Unshakeable faith?

If a white male refused to shake the hand of a black man at a Police passing out parade for 'religious reasons', would it be considered an obstacle to performing his duties as a Police Officer?

Brown's Big Brother Balls!

"The huge number of complaints [now about 30,000] shows that British people do not accept racism" - Gordon Brown on the Big Brother controversy.

192,850 - Number of votes cast for the BNP in the 2005 General Election!

Brown ready for next challenge!?!

Britain has seen the sharpest deterioration in public accounts of any country in Europe over the last six years, slipping below Greece, Georgia, and Romania towards the bottom of the budget league. - The Daily Telegraph.

It is also one of the few countries where the tax burden has increased rather than fallen - Moritz Kraemer, chief credit officer for Standard & Poor in Europe.

Having 'run' Britain's economy so well since 1997, is Gordon Brown capable of facing a Prime Minister's "bigger challenges"!?!

Who would the next Chancellor of the Exchequer blame for the parlous state of Britain's finances, their boss!?!

Refugee status?

How does the BBC report the murder of a refugee by a refugee?

Refugee found death, not sanctuary - The victim had fled civil war in Sierra Leone only to meet her death on an estate in south London.

Christening killer admits murder - Malasi, who had no previous convictions [except murder!] is an Angolan refugee.

Sink estates

Some of the estates are beyond repair and to be honest we need to simply say that we can't carry on with people having to live in those conditions any longer. With regeneration and "hope" among residents, it was possible to turn estates around, but "in the worst, we should bulldoze them." - Former Home Secretary David Blunkett.

It's not clear whether David wants the residents moved out first or not!

Number Crunching

21,000 complaints: Enough to condemn Channel 4's 'Big Brother' as racist despite protestations that there had been "no overt racial abuse or racist behaviour".

45,000 complaints: Not enough to condemn BBC's 'Jerry Springer - The Opera' as blasphemous.

David Cameron on Big Brother row

"Viewers unhappy at alleged racist content on Celebrity Big Brother should switch off their TVs.! - David Cameron, Conservative Party leader.

The main highlights show on Tuesday averaged 4.5 million viewers, up from 3.5 million on Monday and 3.9 million on Tuesday last week.

Dammit Janet!

How can a 'left-wing icon' be arrested for racially abusing her neighbour!?!

Does Janet Street-Porter now agree with a judge who described a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute a man for a racially aggravated offence as "a nonsense" when "We let people hit each other and break into people’s homes and they are not charged"?

"So next time call him a fat bastard and don’t say anything about his colour. When we have an overstretched police force and an overstretched CPS one wonders why we are sitting here with long faces dealing with one sentence."

By-passing UK Passport Control

Who could predict that "At certain times of the day, when a lot of flights come in at the same time, [Passport] control can become extremely busy"?

All passengers still need to be checked by immigration staff before entering the UK, even if this requires long waits as frequently happens in the United States, they should never be waived through.

UK Passport control is a unique customer service, it is for the benefit of UK residents rather than the newly arrived passengers.

Some immigration officers described rare occasions when, due to staff shortages, they had been instructed by chief immigration officers not to hold up any passengers at all.

Undercover Mosque (2)

Will Government Ministers be distancing themselves from leading Muslims based at the Green Lane Mosque following last night's provocative programme "Undercover Mosque"?

Will Police be prosecuting preachers at the Green Lane Mosque for incitement to religious and racial hatred?

The Muslim Council of Britain urges all Muslim institutions to be vigilant and ensure that their premises are not allowed to be abused by those who are intent on pursuing divisive agendas. Unacceptable and inflammatory language can never be accepted from Muslim speakers either during talks or on recorded DVDs. It is vital that the sanctity of mosques and Islamic centres is maintained at all times and an Islamic code of conduct upheld.

Inflation up, interest rates up!

After 3 years of us, ask yourselves this. Why has this country now got the lowest inflation rate in Europe? [ ] It is not luck that we enjoy this economic strength. It is not coincidence. It is the result of choices, hard choices, taken by this government. By Gordon Brown, one of the most inspired chancellors this country has seen. - Tony Blair, Labour Party Conference 2000.

