Steve Green's Daily Referendum - End of Year Post.

It's the end of my first year of blogging so here are my stats:

Unique visitors - 41779

Total Visits - 71079

Best Day - 1417 / 19 Dec, Wed, 2007

Best Week - 3057 / Wk 49

Best Month - 8935 / Dec

I started this blog knowing very little about politics and I've still got a hell of a lot to learn, but a year of blogging has to be the best way to learn. I would like to say thank you to all those who have visited my blog and I hope you will keep coming back. I will of course try my best to improve the blog and my writing skills - I'm not a writer, just a simple ex-sailor - where have I heard that before?

All that is left is to wish you all a:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

If you are good, then good things will come to you.

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Jack Straw - We're going to rob more Tory policies.

Apparently Jack Straw has said that Tory policies are resonating with the public and that Labour must adapt to survive. Translation: "We're going to rob more Tory policies." Labour ministers are probably hoping that the public will have forgotten where the ideas originated. Labour have been totally devoid of ideas since Gordon Brown took over and the few policies they have put forward were stolen from the Conservative conference. It's not easy to be in opposition to a government that steals your ideas accumulated from nearly a year's worth of policy review. I've said quite a few times over the last year that Labour ministers know no shame and I think this will be proved again over the next month.

What can the Tories do? Well for one thing, every shadow minister needs to shout loud and clear at every opportunity that Labour are stealing their policies, that Labour have no ideas of their own and that no matter how good the ideas they have stolen may be, they have shown time and again that they have a complete lack of competence to implement policy. Labour will come out of the Christmas period hoping to start the New Year with a bang. David Cameron needs to be ready to stand toe to toe and he must have some knock out counter punches ready.

The first thing David needs to hit Brown with is the disgusting way he has dropped the amendment to pensions Bill which was to give women the chance to make up the shortfall in their National Insurance contributions by making lump sum payments. This amendment was dropped in the most sneaky and underhanded way possible and Gordon Brown needs to be dragged over the coals for it.

Still here, still blogging - just.

Hello, I'm back - just. I was seriously wondering if I would start again. I've been blogging for just over a year and this is my 823rd post. That's just over two a day which isn't too shoddy I suppose, though lately I like to post at least three times a day. This has been my best month so far and I'm still only bringing in about 8,500 unique visitors per month. I was hoping to do better than that, but don't we all? I'll have to see what the New Year brings. And maybe I'll have to do one of those polls that asks the readers what I can do to make my blog more attractive - Any suggestions now would be welcome. Thanks to all those who sent Christmas wishes and I hope you all have a happy New Year.

Eight Wishes for 2008

I've been tagged by the Thunder Dragon to do Iain Dale's eight wishes for 2008 meme. I've also got to tag five people to do the same. If you don't like memes cry me a river - it's Christmas.

1. An English Parliament.

2. Gordon Brown to suffer the same pressure he put on Tony Blair.

3. For David Cameron to promise that he will not sanction any Green Tax that will in anyway hit my pocket.

4. For the Man made climate change myth to be seen for what it is.

5. Get more involved in local politics.

6. More gardening.

7. The rest of Europe to pull their weight when it comes to peace-keeping.

8. Political correctness gains some sense of sanity.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year.

Steve.

I tag: Mr Gruff, Grendel, Kate, Andrew and Jeremy

168,000 NHS Patient records lost - What do you expect?

Following the news that 168,000 NHS Patient records have been lost, I wonder why the Conservatives bother making any statement. Surely now it should be a case of just saying "what do you expect?" Without doubt this government is now incompetent, and we should now expect more of the same kind of cock-up until they are removed from power. It's getting to the stage when we are no longer shocked or outraged about the loss of our data, or illegal immigrants working in the Home Office.

Health minister Dawn Primarolo said:

"What it is really important to stress is how important patient security and confidentiality is and how each of these trusts is moving to deal with this."

Fine words but what does it mean. If patient security is so important, why have nine trusts lost it?

Like I said "What do you expect?"

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No blogging today.

Sorry no blogging today. I've just driven from Portsmouth to Barnsley and back (picked up my Dad for Christmas), and I'm a little knackered. See you tomorrow.

David Cameron's China Speech Video.

Just a quick one. I've just watched David Cameron's China speech, and personally I was impressed. It's not easy to be both critical and diplomatic at the same time, but I feel that David pulled it off. I don't think the Chinese government will be happy with what David had to say, but I believe they will understand why he said it.

You can watch the video by clicking HERE.

A second Chief Constable tells Jacqui Smith to Shove her Christmas message.

Cambridgeshire's Chief Constable, Julie Spence, today joined the chief of Essex Police, Roger Baker, by refusing to pass on Jacqui Smith's Christmas message to her officers.

A spokesman said:

“We received an eight-paragraph letter sent to all forces thanking them for their work in 2007, praising them for their bravery and dedication and wishing them a happy Christmas. “The letter arrived two days after news of the pay dispute emerged. “Normally, the letter would be published on our force website but the chief constable felt it would be inappropriate to do that this year.”

Roger Baker said:

“While I have been happy to publish this in previous years, I feel that this year her message is not consistent with the decision she has taken over police officers’ pay.”

I like it:

Merry Christmas and thanks for all your hard work. In way of gratitude Gordon and I have decided not to honour that silly little pay arbitration thingy. I'm sure you won't mind.

Happy New Year.

Hugs

Jacqui XXX.

Freedom to Choose - Light one up in support of freedom.

Hello readers. I would like to point you in the direction of a forum that I've recently joined: Freedom2Choose. Which is part of the Freedom To Choose Website.

This is an introduction to the Forum:

Freedom2Choose was born out of the frustration and anger felt by ordinary members of the general public at the way in which our freedoms, choices and democracy are being eroded. Our campaign is not about the promotion of smoking, many of us are not and have never been smokers, but about allowing the free use of a legal product by consenting adults in privately owned premises.

The smoking bans are the pivotal issue in the drive towards a healthist state and the perfect model citizen. It has already been witnessed in other countries that these bans are a precursor for bans and restrictions on other personal freedoms not least of which are food and alcohol.

Thank you for your support; if you want to join the hundreds of friendly campaigners using these forums please Click Here To Register so that you can access the discussion areas, read and post. Unfortunately we have to run a closed forum to prevent spammers and other dodgy posting from spoiling your enjoyment.

Please do register as we always need people with legal knowledge, organisational or other skills, or just those keen to be involved - everyone is welcome to join in the fight. There is plenty to join in with once you've registered - including discussion of the science, politics and law relating to smoking bans, campaign ideas and news updates, along with more general chat.

You may wish to indicate your occupation or interests when you complete your profile at registration, along with your location, which will be useful to know as we are becoming more regionally organised.

