Forced marriages

Whose culture should prevail when cultures clash, the patriarchal culture that accepts forced marriages or a liberal culture tolerant of diversity!?!

Burning credit?

Will co-ordinated central bank intervention stem the credit crunch or is it merely delaying the inevitable as if throwing lighter fuel on a fire to make it burn longer!?!

Number Crunching

£120m EU flood aid to be given to the UK.

£300m DEFRA's forecast EU fine for mismanagement.

Promoting social cohesion

If Former attorney general Lord Goldsmith wants to promote "social cohesion", why not reduce the level of immigration rather than encourage pupils to swear allegiance to the Queen?

Will certain groups be exempt!?!

PS Should civil servants swear allegiance to Gordon Brown!?!

"I swear: I shall be loyal and obedient to Gordon Brown, leader of Great Britain and people, respect the laws, and fulfill my official duties conscientiously, so help me God."

Cohabitation laws

Are lawyers condemning the Government's retreat from new rights for cohabiting couples because of the amount of revenue they will lose!?!

"I was furious frankly: there are huge amounts of injustice as things stand." - Jane Craig, the association of family lawyers.

49% of the population know there is no such thing as common law marriage!

Tory tax cuts

Will George Osborne, shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, ever call for income tax cuts to "revive the economy" rather than cuts in corporation tax?

Businesses cannot to vote at General Elections! By contrast, the Liberal Democrats are offering the electorate a 4p cut in income tax!

A new type of government!

How can Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg offer the country "a new type of government" when he insisted that Liberal Democrat MPs should abstain from voting on an EU referendum!?!

Motorway speed limits

When road fatalities on Britain's motorways are 'just' one third that of Britain's A-roads, where should Department of Transport focus it's resources!?!

Ten green bottles!

Should bottled water be taxed if it has no green credentials!?!

Manifesto commitments

Lords back down on glorification
Charles Clarke warned peers that Labour had made a manifesto commitment to outlaw the glorification of terrorist attacks and intended "to honour it".

MPs reject EU treaty referendum.
The three main UK political parties promised a public vote on the EU Constitution in their 2005 general election manifestos.

Tony Blair's legacy

62% of white working class voters say life has generally become worse in the UK in the last decade compared with 51% of middle class white people.

71% of white working class voters believe crime has got worse over the last decade, compared to 66% of middle class white people.

52% of white working class voters thought immigration was a bad thing compared to 33% of white middle class people.

Does any mainstream political party reflect these concerns!?!

Free NHS parking

Could free car-parking at English NHS hospitals be subsidised by the forecast £1.8bn English NHS surplus this year!?!

"We don't think it makes sense to spend money that's currently being spent on patient care - getting people treated faster and better - on subsidising car parks. " - Ben Bradshaw, Health Minister.

Grubby nurses

Nurse guilty of killing patients

Let's hope Lord Mancroft doesn't mention it David!

Alcohol poverty vouchers

When will the Government demand meetings with executives from the drinks industry to offer "alcohol vouchers" to subsidise drinks for the poorest in the community!?!

You, EU unskilled worker!

If unskilled workers from outside the EU should be barred from the UK for the "forseeable future", would unskilled workers from within the EU be barred in an ideal world!?!

Free the English!

Are any services free in England that Scottish or Welsh citizens have to pay for in their own countries!?!

You can't handle the truth!

Why should David Cameron wish to punish Lord Mancroft for describing the nurses who treated him at the Royal United Hospital in Bath as "mostly grubby, [ ] drunken and promiscuous"?

Welcome to the real world Lord Mancroft! Are we supposed to ignore reality David!?!

In other news:

Dramatic rise in C. diff deaths

Incapacity pays!

If the Government is so keen to get people off incapacity benefit and into work, why doesn't it reduce the benefit so it's worth as much as unemployment benefit rather than employ agencies?

Perversely, incapacity benefit even increases the longer it is claimed!

Benefits of the doubt?

How many civil servants face action for the gross incompetence that allowed Melanie Thompson to defraud HMRC of £29,000 in child benefits without any checks!?!

"Her calls were not checked out, they (the Inland Revenue) just said yes and paid her the money."

"In this particular case you are a very dishonest woman and they (the Inland Revenue) are a very inefficient department." - Judge Peter Jacobs.

Who could blame people for stealing from banks if they never locked their safes!?!

Thought for the day

With so many allowances available to MPs that they appear to cover most conceivable day-to-day living expenses, what do they spend their salaries on!?!

En-suite prison cells?