Cost of living 'at 11-year high'

Dangerously joined up Government?

Whitehall plan for huge database of people's personal details.

[Government] Financial advice service planned to help people with basic money matters.

Peter Hain on England

The Tories, despite once priding themselves as "the party of the Union", now place selfish party advantage ahead of national interest. - Peter Hain, MP for the Welsh constituency of Neath with ambitions to be Labour's Deputy Leader.

By trying to whip up and then harness nationalist sentiment in England, they risk unleashing forces which can lead to only one thing: the Balkanisation of Britain. That would damage Britain and damage Wales. - Peter Hain MP

So how are Labour reducing English nationalist sentiment?

Wales has long benefited from support from the Treasury, with Welsh public spending almost £1,000 per head higher than in England. - Peter Hain MP

Undercover Mosque

If the BBC was prepared to use an undercover reporter to infiltrate the BNP, why was it not prepared to commission a TV programme to "infiltrate 'moderate' mosques as well?

He captures chilling sermons in which Saudi-trained preachers proclaim the supremacy of Islam, preach hatred for non-Muslims and for Muslims who do not follow their extreme beliefs - and predict a coming jihad. "An army of Muslims will arise," announces one preacher. Another preacher said British Muslims must "dismantle" British democracy - they must "live like a state within a state" until they are "strong enough to take over."

Undercover Mosque, Channel 4, 8pm tonight.

Bullying England?

If David Cameron focused on why an English cancer patient needs to move to Scotland to receive the drugs treatment he requires, he might start to understand why English voters are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the Union.

Unfortunately, Cameron prefers to talk about a resurgence of the Conservative Party in Scotland and Gordon Brown "bullying Scotland" instead!

Who is bullying England?

Gone to the dogs?

If pet dog owners can be prosecuted for causing unnecessary suffering by letting their dog become obese, should parents with obese children be similarly prosecuted?

About 20% of children are now overweight and 2.5% cent are severely overweight or obese.

Reap what you sow!

Did Gordon Brown think Labour was playing "fast and loose with the union and [putting] the future of the union at risk" when they created the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly?

Blogspot URL address?

Can someone help me please?

How do I change the settings on this blog so that the full blogger post address is shown in the address bar above rather than just the Blog title?

thanks!

Bankrupt Holidays!

Unions may welcome their 'coup' at winning an additional eight days holiday for low skilled workers but it's a further reason for businesses to relocate their low cost operations overseas.

Such short sighted attitudes only damage the employment prospescts of such workers!

Let them eat cake!

How dare a newspaper highlight a Labour Education Secretary's hypocrisy!

If a Conservative Health Secretary ever paid for their child to receive private healthcare treatment as it was not widely available on the NHS, would Labour Ministers understand why?

The teachings of Chairman Brown!

Why should an additional two years of schooling at Temple School in Rochester be expected to help the 98% of pupils who fail to achieve five GCSEs at grade C or above including English and maths?

Is Labour seeking to hide the growing problem of youth unemployment?

English lessons

Why should British taxpayers be expected to pay the £279m cost of English language lessons for migrants keen to work in the UK?

Migrants should expect to pay for their own lessons. I would.

Should some English students also be allowed to attend the courses!?!

Asset Non-recovery Agency

Given that VAT carousel fraud cost the UK taxpayer approximately £1.5bn last year and tax credit fraud cost a further £540m, how did the Asset Recovery Agency only manage to recover £8m, despite costing £60m to set up!?!

Labour's not learning

How can a secondary school be so bad that only 2% of it's students manage to achieve five good GCSE grades including English and maths?

As only 45.8% of pupils meet the government's minimum target for GCSE attainment, does Ruth Kelly 'wish' that more of her children had "learning difficulties"!?!

Cameron on the Environment!

Why does David Cameron oppose higher energy costs if it helps to save the environment by increasing the rewards for people who use energy more efficiently!?!

