Sunday, 30 October 2011
THE GREAT DECEPTION
So why am I mentioning this? Well, what I have noticed is that there has been a great deception performed by our political leaders and many so called business people. This deception has been this, and has been repeated time and time again: 'if we leave the EU it would be an economic disaster for Britain, and if we left it would destroy us'.
This is complete and utter rubbish and does not stand up to simple scrutiny. I know I have written about this before, but I wanted to be a little more concise. Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman has produced a pamphlet rubbishing the claims of all the doomsayers.
So here are the basics:
1. The EU sells more to us than we do to them, it would be very much in its interests to enact a free trade agreement with us. In 2009 our trade deficit with the EU in just manufactured goods was £35 billion. If you think we couldn't leave and just set up a trade agreement. Under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty requires the EU to make a trade arrangement with any nation that leaves the EU.
2. With the ascent of China, India and Brazil Britain would do well to leave a trading bloc whose share of world GDP is forecast to fall to under 15 per cent in 2020. In 1980 it was 36 per cent.
3. Britain enjoys trading relationships elsewhere in the world that are not shared by other EU countries. We send 18 per cent of our exports to the US; Germany sends only 7 per cent. The biggest external investor in Britain is America.
4. One of the reasons for the EU's poor competitiveness is over regulation. More than 100,000 regulations and directives have been imposed upon us since we joined the EU in 1973. The working time directive is estimated to cost £11.9 billion a year in lost productivity. The EU renewables target about £22 billion every year, the new part time agency workers regulation is already costing British workers their jobs, as Tesco is going to lay off 21,000 part time workers.
The Open Europe think tank reported last year that EU regulations had cost Britain £124 billion since 1998. The figure is not a partisan invention, but based upon the Governments assessments..
5. We are told that if we left the EU it would mean our influence would disappear. Our membership of the G8, our seat on the UN security council and the World Trade organisation are not dependent upon our being part of the EU.
6. We are the sixth largest economy in the world, we remain one of the top ten manufacturing nations in the world. London is the largest financial centre in the world, that is as long as the EU do not destroy this by bringing in the Financial Transactions tax.
7. Britain would not have to pay almost £8.3 billion net to the EU plus the ongoing increase which is expected to hit £10.3 billion by 2013.
8. Switzerland is the richest country per capita in Europe and possibly the world, it does 70 per cent of its trade with the EU, and is not part of the EU.
There you have eight simple points that the government and politicians like to ignore. I have not mentioned immigration and being able to control who comes here to work. So, as you can see there is no benefit to us being part of this great deception. I truly believe if we stay in this economic prison much longer it will eventually destroy this nation that I love.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Can you ever trust this lot again?
You then play the recording of them promising to help you move and they then say 'I didn't mean that'. Would you trust them again to stick to their promise? Well you might give them another chance, but if they kept breaking promises and kept saying they never said something even though they had officially recorded it, I am sure you would never trust them again.
This is exactly what all three main parties have done in regards to many issues but in particularly in regards to the EU. So this is what the conservatives said, this is quoted directly from the conservative party website:
News story
Join our campaign for an EU referendum
Monday, April 27 2009
Ahead of the European elections on 4th June, David Cameron has launched a campaign to get Gordon Brown to honour his pledge to give the British people a referendum on the EU Treaty.
In their 2005 election manifesto, Labour promised to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution.
David stressed the Lisbon Treaty was a “re-branded” version of that Constitution and attacked Gordon Brown for having “flip-flopped”:
“First he was against the Constitution, then he was for it; one day he promised a referendum, the next he backtracked. While he has chopped and changed, our position has remained exactly the same. We are the only major party to have consistently said that it is up to the British people to decide on our future in Europe.”
David promised that if the Constitution was not in force at the time of the General Election, a Conservative Government would hold a referendum on it, urge a no vote, and reverse Britain’s ratification if successful.
He explained, “I believe that if you make a promise in your manifesto, and the country votes on that manifesto, then you are honour-bound to keep that promise.”
You can join our campaign by signing up to our Facebook page or downloading our 'EU-turn' widget
Well, that looks pretty unequivocal, I don't know about you but that looks very easy to understand. Just look at that last sentence, it doesn't look ambiguous, it is completely straight and down the line. And I suppose if you read that you would actually think they meant what they were saying!
