The reason I started this blog was for two reasons, firstly to vent some of my frustration, and hoping it would have a cathartic affect and secondly to put out a different opinion and hopefully make people think. I thought the words Power to the People would help anyone who reads this understand that I want the truth and empower people to look for it themselves.
One of the problems I have with our society is the total lack of truth coming out of our politicians mouths, this week we had a prime example from David Cameron. Our Prime Minister has tried to sell us a lie, he has followed the example of so many of his predecessors. Yesterday David Cameron claimed that letting the EU increase their budget by an extra 2.9 per cent was a 'spectacular success'. I don't know how anyone can claim that giving away an extra £450 million a success let alone a spectacular success!
The main problem I have is that this year our net contribution to the EU will be £8.3 billion, and next year that will rise to over £10 billion. Add to this Tony Blair's sell out on our rebate, this means that our net contribution will rise to over £13 billion by 2013. At the moment we contribute £45 million a day, that will mean we will give the EU over the next 5 years £82 billion, I find this quite repulsive!!
Let's look at a few details, I have mentioned this before but the EU's auditors have refused to sign off the EU's budget for the past 15 YEARS, unfortunately this is going to continue. At what point will anyone be brought to account for the billions of pounds of our money that is going missing every year!
You have to understand that the majority of those working within the EU have no understanding of what it is like for ordinary people. It wants £512 million to cover its salaries and allowances next year. Interestingly EU bureaucrats do not have to pay for their meals in their canteens, that means you and I pay. It costs over £400 million a year to have a building in Strasbourg sitting empty for over 40 weeks of the year just to please the French. The EU now want an extra £10 million a year just for new buildings for the new EU foreign service.
Mr Cameron claimed that he stopped the European juggernaut yesterday, but in August this year the French and Germans said they wanted the budget increase to be limited to 2.9 per cent and David Cameron wanted a freeze. How on earth has he stopped this so called juggernaut when most people who are involved within the EU know that the likely increase to the EU's budget will probably end up being even higher!
Now let's get back to that 'spectacular success' David Cameron was talking about. Last week his Government announced £83 billion cuts, this means that a possible 490,000 people are going to lose their jobs. I would like Mr Cameron to go and knock on every persons door who loses their job over the next 5 years and justify to them why he is giving so much money to unaccountable people. I would like this man to justify to every man and women in this country why he is giving every year over £16 billion to the EU. I would like him to justify the closure of; fire stations, police stations, the lack of funds for schools, social services, the elderly and then try and call the giving of an extra £450 million a year a spectacular success!!! What I find so amazing is that every country within the EU is having to make cuts yet the EU are increasing their budget.
David Cameron has called this a success, it is like rejoicing after being mugged and having your wallet, watch and jewellery stolen and being left with your just your clothes. Unfortunately for us David Cameron has followed the tradition of so many of our Prime Ministers and he has caved into the EU, even Margaret Thatcher did this on occasion.
President Sarkozy and Angela Merkel have proposed a new treaty and the likelihood is we will get one. David Cameron announced that he would give the people a referendum on any transfers of new powers to the EU, this new treaty will involve the transfer of economic sovereignty to the European central Bank. David Cameron has said that there is no need for a referendum because a new treaty will not entail a further shift of sovereignty from Westminster to Brussels as we are not part of the euro. This is not quite the truth, European Commissioner Olli Rehn has already said that stringent new rules should apply to all member states including Britain. Remember the Government have already yielded power to the EU when they agreed to opt-in to the European Investigation order, which allows prosecuters from other members states unprecedented powers of investigation over British citizens. If this isn't a transfer of power I don't know what is
I have written a number of times about the EU, I have tried to paint a picture of what the reality of this organisation is. I have spoken to many people about how this organisation behaves and what their ultimate goal is. What I have found is that most people do not believe me or at the very least think I am exaggerating, well I hope this has finally proved that I am not.
I want to remind you of the EU's behaviour over the past 20 years and what they think of democracy. In 1990 the Danish people were made to vote again after they voted against the Mastricht Treaty. In 2002 the Irish were made to vote again after they voted against the Treaty of Nice. In 2005 the French and Dutch rejected the EU Constitution, the EU changed the name and called it the Lisbon Treaty. The Lisbon Treaty is basically the same thing, the French and Dutch were not allowed to vote again. In 2009 the Irish were made to vote again on the Lisbon Treaty after they voted against it. This sums up this bunch of crooks, liars and thieves, I make no apology for my language as this is the truth!!
Finally, I wanted to put to bed the lie about immigration having a beneficial affect to our economy. This week The Office of National Statistics has announced that 9 out 10 jobs created in the past 13 years has gone to foreign workers. Many British citizens who were working doing unskilled jobs are now on benefits. I have written about this before, but I want to look at a few other points which I will leave for another posting.
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Execution
As you can imagine this subject is a very controversial subject, there are many who will argue that executing people is just legalised murder. I hold a different view, I have for a long time felt that we should reintroduce the death penalty. Unfortunately whilst we are part of the EU we cannot reintroduce the death penalty. The last executions in this country where on the 13th August 1964; execution as a punishment was abolished on the 9th November 1998.
For many people the thought of executing someone is quite abhorrent, but for me personally the alternative is even more abhorrent. At this time in this country, life for the vast majority of murderers does not mean life, it usually means 12 maybe 15 years, for me that is wrong. In the worse cases a tariff of at least 30 years is given, and very rare cases the judge will pass a sentence of life meaning life. I believe that if you are sentenced to life, it should mean life with no chance of parole.
I do think it a strange situation in which we have armed police in this country who can legally kill someone without a trial, you could argue that people who are shot are only shot when they are a danger to other people, but not in every case.
Today we live in a society in which people are murdered every day, if you return to 1964 the numbers of murdered was a lot less and since the abolition of the death penalty murders have increased year on year. We live in a totally different time now than pre 1970's, today our society is a lot more violent, most crime is on the increase. In the 1950's the majority of people would not have witnessed any crime even in our inner cities, unfortunately now in many of our big towns and cities we have a lot of crime and much of it violent.
We now have a police force which is reactive, it is very unusual for a police officer to catch a criminal 'in the act'. Because of the way policing has changed over the years we no longer have beat officers who patrol on foot but the vast majority drive around in cars and chase criminals after the incident. The change in the way the police 'policed' our country changed in the 1960's and it was decided that the police should move into cars and off the 'beat'. This change has brought about many problems, because of the lack of police patrolling on foot criminals have a free range to do what they want. Prior to 1966 a police officer had a certain 'beat' in which he would patrol and would usually pass the same spot every 20 minutes or so, as you can imagine if a criminal thinks there is going to be a police officer walking past a certain place he is less likely to commit a crime. We have also seen the closing down of many police stations and many are now only open between certain hours in the day, this of course creates problems within many towns and cities as those who commit crimes know that they are never going to be caught.
For many criminals the thought of going to prison is not a deterrent, as many of our prisons are not harsh places of punishment. They are more like hotels to many people, the simple fact is that for most people going to prison would be horrendous and the loss of freedom would awful. There are a group which do not care about the loss of their freedom, they do not see prison as a punishment because they have 'rights' and they are allowed so much. A prisoner can have a TV, radio, CD player, access to a gym, three good meals a day with a choice of food and they can learn a trade, to many criminals this is an easy life . With no deterrent crime will continue to rise.
I believe the death penalty is the ultimate deterrent (I don't want to look at other countries and the rights and wrongs there, I just want to look at Britain). I believe if someone had a chance of being executed for murder he would think twice about committing that crime. A number of people have said that Albert Pierrepoint who was the number one executioner in Britain for 30 years and executed 100's was against the death penalty. He wrote in his autobiography in 1973 that he did not agree with the death penalty but by 1976 his opinion was changing and Steve Fielding, his biographer said that he believed that "it was only a good line to sell the book"
One of the things that has changed in society is that it has gone from being a predominantly Christian society to a secular society. Peter Hitchens in his book 'The Abolition of Britain' says this:
'In a Christian society, execution merely refers it to a higher court, allowing the condemned man the chance of repentance in this life, and salvation in the world to come. But in a post-Christian society, the idea of a death penalty is quite abhorrent. A man's greatest position is not his soul, which does not exist, but his life, which is all he has. In that case the very idea of execution is quite intolerable, even if the alternative is as it turned out to be is a grave increase in armed police and the gradual arming of the police force'.
For me the reason for execution, in what ever it's form is not about revenge, it is about deterrent and punishment. For many Christians the idea of execution seems to go against Jesus's teaching on grace. I do not believe it does, grace isn't about doing what you want, grace is about forgiveness, grace does not give everyone the right to behave as they feel. Jesus did not preach against execution, when he was on the cross he did not turn round to the men on either side of him and say they did not deserve to be hanging like him.
I believe we need to look at where our society is headed, I believe we will continue to see lawlessness grow. What I have found interesting is that as I look back on the past 20 years I have noticed a gradual increase in bad behaviour and an increase in crime, there are many reasons for this which I am not going to go into. What I have noticed is that a lot of this is very gradual so people do not really notice it. Many towns have witnessed an increase in anti social behaviour, which in the courts eyes is a minor crime but for those who it affects is a major problem. Over the years more premises have erected higher fences and CCTV, and yet police stations have continued to shut, and the police have remained in their cars, thus taking them further away from the people who need them.