A good education is a lottery!

In seeking to broaden the "social inclusiveness" of good schools by selecting pupils by lottery rather than by catchment area, Labour will only achieve three things:

The destruction of said good schools as standards will be diluted over time as good teachers keen to work at good schools leave the profession.

The destruction of any remaining support amongst middle class parents or aspirational working class parents for Labour. How many families will be prepared to sacrifice a £25,000 property premium for living within the catchment area of a good school?

Social mobility will continue it's decline as the premium for being privately educated at a good school can only increase further.

Labour needs to consider whether the middle classes squeeze low income families out of good schools or if that's why the schools are good!

Millenium Dome Mark 2?

Why should the National Lottery be used to fund another white elephant, the 2012 Olympic Games?

Ministers should not be allowed to touch Lottery funds to finance schemes that should properly be funded a windfall tax on properties in South East London where the majority of benefits will arise and general taxation.

If the benefits of the Olympics will "far outstrip the costs", why can't the shortfall be funded through one of Gordon Brown's beloved PFI deals?

- The Millenium Dome was part funded with £449m of lottery funds before a further £179m was required when it proved to be less popular than expected!

Unrecorded Overseas Crime

How does the Home Office ensure that foreign criminals with convictions for serious crimes abroad are not cleared to work with vulnerable people in the UK?

Political Rights Bill?

Is a 'Political Rights Bill' required to ban discrimination against people with political views in the provision of goods, services and employment!?!

Number Crunching

£54m: Amount stolen by VAT fraudster sentenced to 15 years. - This was theft of revenue needed to fund our country's public services - Chris Harrison of HM Revenue & Customs.

£54m: Quango's Redundancy costs since 2000. - It represents less than half of 1% of the total budget. - Spokeswoman for the Department for Education and Skills.

Stinks, stinks, stinks!

Former Education Secretary Ruth Kelly has enrolled one of her children at an elite £15,000-a-year private prep school. It is understood the child has learning difficulties.

Are these the same "learning difficulties" that forced Labour MP Karen Buck to withdraw her son from a city academy or Labour MP Diane Abbot to send her son to a private school?

Why did Ruth Kelly oppose Conservative plans for a "pupil passport" that could have subsidised other children with "learning difficulties" to go private too!?!

Tony Blair's now infamous "Education, Education, education" priority in 1997 now "stinks, stink, stinks"!

Her child's new school has "60 pupils aged 7 to 13 and offers extensive grounds, a heated swimming pool, tennis courts, golf and horse-riding" just like your typical "bog standard Comprehensive"!

Special Home Improvement Tax!

The idea of the state being an overbearing state, which a lot of people have associated with the governments of the past, that cannot be the government of the future. Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Householders face rises in council tax bills every time they improve their homes under plans by ministers to revalue all properties every year. [] minor improvements will be recorded either by door-knocking inspectors or by questionnaires that occupiers will be obliged to answer. - The Sunday Telegraph.

Courtesy of A Tangled Web.

Prison number crunching!

If the Director General of the Prison Service does not know exactly how many prisoners are on the run from open jails, how can he be sure that 79,908 were in prison custody on 29th November 2006?

England's cricketers attempt to return home unnoticed!

The Few

Never in the field of English cricket were so many so out for so few.

Number crunching

10%: Female directors of FTSE 100 firms.
20%: Female Members of Parliament
26%: Male commissioners at the Equal Opportunities Commission

If it will take 60 years to have the same number of female directors as men at FTSE 100 firms, how many years will it take for the same number of males as females at the Equal Opportunities Commission!?!

Talk the talk, baulk the walk?

If primary school "teaching and behaviour [are] worse in schools with pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds", how effective will Gordon Brown's call be for free education of the poorest children in the world!?!

Devolution good for your health?

Are Welsh and Scottish NHS patients facing eight week hospital delays for routine treatments due to a lack of funds at year end or just the over-taxed and under-represented English?

Learning and Skills Council savings?

In just six years, the Learning and Skills Council has paid £54m in redundancy costs!