So let us look at what Labour said about holding a referendum:
"We will put it — the EU Constitution — to the British people in a referendum and campaign whole-heartedly for a 'Yes' vote." — Labour Party manifesto, May 2005
"We will have a referendum on the constitution in any event — and that is a Government promise." — Tony Blair, The Sun, May 13, 2005
"Well, if it were necessary to hold a referendum, of course we wouldn't hesitate. I suspect that the best deal for Britain will be won, where we will get what we want, at this summit." — Gordon Brown, GMTV, June 19, 2007
"The manifesto is what we put to the public. We've got to honour that manifesto." — Gordon Brown, BBC 1 Politics Show, June 24, 2007
What do you think about that then? That is also pretty unequivocal. I don't think you could misinterpret that. So what did we get from Gordon Brown when asked to give the British people a vote on the Lisbon Treaty/EU constitution? Excuses! The Lisbon Treaty is not the same as the EU Constitution he said.So is the EU Constitution the same as the Lisbon Treaty? Well Bill Wedderburn – a QC, a Life Peer and a member of the Labour Party since 1946 analysed the thousands of pages in the Lisbon Treaty, the Constitution and the commentaries about them (most of which were unavailable to the UK public before January 2008) and agrees with the vast majority of European politicians that the Lisbon Treaty contains substantially the same provisions as the draft Constitution.
The Labour government said that it was not the Constitution, just another Treaty. But, according to Lord Wedderburn, you can’t change the substance of a document by giving it new titles, a new style and form or by making it – as the Lisbon Treaty is – virtually unintelligible.So there you have it, the EU Constitution is the same as the Lisbon Treaty! So I suppose if you looked at what Gordon Brown said in 2007 and read their manifesto promise in 2005 you would think that they would follow through on that promise. Remember they are politicians, and as we know they lie for a living. So of course they are not going to follow through on what they say.
Finally our dear friends the liberal democrats. In my previous post I showed you a copy of a campaign leaflet which they published in the run up to the 2010 General Election. Since the smaller writing wasn't very easy to read I will write here some of what was on that leaflet:"It's time to give the British people a real Referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union" - Nick Clegg
It's been over thirty years since the British people last had a vote on Britain's membership of the European Union. That's why the liberal democrats want a real referendum on Europe. Only a real referendum on Britain's membership of the EU will let the people decide our country's future.Whether you agree with Europe or not, it is vital that you the British people have a real say in a real EU referendum.
I haven't misrepresented or misquoted the liberals here, there is nothing on that leaflet that is ambiguous.So what did David Cameron say in regards to having a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty? I have written in a previous post the full transcript of what our dear prime minister said in the Sun newspaper. So if you haven't seen it before look at it here http://evanheasley-powertothepeople.blogspot.com/2011/08/david-cameron-and-broken-promises.html
There is nothing ambiguous in what he said. He made it clear he wanted a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. David Cameron then reneged on that promise and used the excuse that there was no point having a referendum once the things was signed. Well that does not wash for two reasons. First, David Cameron and most people with any intelligence new it was going to be signed before the tories got into power, so why promise this in the first place? And second, in 1975 we had a referendum on remaining in the then Common Market, why could we not do that now.The problem I have with the behaviour of our political leaders and so many of our MPs is their duplicity, their lying and their utter contempt for the British people. It is clear from what I have written above that all three main parties have promised a referendum on our relationship with the EU. I have not misquoted or exaggerated anything they have said and I haven't lied, I have just quoted what they said.
What we have seen here is politicians at their worse, they have used every excuse possible to not follow through on their promise. They have used legalise and other language to excuse their complete cowardice, they have used obfuscation, they have squirmed, they have decided that they do not trust us or care about what we think. They have continually lied and lied and lied. How can anyone trust this lot? How can anyone trust anything they will say again?In the next election each party will set out their manifesto, they will say what they are going to do. Well let's be honest here, there is no point in them saying anything because once they get into power they will do what they want.
There is something we, the general public can do, and that is to not vote for them, but I cannot see that happening, either labour or the tories will be elected again. And I guess that sums up the electorate, I just cannot believe people could ever trust this lot again after so many broken promises. Like I said above, if someone kept letting you down, if they kept promising to help you and did not, if they said one thing and did the opposite would you ever believe them again? I am sure you wouldn't, so why should we ever trust this lot again?Tuesday, 25 October 2011
What they really think of you!
