmental impact of increasing Britain's population by 15m between now and 2051?

Will the Green lobby condemn "Rising immigration, increased longevity and higher birth rates among migrant families"!?!

When will Gordon Brown introduce a green tax on immigration!?!

How refreshing!

Last night's assembled pub crowd booed when Gordon Brown appeared on TV as we waited for the start of the Rugby World Cup Final!

No stopping stop-and-search!

What would Ken Livingstone's reaction be if a senior white police officer said that blacks should expect more "stop-and-search" than the white community!?!

Good news for the middle classes!

Your future's bright!

"The gap between [] independent and comprehensive schools is growing among the highest achieving pupils".

As no political party is prepared to remedy the situation by creating more grammar schools, there will be fewer candidates competing for higher paying jobs in the future!

Alan Coren

The BBC are to make 1,800 1,799 staff redundant!

Safe as gangs?

How safe are "safe houses" once more than a few 'former' gang members know where it is!?!

Who can trust them not to leak details of the location to anyone else!?!

Working for us?

MPs will have 91 days - 18 working weeks - holiday in 2008!

"MPs are reported to have written to the Senior Salaries Review Board saying the rise is needed to bring them into line with senior civil servants and GPs." - BBC News Online, December 2006.

How many senior civil servants or GPs have as much holiday!?!

Deprived Classes?

Are the deprived responsible for being deprived!?!

How many private pupils leave primary school unable to read or write?

"It cannot be right that 20% of pupils leave primary school without a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy" - Chief Inspector Christine Gilbert

The Student Pound?

If student welfare officers have noted a "growing trend for students to see themselves as customers - threatening legal action if they feel that universities are failing to deliver adequate courses", why does a new Government minister need to be appointed to make sure the market for student pounds is working?

The market is efficient and free, Government interference is expensive and prone to error!

Will the Minister allow universities to fail if they are not providing students with value for money!?!

EU knows

When will the UK follow the European Union's policy on freezing payments to regions with poor management and control systems and freeze UK contributions to the European Union?

"An English region could be fined heavily by the European Commission over its handling of £500m worth of European Union regeneration funding.

When the UK Government failed to put its house in order, Brussels decided to freeze further payments to the six English regions concerned. "

Auditors give EU accounts their 12th qualification
"The court said much EU spending in 2005 had not involved proper invoices, correctly paid bills and the selection of best-value suppliers.

Indeed, using random sampling methods, it found errors - from delayed payments and incomplete documentation to outright fraud in transactions - affecting 66% of the 115bn euro EU budget."

Migration good for votes?

As long as 58% of migrants support Labour, is the party concerned that "almost every UK region has difficulties in housing, health, education and crime because of increased migration"?

Labour is merely growing it's electoral base!

Would Labour be so keen on migration if 58% of migrants supported the Conservative Party!?!

Sir Menzies "no scandal" Campbell !

If only there had been a whiff of scandal, would Sir Menzies Campbell still be leader of the Lberal Democrats!?!

He didn't have an affair with his secretary (so far as I'm aware!) unlike Paddy "Pantsdown" Ashdown nor was he a drunkard (so far as I'm aware!) unlike his immediate predecessor Charles Kennedy!

Position vacant

Will Charles Kennedy sip from the poisoned chalice of the Liberal Democrat leadership again or is he no longer a drinker!?!

Migrant rights and wrongs!

Should the UK hope to be at the top or bottom of a European league table of migrant rights?

The UK came out fifth best for how it allows settled migrants to put down long-term roots - but then fell short on quality of life issues, such as bringing in family members.

Researchers said that migrants living in the UK could face long delays to getting a permanent right to stay. But they added that once that wait was over, migrants did not face language tests or integration courses.

The UK lost marks because of a specific law to strip nationality from immigrants - a measure used only once so far in relation to jailed radical cleric Abu Hamza.

The UK was also criticised for not consulting specialist migrant bodies, unlike some other European nations.

Let's hope we sink down the table next year!

Schadenfreude is....