Thank you for your support

F2C

I think we have already seen the statement in bold above coming true. Now that smoking has been banned we are now being bombarded with the dangers of food and drink. This is not just about smoking, it's mainly about our liberty.

Climate Change Part 20 (Record Snow in Toronto).

The following is an excellent post from Stephen McIntyre of Climate Audit:

The National Post reports:

A winter storm dumped more than 30 centimetres of snow on the Toronto area yesterday, with some parts of southern Ontario receiving as many as 50 centimetres of snow. Toronto usually receives approximately 30 cm of snow during the entire month of December. Yesterday’s snowfall likely trumped the previous record of 28 cm set on Dec. 11, 1944.

I can confirm that this storm was real.

In a statement from Bali, Al Gore warned:

If Canada did not immediately change its ways, it would be hit with more winter storms.

Gore added that climate models showed that global warming would lead to more Canadian snowfall or less snowfall or about the same amount of snowfall or all three and that the need for change was urgent.

Stephen McIntyre of Climate Audit was unable to comment because he was shoveling his driveway. From poolside in Bali, the Canadian delegation said that McIntyre could shovel out their driveways when he was finished.

You can read another excellent post, this time by Melanie Phillips on how cold it seems to be in the so-called period of Global Warming.

Retail Price Index - good enough for MPs - too good for the Police.

The following is taken from this Tuesday's (18/12/07) Hansard written answers:

Mr. Maude: To ask the Leader of the House what plans she has to bring forward proposals to increase the Communications Allowance; and what increase she intends to propose.

Helen Goodman: In accordance with the resolution of the House of 28 March, the Communications Allowance is increased on 1 April each year by the percentage increase in the retail price index as at 31 December the preceding year.

The Communications Allowance provides funds to allow a Member of Parliament, to communicate proactively with their constituents and inform them about an MPs Parliamentary duties. MPs may claim up to £10,000 per year from this allowance. The Communications Allowance may be used to meet expenses for:

• Regular reports and constituency newsletters
• Questionnaires and surveys
• Petitions
• Targeted communications
• Contact cards
• Distribution costs including direct mailing and postage
• Websites
• Some capital purchases

Now, I find this a little difficult to understand. Why is the Communications Allowance increased in line with the RPI (Retail Price Index) and not the CPI (Consumer Price Index)? The basic difference between the RPI and the CPI is that the CPI does not take into account housing costs and in particular owner occupiers’ costs such as mortgage interest payments. So what do mortgage interest payments have to do with the price of stationery?

If the CPI is good enough for calculating public sector pay increases (particularly the Police), then why isn't it good enough to calculate the Communications Allowance? Could it be that if the allowance is calculated using the CPI, then it will only increase to £10,210 - whereas if it is calculated using the RPI, the allowance will increase to £10,430?

Maybe I'm wrong, but this looks like "one rule for us, and another rule for the little people."

Gordon Brown goes to war with GPs over extended hours.

I hope for Gordon Brown's sake that he does not need to visit a GP in the near future. I imagine that he will be asked to strip off and touch his toes whilst the Doctor uses something very large and very cold to check his colon. If Gordon's GP was to carry out such an act, then Gordon would only be receiving a large dose of his own medicine. Next April GPs will have to work longer hours or face losing money (about £30,000 for a three GP surgery). Gordon is going to achieve this by re-writing the family doctors' contract to include at least three extra hours to surgery opening times.

Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA's GPs committee said:

"We are being bullied so the prime minister can tick a box next to a politically-driven target without regard for the damage this could do in the long term to patient services in primary care." And that the Government were: "putting a gun to our head. "We believe the government's method of negotiation is nothing short of a disgrace ... The vast majority of our patients ... prefer to come to surgeries during the day."

This sounds reminiscent of the Police negotiations. If the government don't get the results they would like from negotiation, they simply impose their will anyway.

You can read more on this HERE.

Telegraph YouGov poll says 60% are dissatisfied with Gordon Brown.

The latest Telegraph You Gov poll is going to be terrible reading for Gordon Brown. The Conservatives are on 43% with Labour only 31%. Nick Clegg’s LibDems have increased their standing by 2 points taking them to 16%.

What will be really hard to swallow is the fact that Gordon's approval rating is now as low as John Major's was in his last month in government - 60% of people are now dissatisfied with the Prime Minister. Not long now surely?

David Cameron - Coal is the new Green Fuel CCS

David Cameron is promoting CCS (carbon capture and storage) during his trip to China this week:

"Right now, at least a dozen CCS pilots are ready to launch around the world and the UK is supporting the EU-China Near Zero Emission coal project. "But even though in the UK we have the depleted oil and gas fields that are ideal for testing this technology, not a single pilot is yet taking place in Britain. "We cannot afford this kind of delay."

Current uncertainty in the global supply of oil and gas has brought coal back as a viable source of energy. Coal is widely available, according to the World coal Institute there are enough reserves to last 164 years (Oil 41 years, Gas 67 years) at current production rates.

The International Energy Agency has a Clean Coal Centre, it’s managing director, John Topper, said:

"If you are in China or India where you have huge resources of coal and you have elements of the population that do not have access to electricity then your driver is to build and operate power stations as quickly and as effectively as possible."

It is hoped that the development of CCT (clean coal technology) will allow coal to be used as a environmentally friendly fuel.

CCT comes in many forms, the US FutureGen programme, is a $1bn project attempting prove the viability of near-zero emission coal-fuelled power. The project will involve the integration of an IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) electricity plant with hydrogen production, carbon dioxide capture and geological storage.

The major concern is not if the technology will work but how long it will take to implement. Michael Cupit, director of energy at Ernst & Young said:

"It all depends upon the uptake among the big companies. Once somebody takes the bull by the horns, you can usually squeeze the technology and make it commercial fairly quickly."

David is correct, we have all the infrastructure available to carry out trials on this technology. Britain should be leading the way, not following.

Gordon Brown's pension u-turn damages the future of 8m Mothers.

In an act of sneaky cowardice Gordon Brown has shattered the retirement dreams of eight million women. Women with a partial pension entitlement were to be given the chance to make up the shortfall in their National Insurance contributions by making lump sum payments. The government have now dropped the proposed scheme in their usual underhanded manner. The u-turn was slipped out in the Lords as Parliament adjourned for the holiday break. Peers who voted earlier this year in favour of the Pensions Bill Amendment, were said to have gasped in dismay when the news was announced.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Chris Grayling said:

"This is a massive u-turn. In the summer pensions ministers Mike O'Brien was very ready to make all the right noises for the women concerned but when it comes to a decision not to do something, it is slipped out at the end of the parliamentary session when nobody has noticed. This is a betrayal of stay at home mums."