First Labour didn't follow through with their promise to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution/Lisbon Treaty. Then David Cameron didn't follow through on his promise to have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.Here is a poster advertising what the liberals put in their manifesto in the run up to the 2010 general elections. I am sorry if you can't read it, I couldn't get it any clearer, but having read it myself it is obvious what they are promising. There is nothing in it which could be misunderstood, it is clear what the liberals want.
No wonder people have lost faith in our political class. It just goes to show you what those in power really think of you and me.
I sat and listened to some of the debate in parliament last night on the vote to let the people have a referendum on our relationship with the EU. A liberal democrat MP stood up and said that even though the liberals did promise a referendum they promised that it would only be held under certain circumstances. He then went into a diatribe on why the liberals wouldn't back the motion to let the people have a referendum.
To say it is disingenuous would be an understatement. The above poster is pretty unequivocal. It is very clear what the liberals promised. Just like their promise to stand against tuition fees, they have reneged on that.
This highlights what our elected representatives think of us, they don't care about us! They think we are stupid! They believe they are untouchable! The more I listen to; David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband and so many of their followers the more I realise they are totally out of touch with those who have elected them.
Monday, 24 October 2011
The thought police
Regardless of whether or not you agree with gay marriage or allowing gays to marry in a church or not, surely this issue goes to the very heart of freedom of speech.
Mr Smith wrote on his private Facebook account to just his friends, he wrote it on his own computer at home. He was having a discussion about a BBC story about the government's plans to lift the ban on homosexual couples holding civil partnerships in churches.
This is what was said:
Adrain Smith:
'An Equality too far'
Gay church marriages get the go ahead. Ministers are to set out plans to make changes to the law which could enable same sex couples to 'marry' in church, it has emerged.
.........: 'Does this mean you don't approve?'
Adrian Smith:
'No not really, I don't understand why people who have no faith and don't believe in Christ would want to get hitched in church.The Bible is quite specific that marriage is for men and women. If the state want to offer civil marriages to same sex couples that is up to the state; but they shouldn't impose its rules on places of faith and conscience.'
That doesn't sound that bad, there was no incitement to go out and beat up gays, or kill; he wasn't even saying he was against gay couples getting 'married'. He just said he was against it happening in a church.
One colleague who is his friend on Facebook sent a complaint to the housing association's thought police, eg 'equality and diversity manager' who then decided to destroy this man's career.
I believe this is very scary, and goes to show you how this country is changing. Every public sector organisation has its own thought police. Depending on the size of the organisation it will employ many people to police their employees thoughts and actions.
The people who run these organisation are so wrapped up in 'diversity and equality' they cannot see outside of this warped little world they live in. They believe that we should all think the same and say the same thing. Ironically it does seem to go against the word 'diversity' which means different; surely that is the point of the word diverse, we all are diverse and have many different points of view, not the same. So if we are different we should be able to state those points of view without fear.
Of course this would not be right in the eyes of these zealots, they believe they are right and everyone who holds a different view is wrong. They are obsessed, they do not care about people, only an ideology. When we go down this road we can only end up with one view which then leads to tyranny; were everyone who speaks out against the the prescribed opinion is seen as not only extreme but actually deranged and very dangerous.
You might think what I am saying a little over the top. But I don't believe it is; to stop people stating their beliefs is the first step to stopping freedom of expression and speech. This in turn can lead to a snowball effect in which many of the things that you say can be seen as 'wrong'. Things which are not unreasonable but just a point of view start to be seen as intolerance, then can be seen as destructive and actually very dangerous. Before you know it you are being labeled a trouble maker, an extremist and thus dangerous. This then has an impact on your job and your ability to find employment. This can then impact upon your children - schools now have to record any racist, homophobic or any other incidents that are deemed extreme. In some cases children have been asked by their teachers if their parents holds certain views. This is very dangerous indeed!
Imagine sitting in a pub and you are having a private conversation and someone from your work is there, you are discussing something which our 'thought police' believe is sacred to their agenda, and you disagree with the policy. That employee then contacts your employee and then you are in front of a panel justifying your beliefs and trying to save your job. You don't think this could happen, I wouldn't be too sure.
Thankfully it seems there are some people who are standing up to this extremism. Mr Smith is taking his employer to a tribunal seeking compensation and an admission that his 'rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion have been broken'. Mr judge, who is overseeing the enquiry said 'There seems to be a culture of fear among companies who feel impelled to launch an Inquisition if anyone doesn't buy into the equality and diversity manifesto in its entirety. This witchhunt has to stop.' So there is hope.