A Department of Education spokeswoman suggests these costs need to be put in context as representing "less than half of 1% of the total [annual budget of £11bn] and must be considered alongside estimated annual savings of around £40m which will be achieved by the current restructuring exercise."

Should the savings also be put into context as they also represent "less than half of 1% of the total [annual budget of £11bn]"!?!

Saddam Hussein - An apology?

Will the British Government apologise to the family of Saddam Hussein for the taunting he received just prior to his state sponsored murder execution by hanging!?!

Fears are growing that Marie Antoinette, Mussolini and Charles 1 may also have been taunted prior to their executions...

Benefits of migration?

Why does Labour and the Trade Unions welcome more immigration when the Bank of England has found evidence that migrants may replace low-skilled UK workers in certain jobs?

Which two organisations are supposed to represent the interests of low skilled UK workers!?!

In other news:

Two Manchester bus companies have been banned from the roads over Christmas after serious concerns were raised about the safety of their drivers.

Ms Bell said she was concerned over the safety of the firm's Polish drivers.

One hundred of 130 of the drivers at UK North are Polish the hearing was told many had a poor understanding of English.

Food Patriotism

Why is David Cameron promoting "Made in Britain" food patriotism rather than "Made in England / Scotland / Wales / Northern Ireland" food labelling?

All Tesco's milk sold in Wales is Welsh milk for example!

Old, bold car drivers?

Studies by the Department for Transport [suggest] that young men [] aged 17-20 are almost 10 times more likely to die or be seriously injured while driving compared with men aged 40-59.

Do only the safest drivers survive into middle age!?!

There are old pilots and bold pilots; but there are no old bold pilots! - E. Hamilton Lee, 1949.

World's Newest Selective Girls Grammar School Opens!

Will left-wing educationalists and David Cameron be condemning Oprah Winfrey's new $40m South African school that offers working class girls with academic potential an escape route from "bog standard" schools?

Winfrey, whose own background was disadvantaged, says she regards education as the door to freedom and she hopes these girls will be among South Africa's future leaders.

David Cameron can console himself that current Conservative Party policy on gammar schools appeals to the 25% of the population who are not in favour of academic selection!

Selective Conservative Policies

Why does the Conservative Party oppose selective education when more than 75% of people believe that streaming or a selective system helps the education of all children?

Just whose views do they represent?

Driving up standards

If driving tests are to become more difficult to improve road safety, will the penalties for driving whilst unqualified also be raised?

Would it be better if new drivers were prevented from driving cars more than 1400cc in their first year on the road similar to the scheme currently in operation for motorcyclists?

Biting the hand that feeds it

Why should civil servants expect above inflation pay rises each year?

Who pays for it?

Great Uncle Bulgaria and Romania!

If the new EU citizens of Romania and Bulgaria "will benefit the UK", should we hope that more than 180,000 will arrive in the UK this year?

Where will a population the size of York be housed!?!

2007 - A Political Odyssey

More 'Green' taxes.

More 'Brown' taxes.

Council tax rises 4%.

Overpaid tax credits only £2bn in 2007.

Olympics budget increases by another £1bn.

No changes to improve safety of prostitutes despite Suffolk murders.

Conservative Party propose tax rises for the wealthy.

EU accounts qualified for thirteenth year in a row.

Happy New Year!

True Yellow Conservatives?

Should traditional Conservative supporters welcome news that three Liberal Democrats candidates in the 2005 General Election have switched to the Conservative Party?

I fear it merely shows how far the Conservative Party has moved away from it's core supporters!

British Government "held to account"

How can the British Government remain opposed to the death penalty if Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett considers that Saddam Hussein's execution means that he has finally been "held to account" for his crimes?

Does Margaret Beckett think that Ian Huntley and Peter Sutcliffe have been "held to account" for their crimes?

If the Government accepts Iraq's sovereignty to convict and execute Saddam Hussein, why didn't they accept Pakistan's sovereignty to convict and execute Mirza Tahir Hussain!?!