Age Concern spokesman Michelle Mitchell said:

"This is a slap in the face for thousands of women in or approaching retirement who are being penalised for taking time out of work to care." And that this would: "Condemn many more women to poverty."

The Lords however have promised to push through the scheme anyway, even if it means doing it in the face of government opposition. Lord Oakeshott, the Lib Dem pension spokesman, said:

"When the u-turn was announced you could see a wave of revulsion sweep around the House. "Gordon Brown should be ashamed of himself for sneaking this out just before Christmas. "He must have a heart of stone to do this to millions of women and carers who had had their hopes raised by the government that they could buy back missing years which stopped them qualifying for a full pension."

So as Gordon makes one announcement to repay the pensions (up to 90% of their value) that he ruined through his own incompetence, he sneakily dumps an amendment that could have made life a whole lot more secure for millions of women. It's not just the dumping of the scheme that infuriates me, it's the despicable way that it was announced.

Trust? shame? honesty? - Gordon and his cronies do not know the meaning of those words.

Gordon Brown thinks the public will forgive and forget.

During his monthly press conference this morning Gordon Brown said: "Many of the things that have been written about for the last few weeks would be forgotten quickly." He may be right, but the problem he and his cabinet face is the fact that the label "incompetent" sticks, and that will not be forgotten - not this time. Incompetence is not just for Christmas, it's for life. We all know from work that when someone is officially found to be incompetent they are sacked - no ifs - no buts. Gordon and his party will be sacked at the next General Election, if they think otherwise, then they are deluding themselves.

Brown then came out with a classic: "I think people know that when a problem arises we will deal with it." That is a pure, out and out lie. He knows it's a lie, but he hopes that just by saying it some of the "not so bright" members of our society may just believe him. What has he dealt with? The bank details of 25 million families are still missing, the second outbreak of foot and mouth this year was the fault of the government, every week more and more of our money is being thrown at Northern Rock, not a week goes by without some part of the public sector threatening to strike and immigration is so out of control that we have illegal immigrants working on the front desk of the bloody Home Office.

Just who does Gordon think he is kidding?

If you missed the conference you can watch the highlights by clicking HERE.

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The Twelve Days of a Labour Government Christmas.

On the first day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
A letter of sincere apology.

On the second day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Two compact discs
And a letter of sincere apology

On the third day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Three bank pens,
Two compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Four reddish lines,
Three bank pens,
Two compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Five wheelie Bins,
Four reddish lines,
Three bank pens,
Two compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Six teeth decaying,
Five wheelie Bins,
Four reddish lines,
Three bank pens,
Two compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Seven Spads a-spinning,
Six teeth decaying,
Five wheelie Bins,
Four reddish lines,
Three bank pens,
Two Compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Eight cops a-striking,
Seven Spads a-spinning,
Six teeth decaying,
Five wheelie Bins,
Four reddish lines,
Three bank pens,
Two Compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Nine LibDems dancing,
Eight cops a-striking,
Seven Spads a-spinning,
Six teeth decaying,
Five wheelie Bins,
Four reddish lines,
Three bank pens,
Two Compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Ten Labs a-leaking,
Nine LibDems dancing,
Eight cops a-striking,
Seven Spads a-spinning,
Six teeth decaying,
Five wheelie Bins,
Four reddish lines,
Three bank pens,
Two Compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Eleven pumpers pumping,
Ten Labs a-leaking,
Nine LibDems dancing,
Eight cops a-striking,
Seven Spads a-spinning,
Six teeth decaying,
Five wheelie Bins,
Four reddish lines,
Three bank pens,
Two Compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
A Minister sent to me
Twelve Bills a-banning,
Eleven pumpers pumping,
Ten Labs a-leaking,
Nine LibDems dancing,
Eight cops a-striking,
Seven Spads a-spinning,
Six teeth decaying,
Five wheelie Bins,
Four reddish lines,
Three bank pens,
Two Compact discs,
And a letter of sincere apology.

David Cameron's Response to Gordon Brown's Statement on the EU Treaty.

I'm a bit late with this as it was posted on the Conservative Website yesterday. However I do think it's worth reading if you didn't catch it earlier:

Turning to the constitution, the key issue is the referendum. Isn't it the case that he won't restore trust in politics unless he keeps his promise to hold one? Labour MPs put the commitment to a referendum in their election addresses. Trade unionists voted for it in the TUC. Every opinion poll shows it's what people want. This issue isn't going to go away.

In trying to justify breaking his promise, the Prime Minister says this Treaty is not the Constitution. Doesn't he understand this simply won't wash?

The German Chancellor, the Irish Prime Minister, and the Spanish Foreign Minister all completely undermine what the Prime Minister says by saying the Treaty is pretty much the same as the Constitution. And the author of the constitution, Giscard D'Estaing, said last month that the Constitution's "essential points…. re-appear word for word in the new project. Not a comma has changed" The Prime Minister's argument has simply collapsed.

Doesn't he see that this sort of approach makes him look shifty and untrustworthy? Doesn't he see that, far from it getting him out of his troubles, denying people a referendum is just digging him in deeper? This Treaty obviously is the constitution. It contains an EU President, a Foreign Minister and an EU diplomatic service. It gets rid of the veto in 60 areas. And it contains a new ratchet clause which allows even more vetoes to be scrapped without a new inter-governmental conference.

When I put that point to him in October, he claimed the measure was already there in the Single European Act. It wasn't. The new clause, for the first time, allows virtually any veto to be scrapped in almost any area. That measure was not in the Single European Act or in any treaty before this one. Once again, he's treating people like fools.

So the Prime Minister hasn't been straight about the constitution. And that was only made worse by his frankly bizarre performance in Lisbon last week. Was he going to go, or not? Was he going to sign the Treaty, or not? Were the cameras going to record it, or not? He couldn't summon up the courage to decide.

Isn't this all of a pattern for this Prime Minister? We get troop withdrawals that have already happened. The election that never was. And now the signing ceremony that wouldn't take place. Not a word in the statement about actually signing the Treaty. I expect Macavity hopes we've forgotten all about it. Didn't the senior diplomat get it right when he said of the Prime Minister's "dithering": "he's ended up with the worst of all worlds… If he wants to send a Euro-signal that he's indecisive, he's just sent it"

And as for the Foreign Secretary, in all the centuries of British Foreign Secretaries, representing this country overseas, has there ever been a more ludicrous moment than the Foreign Secretary so isolated and alone that the only person to turn up and shake his hand was the usher who'd handed him the pen?

Isn't it the case that European leaders now see the Prime Minister in the same light as the British people, not as the strong leader he posed as in July, but as the Prime Minister he has turned out to be: weak, dithering - second rate would be a bonus with this Prime Minister - and not straight with people?