Apply for your jobs, BBC stars told.
"Corrie Corfield, Charlotte Green and Brian Perkins are among more than 80 radio staff who have signed a letter to the BBC trust opposing the job losses."

Is the media bubble about to burst!?!

From The Politician's Mouth!

Are there any parts of the country where it is easy to access an NHS dentist?

"We have got 4,000 more than we had in 1997, but I entirely accept that in some parts of the country it is still really difficult." - Ben Bradshaw, health minister.

If 58% of dentists believe the quality of care has deteriorated since the introduction of the contract, why have only 15% of patients noticed and gone private!?!

Crystal balls?

"I predict that when I come back on this programme in six months or a year's time, people will be saying 'wouldn't it be great to have that Blair back because we can't stand that Gordon Brown'" - Environment minister David Miliband, 8 February 2007.

Did Miliband mean MPs or people!?!

Ministers rally round for Brown
One opinion poll has given the Tories a seven-point lead over Labour, its biggest lead for 15 years.

Still no need for electoral reform?

2005 General Election Results:
Labour had 35.3% share of the vote, winning 356 seats with a 66 seat majority.
Conservatives had a 32.3% share of the vote and won just 198 seats.

2009(?) General Election results based on Sunday Telegraph poll!
Conservatives have 43% share of the vote, winning 327* seats with low single number majority.
Labour has 36% share of the vote and win 249 (?) seats!

*324 seats needed to win.

Labour Grammar Schools?

Will Labour be promising a grammar school in every town next week!?!

Lurching to economic growth and prosperity?

Hong Kong tax cut to boost growth:
Leader Donald Tsang said taxes would be cut by 1 percentage point, to 16.5% for firms and 15% for individuals "in a move to promote further growth and lure foreign investment".

When Conservatives call for tax cuts to "promote further growth and lure foreign investment", it's condemned as lurching to the right!

How will Alistair Darling's tax increases promote growth and foreign investment!?!

Downing Street Petition for a General Election in 2007

"He [David Cameron] talks about a clamour for an election, I looked at the Downing Street website this morning. Certainly there is a petition calling for an election. It is signed by 26 people and not one of them are the Conservative front bench." - Gordon Brown, 10th October 2007.

The petition can be found here!

Virtuous house prices?

Why should a first time buyer buy a house this month when they could wait one month, pay a lower price and have an extra month's salary too!?!

Conservative bounce?

Was the Conservative bounce in the polls caused by a promise to cut inheritance tax or "substantially lower" immigration?

Has Labour copied the wrong Conservative policy!?!

Alistair Darling on Inheritance Tax

If 96% of estates pay no inheritance tax and Conservative proposals to raise the threshold to £1m were "an example of where the Tories are making promises on tax which they can't afford to pay for", how can Alistair Darling now afford to increase the limit for married couples just one week later!?!

Another Brown vision?

Why does the BBC omit reporting that Gordon Brown was the architect of the "harsh and unfair" tax credits system?

Would the Conservative abolition of tax credits and an increase in everyones personal tax allowance be electorally popular if half of claimaints were put off making future claims?

Anti-Muslim Legislation?

Will Muslims be exempt from Government plans to outlaw inciting gay hate as Islam condemns homosexuality!?!

Disposable Income

Tightest squeeze on wallets in a decade, unless you're an MP!

"The pair [Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper, the husband-and-wife team in Gordon Brown's Cabinet], who have three children, aged eight, six and three, have a joint income of nearly £240,000 a year."

Another three years to be squeezed!

"I want the chance in the next phase of my premiership to develop and show people the policies that are going to make a huge difference " - Gordon Brown, Prime Minister

Tightest squeeze on wallets in a decade

Islam is peace, not health!

Can alcoholics or those infected with STDs ask to be treated by non-muslim GPs!?!

"To learn about alcohol, to learn about sexually transmitted disease, to learn about abortion, it gives us more evidence to campaign against it. There is a difference between learning and practising. It is obligatory for Muslim doctors and students to learn about everything. The prophet said, ‘Learn about witchcraft, but don’t practise it’". - Dr Abdul Majid Katme, of the Islamic Medical Association.