I have said already that execution is the ultimate deterrent and I believe it should be reintroduced, I believe the likes of Ian Huntley should have been hanged and I will continue to believe the same. People might ask, what about mistakes? What if someone is convicted of a crime he did not commit? I think there is less chance of this happening now than ever and I believe it is a risk worth taking or else we will continue to see; crime, especially violent crime and murders increase. Over the next few years we will see the gradual arming of our police force, which I think will then ironically increase the amount of shootings and murders on our streets.
For many people the thought of executing someone is quite abhorrent, but for me personally the alternative is even more abhorrent. At this time in this country, life for the vast majority of murderers does not mean life, it usually means 12 maybe 15 years, for me that is wrong. In the worse cases a tariff of at least 30 years is given, and very rare cases the judge will pass a sentence of life meaning life. I believe that if you are sentenced to life, it should mean life with no chance of parole.
I do think it a strange situation in which we have armed police in this country who can legally kill someone without a trial, you could argue that people who are shot are only shot when they are a danger to other people, but not in every case.
Today we live in a society in which people are murdered every day, if you return to 1964 the numbers of murdered was a lot less and since the abolition of the death penalty murders have increased year on year. We live in a totally different time now than pre 1970's, today our society is a lot more violent, most crime is on the increase. In the 1950's the majority of people would not have witnessed any crime even in our inner cities, unfortunately now in many of our big towns and cities we have a lot of crime and much of it violent.
We now have a police force which is reactive, it is very unusual for a police officer to catch a criminal 'in the act'. Because of the way policing has changed over the years we no longer have beat officers who patrol on foot but the vast majority drive around in cars and chase criminals after the incident. The change in the way the police 'policed' our country changed in the 1960's and it was decided that the police should move into cars and off the 'beat'. This change has brought about many problems, because of the lack of police patrolling on foot criminals have a free range to do what they want. Prior to 1966 a police officer had a certain 'beat' in which he would patrol and would usually pass the same spot every 20 minutes or so, as you can imagine if a criminal thinks there is going to be a police officer walking past a certain place he is less likely to commit a crime. We have also seen the closing down of many police stations and many are now only open between certain hours in the day, this of course creates problems within many towns and cities as those who commit crimes know that they are never going to be caught.
For many criminals the thought of going to prison is not a deterrent, as many of our prisons are not harsh places of punishment. They are more like hotels to many people, the simple fact is that for most people going to prison would be horrendous and the loss of freedom would awful. There are a group which do not care about the loss of their freedom, they do not see prison as a punishment because they have 'rights' and they are allowed so much. A prisoner can have a TV, radio, CD player, access to a gym, three good meals a day with a choice of food and they can learn a trade, to many criminals this is an easy life . With no deterrent crime will continue to rise.
I believe the death penalty is the ultimate deterrent (I don't want to look at other countries and the rights and wrongs there, I just want to look at Britain). I believe if someone had a chance of being executed for murder he would think twice about committing that crime. A number of people have said that Albert Pierrepoint who was the number one executioner in Britain for 30 years and executed 100's was against the death penalty. He wrote in his autobiography in 1973 that he did not agree with the death penalty but by 1976 his opinion was changing and Steve Fielding, his biographer said that he believed that "it was only a good line to sell the book"
One of the things that has changed in society is that it has gone from being a predominantly Christian society to a secular society. Peter Hitchens in his book 'The Abolition of Britain' says this:
'In a Christian society, execution merely refers it to a higher court, allowing the condemned man the chance of repentance in this life, and salvation in the world to come. But in a post-Christian society, the idea of a death penalty is quite abhorrent. A man's greatest position is not his soul, which does not exist, but his life, which is all he has. In that case the very idea of execution is quite intolerable, even if the alternative is as it turned out to be is a grave increase in armed police and the gradual arming of the police force'.
For me the reason for execution, in what ever it's form is not about revenge, it is about deterrent and punishment. For many Christians the idea of execution seems to go against Jesus's teaching on grace. I do not believe it does, grace isn't about doing what you want, grace is about forgiveness, grace does not give everyone the right to behave as they feel. Jesus did not preach against execution, when he was on the cross he did not turn round to the men on either side of him and say they did not deserve to be hanging like him.
I believe we need to look at where our society is headed, I believe we will continue to see lawlessness grow. What I have found interesting is that as I look back on the past 20 years I have noticed a gradual increase in bad behaviour and an increase in crime, there are many reasons for this which I am not going to go into. What I have noticed is that a lot of this is very gradual so people do not really notice it. Many towns have witnessed an increase in anti social behaviour, which in the courts eyes is a minor crime but for those who it affects is a major problem. Over the years more premises have erected higher fences and CCTV, and yet police stations have continued to shut, and the police have remained in their cars, thus taking them further away from the people who need them.
I have said already that execution is the ultimate deterrent and I believe it should be reintroduced, I believe the likes of Ian Huntley should have been hanged and I will continue to believe the same. People might ask, what about mistakes? What if someone is convicted of a crime he did not commit? I think there is less chance of this happening now than ever and I believe it is a risk worth taking or else we will continue to see; crime, especially violent crime and murders increase. Over the next few years we will see the gradual arming of our police force, which I think will then ironically increase the amount of shootings and murders on our streets.
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Economic growth?
I wrote in my previous posting that I was going to spell out what should be done to improve our economy, I have decided after a little thought that that sounds a bit arrogant. I am sure like me, no one likes a big head and I do not want to come across like that, so I am sorry. I did want to write down here what I feel could be done to improve the situation and as I am not some sort of expert these thoughts are based upon my personal feelings.
I do believe that something needs to change, I am sure even the most ardent Union member would agree, I suppose we would disagree with how we should bring change. So I want to quickly write down here what I think.
The simple fact is, are economy is in a mess and something needs to be done, we have a benefits system which is way out of control and too many people are claiming many different benefits. I have written about this before in a previous posting this month and I called it 'benefit scroungers', so if you want to see what I think about that, look at this posting.
I believe we need to invest in manufacturing, particularly in our defence industry, unlike most of our manufacturing our defence industry has continued to do very well. BAE Systems is now the second largest defence company in the world, in 2009 sales totalled £22.4Billion. CEO Mike Turner has said that BAE would quit the UK if defence spending went below a certain level, with the defence cuts that have been announced this week I believe that level has been reached. The simple truth is BAE contributes 100's million's of pounds every year in taxes and employs tens of thousands of people. If this company left it would be a disaster for our economy and for many people.
The Government has announced cuts in the public sector and we have the usual people shouting and screaming about huge job losses. It is reckoned that there will be 500,000 job losses in the public sector and this may well happen. One of the important things that shouldn't happen is front line services being reduced. Over the past 13 years Labour created a huge bureaucratic monster, wages in the public sector increased at a ridiculous rate and we now have many people doing non jobs. Our public sector bodies are overflowing with 'Equality and Diversity managers' and I must be honest one of the first things I would do would be to get rid of these hideous political posts. I would go even further and make it illegal to employ anyone as an Equality manager. I believe, and so would most people that the chief executives of councils are paid too much, I would force these people to take a massive pay cut. Some people might think that a bit harsh, but I wander if many of our council heads went for a job in the private sector would a private employer employ them, and then pay them such inflated wages?
One of the things our Government has continued to do is waste money on Green energy, over the next 10 years the Government has committed to spending about £200 billion on this very dubious policy. One of the things that concerns me is that over the next 10 years as the Government spends our money on building many 1000's of wind turbines we are going to be left with no real coherent energy policy and no energy. Wind turbines by there very nature do not produce energy all the time, so we need to rely on energy from elsewhere. If we do not build power stations we will see our energy costs rise, that isn't just for the domestic consumer but also for business as well. As you can imagine if costs rise for business they will just pass that onto the consumer, so we will be losing out twice.
I have mentioned immigration many times and I don't want to sound boring, but I just want to say this. There are 2.5 million people unemployed in this country, the Government have announced cuts in the public sector that could add 500,000 to the unemployment register. The Government are reviewing our benefits system and they reckon they will take 1.5 million people off incapacity benefits, this is a total of 4.5 million unemployed. Why on earth are we allowing more people into the UK to do work that many people in this country could do!!
Our Net contribution to the EU is £8.3 billion this year and next year it is going to increase to £10.3 billion, that seems totally ridiculous at this time.
There are many things that bother me, and what is happening to our country really concerns me. Our economy is in a mess and needs to change, unfortunately I do not believe we are going about it the right way.
I do believe that something needs to change, I am sure even the most ardent Union member would agree, I suppose we would disagree with how we should bring change. So I want to quickly write down here what I think.
The simple fact is, are economy is in a mess and something needs to be done, we have a benefits system which is way out of control and too many people are claiming many different benefits. I have written about this before in a previous posting this month and I called it 'benefit scroungers', so if you want to see what I think about that, look at this posting.
I believe we need to invest in manufacturing, particularly in our defence industry, unlike most of our manufacturing our defence industry has continued to do very well. BAE Systems is now the second largest defence company in the world, in 2009 sales totalled £22.4Billion. CEO Mike Turner has said that BAE would quit the UK if defence spending went below a certain level, with the defence cuts that have been announced this week I believe that level has been reached. The simple truth is BAE contributes 100's million's of pounds every year in taxes and employs tens of thousands of people. If this company left it would be a disaster for our economy and for many people.
The Government has announced cuts in the public sector and we have the usual people shouting and screaming about huge job losses. It is reckoned that there will be 500,000 job losses in the public sector and this may well happen. One of the important things that shouldn't happen is front line services being reduced. Over the past 13 years Labour created a huge bureaucratic monster, wages in the public sector increased at a ridiculous rate and we now have many people doing non jobs. Our public sector bodies are overflowing with 'Equality and Diversity managers' and I must be honest one of the first things I would do would be to get rid of these hideous political posts. I would go even further and make it illegal to employ anyone as an Equality manager. I believe, and so would most people that the chief executives of councils are paid too much, I would force these people to take a massive pay cut. Some people might think that a bit harsh, but I wander if many of our council heads went for a job in the private sector would a private employer employ them, and then pay them such inflated wages?