Doesn't he recognise that the best chance he has to redeem himself is to give people the referendum they were promised?"

Obviously the momentum for a referendum will build in the New Year. Can Gordon Brown hold out? Or will he to cave in to the demands for a referendum - A referendum he surely knows he will lose.

LibDem Leadership campaign, will it be Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne?

All you LibDems only have to wait until 14:30 to find out who your next leader will be, isn't it exciting? If I was a crueller person I could say that you've only got to wait until 15:30 to see who the next one is, but I won't. It's possible that Clegg may just hang on to his lead, but it's going to be mighty close. Huhne has been the man making all the noises, and over the last month has come across as the man representing the LibDems. I'm sure Clegg is worthy of the position, many people seem to think so, but I can't depend on personal knowledge as he seems to have disappeared recently. I feel that I've got to know Huhne from his TV and Radio appearances. Of Clegg I know very little, which is not good for a man supposedly running a leadership campaign.

That's why I think dark horse Huhne will be victorious this afternoon. I'd like to see Huhne win because he seems to be more thoughtful and statesmanlike than Clegg who seems to be a clone of David Cameron. He looks like Cameron, sounds like Cameron, but something essential is not quite there. I've made Huhne my choice purely on the grounds of character - I could not go on their policies - I try not to read them as they generally wind me up. So I suppose for me, Huhne just looks and sounds the part.

Will this mark a bounce for the LibDems? And if it does, will they win over Conservative voters, or Labour voters? Here is my prediction:

. Huhne will win the leadership election.

. The LibDems will see a bounce into the low 20's.

. The Conservatives will drop to the low 40's (42-43ish).

. Labour will go sub 30, they will get hammered in May's Elections, and Gordon Brown will be forced to resign.

OK lets see if I can get the first one right. See you after the results are announced.

UPDATE: Well I was wrong on my first prediction - bugger. I hope I'm right with the rest of them.

Chris Huhne gave an excellent speech, great humility. 511 votes, could it have been much closer?

Illegal immigrant working on security staff at the Home Office.

I'm not sure - is this Jacqui Smith's biggest act of incompetence yet? A few days ago Jacqui claimed that it was the employer's responsibility to check whether their employees are illegal immigrants. Now it turns out that a member of security staff at the Home Office has been arrested for being an illegal immigrant. You could not make it up. I was driving home from work when I heard the news, and I couldn't help laughing.

Jacqui Smith told us that those employing illegal immigrants would be prosecuted, and I have to agree with what David Davis made of this farce:

"Last week the Home Secretary could not go out of her way enough to lay the blame for the SIA shambles at the door of employers. If she is going to try and avoid responsibility in such away she should at least check her own house is in order. Who will the Home Office now prosecute and fine? Itself?"

I've heard that this man was working on the front desk, checking bloody security passes! Jesus H Christ - the bloody Home Office! We need to invent a new word for this government, because the word incompetence does not even approach the pathetic level this bunch of clowns have sunk to.

This government has set itself very low targets, and failed to miserably achieve them.

Ruth kelly says we need transparency on lost DSA data (Yeah...right)

I've just been listening to Ruth Kelly waffling for all her worth on Radio 5. The details of three million candidates for the driving theory test have gone missing from a contractor's (supposedly) secure room in the States. Why we have to send this kind of information to the US on a Hard Drive is beyond me. The data which contained names, addresses and phone numbers went missing in May. What did Ruth have to say when asked why the public have only just been informed? Well basically she said that she didn't know because she took over the post after the data was lost. And when asked If her predecessor knew about the loss, she said she wasn't sure. Just great.

Ruth then came out with Labour's favourite word of late - transparency. Apparently we must have transparency about the way public data is stored and transferred. Laughingly Ruth said that they public want their data to be shared. Radio 5's interviewer correctly pointed out that we don't want our data shared with everyone.

What a bunch of Muppets

European Commission want to cut British fishing - Again.

The European Commission are planning to cut fishing in the North Sea by 10%. The Scottish Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead said: "Scotland is in the lead for conserving cod stocks. "That has been recognised to some degree with the first increase in cod quotas for 10 years. "That is a great breakthrough."

It is hoped that alternative conservation measures will be adopted instead of further cuts to time spent at sea. One suggestion is to close off areas to fishing which are known to be populated by juvenile fish.

It seems that fish stocks are recovering so the current level of fishing is adequate. Further restrictions will only damage an already struggling industry.

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Is today the lowest point in Gordon Brown's premiership so far?

Reading through the papers this morning will not be a pleasant experience for Gordon Brown. Obviously the headline that is most likely to put Gordon off his porridge will be the YouGov poll which shows a 13 point lead for the Tories on 45%. This would translate to an election victory for the Conservatives with a majority of 102.

The Telegraph's Patrick Hennessy has a story which seems to be hinting at a falling out between Brown and Miliband. Miliband is denying a rift, but it is believed that David's supporters are not happy with the way Brown is treating him. Especially after Gordon ordered Miliband to tone down his EU speech.

Meanwhile David Cameron is calling on the LibDems to unite with Conservatives to fight against Gordon's "Big Government policy". There is even talk of the Greens being invited to the party. This is an idea that could bare fruit for Cameron, as the YouGov poll also showed that 90% of people believe that some or most of the money poured into public services has been wasted.

Just to add to Gordon' woes, up steps Jan Berry (Police Federation) to stick the boot in. Jan has claimed that targets destroy trust in the police. It is quite obvious that we will hear more from Jan Berry as the police pay dispute momentum builds. First with the EU referendum and now the police pay arbitration, the Government are getting a reputation for not honouring their promises.

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Sunday Times YouGov poll puts the Conservatives on 45%, Labour 32%.

A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times puts the Conservatives on 45%, YES that's 45%! And Yes that's 13 points ahead of Labour on 32%. The LibDems are holding steady on 14%. Just when Gordon and his Ministers are spinning for their lives and trying to carry on as if the last three months have not happened, this poll pops up to show the public are not falling for it.

What is even better news is that Mr Bean's approval rating stands at minus 26%, while Cameron's stands at plus 20. This surely means we will have a Christmas period filled with speculation on Gordon's future.

England is still getting shafted over Scottish voting.

The following is taken from this Thursday's Hansard written answers:

Voting Rights

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Leader of the House what the Government's policy is on the right of right hon. and hon. Members representing Scottish constituencies to vote on matters relating to England where responsibility for such matters in Scotland has been devolved to the Scottish Executive.

Helen Goodman: The Prime Minister has previously set out the Government's policy to the House on the 3 July. This Government do not accept that there should be any discrimination in the rights of hon. Members to take part in the business before the House. ‘English votes for English laws’ would lead to the break up of the Union. This Government believes in the Union and will do nothing to harm it. Constitutional issues are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Justice Secretary.