Islam is Peace.

Gordon Bennett Brown!

Does Gordon really think he has a better chance of winning a General Election in two years when people have had a chance to see how successful his policies have been?

Halifax sees house prices slowing

Darling 'to lower 2008 forecasts'

PS When 62% of Labour voters believe Labour has done a bad job on immigration, why will Gordon only focus on "housing, health and education"!?!

Political Inheritances

Why do incoming Conservative governments always inherit a failing UK economy and then have to spend their first term in office fixing it!?!

Non-smoking taxes?

How will the Chancellor recoup the tax revenues lost following the introduction of the smoking ban in England?

Conservative Canutes?

How can the Conservative Party reduce immigration from within the European Union!?!

"unchecked immigration is not inevitable...not the irresistible result of globalisation. We can control it. We will control it" - David Davis, shadow home secretary.

"Canute is legendary for his apparent attempt to "hold back the tide". Canute deliberately placed his throne on the beach and used his evident inability to order the tide to roll back to display to his courtiers the limitations of a king's power to command the seas."

UK deportations

If asylum seekers face torture if deported back to Darfur or Sudan if they come to the UK, wouldn't it be safer if they fled to the neighbouring countries of the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya or Uganda instead!?!

School Fees

Should failing independent schools be supported by the state?

If parents vote with their wallets and consider the quality of education provided not sufficient to merit the school fees, wouldn't it be better to close the school or replace the existing staff rather than let the school become another failure in the state sector!?!

Number crunching

£3.5bn -The cost of Conservative proposals to reduce Inheritance tax - "an example of where the Tories are making promises on tax which they can't afford to pay for" - Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

£9.1bn - August's Public Sector Net Borrowing - An example of where Labour are making policies they can't afford to pay for!?!

Islam is Peace?

If stereotyping a racial group is a no no, are Muslims allowed to be stereotyped as being peaceful!?!

Conservative Tax Increases

Why do the Conservatives insist on paying for tax cuts by increasing taxes elsewhere rather than promising to cut welfare benefits and make work pay!?!

If promised cuts in stamp duty for first time buyers means increased taxes elsewhere, the Conservatives are promising to increase taxes for the vast majority of the electorate!

Reoffending

If 65% of offenders who left prison in 2004 reoffended within two years, why not merely increase the initial sentence by another two years!?!

How many of the remaining 35% reoffended but were not caught!?!

Will Ministers be apologising to taxpayers for wasting £2.6bn of our taxes on the National Offenders Management Service?

Expensive expenses?

How many travel expenses can be "over-claimed" before police officers are held accountable for "mistakes"!?!

Train fares fair?

Why should rail staff be expected to tell passengers the "best deals" on rail fares?

Do Tescos staff tell customers what are the best deals on baked beans each day or are customers expected to find out for themselves!?!

NHS rationing

When will rationing of NHS treatments be extended to foreign nationals treated on the NHS?

It is not right that foreign nationals should receive free treatments if they are not entitled to it.

Brown's appeal to Middle England?

Why does Gordon Brown expect 'middle England' to find him appealing when they will be the only group paying for their children to attend University when it's free in Scotland and a lot cheaper in Wales!?!

"And so for 16 year olds from low-income families, who are staying on at school, we'll make a new five year offer. We will finance you through college or university right through to the age of 21." - Gordon Brown.

Smarter about Commuting

A survey has found that 100% of people use the most appropriate form of transport to get to work based upon cost and time taken.

'We cannot ignore this and hope that everyone will take the train.' - Edmund King.

PS If "Men commute on average 20% longer than women", do men sacrifice a shorter commute for higher pay!?!

Good news for the race industry?

Britain remains a place of "inequality, exclusion and isolation".

If the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has failed to reduce inequalities in Britain, does this mean there are no solutions and the CRE's successor, the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR), should be disbanded or that it's funding should be increased!?!

Perhaps the level of immigration should be reduced!

Trust the Chancellor, but keep your money under the mattress?