Labour's not educating

Who does Labour MP Karen Buck blame for the education of her son if it's so bad that she has been forced to move him from a failing City Academy to a leading local Comprehensive school?

Does she feel guilty that other parents might not be able to move their children?

At least Karen can be praised for not sending her son to a private school!

NHS savings only required in England?

Will routine post-op consultant check-ups be scrapped in Scotland and Wales or are savings only required in England?

How can a system be inefficient if 90% of patients still attend their routine post-op check-up? Why not penalise people who fail to attend instead?

M&S Buyers' grammar lessons

How can Marks & Spencers expect their buyers to have a good grasp of English grammar when they may only have 'A*' at GCSE English?

Referring to the latest mistake, the store said it was a "silly mistake" and added perhaps it should send its buyers to grammar lessons in the New Year.

Not proud of history lessons

Why do lessons on the history of the British Empire in India need to be revised to reflect the "mix of nationalities in England"?

Will students be taught that Britain banned Sati in India?

On 4 December 1829, the practice was formally banned in the Bengal Presidency lands, by the then governor, Lord William Bentinck. The ban was challenged in the courts, and the matter went to the Privy Council in London, but was upheld in 1832.

Will students be taught that Gandhi was educated at University College, London where he trained as a barrister?

English NHS spending

When was the last time an English Conservative MP highlighted differences in per capita health spending across the four nations of the UK?

These figures confirm that NHS Wales is set to fall even further behind the health service in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Patients in Wales are paying the price for the glaring and growing differences in health expenditure between Wales and the other nations of the UK. - Welsh Conservative health spokesman Jonathan Morgan AM

Minister's Kimbyism

Is Cabinet Minsiter Hazel Blears guilty of 'Kimbyism' - Keep in my back yard(!) - if she opposes the closure of her local maternity unit whilst supporting the Government's policy to close maternity units in other parts of the country?

HIV treatment on the NHS?

If the lifestlye choices of the obese, smokers and people with alcohol problems means they should be denied priority NHS treatment, should it also be witheld for people infected with HIV through unprotected sex or needle sharing?

The mother of all "People Panels"

Tony Blair has called for "people's panels" to help push through key public service reforms.

He wants 617 of them to represent people's interests throughout the country. They will be selected at General elections with the representative with the most votes winning the seat. The victors will be called MPs.

The panels will discuss issues such as government plans to influence lifestyles and healthy living.

All 100 panel members will take part in a "summit" a month later, which will also be attended by junior ministers and civil servants

They will discuss what "support and encouragement" the state can give to help to improve people's "life chances and well-being" - in particular such as "behavioural factors" as smoking and poor diet.

Me2

Why has multi-millionaire U2 frontman Bono been given an honorary knighthood for services to the music industry and his humanitarian work?

How many other people would be rewarded for their humanitarian work if they did not have to work for a living whilst paying income tax at a lower rate than everyone else!?!

Meanwhile, the blight of aid continues to prevent Africa from lifting itself out of extreme poverty.

Caught short and curlies

Why are Police taking no further action against a 15 year old Sikh who claimed racist white youths cut off his hair when he has now admitted that he made the whole incident up? He wasted Police time with a high profile allegation.

Is he guilty of racially stereotyping white youths!?!

Merry Christmas Britain!

Nine out of 10 crimes are either not reported or go unpunished.

Prison numbers could increase by 25% to 100,000 within five years.

The very poorest have got poorer since 1997.

Strategies for fighting crime could include "chemical castration" and alcohol rationing

Airport security joke

How safe are flights from Heathrow airport when women wearing the Niqab are not routinely checked to confirm their identity?

Mustaf Jama, a prime suspect in the fatal shooting of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, assumed his sister’s identity — wearing the niqab and using her passport — to evade supposedly stringent checks at Heathrow, according to police sources.

At the time, Jama was Britain’s most wanted man, while Heathrow was on a heightened state of alert after the 7/7 terrorist atrocities in London five months previously.