Helen writes that there should not be any discrimination in the rights of hon. Members to take part in the business before the House. OK Helen, if that is the case, when are we going to start to allow English MPs to vote on Scottish matters?

The answer to this is simple: any matters that are devolved to Scotland, cannot be voted on in the House of Commons by Scottish MPs. How this will break up the so-called Union I've no idea.

Of course an English Parliament is the preferred option.

Chief Constables attack dishonourable Jacqui Smith.

Some of the UK's top police chiefs have spoken out against the government’s decision not to honour the police pay arbitration. The Police Federation have called for the Home Secretary to resign, and they are to ballot their members on the right to strike. It's good to see 160 MPs are backing the police in their call for fair pay by calling on the government to reconsider its shameful decision.

The Chief Constables from Kent, North Wales, Devon & Cornwall and Cumbria have used words like: Cheated, mean, unnecessary, shabby, dishonourable and untrustworthy to describe the government’s behaviour. In fact the head copper in Cumbria, Craig Mackey refused to pass on Jacqui Smiths Christmas message to his officers. Personally I can't believe the cheeky cow has the neck to wish the police a merry Christmas. Talk about rubbing salt into the wound.

This is a showdown that will end in tears. Jacqui Smith will probably carry the can, but I have no doubt that she is only following Gordon Brown's orders. I've heard that to honour the pay arbitration the government would have to find £30m. This is just a drop in the ocean when you consider that the Department for Work and Pensions spent £11m on 1st class train tickets this year. And according to Iain Dale: Over the next seven years Britain will send £71 billion to Brussels - equivalent to £10.2 billion a year. And with us being the lowest recipient of EU spending, we will only see about half of that money come back to the UK.

Though the police deserve their pay rise, this is not about money, it is about the government honouring arbitration, it's about trust and it's about honesty. Unfortunately those attributes seem to be in very short supply inside No 10 Downing Street.

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Three months of misery and cock-ups for Gordon Brown. Continued.

Click on the dates to read the story.

25/09/07
D'oh! - Greatest threat since WW2 - The sun publish an excellent graphic depicting Gordon Brown giving the British people the two fingered salute over the EU Treaty.

28/09/07
D'oh! - The number of prisoners in England and Wales has reached a record high.
Official figures suggest there were 81,135 people locked up in jails and in police stations.

06/10/07
D'oh! - According to Nick Robinson the BBC's political editor, Gordon Brown is to announce very shortly that he WILL NOT be calling an Autumn Election.

07/10/07
D'oh! - Gordon Brown's week is just not getting any better. It turns out that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that Robert Mugabe is entitled to attend a Europe-Africa summit.

09/10/07
D'oh! - European Scrutiny Committee report that they are not confident that Gordon Brown's EU Treaty red lines cannot be eroded over time.

09/10/07
D'oh! - Alistair Darling's Pre Budget Report receives massive criticism for stealing Tory policies.

22/10/07
D'oh! - Labour (who were not that serious about an autumn election) are allegedly facing a bill of £1 million for their election that "never was" campaign.

29/10/07
D'oh! - Independent ComRes poll shows the Conservatives 8 points clear of Labour.

04/11/07
D'oh! - Ruth Kelly apologises for breaking rules on using public money for party political material. She spent some of her £10,000-a-year communications allowance on a newsletter which repeatedly referred to "Labour".

07/11/07
D'oh! - Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said "The answer is I don't know" when she was asked on BBC Radio 4 just how long the proposed detention limit should be.

13/11/07
D'oh! - Jacqui Smith makes a statement in which she tries to explain (spin) why it was not announced back in July that 5,000 illegal immigrants have been wrongly cleared to work in security.

20/11/07
D'oh! - 25m sets of personal details get lost in the post. Bank account numbers, sort codes, names, addresses, dates of birth and National Insurance numbers.

23/11/07
D'oh! - Lords debate that saw five ex-chiefs of staff attack Gordon Brown for inadequate MoD funding levels and the appointment of "two hats" Des Browne.

26/11/07
D'oh! - Labour party's General Secretary Peter Watt resigns over dodgy donations.

26/11/07
D'oh! - ComRes poll commissioned by the Independent shows the Tories 13 points ahead of Labour.

28/11/07
D'oh! - Vince Cable brings the house down by pointing out the Brown had transformed from Stalin to Mr bean over the last few weeks.

29/11/07
D'oh! - The electoral commission call in the police to investigate the dodgy donations received by the Labour party.

30/11/07
D'oh! - Harriet Harman admits that she took out an unreported £40,000 extension to her and her husband's mortgage with the Halifax to fund the campaign.

3/12/07
D'oh! - Cabinet minister Peter Hain has said more donations to his Labour deputy leadership campaign "were not registered as they should have been". That's on top of the £5,000 donation that he forgot last week.

6/12/07
D'oh! - A leaked letter from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, to the Chancellor Alistair Darling has got the police gnawing on their truncheons. It seems Jacqui is not keen to bide by the judgement of the Arbitration for the latest police pay award.

6/12/07
D'oh! - Jan Berry, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, says: If the government want a fight, they have got a fight. We are actively pursuing a legal challenge and have requested an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary who must be held to account for her scandalous decision."

7/12/07
D'oh! - Ben Brogan writes: Senior figures have been holding secret talks to decide a response to the drastic turnaround in Mr Brown's fortunes after a disastrous two months.

11/12/07
D'oh! - Frank Field requested a report from the Statistics Commission after the DWP gave him a dodgy estimation on the number of foreign workers in the UK. The report states that 80% of jobs created since 1997 have gone to foreign workers.

12/12/07
D'oh! - At PMQs Vince Cable said: "Given his (Gordon's) own position, the prime minister might not be wise to speculate on leadership elections".

13/12/07
D'oh! - Gordon Brown turns up late to sign the EU Treaty - to much criticism.

13/12/07
D'oh! - Jacqui Smith announces in a Commons statement that a least 6,653 (possibly 11,100) illegal immigrants are working security jobs in the UK.

13/12/07
D'oh! - At an emergency meeting about the police pay crisis, the staff associations representing the UK's 170,000 police officers have called for Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, to resign.

14/12/07
D'oh! - Scientists at the IAH blame the government for failing to stop the foot and mouth outbreak from spreading. The scientist say that Defra were wrong to give the all clear, and this led to the second outbreak a month later.

And the hits just keep on coming!

DEFRA are to blame for foot and mouth outbreak say IAH.

Unbelievably, scientists at the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) Pirbright have had to leak their own report into this summer's foot and mouth outbreak. They leaked the report because Defra failed to do so. And the reason Defra did not publish the report? Well it turns out that the scientists at the IAH blame the government for failing to stop the outbreak from spreading. The scientist say that Defra were wrong to give the all clear, and this led to the second outbreak a month later.