It's disturbing to think that murderers Levi Bellfield, Mark Dixie and Steve Wright could spend the rest of their lives in prison with the luxury of en-suite showers!

Would a hangman's noose have saved the lives of their victims!?!

"Speaker denies harming Parliament"

"The Sunday Times also reported that [the speaker] claimed £17,000 a year for his home in Scotland and £7,500 in costs for using that home as an office."

"Mr Martin has been a very, very good Speaker." - Gordon Brown.

Her Majesty's Immoral Revenue & Customs

Is it appropriate for HMRC to pay £100,000 for data stolen from a Liechtenstein bank by a former employee?

Should British banks be allowed to sell customer data to foreign governments!?!

Greens welcome gas price hikes?

Should green consumers welcome recent increases in energy costs as they automatically increase the rewards for saving the planet by using less energy!?!

Good news for Labour!

Biggest brain drain from UK in 50 years

How many of these "highly qualified professionals" are Conservative supporters!?!

Rights and Shackles

Are the human rights of prisoners more important than the human rights of the general public to protection from them?

Would a murderer and rapist have escaped from medical treatement if they had been handcuffed or shackled!?!

Welcome to the Police State!

"Police, probation and local authorities will also be expected to identify and share information about people who are at risk of committing violent crimes."

Action plan targets violent crime

How many new prisons will be built to house these offenders?

Should sentences be increased and tougher!?!

Northern Rocks!

Can Northern Rock staff now look forward to retiring at 55 with a taxpayer guaranteed pension, shorter working hours, more days off sick, more holidays and less stress!?!

Northern Rock to be nationalised

Surrender on terror

"The government rejects any suggestion that Britain is a soft touch for terrorists." - Cabinet Office spokesman

Five students win terror appeal.
"The convictions of five young Muslim men jailed over extremist literature have been quashed by the Appeal Court. "

Looking back in anger?

If £486m of Manchester City Council funding is not spent according to the wishes of one phone call, six letters and twenty-one emails following a month long 'consultation', will mancunians be right to have ignored it!?!

More English and less Scottish!

[English] Council tax 'set to rise by 4%' [in 2008].

[Scottish] Local authorities 'to freeze tax' [in 2008].

The English are paying even more for even less!

Super Quangos

How does the electorate influence decisions made by Quangos that are responsible for nearly a quarter of all public expenditure!?!

"A recent Sunday Times survey found that [Quangos] cost each adult in Britain a total of £3,600/year."

Terror pornography!?!

If you can no longer be prosecuted for "simply looking at" downloaded terrorist literature from the internet, can paedophiles now make the same claim about "simply looking at" child pornography!?!

Childcareless?

Will any of the care agencies that failed to protect Jessica Randall suggest the general public would be better served if they closed down as fewer agencies would improve standards and communications!?!

"We, along with our partners, acknowledge all of the mistakes which were made and we have already taken action to address the key findings of this report to ensure that our services for children are improved as proposed." - Paul Burnett, director for children and young people at Northamptonshire County Council

Culture Vultures?

How will English school children get their fix of "high culture" when so many English venues have just lost their government funding!?!

The Department for Children, Schools and Families says each child will have access to "at least five hours of high-quality culture per week".

Free healthcare

Have senior civil servants been sacked for signing contracts guaranteeing the income of private clinics regardless of how many procedures they carry out!?!

"On average, 84% of the value of the 25 contracts - worth over £1.2bn in total - were being fulfilled."

"We now have the spectacle of millions of pounds being paid out to private companies for operations that never take place." - Karen Jennings, head of health at Unison

Jeremy Kyle generation

Is the "Jeremy Kyle generation" caused by the welfare state and the poor quality of state funded secondary education in many areas?

"Research carried out in Bristol by Wetz (see below) uncovered the fact that many of the children who left school with no qualifications were doing well in their education at the age of 10 or 11 - the turning point came as they joined their secondary schools."

Civil Service merry-go-round?

How many of the civil servants made redundant at a total cost of *just* £430m have found new jobs elsewhere in the civil service!?!

Has anyone noticed "significant improvements in the way public services are being delivered" as a result of these efficiencies!?!

Pitching for protection?

Who will protect my human rights not to be intimidated when visiting the local shops!?!

"The Children's Commissioner for England says [high-pitched devices used to disperse teenagers] should be scrapped as they infringe the rights of young people."

Should fire engines have them installed!?!

Burning our money!

Do attacks on firecrews tend to occur in middle-class areas or in areas where successive generations have become reliant on the welfare state!?!

Scottish Toll Free Roads

Why should English taxpayers be funding the Forth and Tay road bridges rather than Scottish drivers?