"People can use their accounts in the usual way, they can carry on making their mortgage payments in the usual way. Northern Rock will be able to carry on its business." - Chancellor Alistair Darling

Who'd have thought that people wouldn't trust politicians as far as they can queue!?!

Green mould?

How important are 'green' issues to the UK electorate?

A report by nine leading environmental groups ["The Green Standard"] - looks at each party's commitments and actions. The Lib Dems were rated highest, getting three "green lights" indicating approval of their policies. Labour got one and the Tories none.

The Liberal Democrats trail in third place on approximately 15%. So why are the BBC still enthralled by Green issues!?!

Teaching apartheid?

How will community cohesion improve by teaching thousands of Muslim children in new state funded schools separated from the kaffir!?!

Cost in Translation (2)

Will Ruth Kelly be pleased to hear that Southall's bilingual railway station nameplate will be removed following complaints from ethnic minorities - they had wanted the sign to appear in other languages too!?!

Fat white bastard

How can Sir Trevor McDonald be cleared of making a racist remark having described Bernard Manning as a "Fat white Bastard"!?!

Brown's benefits?

If Gordon Brown wants to incentivise lone parents and the long term unemployed back into work, unemployment benefits should be reduced after six months!

Will he also reduce incapacity benefit to the level of unemployment benefit to discourage "trading up" benefits!?!

Child poverty

Would child poverty (and crime!) be reduced by discouraging feckless teenagers from becoming pregnant rather than rewarding them with more dollops of taxpayers' cash!?!

Baby cash

Is cash a "key determinant" when it comes to good health and healthy eating in expectant mothers or does it merely signify the difference between mothers who are responsible, work hard and plan for the future and those who live for today and don't care about tomorrow!?!

PS If it's such a good idea to give pregnant mums-to-be £200, why not make it £300 instead!?!

Schooling

If poor children are to succeed at good schools, do they need to study !?! Mere 'attendance' will never provide a good quality education! It should not require exhaustive research to come to this conclusion!

"Children from disadvantaged backgrounds need to do more than just attend a good school to boost their educational achievement" - Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Reporting the news?

Muslim converts target Germany - The Times, 6th September 2007.
White Muslim converts have brought the Islamic holy war into the heart of Europe with a narrowly thwarted plot to blow up hundreds of people in German airports, discotheques and restaurants.

German shock at bomb plot arrests - BBC News online, 5th September 2007.
For months, the German authorities have said that the country faces a heightened threat of terrorist attack, and now it appears those warnings were based on fact.

Hat tip: Pimpmydaughter!

When All Sedley And Done

Does Lord Justice Sedley believe 500,000 false, misspelt or incorrect names on the existing DNA database of just 4m entries should be corrected before the entire UK population are added to it!?!

"It can be said with confidence that the law recognises and will appropriately protect a right of personal privacy." - Lord Justice Sedley.

Two heads are worse than one!

What will prevent good schools from being dragged down when they merge with failing schools!?!

How many poor quality teachers were sacked across England & Wales last year!?!

Unrelated behaviour?

Grooming of white girls for sex is exposed as two Asian men jailed - The Times, August 11th 2007.
Police and groups campaigning to protect women insisted that the grooming of youngsters is not segregated along race lines, though there is concern at the attitudes of some young Asian men towards white girls.

Six years for rapist who invited friends to prey on lost 12-year-old girl - The Times, September 4th 2007.
A 12-year-old girl was raped up to 15 times by four men after she was abducted as she asked for directions to her home, a court was told. The child was lured into a car by Shakil Chowdhury, 39, who drove her to his house. There she was plied with alcohol and attacked by Chowdhury and three others.

British Executive?

When will HM Government rebrand itself HM Executive as it's powers are increasingly usurped by the European Union!?!

School economics

If schools are enjoying a "golden age" where the quality and quantity of candidates applying for vacant posts means schools can select from a talented field, do teachers need more pay rises!?!

The new golden era of teacher recruitment may be good news for schools, who can pick and choose the cream of the crop, but in some cases newly qualified teachers, especially from the north, are having to compete with more than 100 others for the same post.