If Somalia is safe enough for a suspected Police murderer to flee to, is it also safe enough for a convicted child rapist to be deported to!?!

Singing the Trident Blues!

What hope is there for Britain to retain a "skilled workforce" to build the next generation of nuclear submarines if the "skilled workforce" are unable to read the lyrics of popular Karaoke songs!?!

Bishop criticises BBC Pay?

Does the Bishop of Worcester think that high salaries "justified" by performance within the BBC are as "galling" to NHS workers as high salaries within the square mile!?!

What we find most unfair when looking at pay rates is when people who earn huge sums of money are also insulated from the risk - Right Reverend Peter Selby, Bishop of Worcester.

The end of the world is nigh!

Why does the Conservative Party oppose welfare reform that would see benefits being cut for the work-shy!?!

Labour's workshy

Why should any initiatives to compel people off benefits and into work face resistance from Labour MPs? Do they prefer people to stay on benefits?

Would the workshy be 'encouraged' back into work if their benefit claims were stopped after two years?

Obese squeezing the NHS?

How can obesity ever "bankrupt" a taxpayer funded organisation like the NHS?

It may place new burdens on the NHS, but it could always be funded either by withdrawing other treatments or through more increases in general taxation.

Joined Up Government?

The new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEF) will be able to dock wages and withdraw the passports or driving licences of absent parents.

The government is set to abolish the requirement for fertility clinics to consider the need for a father when deciding whether to offer IVF treatment.

NHS Finances

How can additional funding ever help the NHS when it suffers from "mismanagement at all levels"?

How many NHS staff have been sacked for financial incompetence?

Cost in Translation

Does translating NHS and council services into an immigrant's mother tongue encourage integration or promote separatness?

When you are trying to help us you are actually harming. Even before we ask, all we have to do is say hello, they are here with their interpreters. We just sit here doing nothing and we don't need to speak in English at all. - Bangladeshi woman who has lived in the UK for 22 years speaking through a translator!

Is the £100m cost of translation deducted from the economic benefits of immigration?

Row over English public spending?

How much more revenue was raised than spent in England last year?

Pension Potties!

How generous is the Government's 1% contribution to new "Personal [Pension] Accounts" when it penalises pensioners with an 85% effective marginal tax rate on means-tested benefits!?!

National Health Surplus

How much surplus will NHS Wales and NHS Scotland need to make if NHS England has to make a £250m surplus?

Will any Scottish surplus be handed back to Westminster?

Number Crunching

£250m "Surplus" required by NHS England in 2007.

£250m Home Office "technical overdraft" in 2005/6 due to "ineffective cash management procedures".

Preaching to the converted.

Do 5.5m people already know that Britain is becoming an "increasingly dysfunctional society" breeding criminality?

It paints a gloomy picture of a society where for some family breakdown, drug and alcohol abuse, debt and failure in education combine

Forgive my schafenfreude!

Bishop mugged walking to his home

It's difficult to think of people more worthy of being mugged than liberal Bishops!

This report attempts to look behind the sound bites of politicians and the tabloids and bring to bear on this subject an informed and Christian contribution. - The Bishop of Southwark, The Rt Rev Tom Butler.

"The report calls for more emphasis on restorative justice, which looks for alternatives to prison."

Labour's not paying

The Times quotes Treasury figures showing that nearly 1.7 million people on low incomes face deductions totalling more than 60p in the pound from their pay.

It is a crazy system where you have people in poorly paid jobs, such as dinner ladies and hotel cleaners, suffering higher effective tax rates than millionaires, who pay 40 per cent higher-rate tax and 1 per cent national insurance at higher income levels - Mike Warburton, senior tax partner in Grant Thornton.

Why is the Labour Party penalising core voters for working rather than rewarding them for hard work? No wonder 5.5m people are economically inactive in the UK. They are the sensible ones!

People’s private spheres

Europe's second-highest ranking commissioner was fighting to save his political career last night over pictures showing him naked on a beach with his chief of staff. - The Times.

"People’s private[s]" should be respected - José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission!