One last point, I wonder if Adrian Smith had been Muslim and made these comments would he have been treated the same?
Arrogance
In so many countries around the world politicians behave with a total disregard to the people who elected them. In many countries those in charge are not elected and don't actually give any thought or have any care for their people.
When you start to look at the issue of our relationship with the EU you will see that those in power think they know best and they think we the people are just a bunch of ignorant idiots. That may sound like sour grapes, but having listened to the likes of; William Hague, David Cameron, Nick clegg, Ed Miliband, etc stating what they think is the best for us, shows that they have complete contempt for those who elected them.
Ed Miliband only yesterday on the BBC refused to rule out Britain joining the euro. I cannot believe this! This man, who is supposed to be intelligent cannot see that the euro is doomed, it is in a complete mess and is dying and he is saying that we could eventually join the euro.
The euro and the European project is just not working, it is a political project that those who rule are determined to make work. They plough on regardless of the damage this is doing to individual countries. Greece has already received two huge bailouts and is on its way to receiving a third, even though there is no chance they will be able to pay its debt.
Italy is sinking fast and the cost of refinancing its debt next year will be £218 billion. The obvious thing to do is let the Greeks, Italians, Spanish, Portuguese and Irish leave this euro prison and devalue their currency. It makes no sense to just keep handing money over to these countries when they cannot devalue. This would then make their exports cheaper and then their economies will start to grow so they could then get back on their feet.
But the arrogance of those in power is only going to bring destruction on the people of these countries. Regardless whether the politicians want this euro project to keep going the financial markets will have the final say, and that is when this project will finally die. I watched an interesting interview with Peter Oborne - journalist on the Daily Telegraph in which he really hammers the EU, it is well worth a watch. If you want to watch it click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxPFZra8MuM
Today Great Britain's MPs will have a vote on whether we have a referendum and they will ignore the people. This does not surprise me, as many are more concerned about their own political career rather than the people they are supposed to represent.
The simple fact is we, the British people have never been given the opportunity to have a say on whether we want this European Union, NEVER! In a series of polls, within the last year shows that given an 'in' or 'out' referendum, half of Britons would vote to leave. Whilst a quarter would vote to stay in. This highlights the total rejection of democracy by those we elected! This shows their complete arrogance! This shows how far this lot are removed from the people they are supposed to represent! And this highlights why so many people feel totally disenfranchised from the political elite!
The government admits that half of British laws with a significant economic impact come from the EU. Be it home affairs, health and safety, tourism to tax from national security to social security. Bernard Jenkins MP was on the BBC this morning stating that the EU costs the British economy upwards of £60 billion a year. The EU dictates to us in so many areas; every year our parliament is forced to implement 3,000 regulations which originate in the EU. Not once in the last 32 years has Britain received more than it paid into the EU. We have a trade deficit with the EU - basically they sell more to us than we sell to them. There is no economic sense to being part of the EU. I could go on and on.
It is about time the British people had a say in who governed them, that does not sound unreasonable. The British government, whether it be this one or the previous one, or the one before that has continually handed more and more power to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. They have never asked us if this is what we want. They have continually lied, they have promised they will give us a referendum, but have never followed through with that promise.
This is why I believe they will never do anything about the EU, and that is why, if the British people really care about this country and are really bothered about who represents them they need to vote for a different party. One that truly represents them and the views of the majority of the people of this country.
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Democracy?
Labour were truly awful ,they made such a mess of this country; I don't think the 'The Monster Raving Loony Party' could have done any worse. The likes of; Ed Balls, Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman are lecturing this government on what they are doing wrong and what they should be doing. But they were part of the last government and they could not have been worse.
Let us use this analogy. Imagine asking a builder to build you an extension and you provide the finance and materials. They start off okay, but very quickly they start to make a mess of it, and after 13 years not only have they not built the extension they have left your house in a mess. They have ruptured water pipes, made holes in your roof, knocked down walls they shouldn't have, disconnected your electric and also given the keys to a bunch of Romanian Gypsies who are now living rent free in your basement. And you cannot remove them. You then ask another builder to sort out the mess, and the builder who got you in this mess sits and lectures them on what they should be doing to sort it out.
I have written before how I believe that out politicians do not know what they are doing, and the more I listen and watch them the more I realise they don't have a clue how to run the country. They do not even believe in democracy. The government lectures other countries on democracy and even goes to war over it but ignores the people of this country. They promise so much in the run up to elections but when they get into power they forget those promises and carry on as if the people do not matter.