Red Conservatives?

"No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." - George Orwell, Animal Farm.

Tories 'to match Labour spending'
So why vote Conservative when you can look forward to Labour levels of spending and taxes for three out of a probable four year Government following the next election!?!

Birth of a new nation?

Evidence that immigration puts a strain on public services!?!

Warning over shortage of midwives - Guardian.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said it had upwardly revised its assessment of the number of new midwives needed by 2012 from 3,000 to 5,000 in the light of higher birth-rate figure.

A quarter of all UK babies have a foreign parent - Daily Mail.
The Office of National statistics figures show 734,000 births in the UK last year, compared to 663,000 four years earlier.

Student housing

How do you reduce over-crowding in student homes by limiting them to just 20% of any street!?!

31 not out!

Would a 43 year old woman be starting her 31st prison sentence if prison life was tougher!?!

Ukippered?

Is it more important for the Electoral Commission to reduce voter choice by destroying UKIP or testing "the law on forfeiture of impermissible donations"?

Health warnings

Are anti-smoking warnings on cigarette packs being dumbed down on the assumption that fewer smokers can read these days!?!

The Institute of Directors said its members were "crying out for improvement" in basic skills.

Does smoking improve your lungs if you are Arabic and happen to read from right to left!?!

Terrorism pays!

Why is Churchill's memory being sullied by having a former terrorist as a new neighbour!?!

"I'm proud to welcome to Downing Street the most inspiring, the greatest and most courageous leader of our generation." - Gordon Brown PM

Who earns what?

Does the left leaning Fabian society think Gordon Brown deserves to earn more money than £475,000 pa BBC news reader Natasha Kiplinsky!?!

Ten Green Bottles!

"If you are involved in the story of the day you can be broadcasting 25 hours a day, eight days a week." - Former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.

Good to see that Charlie still has his finger on the pulse!

Burning our money?

If "£21bn on early years and childcare services since 1997" has failed to make any measurable changes to pre-school child development, should spending be doubled or should it be cut to pre-1997 levels!?!

Everton thefts?

How long before the Everton shirt and boots laid by the Everton football team at the makeshift shrine to murdered youngster Rhys Jones are stolen and auctioned on eBay!?!

Peer pressure?

How many unsuccessful non-muslim male conservative candidates have been made peers after their first attempt to become an MP!?!

"If someone ever gave me a job because I felt it made them look good, as some commentators have tried to put to David, I'd never do that." - Sayeeda Warsi

Sub-prime meltdown

Is the sub-prime meltdown a better means of transferring wealth from the rich to the poor than any socialist economist could ever dream of!?!

THE multi-millionaire financier Martin Finegold, dubbed Britain’s “Mr Sub-prime”, has become one of the biggest public losers in the market meltdown.

Hollow threat

With an estimated 1.2m uninsured or unlicenced already on the UK's roads, does David Cameron's threat of disqualifying young offenders from holding or obtaining a driving licence amount to anything substantial!?!

If you want to "hit them where it hurts", they should be required to do hard, physical labour!

Road pricing

Are higher car parking charges a cheap yet effective method of reducing road congestion in city centres?

Johnny Ray Conner

Why is the BBC carrying a photo of Johnny Ray Conner who is due to be executed on Wednesday for the "cruel and inhumane" murder of Kathyanna Gon Thi Nguyen rather than the victim's photo?

Hopefully the Texas Governor tells the European Union where to go, just like Michael O'Leary!

Emergency First Aid?

Is there an A&E unit in the country not threatened with closure that could provide emergency first aid to the Conservative Party?

It's confused, unbalances and doesn't know who it is anymore!

More tax cuts?

"A Plaid MP has threatened to withhold part of his BBC licence fee saying there is not enough BBC coverage of Wales on news programmes across the UK."

Did Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price pay for his London TV licence or did he claim it on expenses!?!

Should I withhold some of my taxes as I don't receive free prescriptions as the Welsh do!?!

Slaving over the truth?