One of the things our Government has continued to do is waste money on Green energy, over the next 10 years the Government has committed to spending about £200 billion on this very dubious policy. One of the things that concerns me is that over the next 10 years as the Government spends our money on building many 1000's of wind turbines we are going to be left with no real coherent energy policy and no energy. Wind turbines by there very nature do not produce energy all the time, so we need to rely on energy from elsewhere. If we do not build power stations we will see our energy costs rise, that isn't just for the domestic consumer but also for business as well. As you can imagine if costs rise for business they will just pass that onto the consumer, so we will be losing out twice.
I have mentioned immigration many times and I don't want to sound boring, but I just want to say this. There are 2.5 million people unemployed in this country, the Government have announced cuts in the public sector that could add 500,000 to the unemployment register. The Government are reviewing our benefits system and they reckon they will take 1.5 million people off incapacity benefits, this is a total of 4.5 million unemployed. Why on earth are we allowing more people into the UK to do work that many people in this country could do!!
Our Net contribution to the EU is £8.3 billion this year and next year it is going to increase to £10.3 billion, that seems totally ridiculous at this time.
There are many things that bother me, and what is happening to our country really concerns me. Our economy is in a mess and needs to change, unfortunately I do not believe we are going about it the right way.
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Changing times
'The times they are a changing'. These words were written by Bob Dylan in the 1960's, and I think these words could be sung every year. We do live in an ever changing world and as we go on things will probably change quicker and quicker. Prior to World War 1 our society and many others around the world hadn't changed in centuries; the old way of doing things, the class division and royal families throughout Europe had existed for centuries. After the war many things started to change; communism raised its ugly head, then along came fascism and many of the royal houses disappeared. Within Britain the old way of doing things changed as well, we didn't have a revolution but the old class divisions started to break down.
If we move forward to the sixties we then had a total social revolution, and most commentators would agree that this period saw the greatest change. As we move forward to today I believe we are going to see a greater change than at any point in history. I believe that the next 10 years will have a greater effect upon our lives in this country and many others than at any other time in recent history.
I believe (and of course these are only my opinions) that the western world and particularly this country is going to change dramatically. Over the last couple of days George Osborne has announced dramatic cuts to public spending, and in my view he had no choice. Labour politicians, economists and some other so called influential people have said that cutting too quickly will send us into another recession. They could be right, then again they could be wrong, no one can see the future.
One of the things I have learned over the years is that we have many people who are called experts. These experts state their opinion and because they have a qualification and some experience in a field, people listen to them and put them on pedestals. Economists are people who have many opinions and most of the time it isn't based on fact, just on educated guesses or conjecture. Gordon Brown talked of an economist called John Maynard Keynes, he was an economist and he is best known for his proposal that when national economies suffer a downturn, governments should borrow and spend money to boost economic activity. Part of the proceeds of the resulting economic growth should then be used to repay the debt. This economist was put on a pedestal by Gordon Brown and towards the end of his premiership he put a lot of faith in Keynesian policy. Winston Churchill said of Keynes, that if he had 3 economist in a room and one was Keynes, he would get two different opinions from 2 of the economists and 2 different opinions from Keynes himself.
As you can imagine I am very sceptical about a lot of what many people say, I believe people in the western world have to start waking up to the reality of what is happening in our world. I mentioned in my previous post about the increase in full maternity pay to 20 weeks; the simple question is, who is going to pay for this increase? It is reckoned it could cost £2.5billion to Britain alone, as you can imagine with the cuts that are happening the government can hardly afford to pay this, so the only people who will pay is business. We also have French workers striking about the increase in the retirement age to 62, and many countries in the western world are starting to see change, both in government and in attitudes. In the last week Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkal denounced multiculturalism, and in June this year Belgium elected a separatist Government, I could give you plenty of other examples.
The point I am making is that we in the rich western world have had it good for so long, we have continued to see growth in our economies and we haven't had to worry about any real disaster hitting our countries. What we are seeing now is the balance of power changing, and if we are not careful we will see our economies drop into the second division. Countries like China and India are constantly changing and are continuing to see massive growth, and many of the countries of the west are limping along.
Britain for a number of years has seen continued growth, not only in the economy but in standards of living, but I believe this cannot continue and the cuts that have been made will show that to be true.
I want to quickly look at how I think things could change over the next few years. Our economy has changed dramatically in the past 50 years, from being a country which was heavily reliant upon manufacturing to an economy which is now reliant upon the service industry (I have explored this in a previous post). We have been able to rely upon our financial sector to bail us out, but I now believe this could change. Recently our Chancellor and Prime Minister signed up to EU financial regulations, this basically means the EU will be able to regulate our finance industry. Some people might argue that this is a good thing, and if the finance industry had been regulated properly in the first place we would not be in the mess we are now (there might be some truth in that).
Putting aside the rights and wrongs of the past, let us to look to a possible future. Currently manufacturing makes up about 12.5 per cent of our economy, and with the current cut backs we will see that decline. With the regulation being brought into the City of London we sill see companies leaving, thus taking revenue away from this country. Just one little aside the EU are bringing in regulations that will affect hedge funds, hedge funds had nothing to do with the financial collapse and were worth £5.4 Billion to this countries economy last year. I can imagine many of these companies going elsewhere. Many people argue that we should hit the finance industry hard, but even though I agree that speculators and bankers have reeked havoc on our economy, we have to work with these people or they will go where the money is. Whether you like it or not we live in a capitalist country and business wants to make money, if business leaves are economy will die.
We in this country have been very fortunate, even with most of our manufacturing industry gone we are still a rich country, at the moment countries like China and India still need us because of our finance industry. I believe this will soon change, China is going to continue to grow and as it does it will gain more expertise in finance and will then start to persuade the big finance companies to move. Because our economy is so reliant on these companies we will then see a downturn in our GDP and then our standard of living. Don't think that any of these big companies have any loyalty to Britain, they don't, they are capitalists and will move if it benefits them.
I know this sounds rather gloomy, but I believe if we don't change the world will march on and we will be left behind wandering what went wrong. So what can we do? I believe it isn't too late to change things, but only if we implement the right policies, I will look into that in my next post.
If we move forward to the sixties we then had a total social revolution, and most commentators would agree that this period saw the greatest change. As we move forward to today I believe we are going to see a greater change than at any point in history. I believe that the next 10 years will have a greater effect upon our lives in this country and many others than at any other time in recent history.
I believe (and of course these are only my opinions) that the western world and particularly this country is going to change dramatically. Over the last couple of days George Osborne has announced dramatic cuts to public spending, and in my view he had no choice. Labour politicians, economists and some other so called influential people have said that cutting too quickly will send us into another recession. They could be right, then again they could be wrong, no one can see the future.
One of the things I have learned over the years is that we have many people who are called experts. These experts state their opinion and because they have a qualification and some experience in a field, people listen to them and put them on pedestals. Economists are people who have many opinions and most of the time it isn't based on fact, just on educated guesses or conjecture. Gordon Brown talked of an economist called John Maynard Keynes, he was an economist and he is best known for his proposal that when national economies suffer a downturn, governments should borrow and spend money to boost economic activity. Part of the proceeds of the resulting economic growth should then be used to repay the debt. This economist was put on a pedestal by Gordon Brown and towards the end of his premiership he put a lot of faith in Keynesian policy. Winston Churchill said of Keynes, that if he had 3 economist in a room and one was Keynes, he would get two different opinions from 2 of the economists and 2 different opinions from Keynes himself.
As you can imagine I am very sceptical about a lot of what many people say, I believe people in the western world have to start waking up to the reality of what is happening in our world. I mentioned in my previous post about the increase in full maternity pay to 20 weeks; the simple question is, who is going to pay for this increase? It is reckoned it could cost £2.5billion to Britain alone, as you can imagine with the cuts that are happening the government can hardly afford to pay this, so the only people who will pay is business. We also have French workers striking about the increase in the retirement age to 62, and many countries in the western world are starting to see change, both in government and in attitudes. In the last week Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkal denounced multiculturalism, and in June this year Belgium elected a separatist Government, I could give you plenty of other examples.
The point I am making is that we in the rich western world have had it good for so long, we have continued to see growth in our economies and we haven't had to worry about any real disaster hitting our countries. What we are seeing now is the balance of power changing, and if we are not careful we will see our economies drop into the second division. Countries like China and India are constantly changing and are continuing to see massive growth, and many of the countries of the west are limping along.
Britain for a number of years has seen continued growth, not only in the economy but in standards of living, but I believe this cannot continue and the cuts that have been made will show that to be true.
I want to quickly look at how I think things could change over the next few years. Our economy has changed dramatically in the past 50 years, from being a country which was heavily reliant upon manufacturing to an economy which is now reliant upon the service industry (I have explored this in a previous post). We have been able to rely upon our financial sector to bail us out, but I now believe this could change. Recently our Chancellor and Prime Minister signed up to EU financial regulations, this basically means the EU will be able to regulate our finance industry. Some people might argue that this is a good thing, and if the finance industry had been regulated properly in the first place we would not be in the mess we are now (there might be some truth in that).