The government decided they would bring in a semblance of democracy by allowing a debate in parliament if 100,000 people signed a petition on the government's e-petition website. This sounds good but the reality is the government will ignore what the people want and vote against it anyway. Let's take the latest example of 'democracy'; the government are going to have a debate and vote on letting the people have a referendum on our relationship with the EU.
David Cameron has ordered every Tory MP to vote against a referendum, he has said that if any minister votes against the government they will be sacked from government and if any Tory MP votes against them that will be the end of their career. So much for democracy! Labour are no better, they will vote against the proposal, and I don't need to say anything about the extremely pro EU Liberals.
This highlights the complete arrogance of the governing class and how they care about the democratic feelings of the people who elected them. David Cameron has nailed his colours to the mast, he has shown that he does not believe in anything and will doing anything to keep power. He stated in 2007 that he would give the people a referendum on our relationship with the EU but then reneged on that promise. Nick Clegg is even worse; part of his manifesto promise was an in out referendum, that promise has now been dropped. I cannot take anymore of the excuses of having to compromise within a coalition; this just gives them cart blanche to do anything and ignore all their promises.
But let's look at two issues to see what they really think about the people and democracy. Immigration is continually ignored, even though the majority of people want some sort of controls on who comes to this country. Execution, whether you agree or not in this, there is a majority who favour a return to the death penalty. But none of this fits in with how our liberal ruling elite think. They do not care, it is as if we the people are a minor distraction and irritation on their backside that needs to be brushed off, or if it cannot be brushed off it is just ignored.
Whether you believe we should leave the EU or not, or whether you believe in execution or controlling immigration surely these are such big issues that the people should have a direct say over. I believe in our parliamentary democracy, it has worked for years, I know that everything could not go to a referendum, it would not be practical. But surely if there are things that are major issues and the government is not willing to listen to the people, the people should have a direct vote. If a party was voted in on the basis of its manifesto promises but fails to follow through on very little of those promises what is the point of having a manifesto. They could say anything to get elected. Is this then true democracy?
Add to all this, those who walk the corridors of power in Brussels you will quickly realise that there is very little in the way of true democracy in so many countries. Just look at what happened in Germany recently when the German parliament voted in favour of handing more German tax payers money to the Greeks. A majority of Germans did not want to do this but those in power ignored them. The IMF, ECB and EU are now telling the Greeks, Spanish and Italians how they should govern, they are telling them to cut public spending (which they probably need to) or else, That's democracy for you!
The EU ignored the French and Dutch in 2005 in regards to the EU constitution, the Irish in 2008 and made them vote again on the Lisbon Treaty, they got their way. The Slovakian parliament has voted against handing more money to the Greeks, but will have another vote. You could argue that at least they are voting and surely this is democracy. But I cannot see that it is, continually making someone vote until you get the answer you want is not what I call democracy.
This brings me back to our politicians and what world they live in. I do not believe they really understand, nor do I believe that many of them really care about the people who elected them. I do not believe that anything is ever really going to change as long as the people of this country continue to vote for the usual suspects. Until the people start to look elsewhere and vote for someone who really understands and who really cares nothing is going to change.
Monday, 17 October 2011
It's about the economy!
The Bank of England have just announced £75 billion worth of 'quantitative easing', or in layman's language, printing more money. This seems rather desperate, and shows that those at the reins of power; both politicians and finance chiefs do not know what to do. If something isn't done, and done quickly our economy is going to disappear down an economic plug hole.
We are in a mess, every week unemployment continues to rise; the latest figures for June to August show that unemployment rose by 117,000 to take it to 2.57 million. Today Philips, the Dutch electronics and lighting group has announced 4,500 jobs cuts. The independent forecaster Ernst and Young says the Bank of England's new quantitative easing bout is unlikely to prompt recovery. They have also downgraded its forecast for gross domestic product (GDP) to just 0.9% this year, well below the 1.4% it predicted three months ago.
The latest rescue attempt for the euro - a £385 billion bailout fund falls far short of the estimated £1.75 trillion needed to stop contagion spreading from Greece to Italy and Spain. Confidence isn't very high that any of what our politicians are doing is going to work.