"Scotland now has no chargeable roads. Funding for both bridges will now be provided entirely by the Scottish Government."

Apart from private toll roads, are the only chargeable roads exclusively English!?! The westbound Severn river crossings, the M6 toll road and London congestion zone?

His Disgrace the Archbishop of Canterbury

When will Rowan Williams leave the UK and flee to a Christian country!?!

"The Archbishop of Canterbury [believes] that some Sharia law in the UK seems "unavoidable" "

PS How can Gordon Brown condemn Sharia law when Scottish law is also different to the law in England & Wales!?!

PPS What changes have been made by the Government to 'Stamp duty' as a sop to Sharia law!?!

PPS Muslims should have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty", everyone else does! No one is forced to live in the UK and the borders are porous!

PPPS "Nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that's sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states; the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well." Would the Archbishop be allowed to decide which elements of Sharia law are acceptable in the UK!?!

Government funded boozing?

Has Government research been carried out to discover how teenagers are spending their weekly Educational Maintenance Allowance of up to £30!?!

"The money’s paid directly into your bank account. Once it’s there, you can use it to pay for whatever you like – for example, books, travel or equipment."

Under-18s may face new drink ban.

Political Capital!

How many taxpayers would rather keep 1,000 extra jobs at Northern Rock or get their money back as soon as possible from Virgin Group!?! Is Robert Peston's leftie credentials slipping out!?!

"The chancellor has decided that the priority is speedy repayment of all those taxpayer loans, even if it means job losses." - Robert Peston, BBC business editor.

For the sake of 'just' £250m, wouldn't complete nationalisation of Northern Rock now offer the taxpayer better value for money rather than Richard Branson's shameless offer!?!

Mark Dixie

Why is the BBC unable to publish a photo of Mark Dixie, the 35 year old man accused of murdering Sally Anne Bowman?

They have published a photo of Nigel Wrench, the BBC Radio 4 presenter accused of drugging and raping another man!

Holocaust trips

If "Every young person should have an understanding of [the Holocaust]" according to Schools Minister Jim Knight, why is the Government only funding visits to Auschwitz for two sixth-formers from every school in England!?!

Housing the workers?

Should people in work qualify for council houses!?!

'Work or lose home' says minister.

Wilson Doctrine

Did Tooting MP Sadiq Khan happen to be bugged on official business visiting one of his constituents in prison or on unofficial business meeting one of his childhood friends!?!

Either way, he should have been bugged when visiting a terror suspect!

Why are terror suspects worried if bugging "undermines the principle of confidentiality in the justice system in this country", they frequently want to destroy this country!!

Ministry of Disease and Incompetence?

Will Ministers condemn themselves for increasing GP's pay without expecting them to offer evening and weekend surgeries!?!

"Average family doctor pay in the UK rose by 10% to £110,000 in 12 months. It comes after pay rose by 20% in the first year and means GPs have seen pay rise by about £30,000 in two years."

Educational food for thought?

Are "white working class boys" failing at school because there are too many grammar schools or too few!?!

No one would suggest that the quality of food at McDonalds could be improved by shutting down the 164 most exclusive restaurants across England & Wales!

School vacancies

If parental choice is highlighting poorly performing schools in urban areas due to the large number of surplus places available, when will those schools be shut or staff sacked!?!

With 792,000 surplus school places in England (and Wales?), is it still appropriate to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school as Gordon Brown has threatened promised!?!

Excuses excuses?

How often do benefit claimants use "unacceptable" excuses when missing their appointments to sign-on!?!

Blood money?

Should compensation for rape be determined by the rapist's individual wealth or the seriousness of the crime!?!

What would have happened if Iorworth Hoare had opted for anonymity after becoming a lotto millionaire!?!

The wealth of welfare?

Why is the NHS looking to "build-in" the extra capacity needed at maternity units to cope with increasing numbers of foreign mothers giving birth rather than calling for cuts in immigration to reduce their supply!?!

Does giving birth offer foreign mothers a wealth of welfare benefits and a British passport!?!

Cheese eating bankrupt monkeys?

Is the French Government allowed to threaten action against a hostile take over of Societe Generale under European Union law!?!

Some cynics might suggest the French would ignore any EU legislation conflicting with their national interest!

Careless England

Why are the disabled and elderly struggling to receive social care in England when it's free in Scotland!?!

What are the Conservative Party doing to highlight and challenge this gross injustice!?!

Unhealthy Service?