Putting aside the rights and wrongs of the past, let us to look to a possible future. Currently manufacturing makes up about 12.5 per cent of our economy, and with the current cut backs we will see that decline. With the regulation being brought into the City of London we sill see companies leaving, thus taking revenue away from this country. Just one little aside the EU are bringing in regulations that will affect hedge funds, hedge funds had nothing to do with the financial collapse and were worth £5.4 Billion to this countries economy last year. I can imagine many of these companies going elsewhere. Many people argue that we should hit the finance industry hard, but even though I agree that speculators and bankers have reeked havoc on our economy, we have to work with these people or they will go where the money is. Whether you like it or not we live in a capitalist country and business wants to make money, if business leaves are economy will die.
We in this country have been very fortunate, even with most of our manufacturing industry gone we are still a rich country, at the moment countries like China and India still need us because of our finance industry. I believe this will soon change, China is going to continue to grow and as it does it will gain more expertise in finance and will then start to persuade the big finance companies to move. Because our economy is so reliant on these companies we will then see a downturn in our GDP and then our standard of living. Don't think that any of these big companies have any loyalty to Britain, they don't, they are capitalists and will move if it benefits them.
I know this sounds rather gloomy, but I believe if we don't change the world will march on and we will be left behind wandering what went wrong. So what can we do? I believe it isn't too late to change things, but only if we implement the right policies, I will look into that in my next post.
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Cloud Cukoo Land
I have for a time now realised that many people do not live in the real world. Many people do not realise what life is like for other people, so when someone speaks out about a certain situation those who have no understanding of that situation accuse them of being an; extremist, narrow minded, racist or any other 'ist. Let me explain what I mean; if I speak out about immigration, as I have done many times here, there are people who would like to silence my voice. If I went on TV or radio and put forward my point of view, there are many people who would not even want to listen to what I have to say and would accuse me of being a racist.
I have found that when I mention that I am a member of UKIP many people's initial reaction is that I am a right wing extremist. I have found that even when I explain that I am not and the reasons why I am not, they are still unwilling to listen to me. There are people who do not like to hear other people's point of view, especially if it challenges their beliefs. Those of you who read this blog have probably realised that I like to put forward a different point of view. I will only put things here if it is based on fact, I know that some of the things I write are my opinion, but hopefully you realise that I am not an extremist just someone who wants to speak the truth.
For a number of years now a politically correct agenda has been pushed forward and anyone who challenges that agenda struggles to get their view onto the main stream media. One of the things that concerns me is that with this sort of agenda freedom of speech can be destroyed and with a lack of freedom to say what you want, we can head towards being a totalitarian regime in which all those who speak out are imprisoned. You might think that that is extreme and could not happen here but don't be too sure, when I think back 20 years many of the things I could say then could potentially end in prosecution, even if it was meant as a joke.
The Government have now introduced the The Equality Act 2010, here is a link http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010.aspx
I am not going to go into detail about this piece of legislation, but suffice to say it is very dangerous and could affect our basic freedoms. If you want to look at it click on the above link. On top of the problems this piece of legislation brings is the problems it could cause business, with added costs.
One other piece of legislation that is being introduced is the introduction of full maternity pay to 20 weeks. This piece of legislation is coming from the EU, what I find amazing is that the leaders of this organisation do not seem to realize that many countries economies are still struggling, and this will just bring extra pressure on many of our businesses. What I don't get is, if these people running this organisation really care about the people of Europe surely they would like to see that the people of Europe have jobs. The problem is this, we now have to compete in a global economy, and countries like China, India, Brazil, etc are now forging ahead, if we are not too careful we will make it so uncompetitive to work in Europe many companies will leave. This unfortunately has been happening for years, and if we continue to hamper business, business will go elsewhere. Here is a link to someone speaking common sense: http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1927-eu-maternity-rule-ludicrous
I have found that when I mention that I am a member of UKIP many people's initial reaction is that I am a right wing extremist. I have found that even when I explain that I am not and the reasons why I am not, they are still unwilling to listen to me. There are people who do not like to hear other people's point of view, especially if it challenges their beliefs. Those of you who read this blog have probably realised that I like to put forward a different point of view. I will only put things here if it is based on fact, I know that some of the things I write are my opinion, but hopefully you realise that I am not an extremist just someone who wants to speak the truth.
For a number of years now a politically correct agenda has been pushed forward and anyone who challenges that agenda struggles to get their view onto the main stream media. One of the things that concerns me is that with this sort of agenda freedom of speech can be destroyed and with a lack of freedom to say what you want, we can head towards being a totalitarian regime in which all those who speak out are imprisoned. You might think that that is extreme and could not happen here but don't be too sure, when I think back 20 years many of the things I could say then could potentially end in prosecution, even if it was meant as a joke.
The Government have now introduced the The Equality Act 2010, here is a link http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010.aspx
I am not going to go into detail about this piece of legislation, but suffice to say it is very dangerous and could affect our basic freedoms. If you want to look at it click on the above link. On top of the problems this piece of legislation brings is the problems it could cause business, with added costs.
One other piece of legislation that is being introduced is the introduction of full maternity pay to 20 weeks. This piece of legislation is coming from the EU, what I find amazing is that the leaders of this organisation do not seem to realize that many countries economies are still struggling, and this will just bring extra pressure on many of our businesses. What I don't get is, if these people running this organisation really care about the people of Europe surely they would like to see that the people of Europe have jobs. The problem is this, we now have to compete in a global economy, and countries like China, India, Brazil, etc are now forging ahead, if we are not too careful we will make it so uncompetitive to work in Europe many companies will leave. This unfortunately has been happening for years, and if we continue to hamper business, business will go elsewhere. Here is a link to someone speaking common sense: http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1927-eu-maternity-rule-ludicrous
Saturday, 16 October 2010
Economic disaster
As you may have realised I am very proud of being British, I am proud of this countries history and heritage. This country has led the way in so many areas; whether that be in parliamentary democracy, new technology, music, science, our judicial system, etc. I think anyone who is British can feel very proud of what this small nation has achieved. One of the things that makes me sad is how this nation has declined as an industrial power. This country still produces many products, but unfortunately nowhere near as much as we used to.
Great Britain, as I have already said has led the way in so many different areas. Britain was called the 'workshop of the world' during the Victorian era, Britain forged ahead of its rivals in building; ships, trains, large industrial machines and many other products. In 1911 971,000 workers were employed in the coal mining industry alone, the majority of them men. Let me list some of the industries this country led the way in. In 1960 90 per cent of motor cycles were made in this country, with famous names like; BSA, Triumph and Norton, to name but a few. In the 1960's Britain was the second largest car manufacturer with names like; Triumph, Austin, MG, Morris, etc. In 1970 300,000 workers were employed in the steal industry. On top of this we built ships, we had coal mines, many heavy engineering works, an electronics industry and many other manufacturing companies. In a lot of ways not much had changed since the Victorian times.
In my life time I have watched as our economy has changed and I have to say not for the better. Our economy has changed and is now mostly dependent on the service sector and internal spending. About 80 per cent of our economy is reliant on people buying products, about 12.5 per cent of our economy is based around manufacturing, this really concerns me.
Many people will argue that it is impossible to reverse this decline, but I disagree. What concerns me is the rise of China as the most important industrial power in the world. Unlike the USA, China is not a democracy and does not really care about public opinion, and as its power grows it will abuse that power (this is a subject in itself, which I do not have the time to go into).
I believe we can reverse the decline in our manufacturing, and the way to do this is by encouraging all business with a reduction in red tape, and taxes. Triumph motor cycles is a good example of a British manufacturer producing good products that people want. Triumph is based in Hinkley in Leicestershire, it has gone from nothing to being the 2nd largest motorcycling manufacturer in Europe in less than 20 years. This is a true British success story, I believe if we work alongside companies like Triumph and use them as an example we can once again see Britain's manufacturing grow. Alongside this we need to invest in science and engineering, we need to encourage those who have an interest in these subjects to go onto university, and than give tax breaks to companies who employ apprentices. We need to encourage companies to invest in Britain by deregulating, that is why London has become the largest financial centre in the world. At the end of the day business wants to make money, and they want to employ the right people who can do this for them.
One of the ways we could encourage British manufacturing is to bring in a law that requires all public sector bodies to buy at least 25 per cent of their goods from British companies. This of course would rely on whether there was the company out there that made the required product and the quality of the product. I work for the fire service and there are many British manufacturers who make quality products for this industry. I think the Government should force all fire services to buy British products, I believe this could be beneficial for British jobs and cheaper as well. Let me give you an example; there are 3 different helmet manufacturers selling helmets to the fire service in this country, these are; Rosenbaur, Gallett and Cromwell, as you can imagine Cromwell is the British company. The Government could say to all fire services you have to buy Cromwell; all of the fire services could then go to Cromwell and say we want a certain type of helmet and because we are going to buy literally 1000's of helmets, can you give us a good price? I am sure Cromwell would fall over themselves to deliver whatever was wanted.
One of the things that concerns me about our economy, is that it has almost become 'a one trick pony'. It is like the saying, 'do not put all your eggs in one basket', Britain's economy is so reliant upon the financial sector. With added regulation coming from the EU we could see many financial companies leaving this country, and this would be a disaster. We need to look at how we can encourage business to grow, not keep hammering them with more and more taxes and red tape. We need to encourage small companies to employ people and give them tax breaks for doing so. I was talking to a friend of mine who runs his small electronics business, he is a one man band and employs no one. He was telling me he has too much work and would love to employ someone, but it is not worth his while doing so, it would cost him too much money. The problem is if you employ someone, you have to pay higher insurance, holiday pay, sick pay, national insurance, etc, I am not saying companies shouldn't pay these things, but we should at least give companies tax breaks to help them.