It's not like this government to hide their mistakes from us is it? Well not unless they can no longer get away with it.

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UK police officers call on Home Secretary to resign

The following is a press release from the Police Federation:

UK police officers call on Home Secretary to resign

12.12.07

At an emergency meeting held today (12th December) about the police pay crisis, the staff associations representing the UK's 170,000 police officers have called for Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, to resign. This followed a vote of no confidence at the meeting in Jacqui Smith's ability to deal fairly with police pay and conditions. The staff associations made clear that police officers had lost trust and faith in her. Jan Berry, Chairman of the Police Federation, and Chairman of the Staff Side of the Police Negotiating Board, says:

"Police officers across the United Kingdom have delivered a clear message to the Prime Minister. We no longer have any trust or faith in the abilities of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith dealing with our pay and conditions and she must go. "This is not just about money; it is about treating police officers fairly and honouring the decision of the independent Police Arbitration Tribunal. By not honouring the deal the Home Secretary has betrayed the trust of all UK police officers. "It's clear what needs to be done. Honour the deal in full or continue to feel the might and anger of police officers, the public and a growing number of politicians."

Jacqui Smith - 11,100 illegal immigrants working in security.

Jacqui Smith has announced in a Commons statement that a least 6,653 (possibly 11,100) illegal immigrants are working security jobs in the UK. Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "Last month we were told that there were 5,000 illegal foreign workers in the security industry. Then it was 10,000. Now it's up to 11,000."

Jacqui is trying to slope the blame onto individual employers saying they should have checked that the people they were employing were eligible to work in the UK. What a load of rubbish! If I were an employer and someone presented me with a licence from the Security Industry Authority (SIA), I would assume that they had been cleared to work in the UK. To suggest anything else is just ludicrous.

Incompetence is not the word. If every Minister who should resign, was to resign, then Gordon Brown would be very lonely at cabinet meetings.

Today Gordon Brown signs the EU Treaty - Britain joins the EU Superstate.

Today, out of sight of the cameras Gordon Brown will break a manifesto promise made by his party. A promise that facilitated Labours victory in the last General Election. Gordon does not want to be photographed signing the EU Treaty, which for all intents and purposes IS the same EU Constitution that was rejected by the people of France and Holland in 2005. If Gordon Brown is so sure that this Treaty will be beneficial for Britain, then he should have no problem being photographed signing it. His claims that he can't make the signing due to being double booked are just pathetic - the Commons liaison committee have said they don't mind re-appointing the hearing he is to attend instead.

Why am I so opposed to Britain signing the EU Treaty? Well first an foremost is the fact that we were promised a referendum. Gordon Brown has stated that we don't need a referendum because this Treaty is not the same as the rejected Constitution. Well I'm afraid that is simply not true. In a leaked letter penned by German Chancellor to the other EU heads, Angela said that wanted to push through a Treaty. To achieve this Merkel tells her fellow EU heads of government that they will have to: "use different terminology without changing the legal substance". There can be no doubt that the proposed Treaty is the same Constitution we were not given a Referendum on. Merkel makes this crystal clear when she wishes to preserve intact the content of the constitution, making only "the necessary presentational changes."

"The fundamentals of the Constitution have been maintained," says
Angela Merkel.
"The great part of the European Constitution is in the
new treaty," agrees José Luis Zapatero.
"Thankfully they haven’t
changed the substance; 90 per cent of it is still there," echoes Bertie
Ahern.

I say: If a Beefburger only contains 90% Beef, it is still a bloody Beefburger.

William Hague pointed out the following facts to show the public why this EU Treaty is the same EU Constitution we were promised a referendum on:

. 240 of the 250 provisions are exactly the same.
. The creation of permanent President of the European Council.
. The appointment of an EU foreign minister in all but name.
. The abolition of 60 of our national vetoes.
. For the first time, provision for the abolition of almost every remaining veto without any further treaty negotiation or proper ratification by parliament.

The following is taken from the European Scrutiny Committee's conclusions:

"We wish to emphasise that the proposals in the Reform Treaty raise a serious difficulty of a constitutional order in as much as they appear to impose, whether by accident or design, a legal duty on national parliaments "to contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union" by taking part in various described activities. National parliaments, unlike the European Parliament, are not creations of the Treaties and their rights are not dependent on them. In our view, the imposition of such a legal duty on the Parliament of this country is objectionable as a matter of principle and must be resisted." Committee member James Clappison told David Miliband that: "The red lines are in tatters - somewhere along the line someone has been, quite frankly, asleep at the wheel."

Today a man who has not been elected to the position of Prime Minister will sign a Treaty that the people of Britain do not want. He will skulk away from the cameras, and in some shady Portuguese corner he will put his traitorous mark upon a document that will steal Britain's sovereignty.

There is only one reason that Gordon Brown does not want us to have a referendum:

WE WILL VOTE NO. When Gordon Brown signs that Treaty today, he will be pushing his pen through the heart of democracy.

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PMQs - Gordon Brown says Alex Salmond should be ashamed of his party.

12/12/2007

SNP MP Angus Robertson, asked Gordon Brown whether he would join him in congratulating Alex Salmond for giving the police in Scotland a full pay rise, including back pay. Gordon gave a point blank "NO" in reply, and he said that the SNP had gone back on their promise to create 1,000 new police officers. He went on to say that Angus should be ashamed of his party for not honouring their manifesto commitment. Ahhhgggg!!!!! what a cheeky git! Gordon Brown has more faces than Big Ben's clock Tower. How the hell can he stand there and reprove anyone for going back on manifesto promises?

Incapability Brown doesn't even want to be photographed signing the traitorous EU Treaty. His claims that he can't make the signing due to being double booked are just pathetic - the Commons liaison committee have said they don't mind re-appointing their hearing. It just goes to show that the title "Bottler Brown" is well suited to our Great PM - at the first sign of a difficult decision his sphincter starts twitching like a rabbits nose.

Luckily good old Vince Cable embarrassed Brown with another great put down. Gordon tried to repeat last weeks lame joke about the LibDems penchant for changing leaders on a regular basis. However Vince came back with another beauty, Vince said: "Given his (Gordon's) own position, the prime minister might not be wise to speculate on leadership elections". Gordon will not be happy.

David Cameron's performance was workmanlike; he asked some pertinent questions, whilst managing to reinforce the image of Labour incompetence. All in all, not a good day for his incapableness.

You can watch today's PMQs by clicking HERE.

Gordon Brown's British jobs for foreign workers.

Frank Field requested a report from the Statistics Commission after the DWP gave him a dodgy estimation on the number of foreign workers in the UK. The report states that 80% of jobs created since 1997 have gone to foreign workers.