Somalia's immigration policy

Does Somalia have a better immigration policy than the UK opposing the return of child rapists?

No doubt "Desperate to remain in the UK" to benefit the UK's economy, "A" raped a young girl at knifepoint within a year of his arrival in the UK in May 1995, yet the Government's duty to protect the public has now cost taxpayers £50,000 in damages as he was held illegally for a further twenty months as repeated attempts to deport him failed. How would naming "A" hamper further Home Office attempts to deport him!?!

If "A" is released in the UK, would Mr Justice Calvert Smith bet a child's life that "A" wouldn't remove an electronic tag? I wouldn't.

Government coffers and cobblers?

The UK economy and the government's tax receipts have been boosted massively in recent year[sic] by immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe, according to economists of the Ernst & Young ITEM club

Has Government expenditure been boosted massively in recent years by immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe?

You ASBO be laughing!

I don't accept a breach of an ASBO is the failure of an ASBO. - Home Office minister Tony McNulty.

If each ASBO costs more than £3,000 to adminster yet 55% of all anti-social behaviour orders given out in England and Wales are breached, does this represent good value to the taxpayer?

Where breaches are reported it means that individuals are being monitored - Home Office minister Tony McNulty.

Are 45% of ASBOs not being monitored properly?

What are the "serious consequences" of breaching ASBOs if 35% of holders have breached their order five or more times!?!

Ready to read books?

How will the provision of free books improve reading levels amongst the 21% of children who are unable to read after six years of schooling?

Providing free cars to seventeen year olds does not mean they become good drivers!

Knives out for knife amnesties!

Who could have predicted that knife amnesties have no real impact on reducing knife crime?

In late August 2006 - six weeks after the operation ends - offence levels tend to return to pre-operation values

"Amnesties needed to be used in conjunction with other initiatives" like tougher and longer prison sentences perhaps?

Can we look forward to a similar study looking at the impact of a gun amnesty on gun crime?

Non-polluting Scottish aircraft?

Why should airports in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland remain exempt from Air Passenger Duty?

Do they use special aircraft that don't pollute the environment or does Gordon prefer saving Labour votes to saving the planet?

Channel Fornicates You!

Will Channel Four's decision to use a veiled Muslim woman to deliver this year's alternate Christmas speech help integrate Muslims into the wider British community?

Could Channel Four be guilty of incitement to racial hatred if it doesn't!?!

Gordon's Closing Down Sale

If the UK economy is doing as well as Gordon Brown claims, why does he need to make it easier to sell £30bn of Government assets!?!

Brown hails a strong UK economy BBC News Online report, Dec. 6th, 2006.
The UK economy is set to grow by 2.75% this year

Sudden fall in UK industry output BBC News Online report, Dec. 6th, 2006.
Industrial output across the UK dropped unexpectedly in October, declining at its fastest pace in more than a year.

Money can't buy you educational results

No matter how much money is spent on education, it is all wasted if it is not accompanied with good discipline and the removal of teachers who are unable to teach.

If Gordon Brown is worried about the future challenges from India and China, should he consider copying how India and China and teach their children?

Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote learning. Emphasis is laid on passing exams with high percentage. Few institutes give importance to developing personality and creativity among students. [] Some schools in India practice extreme forms of corporal punishment on children, particularly those in middle school.

The People's Republic of China has a system of 9-year-compulsory education in mainland China.

Sharia Law in the UK?

It's here already - according to Clive Davis!

The BBC Radio 4 programme Law in Action produced evidence yesterday that it was being used by some Muslims as an alternative to English criminal law.

How can a female convert to Islam possibly complain about the growth of minority legal systems? "Very often traditional forms of mediation can disadvantage vulnerable groups, such as women, within a community."

She didn't have to convert!

Plugging the UK skills gap?

Unsurprisingly, 400 further education institutions support a plan to extend education and training for everyone up to the age of 18 despite 41% of sixteen year olds not even able to obtain five good GCSEs!