We in this country have been used to a very high standard of living, we have to be realistic and understand that if we do not encourage business to grow, our economy will continue to slide and our standard of living will ultimately drop. I believe if there isn't a change in how our economy is run we will continue to see our manufacturing disappear, and if a country does not make anything it will be totally reliant on others and this will eventually lead to disaster.
Great Britain, as I have already said has led the way in so many different areas. Britain was called the 'workshop of the world' during the Victorian era, Britain forged ahead of its rivals in building; ships, trains, large industrial machines and many other products. In 1911 971,000 workers were employed in the coal mining industry alone, the majority of them men. Let me list some of the industries this country led the way in. In 1960 90 per cent of motor cycles were made in this country, with famous names like; BSA, Triumph and Norton, to name but a few. In the 1960's Britain was the second largest car manufacturer with names like; Triumph, Austin, MG, Morris, etc. In 1970 300,000 workers were employed in the steal industry. On top of this we built ships, we had coal mines, many heavy engineering works, an electronics industry and many other manufacturing companies. In a lot of ways not much had changed since the Victorian times.
In my life time I have watched as our economy has changed and I have to say not for the better. Our economy has changed and is now mostly dependent on the service sector and internal spending. About 80 per cent of our economy is reliant on people buying products, about 12.5 per cent of our economy is based around manufacturing, this really concerns me.
Many people will argue that it is impossible to reverse this decline, but I disagree. What concerns me is the rise of China as the most important industrial power in the world. Unlike the USA, China is not a democracy and does not really care about public opinion, and as its power grows it will abuse that power (this is a subject in itself, which I do not have the time to go into).
I believe we can reverse the decline in our manufacturing, and the way to do this is by encouraging all business with a reduction in red tape, and taxes. Triumph motor cycles is a good example of a British manufacturer producing good products that people want. Triumph is based in Hinkley in Leicestershire, it has gone from nothing to being the 2nd largest motorcycling manufacturer in Europe in less than 20 years. This is a true British success story, I believe if we work alongside companies like Triumph and use them as an example we can once again see Britain's manufacturing grow. Alongside this we need to invest in science and engineering, we need to encourage those who have an interest in these subjects to go onto university, and than give tax breaks to companies who employ apprentices. We need to encourage companies to invest in Britain by deregulating, that is why London has become the largest financial centre in the world. At the end of the day business wants to make money, and they want to employ the right people who can do this for them.
One of the ways we could encourage British manufacturing is to bring in a law that requires all public sector bodies to buy at least 25 per cent of their goods from British companies. This of course would rely on whether there was the company out there that made the required product and the quality of the product. I work for the fire service and there are many British manufacturers who make quality products for this industry. I think the Government should force all fire services to buy British products, I believe this could be beneficial for British jobs and cheaper as well. Let me give you an example; there are 3 different helmet manufacturers selling helmets to the fire service in this country, these are; Rosenbaur, Gallett and Cromwell, as you can imagine Cromwell is the British company. The Government could say to all fire services you have to buy Cromwell; all of the fire services could then go to Cromwell and say we want a certain type of helmet and because we are going to buy literally 1000's of helmets, can you give us a good price? I am sure Cromwell would fall over themselves to deliver whatever was wanted.
One of the things that concerns me about our economy, is that it has almost become 'a one trick pony'. It is like the saying, 'do not put all your eggs in one basket', Britain's economy is so reliant upon the financial sector. With added regulation coming from the EU we could see many financial companies leaving this country, and this would be a disaster. We need to look at how we can encourage business to grow, not keep hammering them with more and more taxes and red tape. We need to encourage small companies to employ people and give them tax breaks for doing so. I was talking to a friend of mine who runs his small electronics business, he is a one man band and employs no one. He was telling me he has too much work and would love to employ someone, but it is not worth his while doing so, it would cost him too much money. The problem is if you employ someone, you have to pay higher insurance, holiday pay, sick pay, national insurance, etc, I am not saying companies shouldn't pay these things, but we should at least give companies tax breaks to help them.
We in this country have been used to a very high standard of living, we have to be realistic and understand that if we do not encourage business to grow, our economy will continue to slide and our standard of living will ultimately drop. I believe if there isn't a change in how our economy is run we will continue to see our manufacturing disappear, and if a country does not make anything it will be totally reliant on others and this will eventually lead to disaster.
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Benefit scroungers
I was going to title this post a different way, but I thought I am going to call them what they are. Some people might think that it is a bit harsh, but I am fed up with the situation this country is in. You have probably realised after reading this blog site that I have very strong opinions, and hopefully you might agree with what I say. But agree or disagree it is important to listen to other peoples opinions, I suppose that is the essence of democracy and a tolerant society. Over recent years, particularly the last 13 years under New Labour a great change has happened within our country, and I believe it isn't good. That does not mean that I think everything Labour did was bad, I just believe that the past 13 years have been an unmitigated disaster for this country. You might think that a bit harsh, but having lived through this period I believe this to be true. You could argue about economic growth under Labour and how good it was, but we only have to look at the situation we are in at the moment to quickly realise that our economy was built on very unstable ground.
Let me give you a quick potted history of Labours economic history; when Labour came to power in 1997 our national debt was £350 Billion and our deficit was £6 Billion. That sounds like a lot of money, but when you look at the size of our economy it isn't, when you look at the amount of debt we are in now, it is minuscule. When Labour left in May our national debt was nearly a trillion pounds and our deficit was £157 billion, basically the Government raised £550 billion in taxes and we were spending £707 billion every year. In the first few years of the Labour Government we had huge economic growth, fueled by a number of different factors. One of the reasons for such rapid growth was the deregulation of the City of London which meant that we had huge inward investment, and London became the premier and largest financial centre in the world. Our economy grew from being the 6th largest to the 4th largest in the world. Instead of paying off our debt and putting some money aside for 'a rainy day' Gordon Brown spent and spent. He also sold 395 tonnes of gold when it was at its lowest price and he took away the dividend tax relief on pensions for private companies (that is why our pensions sector is in such a mess now). Unfortunately for many people this will have a huge affect upon them when they retire and it is all Gordon Browns fault. When Labour came to power 20 per cent of our economy was made up of manufacturing, when Labour left it was less than 13 per cent. I could go on and on, and I might go into greater depth in a later blog, but I want to get to the point of this posting.
One of the things that Gordon Brown did was create a benefits culture. Under the guise of eradicating child poverty he introduced many more benefits for the lower paid. This meant for many, many people they were better off if they didn't work and so many of them didn't. Over the years we have seen the growth of a group of people who have never worked and have no intention of working. Every day I see the same people walking around Diss or sitting in the town centre, and they have no desire to work, they have no work ethic. The main problem is they don't have to work, many of them will argue that there isn't the work out there, but even in these difficult times there is work. Val's cousin is married to a Bolivian man and they have just returned from Ecuador after about 11 years, within a week her husband had a job at a local hotel. I think this sums up the problem, I know it isn't just a black and white issue, I know there are many people who would love to work and there aren't the jobs around, but for an awful lot of people it is a life style choice.
I am fed up with this situation, I am fed up with subsidising these people, I don't see why I should go to work and pay for these people to sit at home. Let me give you two analogies to explain how I feel; if I came up to you and you were working and I asked you for £100, you would ask me what did I want with the money. If I then said I wanted to sit at home and do nothing and I wanted a £100 from you every week, and I wasn't going to work but live off you would you continue to give me the money? I shouldn't think you would. Second analogy; if we all lived in a commune, and we grew our own crops and had livestock, we all pitched in and did the work around the commune; cleaning, cooking, repairing, etc. If every day you did this and someone did nothing but stayed in bed until 11am, sat around watching TV, played on his Xbox, sat down with you and ate the food that you and the rest of the people had toiled for, would you be happy with that situation? I am sure you would soon say something, and if he didn't change his ways you would ask him to leave.
I know people who do not work, for no other reason than they are too lazy. I know a lot of people do not have a work ethic because they have not had a good example from their parents, but I believe unless we change this we are never going to change anything. I believe we have got to stop pussy footing around, it is too easy for people not to work. One of the things I hear people say is that immigrants who come to this country have a very good work ethic, but the only reason they have this good work ethic is because in their country if they don't work they starve.
This is what I would do; I would find all those who are not working and give them a job, even if it meant wandering the streets picking up litter or cleaning graffiti off the walls. If they did not take the job I would take all their benefits off them, and if they could not pay their rent I would kick them out of their home. You might think that is a bit harsh, I don't care. I remember watching a programme which involved a studio audience which was debating a number of issues and one of the issues was unemployment. This programme was aired about 3 years ago, before the recession kicked in, there was a man on this programme who had been unemployed for years, he said he couldn't get a job. Along side him was a lady who was from some Government agency making excuses for him. This man had no mental or physical problems but said he could not find work, the presenter questioned him and asked him why he had not found a job and he could think of no plausible reason. The lady with him continued to make excuses for him.
I think this sums up so many parts of our society. I believe for too long now it has been too easy for people not to take responsibility, I believe our prisons are too easy, I believe we are too easy on those who commit crimes. Only this week I read of 3 men who were given community service for torturing an autistic boy; these men spent 3 days; kicking, punching, jumping on his chest, pelting him with dog mess, they applied adhesive to his genitals, scratched his limbs with sandpaper, forced him to drink gin and vodka until he passed out and did many more things to him. On top of this they videoed the attack on their phones. As I have said above they only received a community sentence. This to me sums up our woolly society.