Politicians carry on trying to patch up this sinking ship with sticking plaster in the vain hope that it will stay afloat. The simple fact is it isn't working, it would make more sense now to jump out of this boat and swim to safety, rather than sink and die. We have been told that if we don't save the euro the world economy is doomed and we will go into an even greater recession. It is quite obvious the euro is doomed; if Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland stay in they will just need more and more taxpayers money, and eventually it is going to run out. They need to leave, if they leave now there will be pain, but eventually that pain will become easier as they will have been able to devalue and rescue their own economies. If they stay it will mean disaster for all of us, and long term pain.
What should the UK do? Well we should leave the EU, we should cut immigration, deregulate, cut tax and encourage manufacturing.
If we left the EU would it be a disaster for us? We are told our economy is so entwined in the EU that to leave would be economic suicide. Is this true? No of course not! We hand over in hard cash about £20 billion every year, add to that the £12.32 billion the British tax payer has spent so far in trying to save the euro. Taking the £3.09 billion that was handed over via the IMF that still leaves over £9 billion we have handed directly to the EU.
Our EU membership also brings hidden costs; the Common Agricultural policy, the Common Fisheries Policy (since joining the Common Market ten's of thousands of jobs have been lost in the fishing industry alone), green regulations, which burden business with extra costs and the thousands of regulations which stifle growth.
Brussels is trying to stop Britain from vetoing the Financial Transaction Tax on the City of London. To put it simply this would be a disaster. At the moment the City accounts for 70 per cent of financial services business in the EU area. It accounts for about 10 per cent of the UK's economic output and contributes about £124 billion to the UK economy. This tax would be a disaster and destroy our economy in an instance.
Politicians argue that we need to stay within the EU because of the trade issue; to put it simply this would make no difference as we could still trade outside of the EU, as Switzerland and Norway have shown. The argument doesn't stand up to any scrutiny, they need us more than we need them. If we left would the Germans stop selling us BMW's, Mercedes, etc? Would the French stop selling us wine, cheese, Renault cars? Would the Italians stop selling us Fiats? Would the Swede's stop selling us Volvo's? Would the Finns stop selling us Nokia mobile phones? Would they not want to trade with us and buy JCB diggers and Triumph motor cycles? Of course not! It is just plain daft to think that they wouldn't trade with us.
If we wanted to leave there is nothing they could do to stop us, they need us more than we need them, as I have already written we hand over billions every year with no obvious benefits. What would the EU do without our money? After the Germans we are the largest contributor to the EU coffers.
We could also cut immigration meaning we could get British people back to work. We could stop the many hundreds of thousands of foreign workers coming into this country ever year, thus putting the British worker first in the queue for jobs. If you don't think British people want to work let me relay this story. I was listening to BBC radio 4 last week and there was a lady being interviewed who had lost who job in the public sector, she had applied for 120 jobs and not even got an interview. People want to work, but there are no jobs, were is the sense of importing more and more foreign labour when there are not the jobs for the indigenous population?
We need to encourage manufacturing, just look at the economies that are growing, they all make things. China, India, Brazil, South Korea, etc are continuing to see economic growth. They must be doing something right, why aren't we copying them?
We need to cut regulation, it hampers business and stifles growth! That is obvious, it does not take a genius to work that one out. The recent decision to implement an EU regulation on petrol pumps has meant that 1800 petrol retailers have had to replace their petrol pumps. This idiotic diktat was brought in for a negligible reason, and if you argue that the oil companies can afford it, what about the independent petrol retailers? Can they?
I could go on, but I am sure you get the idea. Something needs to be done, many of the answers are very simple and I have only covered a small part of what could be done. The economy is something that needs to grow, it provides jobs and security and pays for all those things we have come to rely on like the NHS and the welfare state. If we want to keep them and continue to maintain a good standard of living something has got change. Unfortunately our politicians are either too incompetent or just do not care so things are unlikely to change.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
If you don't hate the EU, here is at least one good reason to do so
One of the things the EU likes to do is promote how wonderful it is; it will state that it has brought prosperity and united the peoples of Europe. With a little research you will find that the EU is a massive organisation that is hugely bureaucratic, unaccountable and anti-democratic.
On the theme of being anti-democratic, we only have to look at what is happening in Slovakia. They have voted no in their parliament to bailing out the Greeks, for genuine good reasons, but of course this is not what their EU masters want to hear. They will be made to vote again, and this time as usual the EU will get their own way.