Why would senior civil servants want the UK to provide medical treatment for an 81-year-old Islamic cleric who defends suicide bombings and the execution of homosexuals!?!

Benefit cheats

What's the point in tracking down benefit cheats if they are not imprisoned or made to pay the benefits back!?!

"The 29-year-old conned benefits staff into paying him nearly £25,000 before his lies began to unravel. "

Despite all that 'tracking' technology, "An immigration officer spotted him at the wheel of a Mercedes wearing expensive clothes with his wife in the passenger seat dressed in a fur coat."

Would the fraud have been prevented if benefit claimants were forced to have biometric ID cards?

Hat tip: The Dumb one

Gordon's jobs

Will anyone want to employ Gordon Brown when he eventually leaves office!?!

"[Tony Blair's] appointment comes less than three weeks after [taking] a similar role with investment bank JP Morgan worth a reported £500,000 a year."

Raltegravir

Will the new HIV treatment Raltegravir be restricted to NHS patients living low risk lifestyles just as certain treatments are withheld from smokers or the obese!?!

Career pregnancies

Are condoms the solution to cutting teenage pregnancies when it's a career move!?!

"Mr Bryant said he had also been told by a teacher that a girl told her she was not trying hard because she planned to get pregnant the next year and would not be returning to school."

Dreaming Arches of Oxford?

Cookery classes to be compulsory
"The move is part of the strategy to tackle obesity, as experts believe 1m children will be obese in a decade."

McDonald's 'A-level' is launched
"Fast-food giant McDonald's has become one of the first firms to offer its own nationally recognised qualifications."

Giving, giving, gone!

Why would any member of the public want to give £3,000 to a candidate in Labour's deputy leadership contest last year!?!

"Bad Apples" at HMRC

What is Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) doing to identify and remove staff that cannot be trusted to maintain the confidentiality of taxpayers' records?

"The system is secure. We do trust our own people but as with all things there are bad apples" - HMRC spokesman.

If online filing is not good enough for MPs or VIPs, why is it good enough for the rest of us!?!

Banking on trouble ahead?

Just as old Generals tend to "fight the last war", banking regulations will never be good enough to prevent the next banking crisis, just the last one!

Afterall, civil servants are bureaucrats, not futurologists!

Striking amount of holidays!

Will teachers be striking for better pay during their six week summer holiday, one of three week long half-term holidays or during the two weeks holiday both at Christmas and Easter!?!

Resignation

Peter Hain has resigned to spend more time with his solarium...

Was he really that worried about an incompetent Police investigation!?!

All for free and free for all!

What prevents NHS hospitals from charging private patients in advance of treatment to ensure they have no bad debts to write off?

Not all overseas patients are charged!

Spendemic

"Five million people, or one in 10 adults, [and one Government] spend more than they earn on a monthly basis".

New IDeas!

Good news for IT contractors working on national identity cards, your contracts have just been extended for another two years!

Would the roll out of ID cards exclusively amongst benefit claimants reduce benefit fraud by more than current Department for Work and Pensions schemes!?!

Cooking the lessons?

Will school children be stealing knives from cookery lessons to avoid school metal detectors!?!

How many school children be able to read the recipes and calculate when different ingredients need to start being cooked if they are all to be ready at the same time!?!

School of Northern Rocks!

How is spending £825m of British taxpayer's money on India's poorest children "protecting British taxpayers"!?!

"He [Gordon Brown] said the money would be used to train 300,000 new teachers and build 300,000 new classrooms, meaning 4m more children would receive an education."

In other news: "UK public borrowing surged last month to show the biggest deficit since records began a decade ago."

Gordon, steady as she sinks!

Real world policing

How many private sector jobs provide a full pension after just thrity years of service and don't base pay levels on "skills or performance"!?!

Knives in the playground

What will the punishment be for pupils found carrying knives into school, a thirty minute detention or is that a breach of their human rights!?!

Holiday commitments

I'll be on holiday until January 20th so the lack of incisive or witty comments on the current state of British politics will continue for another week...

Hain the Olympian?

An Olympian is disgraced, imprisoned for six months and loses five gold medals for cheating the system despite "winning".

A politician is not disgraced, imprisoned or loses his office for cheating the system but has the Prime Minister's "full confidence"!

EU knows!

Is the 5% increase in EU students at British Universities last year when the number of English undergraduates fell 2% because the chances of EU students being tracked down to repay student loans in a couple of years are so low!?!

Ticket tape

Why should a secondary market in entertainment events be any different to the secondary market in stocks and shares?

Passing off failure?

How many schools would be below the "floor target" for GCSE attainment if GCSE pass rates could not be manipulated!?!