The majority of people in this country are law abiding; they work hard, care about their children, care about their community, and get on with their lives and don't hurt anyone. There are a percentage of people who do none of this and don't care because they don't have to. I have spoken to many people who feel exactly the same as me. They are fed up with so called travellers (or pikies) doing what they want, they are fed up with anti social behaviour, they are fed up with the behaviour of a group of people and the police doing nothing. I am fed up with watching and reading about people committing crimes and getting pathetic sentences, I am fed up with having to subsidise peoples lifestyles, just because they can't be bothered, and they do not need to be bothered either. What I am fed up with the most is nice people who have never experienced any of these problems making excuses for these people. It is about time the silent majority started to speak up and act against those in our society who do not care.
Let me give you a quick potted history of Labours economic history; when Labour came to power in 1997 our national debt was £350 Billion and our deficit was £6 Billion. That sounds like a lot of money, but when you look at the size of our economy it isn't, when you look at the amount of debt we are in now, it is minuscule. When Labour left in May our national debt was nearly a trillion pounds and our deficit was £157 billion, basically the Government raised £550 billion in taxes and we were spending £707 billion every year. In the first few years of the Labour Government we had huge economic growth, fueled by a number of different factors. One of the reasons for such rapid growth was the deregulation of the City of London which meant that we had huge inward investment, and London became the premier and largest financial centre in the world. Our economy grew from being the 6th largest to the 4th largest in the world. Instead of paying off our debt and putting some money aside for 'a rainy day' Gordon Brown spent and spent. He also sold 395 tonnes of gold when it was at its lowest price and he took away the dividend tax relief on pensions for private companies (that is why our pensions sector is in such a mess now). Unfortunately for many people this will have a huge affect upon them when they retire and it is all Gordon Browns fault. When Labour came to power 20 per cent of our economy was made up of manufacturing, when Labour left it was less than 13 per cent. I could go on and on, and I might go into greater depth in a later blog, but I want to get to the point of this posting.
One of the things that Gordon Brown did was create a benefits culture. Under the guise of eradicating child poverty he introduced many more benefits for the lower paid. This meant for many, many people they were better off if they didn't work and so many of them didn't. Over the years we have seen the growth of a group of people who have never worked and have no intention of working. Every day I see the same people walking around Diss or sitting in the town centre, and they have no desire to work, they have no work ethic. The main problem is they don't have to work, many of them will argue that there isn't the work out there, but even in these difficult times there is work. Val's cousin is married to a Bolivian man and they have just returned from Ecuador after about 11 years, within a week her husband had a job at a local hotel. I think this sums up the problem, I know it isn't just a black and white issue, I know there are many people who would love to work and there aren't the jobs around, but for an awful lot of people it is a life style choice.
I am fed up with this situation, I am fed up with subsidising these people, I don't see why I should go to work and pay for these people to sit at home. Let me give you two analogies to explain how I feel; if I came up to you and you were working and I asked you for £100, you would ask me what did I want with the money. If I then said I wanted to sit at home and do nothing and I wanted a £100 from you every week, and I wasn't going to work but live off you would you continue to give me the money? I shouldn't think you would. Second analogy; if we all lived in a commune, and we grew our own crops and had livestock, we all pitched in and did the work around the commune; cleaning, cooking, repairing, etc. If every day you did this and someone did nothing but stayed in bed until 11am, sat around watching TV, played on his Xbox, sat down with you and ate the food that you and the rest of the people had toiled for, would you be happy with that situation? I am sure you would soon say something, and if he didn't change his ways you would ask him to leave.
I know people who do not work, for no other reason than they are too lazy. I know a lot of people do not have a work ethic because they have not had a good example from their parents, but I believe unless we change this we are never going to change anything. I believe we have got to stop pussy footing around, it is too easy for people not to work. One of the things I hear people say is that immigrants who come to this country have a very good work ethic, but the only reason they have this good work ethic is because in their country if they don't work they starve.
This is what I would do; I would find all those who are not working and give them a job, even if it meant wandering the streets picking up litter or cleaning graffiti off the walls. If they did not take the job I would take all their benefits off them, and if they could not pay their rent I would kick them out of their home. You might think that is a bit harsh, I don't care. I remember watching a programme which involved a studio audience which was debating a number of issues and one of the issues was unemployment. This programme was aired about 3 years ago, before the recession kicked in, there was a man on this programme who had been unemployed for years, he said he couldn't get a job. Along side him was a lady who was from some Government agency making excuses for him. This man had no mental or physical problems but said he could not find work, the presenter questioned him and asked him why he had not found a job and he could think of no plausible reason. The lady with him continued to make excuses for him.
I think this sums up so many parts of our society. I believe for too long now it has been too easy for people not to take responsibility, I believe our prisons are too easy, I believe we are too easy on those who commit crimes. Only this week I read of 3 men who were given community service for torturing an autistic boy; these men spent 3 days; kicking, punching, jumping on his chest, pelting him with dog mess, they applied adhesive to his genitals, scratched his limbs with sandpaper, forced him to drink gin and vodka until he passed out and did many more things to him. On top of this they videoed the attack on their phones. As I have said above they only received a community sentence. This to me sums up our woolly society.
The majority of people in this country are law abiding; they work hard, care about their children, care about their community, and get on with their lives and don't hurt anyone. There are a percentage of people who do none of this and don't care because they don't have to. I have spoken to many people who feel exactly the same as me. They are fed up with so called travellers (or pikies) doing what they want, they are fed up with anti social behaviour, they are fed up with the behaviour of a group of people and the police doing nothing. I am fed up with watching and reading about people committing crimes and getting pathetic sentences, I am fed up with having to subsidise peoples lifestyles, just because they can't be bothered, and they do not need to be bothered either. What I am fed up with the most is nice people who have never experienced any of these problems making excuses for these people. It is about time the silent majority started to speak up and act against those in our society who do not care.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Heritage
I have always been interested in history, I suppose other than politics, history is something I find fascinating. I would rather read a historical book than a fictional novel; what I find interesting about history is how things came about and the reason behind certain behaviour and customs. Many people would like to disregard their heritage and may look at what happened in the past with disdainful eyes, almost looking down their noses at peoples behaviour as if the way they are behaving now is better and more enlightened. We are all moulded by certain events, either in our; childhood, environment or history and I believe it is important to never forget this.
We live in a society which is forever changing, just look at technology and how that effects all our lives. The fact I am sitting here typing on a keyboard and anyone in the world can look at what I am writing is a very good example of this. But I feel it is very important, (even with our ever changing world) not to forget our heritage. Many people over recent times have tried to insist that much of what went on in the past was awful, and I will admit that a lot of it wasn't good. But what I believe is that we should always remember were we came from.
As those of you may have realised who read this blog, I have some subjects which I feel very strongly about, and probably the one I feel most strongly about is the EU. I have many concerns about the EU, and one of them is the way they have tried to destroy nation states. Over recent years I have noticed the EU is becoming bolder in the way it behaves, and in some ways it is now not hiding its ultimate agenda, which is total political domination of Europe. If the EU wants total domination it needs to change our belief in nation states, the signing of the Lisbon Treaty is almost the final part of the jigsaw.
I have mentioned the Lisbon Treaty before and I just want to say something quickly here about it. It is important to remember that this treaty means the EU can now do what they want, without any consultation with any Government. If you don't believe me, this is what it says in the Lisbon Treaty, that every nation in the EU signed:
'Article 48 of the Lisbon treaty allows the Council of Ministers (unelected and behind closed doors) to vote by unanimity to change any text or part of the treaty on the functioning of the treaty.'
This basically means they do not have to consult with anyone, and unelected members can make decisions which effect all our lives. Prior to this treaty the EU would have had to ask the Governments of each EU nation to agree to changes and new laws, now they don't.
Now what has this got to do with our heritage? One of the things I have realised is that people like to feel they belong, one of the things that make people belong is a joint heritage. Having a heritage gives people a sense of purpose and importance, and most importantly identity. I am very proud of my parentage and heritage, I am originally from N.Ireland but I am very much proud of the fact I am British and no one can take that away from me.
If we look at history you will notice that all empires have eventually collapsed; either violently or have come to a natural end. The interesting thing I have found is that when so many of these empires have collapsed, the peoples within many of them have returned to their original identity. If you take the Soviet Union as an example you will notice many of those nations within that empire have reverted back to their original state.
The EU is an empire very similar to the Soviet Union, you might disagree with me, but if you look at its behaviour and the way it is set up there are an awful lot of comparisons. What is most important to remember is that whatever happens it is unlikely that the people of Europe will ever call themselves European, but will always identify themselves with their nation of birth. As the EU grows, and its power grows I believe we will see a growing nationalism; as the EU seeks to destroy the nation state we will see people unite under their national flag, not an artificial flag which means nothing.
The interesting thing is, this is already happening in Belgium. Belgium was official recognised as a country in 1839, two different peoples were brought together under one flag. For the last 165 years two languages have been spoken in this country, and this has meant that two different people have lived together. What has happened over recent years is that a growing resentment has been rising; this year The New Flemish Alliance party, which is dedicated to the break up of Belgium won June's parliamentary elections. I think this highlights how difficult it is to destroy peoples identity, and I think it is dangerous to try and do this.