How many historians believe that the slave trade was the basis of the industrial revolution as the Reverend Jesse Jackson claims?

"People of colour in Britain should stand proud as creditors, not as debtors - after all, the slave trade was the basis of the economic foundation, the basis of the industrial revolution." - Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Why didn't Africa industrialise as soon as the slave trade ended!?!

Living it up in Scotland?

Did Louvain Luvunzu and his family jump the council house waiting list to secure his home in Motherwell?

"In all these, I have a great hope for a better life here in Scotland primarily because I have a house to live in; I have a school for my children; I have proper health care and access to good transport services." - Louvain Luvunzu.

Will Home Office Minister Joan Ryan pose for a photo with other families left waiting!?!

Bet your life?

In the "unlikely event" that Philip Lawrence's murderer Learco Chindamo, - a reformed, very nice, very thoughtful person - murders again, what are the chances the victim's a member of the Asylum & Immigration Tribunal rather than an innocent member of the public?

Burying our money!

If it takes one summer to test the safety of 20,000 gravestones, how long will it take to test another 20,000?

Five years!

Criminal conclusion?

How many Police Officers are too scared to leave their stations these days!?!

A disturbing 42 per cent of people are too scared of yobs to leave home at night, a Mirror poll reveals today.

Has the great liberal experiment, soft on crime, soft on the causes of crime and soft on the punishment of crime reached it's conclusion?

Double taxation?

If parents are too irresponsible to study or to work and rely on the welfare state to fund their lifestyles, why should society be shocked when their children are also irresponsible?

Why expect anything else!?! The parents have no responsibilities to teach in the first place!

The taxpayer funds these social ills and is then expected to fund the solutions too!

It's double taxation!

English Conservative Tax Cuts?

Would proposals to reduce inheritance tax be more popular if they only applied in England as nursing care for the elderly is free in Scotland and they don't have to pay any additional taxes to cover the costs!?!

We'll avoid mentioning university tuition fees....

The right stuff!

Will the Conservative Party be able to withstand Labour claims of "lurching to the right" as it publishes it's first sensible policy proposal in a decade!?!

A Conservative government should abolish inheritance tax because it penalises too many middle-income families.

Would the UK economy become more competitive if the welfare state was reformed!?!

Sprint finished?

Will it be good when every single A-level student only earn A-grades!?!

Should every athlete competing in the 2012 Olympics 100m sprint win gold medals or would the world want to know who's the very best!?!

Counting unhatched chickens?

Pension schemes finances improve - BBC News online, 9 July 2007.
The PPF (Pension Protection Fund) is launching a monthly solvency index and the 7,783 schemes it measures now have a collective surplus of £99bn. A year ago, the PPF said, the funds it scrutinised had a deficit of £8bn. The finances of the schemes have improved because of rising share prices, and higher bond yields which have reduced the value of liabilities.

Heavy losses sweep world markets - BBC News online, 16th August 2007.
More than £100bn has now been wiped off the value of the UK's leading shares alone since last Wednesday.

Hedge fund managers may be ex-rocket scientists with brains the size of planets but it's an explosive combination when mixed with no common sense!

Kamikazi bankers?

How many bankers will be sacked for betting that lending money to "NINJAs" (No income, no job or assets) was a good idea!?!

"If you owe the bank a million, you worry. If you owe it a billion, the bank worries. If the bank owes billions, central bankers worry."

Less Council Taxpayer Friendly?

Will council tax need to increase to cover any shortfall in revenues when English and Welsh councils are banned from using wheel clamping to raise funds!?!

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said the guidance aims to be "more motorist friendly" for those who do not persistently evade parking charges.

Conservative, me!?!

Tories aim to end forced marriage

Tory plan for red tape 'tax cut' (for business!)

Tories consider social tax breaks

When will the Conservatives ever announce a policy that helps me!?!

What goes up...

Gordon Brown's poll ratings soar

must come down...

Airheads (2)

How much rubbish will be left behind when environmental protestors leave their camp site close to Heathrow airport in a week's time?

How many trees will be saved as 1,800 policemen have no paperwork to fill in this week!?!