When the best school at GSCE level nationally last year was a grammar school, why are no politicians promising to create more of them!?!

Unhealthy Muslims!?!

A little alcohol 'can be healthy'

Low vitamin D heart health risk
"There are concerns that many people, including the elderly, pregnant women and those who wear all-concealing clothing do not get enough of the vitamin."

Beggars can't be choosers

If the stock market currently values Northern Rock at just 89.75p per share, on what basis can hedge fund SRM "warn" the Chancellor that he should only consider nationalisation at 400p per share!?!

"UK taxpayers are now exposed to the troubled bank to the tune of £57bn in direct loans and guarantees."

Thought for the day

Should Police Officers be expected to serve as Prison Officers for ten years rather than retire after just thirty years of service!?!

Their experience would be relevant, they would save the taxpayer a fortune in pensions and would reduce the risk of striking prison officers!

The University of British Life?

Why is the BBC worried about a "fake university" when the foreign students may also be fake overstaying their educational visas without consequence!?!

Benefits of Inaction?

How does Kate Green from the Child Poverty Action Group know that the level of benefit fraud is low when condemning Conservative proposals to reduce the number of benefit claimants?

Fraudulent claimants are caught not counted.

Public sector pay regression?

How many private sector workers knows their pay rises for the next three years!?!

As the economy sours, many private sector workers will get no pay rise at all!

"Mr Darling is expected to argue that the new longer-term agreement will guarantee earnings growth for 5.5 million workers [in time for the next election!?!]"

Sour sixteen?

If young people "can't know what they'll want at age 20 when they're 16" about a military career, why should they be allowed to vote at 16!?!

Student non-visas

Why bother issuing student visas when they can expire without consequence!?!

Are immigration officers allowed to choose which parts of Government legislation they wish to enforce!?!

"He [Border and Immigration Agency, director of enforcement Jonathan Lindley] said the policy on dealing with out-of-time applications was currently under review and asked that officers did not proceed with enforcing any student refusal cases unless "deemed to be a priority".

PS Is that better Mark!?!

Britain - the new Pakistan!?!

Would any 'white' bishop be allowed to say that "Islamic extremism has turned some communities into no-go areas for people of a different faith or race"!?!

Will such areas become the new 'Pakistan' to Britain's 'India' in future!?!

Where is Dr Michael Nazir-Ali's evidence to support his claims!?!

UK's oldest emigrant

Lived through two World Wars, Ted Heath, Jim Callaghan, the winter of discontent and even Maggie, but after just six months of Gordon Brown......

UK's oldest emigrant sails to NZ

Migrant lessons

What are the economic benefits of allowing immigrants into the UK who have "low levels of literacy" in their own language or "without a secondary education"?

Why employ immigrants when you are expected to pay for everyones English language lessons!?!

Global Fellowship Programme

Will the new £1.4m "Global Fellowship" programme merely become a taxpayer subsidised recrutiment scheme for Shell, HSBC and Tesco amongst others?

"School and college leavers in England are to get the chance to compete for six-week educational trips abroad. "

"It has the support of some businesses, including Shell, HSBC and Tesco, which will show successful students their operations in the chosen countries."

PS Each trip will cost £14,000!!

Sharp Elbowed Middle Classes?

Will Michael Gove's "sharp elbowed middle class parents" use the new league table of gifted pupils to identify the best schools for their little darlings!?!

Can we assume Michael Gove doesn't want the "sharp elbowed middle class" to vote Conservative!?!

Number Crunching

'No two-tier NHS' under reforms.

NHS 'now four different systems'!

Protecting the Public?

"Those figures show that the murder rate is not soaring as a result of the abolition of capital punishment but remains remarkably stable." - Then Home Secretary James Callaghan on the abolition of hanging in the UK - December 1969.

"The rate of homicides peaked in the mid-1990s. In 1995 14.5 homicides were committed per million of population. Since the early 1960s the number of homicides per million population has more than doubled." - Page 15, House of Commons Research Paper, 'A century of change, trends in UK statistics since 1900.'

Kenya

Is Kenya another example of multi-culturalism not working!?!

"Most of the victims were members of the same Kikuyu ethnic group as the newly re-elected President Mwai Kibaki."

"Eldoret, in the Rift Valley, has witnessed some of the worst violence since Sunday's controversial poll and has a history of inter-ethnic tension."

Constitutionally speaking?

Why don't supermarkets need constitutions so that customers know what to expect?

Would Northern Rock have been saved if it had had a constitution!?!

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.