Many people have argued that we should get rid of all nations and just live under one flag, but history shows this to be an impossible dream. Many wars have been fought over the years, for many different reasons, but I do not think bringing many different people together under an artificial flag is going to change that. I believe the best way to stop wars is for people to talk, and with a growing nationalism if we do no talk we may see conflict again. The simple truth is, the EU is not bothered about the people in Europe, only power. As its power grows we will see growing resentment with the people as they realise they have no voice, and without a voice people will use the only power they have left, and that can only lead to violence. This is the history of most empires, but unfortunately those who rule are not interested in the lessons of history.
We live in a society which is forever changing, just look at technology and how that effects all our lives. The fact I am sitting here typing on a keyboard and anyone in the world can look at what I am writing is a very good example of this. But I feel it is very important, (even with our ever changing world) not to forget our heritage. Many people over recent times have tried to insist that much of what went on in the past was awful, and I will admit that a lot of it wasn't good. But what I believe is that we should always remember were we came from.
As those of you may have realised who read this blog, I have some subjects which I feel very strongly about, and probably the one I feel most strongly about is the EU. I have many concerns about the EU, and one of them is the way they have tried to destroy nation states. Over recent years I have noticed the EU is becoming bolder in the way it behaves, and in some ways it is now not hiding its ultimate agenda, which is total political domination of Europe. If the EU wants total domination it needs to change our belief in nation states, the signing of the Lisbon Treaty is almost the final part of the jigsaw.
I have mentioned the Lisbon Treaty before and I just want to say something quickly here about it. It is important to remember that this treaty means the EU can now do what they want, without any consultation with any Government. If you don't believe me, this is what it says in the Lisbon Treaty, that every nation in the EU signed:
'Article 48 of the Lisbon treaty allows the Council of Ministers (unelected and behind closed doors) to vote by unanimity to change any text or part of the treaty on the functioning of the treaty.'
This basically means they do not have to consult with anyone, and unelected members can make decisions which effect all our lives. Prior to this treaty the EU would have had to ask the Governments of each EU nation to agree to changes and new laws, now they don't.
Now what has this got to do with our heritage? One of the things I have realised is that people like to feel they belong, one of the things that make people belong is a joint heritage. Having a heritage gives people a sense of purpose and importance, and most importantly identity. I am very proud of my parentage and heritage, I am originally from N.Ireland but I am very much proud of the fact I am British and no one can take that away from me.
If we look at history you will notice that all empires have eventually collapsed; either violently or have come to a natural end. The interesting thing I have found is that when so many of these empires have collapsed, the peoples within many of them have returned to their original identity. If you take the Soviet Union as an example you will notice many of those nations within that empire have reverted back to their original state.
The EU is an empire very similar to the Soviet Union, you might disagree with me, but if you look at its behaviour and the way it is set up there are an awful lot of comparisons. What is most important to remember is that whatever happens it is unlikely that the people of Europe will ever call themselves European, but will always identify themselves with their nation of birth. As the EU grows, and its power grows I believe we will see a growing nationalism; as the EU seeks to destroy the nation state we will see people unite under their national flag, not an artificial flag which means nothing.
The interesting thing is, this is already happening in Belgium. Belgium was official recognised as a country in 1839, two different peoples were brought together under one flag. For the last 165 years two languages have been spoken in this country, and this has meant that two different people have lived together. What has happened over recent years is that a growing resentment has been rising; this year The New Flemish Alliance party, which is dedicated to the break up of Belgium won June's parliamentary elections. I think this highlights how difficult it is to destroy peoples identity, and I think it is dangerous to try and do this.
Many people have argued that we should get rid of all nations and just live under one flag, but history shows this to be an impossible dream. Many wars have been fought over the years, for many different reasons, but I do not think bringing many different people together under an artificial flag is going to change that. I believe the best way to stop wars is for people to talk, and with a growing nationalism if we do no talk we may see conflict again. The simple truth is, the EU is not bothered about the people in Europe, only power. As its power grows we will see growing resentment with the people as they realise they have no voice, and without a voice people will use the only power they have left, and that can only lead to violence. This is the history of most empires, but unfortunately those who rule are not interested in the lessons of history.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Equality
I have noticed over recent years that the word equality along with the word diversity has become ingrained within our society, as have the words 'health and safety'. I personally do not think there is anything wrong with treating people equally and I will agree that we live in a diverse society. The problem I have is that the words equality and diversity have become an obsession, they have almost become a religion in themselves. I believe it is important to treat people fairly (I am sure none of us like to be treated unfairly), but how far do we take the whole equality issue?
What I have found over recent years is that within some parts of our society (particularly within the public sector) to state that someone is not equal to someone else is almost tantamount to heresy. The simple truth is we are all different, many people are not able to do certain things as well as others, that may seem obvious but for many people it isn't. One of the things the previous Government did was bring in targets. I don't think targets are a bad thing, but unfortunately the target has become the focus not the job they were supposed to be doing (I have touched on this subject before in a previous posting).
You might know that I am a firefighter, and I wanted to link this to my job and what can happen when people forget what the real focus should be.
As an organisation starts to focus on sexuality, gender and other issues this can bring big problems, especially within the fire service. We potentially have a very dangerous job, and when you go to an incident you want the best people possible who can deal with any given situation. When you start setting targets for the fire service this can become very dangerous, and this can put people’s lives at risk. Let me explain; let’s say the fire service has a recruitment drive and through due process find that the people that meet the requirements are 95% white male. Because the government have stated that a certain percentage of all new recruits have got to be women, the standard will have to be reduced e.g. in the area of strength and fitness. You can imagine how dangerous this could be. Remember, we do not sit in an office where there is no danger, our job by its very nature requires us to walk into very difficult and dangerous situations. You want the best person for the job, male or female.
Our job has become more technical, we have more equipment and many different appliances. You could work on a station which has 3 or 4 different machines and be on a station which has many different capabilities i.e. water rescue, working at height, specialist machines for car accidents, aerial ladder platforms/turn table ladders or the like. This is not an exhaustive list and really goes to show how technical our job is getting. Surely we as an organisation should be looking at whether someone is mechanically or technically minded (male or female) above whether or not someone fits a target set by a politician.
What I have found is that people never mention these things, because they are afraid to, they do not voice their concerns for fear of being accused of being a bigot and facing potential disciplinary action. But let me ask this question, if you were going in for a life saving operation who would you want to operate on you? A) A man B) A woman C) An ethnic minority D) The best person for the job. I suspect it would be D, and that is my point, when doing any job it is important that the person doing the job is the best candidate not someone who fits some politically correct motivated target.
Some people might be thinking what I am saying is we shouldn't employ women in the fire service, but that is not what I am saying. I have worked with some very good women fire fighters. The issue is whether or not that person can do the job or not, and this goes for any job. I am sure if you wanted some building work doing or your accounts looking at or your car fixed you would want someone who is capable of doing the job.
I have had this discussion with many people within the fire service and the majority of fire fighters agree (male or female). But what I find is that there is a certain group of people (usually those in management position, or those who are very career minded) who will agree with every diktat that comes from the Government or upper management. They never question anything in case it damages their career prospects; these are the reasons that are given for employing more women: "We have got to be more inclusive!" or "We have got to be representative of the community in which we serve!" So this means, regardless of the consequences we have got to increase our recruitment of women.
You might ask "surely the women have got to pass the same tests as the men?" And you would be right, but unfortunately the fitness and strength test is so pathetic now I think my 10 year old daughter could pass it. Let me give you an example of someone who passed the new national fire service fitness test. I worked with someone whose wife wanted to join the fire service, so before going for the proper test at our HQ she came to the station I worked at to have a run through of the fitness test. Let me describe her; she weighed approximately 22 stone, smoked, drank and by her own admission had done no exercise since she left school 16 years previously. Her house was 2 minutes slow walk from the station and every time she came down to the station to see her husband she drove, let me say this, she never walked anywhere. She passed the fitness test! I think this sums up all I am saying. As you may realise, my job can be dangerous and it requires both physical and mental strength. It is important for the general public to know that if they are in trouble we are capable of helping them. I am sure you wouldn't care who was helping you or your family as long as they were strong enough and fit enough to do so. This, I am sure you would agree is the most important thing about my job.
Obviously this is a personal example from my work, but it highlights something that is endemic throughout the public sector. This new Government have said they are going to get rid of targets, which I totally agree with. Ultimately what needs to happen is a wholesale change within our public sector and for people to focus on the job they are employed to do, rather than being led by those who are only focused on their next career move or an unrealistic policy set by faceless politically correct bureaucrats.
What I have found over recent years is that within some parts of our society (particularly within the public sector) to state that someone is not equal to someone else is almost tantamount to heresy. The simple truth is we are all different, many people are not able to do certain things as well as others, that may seem obvious but for many people it isn't. One of the things the previous Government did was bring in targets. I don't think targets are a bad thing, but unfortunately the target has become the focus not the job they were supposed to be doing (I have touched on this subject before in a previous posting).
You might know that I am a firefighter, and I wanted to link this to my job and what can happen when people forget what the real focus should be.
As an organisation starts to focus on sexuality, gender and other issues this can bring big problems, especially within the fire service. We potentially have a very dangerous job, and when you go to an incident you want the best people possible who can deal with any given situation. When you start setting targets for the fire service this can become very dangerous, and this can put people’s lives at risk. Let me explain; let’s say the fire service has a recruitment drive and through due process find that the people that meet the requirements are 95% white male. Because the government have stated that a certain percentage of all new recruits have got to be women, the standard will have to be reduced e.g. in the area of strength and fitness. You can imagine how dangerous this could be. Remember, we do not sit in an office where there is no danger, our job by its very nature requires us to walk into very difficult and dangerous situations. You want the best person for the job, male or female.