That is not the main reason for this post, here is a link to a journalists blog. He mentions the Common Agricultural (CAP) policy and how damaging it is. http://singletonblog.dailymail.co.uk/2011/10/the-eu-isnt-just-killing-economic-growth-it-is-killing-africans.html
It is only a short piece, but if you are really interested in the reality of the EU, just spend a little time researching this hideously grotesque policy and you will see that they just do not care. The CAP has brought disaster and misery to many millions. It has pushed up food prices to the consumers of Europe. It is massively wasteful but will never be reformed, and that sums this lot up.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
They don't know what to do!
Things are not getting any better; you could say things are not getting any worse, but that does not mean they are doing a good job. I know that Labour left this country in a complete mess; I have to be honest, I truly think the last government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown was probably one of the worse governments to ever run Britain. They made a complete mess of things and blamed everyone but themselves. They wasted billions of pounds on failed projects -£12.7 billion on a computer system for the NHS which has now been scrapped and £500 million and rising on Regional fire controls for the fire service. These are just two of many examples of politicians arrogance, ignorance and vanity; they decided on these projects without proper consultation, and when they were clearly not working they continued regardless.
This government are no better, they carry on with their projects and continue to waste money just so it makes them look good. One of these things is overseas aid; now you could argue that giving money to those who are in need is good, I cannot argue with that. You could say that we are a rich country and in some way have an obligation to help those who are less fortunate than us, I can see that reasoning.
Britain, this year will spend more than £8 billion on overseas aid, and that is going to increase to about £11 billion by 2015.
But the reason I am against foreign aid is because a massive percentage is wasted and actually goes to propping up ruthless and tyrannical regimes. The governments own Independent Commission on Aid Impact has stated that 27 per cent of aid goes directly to corrupt or tyrannical regimes - to spend as they seem fit.
There is evidence that much aid money is being misused. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has stated that last year about £1 billion of UK aid has been involved in fraud. Imran Khan, the former Pakistani cricketer has blamed aid for making his country's endemic corruption far worse.
This country is struggling, unemployment has now risen to 2.57 million, the private sector is getting smaller - 20,000 private companies have gone to the wall since May 2010. We are hemorrhaging work to other countries, we are giving £20 billion a year to the EU for no discernible benefit. The bank of England has just printed another £75 billion to put into the economy, this seems to me that they just don't know what to do. And we continue to hand £300 million in aid to the likes of India, which spent £1.5 billion on its nuclear program last year and continues to see growth in its economy. This seems completely bonkers.
The government are trying to do something, but in reality do not know what to do. The reason I believe they do not know what to do is simply because they have never run their own businesses, and many ministers have done nothing else except be involved in politics. They do not really understand what it is like for many businesses at this moment. I know some people who run their businesses and they state that things are very difficult at the moment. But the government, with the help of the EU are doing nothing to stimulate business, they continue to pile one piece of regulation on top of another, thus stifling growth.
I have mentioned before about Bombardier - the train manufacturer, and how they lost out to German company to build trains and carriages for this country. This highlights the complete lack of understanding and arrogance of our politicians.
I honestly believe we are in for an almighty financial crash. Today's jobless figures show that things are continuing to get worse. Britain's jobless total now stands at 2.57 million, a rise of 117,000 between June and August. I do believe if something radical isn't done we are going to sink under our immense debt.
I know my postings are generally quite negative, but the reason for this is, I sit and watch day after day how our leaders make one bad decision after another. They do not seem to know what to do, they are so far removed from the reality of everyday life. They carry on in the vain hope that something is going to happen, but do nothing to help. The EU leaders keep pumping more and more money into the euro, but it is not working. The EU parliament have just voted for a 4.9 per cent increase for their budget, and no-one is shouting about this.
They hamper business with more regulation, hand billions to corrupt regimes, they cannot stop the tide of mass immigration (I don't think they would do anything about it if they could). They have watched as our manufacturing disappears and do nothing to stop it. Why is it that every other country which makes things is continuing to see growth and we are not? Is it not obvious to these complete IDIOTS that what they are doing is just not working.
Everyone I speak to says we should start making things again, and change our focus from the service sector back to manufacturing. It's working for China, India, Brazil, etc, I am sure it would work for us as well. But don't you worry I am sure this lot will carry on regardless and drag us down deeper and deeper into debt. Just remember this when your pension disappears and your savings are worthless; David Cameron George Osborne and the rest of this bunch of complete incompetent, supercilious, self righteous cocks will be alright.
If you don't think this is true just look at David Cameron's hero Tony Blair and how much he has made since leaving parliament. You can be assured David and his friends will be okay.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
So many issues
ADHD and Disability Living Allowance (DLA), this is something which many hundred's of thousands of people claim every year. In some cases there might be a just reason for people to receive this allowance, but in many cases there is no justification for this payment.