Number crunching

3 years: Wasted at secondary school by too many pupils "failing to make progress".

2 years: Proposed increase in school leaving age for pupils.

NHS hospital failings exposed?

How many private hospitals have poor food hygiene standards?

The BBC never misses an opportunity to highlight private sector failings!

Air heads?

Can we assume none of the climate change protestors "from abroad" campaigning against further expansion of Heathrow Airport flew into the UK!?!

NHS priorities?

The NHS refuse to fund the £3,500 per month kidney cancer treatment of the late Tony Wilson.

NHS treat the moron seriously injured "tombstoning" in Dorset for free despite needing to be airlifted to hospital having ignored warnings on it's dangers!

English conversation?

Will the English be allowed to debate whether they want to keep Scotland in the Union!?!

Good news for black boys?

American rapper 50 Cent has threatened to stop releasing solo material if his next album fails to outsell a new CD by rival star Kanye West. - BBC news online, 11th August 2007.

Black boys need positive role models from within their own communities to tackle underachievement. Many young black boys see rappers like 50 Cent as a role model. - BBC news online, 9th August 2007.

Zulfqar Hussain and Qaiser Naveed

When will the BBC report that two Muslim men, Zulfqar Hussain and Qaiser Naveed, have each been jailed for five years and eight months after exploiting two girls aged under 16 by plying them with alcohol and drugs before having sex with them?

"This is a truly shocking offence. You knew them. They were exploited for sex by the two of you. No other description is possible. They were under-age girls who you knew it was your responsibility to protect and not exploit." - Judge Andrew Gilbart, QC.

Parents have complained that in parts of the country with large Asian communities white girls as young as 12 are being targeted for sex by older Asian men yet the authorities are unwilling to act because of fears of being labelled racist.

Benefits of the European Union?

"Under current rules, doctors from Europe can register and treat patients in Britain but are not tested for clinical competence and do not have to prove they can speak English." - Why not?

They should be expected to have the same level of competence as domestic doctors and should be able to converse with their patients in English. How many British patients are risking their lives!?!

Deserving or Responsible?

If you walk down a dark street at night covered in gold jewellery and happen to be mugged, how many people would say that you were in no way to blame for your plight?

You do not deserve to be mugged but your irresponsible actions have contributed to it...

Black role models

Given that a lack of black role models will cost the UK economy "£24bn over the next 50 years through taxes and criminal justice costs", just how many are needed so that black boys can make "an even greater contribution economically, culturally and politically to Britain"!?!


Three role models to ignore?

Import restrictions?

Would 91 Iraqi interpreters have a better chance of a new life in Britain if they were terror suspects?

Why does Jamil el-Banna face torture if he returns to Jordan?

If Abdulnour Sameur found it hard to live as a good Muslim in Britain, I bet he's gutted that the British Government wants him to return here!

As found guilty on TV?

Police report Channel 4 to Ofcom for completely distorting what was said by three Islamic preachers in "Undercover Mosque" and no charges will be brought against the trio.

Police do not report the BBC to Ofcom for what was said by Nick Griffin in "The Secret Agent" but use the programme as evidence to arrest Nick Griffin and an accomplice...

Fingerprinted?

When will fingerprinting be introduced for benefit claimants in the UK?

Where are the locusts?

Love him or loathe him, you have to admit that Gordon Brown has had a tough honeymoon since becoming Prime Minister.

"Let the work of change begin" but who'd have guessed he was referring to floods and pestilence.

When will the locusts arrive!?!

White MPs spurn mayoral bid

Can you ever imagine the BBC publishing such a headline!?!

Flying pigs?

Will the Liberal Democrat's proposal of an additional £10 tax on domestic flights to subsidise the railways also apply to politicians flying around the UK in helicopters at election time!?!

Schools out for summer!

Who is the strategic thinker within Conservative Central Office who thought David Cameron should focus on school discipline at the start of the summer holidays!?!

Meals on schools!

If the provision of free school fruit and vegetables has led to lower domestic consumption, will free nutritious meals during the summer holidays lead to poorer quality diets at home!?!