The shadow work and pensions secretary, Chris Graylin said:

"This finally destroys any claim the Government has to be able to talk about British jobs for British workers. It also destroys any confidence about the Government's claims on their record on jobs. Gordon Brown's Welfare to Work policies have clearly been an abject failure and all he's done is create British jobs for foreign workers."

Surely we should be running at near zero unemployment according to those figures.

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Throwing Money To The Wind. (The Great Wind Farm Swindle).

This is a post I wrote a while ago, and now seems like a good time to put it back up:

The government has blown (excuse the pun) half a billion pounds subsidising the wind turbine industry. "So what, it's a worthy cause" I hear you say. Well, it turns out that it is anything but worthy and more worryingly, it is a total waste of our tax money. It is alleged that energy companies are receiving subsidies for wind farms that will never make any money, because they have exaggerated the potential of sites with not enough wind.

The government are miles away (or kilometers as our EU friends prefer) from achieving the target of providing 20% of our energy from renewable sources by 2020. Despite blowing (there I go again - sorry) half a billion pounds of our money, the energy companies have failed to provide even 0.5% of our requirements. For a wind farm to be viable it must have a load factor of 30 per cent. But Jim Oswald, an engineering consultant, found that the average across the country was 28 per cent.

Michael Jefferson, policies chairman of the World Renewable Energy Network believes that the subsidies are encouraging energy companies to exaggerate the amount of potential wind energy a farm can supply. Mr Jefferson said: "We should be putting our money where the wind is and that is quite often not where the development pressure is."

In a previous post about nuclear power’s life-cycle emissions it turned out that the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions for nuclear plants are lower than that of wind farms. Now it turns out that on average these farms are not even financially viable.

For God's sake (and ours) let's stop pandering to the green brigade, and get some nuclear power plants built.

Gordon Brown escapes attack on Iraq visit.

According to news sources coming out of Iraq, Gordon Brown escaped several "very determined" attempts on his life during his recent visit to Iraq. It is reported that the Prime Minister came under attack from small arms fire, rockets and mortars. An MOD spokesman said that the PM was extremely lucky to survive such a vicious and sustained assault.

The five former defence chiefs who criticised Gordon Brown over his funding of our Armed Forces, and his appointment of two jobs Browne issued the following statement:

"The fact that Gordon Brown has escaped Iraq unscathed only reinforces our opinion that the weapons issued to British forces fighting in Iraq are not fit for purpose."

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Winning WW2 is not as important as the EU.

I've just been doing some research into union funding (by the government no less), and while I was rooting around the Parliament website, I came across something which I thought was a little strange. Below is a list that details the occasions on which the Union flag is flown from Portcullis House.

20 January
Birthday of the Countess of Wessex

6 February
Her Majesty’s Accession

19 February
Birthday of the Duke of York

10 March
Birthday of the Earl of Wessex

12 March
Commonwealth Day (second Monday in March)

21 April
Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen

23 April
St. George’s Day

9 May
Europe Day

2 June
Coronation Day

10 June
Birthday of The Duke of Edinburgh

16 June
Official Celebration of Her Majesty’s Birthday

17 July
Birthday of The Duchess of Cornwall

15 August
Birthday of the Princess Royal

11 November
Remembrance Day

14 November
Birthday of The Prince of Wales

20 November
Her Majesty’s Wedding Day

When I looked at the list, I thought "that's funny, why have they listed VE Day as Europe Day?"

It turns out that it says Europe day because it is actually Europe day! Apparently May 9th, marks the anniversary of the day in 1950 when the European Union was conceived. French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman gave a speech calling for European countries to combine their coal and steel production under a single European institution, paving the way to our current European Union.

I must say that I am very disappointed that the day someone came up with the idea of the EU is considered more important than the day that marks the end of the Second World War.

The truth about political party donations. (Waendel Journal).

Tony Sharp over at the Waendel Journal has an excellent post which puts a lie to the Labour party's continual whining about Conservative donor Lord Ashcroft. It is also worth noting that Labour are refusing to declare the tax status of their large donors. They've got a bloody cheek.

Mobile phones in prison. Jack Straw pull your finger out.

Why the hell are inmates using mobile phones to conduct criminal activity from the comfort of their bloody cells? According to a written parliamentary answer, over 400 mobile phones have been confiscated each month since October 2006. Security in our prisons is now an absolute joke. What is most depressing is that drug usage and mobile phone crime is now seen as the norm. Most of the drugs and phones apparently come over the prison fence, and there's not a great deal you can do about that. However, there are measures that can be taken to stop them being used once they are on prison grounds.

Brian Caton, the head of the Prison Officers Association (POA) is calling for greater use of mobile phone jammers in prisons. Brian said: "Many prisoners, we know, run criminal activities, serious criminal activities, from inside prisons by the use of mobile phones "I'm very, very afraid that eventually it's going to get beyond that point and prisoners are going to be able to arrange for prison officers and prison staff to be attacked through using mobile phones from inside the cells. "With the exception probably of firearms, explosives and probably drugs, it's probably the worst thing that can happen in a prison is to have mobile phones on sale to prisoners or prisoners having them".

So I've got one simple question: If we have a serious problem with mobile phones in prisons, and the POA are asking for Jamming equipment to cure this problem: then why in the name of all that is holy are Jammers not being fitted with utmost alacrity? I've looked into this and it seems that this technology is not that expensive (if you compare it to vast amounts this government wastes). You can buy a mobile phone Jammer that will block phone signals within a 300 meter radius for about £,2000. I'm sure that the cost to fit Jammers to every prison will be excellent value for money if it cuts crime, and especially if it protects prison officers and their families.

Jack Straw - Pull your bloody finger out.

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Gordon Brown hides from the EU Treaty.

Here we go again, another round of banging our heads against the wall. Next Thursday the EU Treaty will be signed on behalf of Britain. The last sentence should have read: Gordon Brown will sign the EU Treaty on behalf of Britain - but McCavity strikes again. Is it Portugal that he doesn’t like? He’s refused to attend the EU-Africa summit in Portugal, and now he’s bottling out of signing of the EU Treaty. Some say that Brown does not want to be seen as the man who signed the Treaty (bad for the image and all that).

There is however a debate in the House of Commons on Tuesday in which Labour rebels are hoping to maintain the pressure on Gordon Brown to commit to the promised referendum. Pro referendum Labour MP, Ian Davidson said: "We will have a good number of people there to speak against it - in previous debates, we've had the majority of speakers in the Commons, and we could see that again. "Gordon Brown is in a very difficult position on this - he inherited much of the treaty from Tony Blair and now he's saddled with defending it."

Shadow Europe minister Mark Francois, said: "We will use the debate to expose Labour's breach of their solemn election promise to give the British people the final say in a referendum."