Without increased skills, we would condemn ourselves to a lingering decline in competitiveness, diminishing economic growth and a bleaker future for all. The case for action is compelling and urgent. - Lord Leitch.

Does the UK need to be concerned with a growing skills gap when immigration from 10 new EU countries since 2004 has meant [an] influx of a skilled, low-cost workforce!?!

Unhappy Christmas?

Christmas in 21st Century Britain...

Bodyguard for Santa after attacks
Organisers in Tipton have taken the precaution after Santas in previous years had stones and abuse thrown at them by youths.

Mince pie danger to be assessed
Council bosses say posters will have to be displayed at the party in Embsay, in the Yorkshire Dales, warning villagers the pies contain nuts and suet pastry.
Santa may need a Criminal Records Bureau check.

Firms 'ban festive decorations'
Christmas trees and decorations may well be a thing of the past in many workplaces this Christmas as political correctness culture has spread to the workplace

Making mountains out of molehills

As so many voters are disillusioned with Tony Blair and the Labour Party, it should be straightforward for the Conservative Party to secure victory at the next General Election.

So why does David Cameron admit he has a "huge mountain to climb"?

Is it a recognition that the Conservative Party does not yet appeal to aspirant blue collar workers? Focusing on green issues may well appeal to floating middle class voters but it's unlikely to win many "working class" votes!

How many "working class" voters feel angry when they see others enjoying a similar lifestyle yet are solely reliant on the welfare state?

Community Care killers

On average, one person a week dies at the hands of a mentally ill patient.

Almost a third of the killings were by people judged to have been of "low risk".

Is it acceptable that two thirds of the killings are by people judged to be "medium" or "high risk"!?!

Would mental health staff make different decisions if their family or friends were murdered by "low risk" patients?

Who will be the unfortunate person who dies at the hands of a mentally ill patient this week?

Pay peanuts and you get MPs?

How can any backbench MP be worth £100,000 per year?

If MPs consider their pay should be comparable to GPs and council chief executives, should their holidays be comparable too!?!

Reducing traffic congestion

Would traffic congestion be cut by 10% if the estimated 1.4m uninsured drivers were forced off Britain's roads?

Uninsured drivers are typically young males living in an urban environment where traffic congestion is particularly bad...

How would road pricing be enforced for these drivers!?!

England's public service budget

"Breaking up Britain would remove billions of pounds from the public service budget in Scotland". - George Foulkes, former Scotland Office minister.

"Breaking up Britain would restore billions of pounds for the public service budget in England". - Not said by any mainstream policitian.

Scottish Conservative Party hopes scotched!

Can Scottish Conservatives ever win power when "just 163,000 Scottish taxpayers, from a population of 5m, make any net contribution to the British exchequer. The rest receive more than they pay out in reliefs, subsidies and benefits"?

Why offer tax cuts when so few people actually pay any tax!?!

'Tough' for Conservative detractors?

David Cameron suggests that if core Tory voters are upset by the direction in which he is leading the party then "that's tough."

Has he already explained the reasons for a fourth successive Conservative electoral defeat?

I suppose you could spend the next few years as leader of the Conservative Party just telling people what they wanted to hear and jolly them along and everyone would be happy — and then you would lose another election. Well, I don't see the point of that. - David Cameron.

What is wrong with offering policies that the public want to hear? The Conservatives won more votes in England than Labour in 2005 because of it!

I would rather abstain at the next General Election than endorse a man whose contempt for core Tory voters knows no bounds.

'Buy-to-jail' mortgages?

As the Government considers selling shares to fund new prisons, will it be long before mortgages are available on them?

Members of the public would receive a regular income from the "invest in a cell" scheme and would benefit from a rise in the value of their investment because of increasing property prices.

How can the Treasury be so short of cash that new prisons need to be funded by public subscription?

Motorists 'must pay for road use'

Are ministers the only road users who do not pay to use the road network as their fuel and road tax can be reclaimed as expenses!?!

Every other motorist already pays more the further they drive!

Last year, I posted an article at 'Oncemore' on road pricing that tragically seems just as relevant now...