Our job has become more technical, we have more equipment and many different appliances. You could work on a station which has 3 or 4 different machines and be on a station which has many different capabilities i.e. water rescue, working at height, specialist machines for car accidents, aerial ladder platforms/turn table ladders or the like. This is not an exhaustive list and really goes to show how technical our job is getting. Surely we as an organisation should be looking at whether someone is mechanically or technically minded (male or female) above whether or not someone fits a target set by a politician.
What I have found is that people never mention these things, because they are afraid to, they do not voice their concerns for fear of being accused of being a bigot and facing potential disciplinary action. But let me ask this question, if you were going in for a life saving operation who would you want to operate on you? A) A man B) A woman C) An ethnic minority D) The best person for the job. I suspect it would be D, and that is my point, when doing any job it is important that the person doing the job is the best candidate not someone who fits some politically correct motivated target.
Some people might be thinking what I am saying is we shouldn't employ women in the fire service, but that is not what I am saying. I have worked with some very good women fire fighters. The issue is whether or not that person can do the job or not, and this goes for any job. I am sure if you wanted some building work doing or your accounts looking at or your car fixed you would want someone who is capable of doing the job.
I have had this discussion with many people within the fire service and the majority of fire fighters agree (male or female). But what I find is that there is a certain group of people (usually those in management position, or those who are very career minded) who will agree with every diktat that comes from the Government or upper management. They never question anything in case it damages their career prospects; these are the reasons that are given for employing more women: "We have got to be more inclusive!" or "We have got to be representative of the community in which we serve!" So this means, regardless of the consequences we have got to increase our recruitment of women.
You might ask "surely the women have got to pass the same tests as the men?" And you would be right, but unfortunately the fitness and strength test is so pathetic now I think my 10 year old daughter could pass it. Let me give you an example of someone who passed the new national fire service fitness test. I worked with someone whose wife wanted to join the fire service, so before going for the proper test at our HQ she came to the station I worked at to have a run through of the fitness test. Let me describe her; she weighed approximately 22 stone, smoked, drank and by her own admission had done no exercise since she left school 16 years previously. Her house was 2 minutes slow walk from the station and every time she came down to the station to see her husband she drove, let me say this, she never walked anywhere. She passed the fitness test! I think this sums up all I am saying. As you may realise, my job can be dangerous and it requires both physical and mental strength. It is important for the general public to know that if they are in trouble we are capable of helping them. I am sure you wouldn't care who was helping you or your family as long as they were strong enough and fit enough to do so. This, I am sure you would agree is the most important thing about my job.
Obviously this is a personal example from my work, but it highlights something that is endemic throughout the public sector. This new Government have said they are going to get rid of targets, which I totally agree with. Ultimately what needs to happen is a wholesale change within our public sector and for people to focus on the job they are employed to do, rather than being led by those who are only focused on their next career move or an unrealistic policy set by faceless politically correct bureaucrats.
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Honesty
I have always found that when I talk about certain subjects to people or have a discussion I will always get the same arguments; whether that be talking about immigration, climate change or the EU. I have, from the start with my blog site tried to put forward a different point of view and hopefully make people think. The one overriding thing I want to be, is honest, and I hope this comes across in what I say. The EU is an organisation which does not believe in honesty or integrity, and this is one of the reasons I will never agree to this organisation. I have written about the EU on a few occasions, and I will continue to put across my feelings about this hideous organisation. In my previous musings I have written about many different aspects of the EU and the reason for this is I want people to see what this organisation stands for.
One of the things I find most shocking about the EU is its total disregard for the people of Europe, this particularly comes across when you look at the money it wastes. One good example of this total disregard and waste is that last Thursday the European Budget Committee announced an increase in the European Parliaments entertainment budget. This increase will be 85 per cent, it will rise from 1,105,200 Euros to 2,047,450 Euros, an increase of £1.8m. This spending will go on champagne, oysters, beefsteaks, canapes, etc. Marta Andreasen UKIP MEP for the South East of England was fuming, she said "I am appalled, this cannot continue. I cannot accept that this goes on".
I totally agree with her, on the same day the European budget committee made this announcement, 100,000 trade union members where marching outside in Brussels and many cities around Europe. What amazes me is every Government in Europe is making cuts, this will mean many tens of thousands of people will be losing their jobs and these people are totally oblivious to it. You could argue that in comparison to the EU's budget and the budgets of every EU country £1.8m is a small amount and does not really matter, but you would be wrong to argue this. This relatively small amount highlights how far removed our EU masters are from the people they are meant to serve, this highlights the total lack of accountability and scrutiny that does not go on in the EU.
What I don't understand is why this sort of thing, which goes on all the time in the EU is never mentioned on our TV or radio news; you won't hear this mentioned anywhere. It seems to me that there is a great conspiracy of silence. The simple fact is this; if the people are kept in the dark about what really goes on within the EU they will consider themselves untouchable. And before you know it this organisation will have total control and there will be nothing we can do about it.
On top of the increase in the EU Parliaments entertainment budget, the EU wants to increase their budget by 6 per cent, I find this to be shocking, why is no one shouting and screaming about this? Our Government announced today they are going to cut £93 Billion in domestic spending; these cuts maybe necessary but why do they not mention that the UK's contribution to the EU is going to rise by 60 per cent (remember, these cuts are going to affect all of us, especially the most vulnerable). Do you not think that is appalling, I do!! I cannot believe that there are people representing us who are willing to put up with this. This year our net contribution to the EU will be £8.3 billion, we get nothing back for this, we are the second largest contributor to the EU after Germany.
Many people will argue that the EU is good, that it brings benefits, that it has brought peace to Europe. But that is not the truth, I have explored these myths before, and it is very important that we find out what the truth is. I have been accused before of peddling a one sided argument, and I totally agree. I have looked into the behaviour of this organisation over many years, I have sat and listened to arguments in favour and against. But what I keep coming up against is that those who have spent any time working in Brussels (and if they are concerned about the truth) say the same thing; this organisation is dangerous and out of control and is beyond redemption. If you are interested in what I am saying, please look at these websites:
http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/
http://synonblog.dailymail.co.uk/
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/
http://www.ukip.org/
This is a link to an article in The Daily Telegraph about Gisela Stuart, which is well worth reading:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/state-of-europe/6209155/Former-minister-Gisela-Stuart-says-Lisbon-Treaty-would-create-democratic-deficit.html
Look at this link as well, it is quite interesting, it is the Conservative MEP Daniel Hannans Blog:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100020456/ten-reasons-to-leave-the-eu/
One of the things I find most shocking about the EU is its total disregard for the people of Europe, this particularly comes across when you look at the money it wastes. One good example of this total disregard and waste is that last Thursday the European Budget Committee announced an increase in the European Parliaments entertainment budget. This increase will be 85 per cent, it will rise from 1,105,200 Euros to 2,047,450 Euros, an increase of £1.8m. This spending will go on champagne, oysters, beefsteaks, canapes, etc. Marta Andreasen UKIP MEP for the South East of England was fuming, she said "I am appalled, this cannot continue. I cannot accept that this goes on".
I totally agree with her, on the same day the European budget committee made this announcement, 100,000 trade union members where marching outside in Brussels and many cities around Europe. What amazes me is every Government in Europe is making cuts, this will mean many tens of thousands of people will be losing their jobs and these people are totally oblivious to it. You could argue that in comparison to the EU's budget and the budgets of every EU country £1.8m is a small amount and does not really matter, but you would be wrong to argue this. This relatively small amount highlights how far removed our EU masters are from the people they are meant to serve, this highlights the total lack of accountability and scrutiny that does not go on in the EU.
What I don't understand is why this sort of thing, which goes on all the time in the EU is never mentioned on our TV or radio news; you won't hear this mentioned anywhere. It seems to me that there is a great conspiracy of silence. The simple fact is this; if the people are kept in the dark about what really goes on within the EU they will consider themselves untouchable. And before you know it this organisation will have total control and there will be nothing we can do about it.
On top of the increase in the EU Parliaments entertainment budget, the EU wants to increase their budget by 6 per cent, I find this to be shocking, why is no one shouting and screaming about this? Our Government announced today they are going to cut £93 Billion in domestic spending; these cuts maybe necessary but why do they not mention that the UK's contribution to the EU is going to rise by 60 per cent (remember, these cuts are going to affect all of us, especially the most vulnerable). Do you not think that is appalling, I do!! I cannot believe that there are people representing us who are willing to put up with this. This year our net contribution to the EU will be £8.3 billion, we get nothing back for this, we are the second largest contributor to the EU after Germany.
Many people will argue that the EU is good, that it brings benefits, that it has brought peace to Europe. But that is not the truth, I have explored these myths before, and it is very important that we find out what the truth is. I have been accused before of peddling a one sided argument, and I totally agree. I have looked into the behaviour of this organisation over many years, I have sat and listened to arguments in favour and against. But what I keep coming up against is that those who have spent any time working in Brussels (and if they are concerned about the truth) say the same thing; this organisation is dangerous and out of control and is beyond redemption. If you are interested in what I am saying, please look at these websites:
http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/
http://synonblog.dailymail.co.uk/
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/
http://www.ukip.org/
This is a link to an article in The Daily Telegraph about Gisela Stuart, which is well worth reading:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/state-of-europe/6209155/Former-minister-Gisela-Stuart-says-Lisbon-Treaty-would-create-democratic-deficit.html
Look at this link as well, it is quite interesting, it is the Conservative MEP Daniel Hannans Blog:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100020456/ten-reasons-to-leave-the-eu/
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