Currently the government spends £192 billion every year on welfare; an astronomical sum that is beyond comprehension. £12 billion of this £192 billion is paid out in DLA. You could argue that those who claim DLA must need it, and wouldn't receive it if they did not deserve it. But this simply cannot be true, there cannot be that many people in this country who are in some way disabled and need this benefit.
One of the things you can claim for is a car through this scheme; currently 575,000 people receive a car and out of those, 3,200 families with someone with ADHD receive a car. The questions have to be asked; do they really need a car? And is there such a thing as ADHD? To both of these questions I am going to say NO!!!!!!!
Firstly I do not believe there is such a thing as ADHD; I do not care whether someone says their child is hyperactive and cannot sit still, cannot concentrate or gets in trouble at school. I will never believe in this excuse to drug children.
ADHD as an 'illness' was practically unheard of 20 years ago. Those claiming welfare for someone with ADHD has gone from 800 a decade ago to 99,000 today. In 1991 2,000 prescriptions for Ritalin - which suppresses the symptoms of this so called 'illness', today it is close to 350,000.
I cannot believe that, in this modern day we can dish out so many drugs that changes and stifles the brain. The majority of those who receive this drug are male and children.
We look back at the likes of Lord Shaftsbury who fought to stop child labour with awe and respect. We look back at the creation of the welfare state and applaud this wonderful institution. Successive governments have brought in legislation to protect children and vulnerable people. Many children are taken into care every year for their protection. Many public sector bodies run compulsory courses on child protection. Anyone who goes near children in the course of their work have to have a CRB check to make sure they have never been convicted of any crime to do with children. All schools, youth clubs, scout groups, etc have child protection policies, but every year we feed children drugs that we do not really know or understand what the long term impact will be upon them.
This seems almost tantamount to abuse. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a teacher who said she has a child with ADHD in her class. This boy, she said was very disruptive, but is now no longer disruptive because he is now receiving 'treatment', in the form of drugs. I asked her, did this not concern her? And she said no, she said she was now able to teach the rest of the class without any problems and he was a lot calmer. I was a little shocked by this answer, I said 'if anyone was drugged it would surely have an impact upon the individual, just because their symptoms seem to be better, it does not mean that it is solving the problem.'
There is no way of scientifically diagnosing ADHD, it is a tick box exercise. Has anyone looked into the long term impact of drugging hundreds of thousands of children? Does anyone truly understand the workings of the human brain? Why are the majority of those who are diagnosed with ADHD boys? Why have the numbers of children being diagnosed with ADHD increased so much in the last twenty years?
I believe there are many reasons why we have seen an increase in diagnoses of a made up illness. Part of it might be bad parenting, another might be children being kept inside in front of the television (especially from an early age). The likes of Cbeebies might be great for harassed parents, but some children are just dumped in front of the TV all day from an early age, surely this cannot be very beneficial and physically stimulating. Many children now have all sorts of gadgets which they can sit in front of and not move anything except their eyes and hands; Wii's, play stations, etc. Has anyone looked at the impact upon the development of children's brains of so much of this type of visual stimulation?
Many children do not get much physical stimulation because of parents paranoia around children being hurt, and being abducted. Also our education system has been feminised, so boys are made to sit down and read and write, but not given much chance to run around and use up all that excess energy. I have two boys and a girl, and I know there is a massive difference between boys and girls. For years we have been told that boys and girls are just the same and it is society which says dictates how they turn out. But this is utter rubbish, boys are different to girls, they need to run around and climb trees and do the things that boys need to do.
In many of our schools there are no male teachers, or even any male members of staff. In my children's infant and junior school there is not one male member of staff; the teachers, teaching assistants, admin staff, cleaners, catering staff, even the person who comes into teach after school football is a woman. I believe this brings many problems and a total imbalance, likewise if there was a school which had all male members of staff there would be problems as well.
Just one other point on this, many of the women teaching are overweight and the thought of running around would be alien to them. Because they do not do any exercise they are unlikely to understand what it is like to have excess energy to burn off. This then means boys are left to sit around, and that is why many end up getting into trouble and being disruptive.
I believe this issue will have repercussions for our future, and I also believe that drugging children with massive quantities of drugs that effect the brain is totally wrong. It is about time someone took this issue seriously and decided to tackle rather than ignoring it.