"We shouldn't be blaming poorer parents: we should be helping them meet the cost of healthy alternatives" - IPPR North director Sue Sterling.

We should be blaming poorer parents.

BBC - Beeb Bashing Cameron?

Why does BBC's article "Cameron to outline schools plan" only merit three sentences on his 'plans' before discussing his leadership for the rest of the time?

Mr Cameron is to suggest creating contracts between schools and parents that could be enforceable.

It comes amid murmurings among the Tories on his leadership. An activist who was part of his 2005 leadership campaign said he used "gimmickry".

Also on Monday, former party chairman Lord Saatchi warned "nicey-nicey" politics would not win the next election.

A survey for the Times put the Labour party six points clear of the Conservatives with 39% of the vote compared to 33%.

Quelle surprise!

The Law Commission wants to increase solicitors' businesses by giving co-habiting couples more legal protection...

When will the car garage lobby succeed in making annual professional car services compulsory!?!

Rubbing Saltire in the wound?

"The Union flag is a powerful symbol of both our heritage and modern, diverse Britain. It brings us together in solidarity and shared identity" - Culture Secretary James Purnell.

So why should Scottish Executive buildings be exempt from this!?!

"In Scotland, the Saltire will fly each day, although on 18 special days the union flag will be raised instead." - SNP Spokesman.

Asian British?

Why should 50% of British Asians be surprised that white people do not treat them as British when only 38% of British Asians consider themselves British!?!

Child benefits

Why will raising child benefit by £5 per week be expected to lift 150,000 children out of poverty!?!

It will merely give their parents more money to spend on alcohol, cigarettes, fast food and the latest fashions!

Once people start focusing on the long term rather than their immediate needs, the benefits of a good education, hard work and savings become apparent!

More benefits attack this principle.

Ghost students?

How reliable are National Audit Office figures that "one in five students starting a full-time university course in England [are] unlikely to complete it" when criminal gangs have obtained millions of pounds in student loans by enrolling "ghost students" at universities!?!

Government stealth steal tax?

When did it become acceptable for Government to steal money from unused bank accounts!?!

How many towns don't have a youth centre already!?!

If youths are bored over the summer, they should get summer jobs...

Drug vouchers?

When will I qualify for shopping vouchers if I don't speed!?!

PS Will drug dealers accept the vouchers as payment for their next fix!?!

The Railway never never?

"At least £80bn will be spent getting the UK's transport system up to speed by the year 2010, the government has announced." - BBC News Online - 13 December, 1999.

"Billions of pounds are to be spent on creating a "bigger, stronger" railway, carrying twice as many passengers by 2030, the transport secretary has said." - BBC News Online - 24 July 2007.

The goals remain the same, they just get moved further away each year!

Visa rules?

United States: Overstay your visa and you are banned from returning for six years.

Britain: Overstay your visa and your MP works hard to prevent you from leaving!

Why is Britain always the soft touch!?!

Bush v Brown v BBC

Given that the BBC revelled in the New Orleans floods being an opportunity to bash Bush, will they revel in the English floods being an opportunity to bash Brown!?!

"It surprises me that if there was that kind of awareness, why was the response so slow?" - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

Abandon ship!?!

Whilst so much of Conservative 'middle England' remains flooded, why hasn't David Cameron cancelled his trip to Rwanda and stayed in England to ensure the Government does all it can to help his electorate?

They will remember at election time!

Dr No?

If two of the alleged Glasgow airport terror suspects did not have enough experience to work in Western Australia, why did they have enough experience to work in the UK?

If it's not good enough for them, it shouldn't be good enough here, especially as Western Australia are "desperate to find more doctors to care for a growing, and ageing, population".

Plodding Plod?

"We know the police have had a major increase in funding over the past decade but it is much more difficult to tell what they have done with it." - David Winnick, Acting Chairman, Home Affairs select committee - 19th July 2007.

"No-one is to face charges after the 16-month cash-for-honours investigation"! - BBC News website - 20th July 2007