It’s important to keep the pressure on Brown to give Britain a referendum. The government will try to get the Treaty ratified in parliament in the New Year - They must be stopped.

Mayday! Mayday! Gordon Brown is getting the sack on Mayday.

Benedict Brogan has an heartwarming piece over at the Daily Mail website. Apparently Gordon Brown has been given until May to get his sh*t in one sock, or he will be taking the high road back to Kirkcaldy (or will that be the low road to Cowdenbeath). Either way, Blairites are giving Gordon five months to avoid a leadership challenge.

Ben writes (in italics):

The results of his first test as Labour leader in next year's London and local elections will decide Mr Brown's future as party leader, they claim. Senior figures have been holding secret talks to decide a response to the drastic turnaround in Mr Brown's fortunes after a disastrous two months. Mr Blair and his allies are understood to be horrified at the way the Government has lost the commanding lead it enjoyed over the Tories at the end of September. One former minister said: "Those who were elected in 1997, 2001 and 2005 have never known Opposition and find the prospect terrifying."

Oh joy of joys, we could be rid of Brown in five short months. Mind you, considering the damage he's done in the last two months, the country could be well and truly goosed by then. But people will say that it would be better for the Tories if the incompetent Brown stays in place. Well that would be true if there was anyone half decent to replace him. Unfortunately for Labour, Brown is the best of a very bad bunch.

You can read the rest of Benedict Brogan's article by clicking HERE.

Gordon Brown passes the Mugabe buck onto Baroness Amos.

I can understand Gordon Brown not wanting to attend the same EU-Africa summit in Lisbon as Mugabe. Mugabe should be arrested the moment his crooked feet touch the Portuguese tarmac. How the hell did he pay for the flight? The pile of Zimbabwean dollars needed to pay for the fuel must have been bigger than the plane.

What I cannot understand is why Brown has stitched up Baroness Amos to take his place. If he's too good to break bread with Mugabe, what makes him think it's OK for the Baroness to do his dirty work? We used to have a saying in the Navy: Never volunteer for anything, I think Gordon Brown has a bit of sailor in him. That's this summit and the EU Treaty signing that he's missing, McCavity has not changed his spots.

CIA Claim interrogation tapes were destroyed for security reasons.

A story from coming out of America today is does not show the CIA in a favourable light. In 2002 the CIA began video recording the interrogation of terror suspects. They only recorded two interrogations, those of Abu Zubaydah and Ramzi Binalshibh. Zubaydah, under harsh questioning, told CIA interrogators about alleged 9/11 accomplice Binalshibh. The CIA started taping the interrogations after President Bush authorised methods such as Waterboarding to extract information. For those who don't know, Waterboarding is used to simulate drowning and some regard it as torture.

Now it seems that those tapes have been destroyed. According to CIA Director Michael Hayden they were destroyed because: "The Agency soon determined that its documentary reporting was full and exacting, removing any need for tapes. Indeed, videotaping stopped in 2002. Also "The tapes posed a serious security risk. Were they ever to leak, they would permit identification of your CIA colleagues who had served in the program, exposing them and their families to retaliation from al Qaeda and its sympathizers."

What do you think?

More HERE.

Police Federation promise to fight Jacqui Smith over pay.

Oh dear, Jackie Smith has really gone and put her foot in it. The Police Federation gave Jacqui the chance to change her mind about not honouring their pay arbitration. She failed to take that chance. If the police were angry when they saw the Home Secretary's plans in a leaked letter to the Chancellor, they are bloody incandescent now it has been officially confirmed. This is the Police Federation's response:

Police Federation pursuing a legal challenge 06.12.07

Following the official announcement this afternoon by the Home Secretary that she will ratify the decision of the Police Arbitration Tribunal, but with effect from 1st December and not 1st September, giving an increase of just 1.9%, Jan Berry, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, says:

"Despite an eleventh hour appeal to the Home Secretary to change her mind on this, she has today confirmed to the 140,000 officers in England and Wales exactly what the government thinks of them. "The way my colleagues are being treated is absolutely disgusting. Compare this to our colleagues in Scotland who have been informed they will receive the full 2.5% backdated to 1st September. We are very pleased for them; unlike the Home Office the Scottish administration has acted with honour and demonstrated they understand the difficulties of modern policing and the restrictions on officers’ lives. "We are not going to take this lying down. If the government want a fight, they have got a fight. We are actively pursuing a legal challenge and have requested an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary who must be held to account for her scandalous decision."

There may be trouble ahead.

Save the planet - Eat a kangaroo (their farts are green).

Skippy could come to the rescue once again. Only this time old Skip could save the entire planet. Scientists have discovered that Kangaroo flatulence does not contain the greenhouse gas Methane. It's all down to the bacteria living in the Kangaroo's stomach, and scientists are trying to find a way to transfer the bacteria to cattle and sheep. Another plus point is that the bacteria is also 15% more efficient at digesting food, which would mean a reduction in feed costs.

It could take several years to develop a method of transferring the bacteria, so in the meantime scientists are recommending eating less beef and lamb in favour of good old Skippy. Peter Ampt of the University of New South Wales's institute of environmental studies said: "It's low in fat, it's got high protein levels it's very clean in the sense that basically it's the ultimate free range animal. "It doesn't get drenched, it doesn't get vaccinated, it utilises food right across the landscape, it moves around to where the food is good, so yes, it's a good food.''

I'll have a leg.

Jacqui Smith wants to extend 28 day detention limit to 42 days.

So much for announcing matters of importance to parliament and not to the media. Jacqui Smith strikes again. In an attempt to push out as much policy as possible to take the media's attention away from Labour's current woes, they have gone back on a promise made only weeks ago. Nick Robinson is one journalist who is not falling for it. Jacqui Smith told the media this morning of her plans to extend the 28 day detention limit to 42 days. Why 42 days? Well some believe that Jacqui is so desperate to raise the limit that she has lowered her previous wish of 56 days in the hope that she will gain support from the Labour back benches.

Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti said:

“The Home Secretary’s abrupt announcement wastes so much goodwill and months of so-called consensus building on national security. There is no evidence to extend beyond what is already the longest period in the Western world. The Government risks alienating backbenchers, opposition parties and Liberty with this political gesture.” Flaws in the anticipated Government proposal to extend pre-charge detention include:

● powers for the Home Secretary to extend pre-charge detention in individual cases beyond 28 days without any evidence of a genuine emergency situation.

● weak Parliamentary oversight as MPs are not allowed to vote when powers are activated.

● inadequate judicial oversight, as the courts will not be able to review the decision to extend pre-charge detention.

You can read the full press release from Liberty by clicking HERE.

It is interesting to note that the police have never needed to go beyond the 28 day limit.