US Presidential Elections: Friday update - 29th Feb.

Well it's been another interesting week (the Chinese kind of interesting for Hillary) on the Democrat election trail. The Obama campaign team have accused Clinton campaign staffers of an attempted smear. Denied of course - perish the thought. Hillary has lost the backing of her prominent black supporter, Democratic Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis. Mr Lewis has switch allegiance to the Obama camp, saying:

"The people are pressing for a new day in American politics and I think they see Senator Barack Obama as a symbol of that change."

Clinton believes that Lewis was pressured into his decision.

Tuesday saw the two senators slugging out in a televised debate from Cleveland. It was too close to call, which in the strange world of politics means it was a win for Barack, seeing as Hillary failed to stop his momentum. There was also a bit of playground politics going on with accusations of "he started it" and "no she did" flying around. From what I've seen in the last week the Clinton team seem to be the ones making the most of negative campaigning. All in all it has not been a good week for Hillary, especially now that Democratic campaign dropout Senator Christopher Dodd has endorsed Barack by saying that he is "ready to be president". I should think Hillary is now more twitchy about next week's (4th March) primaries in Texas and Ohio than Barack.

On the Republican side, John McCain continues to enjoy a comfortable lead over his rivals Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. Media interest in the Republican race has waned due to it being all but won. Polls show that the race will be all over after Texas and Ohio with big wins indicated for McCain in both states. The GOP have got their OAP.

See you next Friday.

A Green message to David Cameron. E-Day.

Being a bit of a man-made climate change sceptic, I had to have a little chuckle over the result of E-Day. E-Day was billed as the UK's first energy saving day. Unfortunately for the organiser Dr Matt Prescott, when the energy consumed during the trial was measured it turned out to be slightly more than the "business-as-usual" projection. This could be blamed on a slight reduction in temperature during the day.

No doubt my little chuckle will enrage environmentalists. However, I also get a little peeved when I'm told by people such as Dr Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, that it's a "moral imperative" to believe in something that I'm very sceptical about. In a way I applaud Dr Prescott for trying to do something about a matter he passionately believes in. I also have no problem with the way he's gone about achieving his goals. The Doctor called on people to use freedom of choice to take action - and that, I'm all for. What I'm against is compulsion to pay green taxes.

The level of media attention for E-Day and the low level of public participation should send a message to our political leaders: whilst initiatives such as Dr Prescott's should be encouraged (they cost nothing, but could achieve a great deal), compulsion will only turn public opinion away from similar schemes. I'm a sceptic, but I'm willing to concede that I could be wrong. For that reason I do try to use as little power as possible. But I do this because it has no financial impact upon my family. There are many ways that our politicians could reduce CO2 emissions without taxing us all into poverty. Here's one stupid idea, that if they had the sense to scrap, could drastically reduce our CO2 output.

Prince Harry on the front line - Afghanistan.

It appears that Prince Harry has been fighting the Taliban on the front line in Afghanistan. Good on him! I know he was desperately disappointed to miss out in Iraq. Iraq unfortunately would not have been safe for him or his men. I hope the media coverage of this story does not spoil this for the prince. Good man.

UPDATE: It's a shame that Harry has been withdrawn from operational service in Afghanistan following the media breaking the story. From the videos I've seen he looks to be a competent young man, more than willing to serve his country. The media in the UK should be congratulated for keeping his deployment secret, the foreign media outlets who released the story should not. Lives could be lost for the sake of a sensational headline. Jon Snow - tit.

Hookie over at the Final Redoubt has some videos of Harry's service in Afghanistan.

Lisbon Treaty - I would leave the Lib Dems.

I've had enough of Nick Clegg and his deceitful policy on the Lisbon Treaty. It's policy designed to dodge the real question. The problem is that granting a referendum on the treaty should be the most important aim in politics today. Some Lib Dem bloggers understand this and so do many Lib Dem members. The farce of an "in or out" vote, and the pantomime we saw in the house on Tuesday should turn their stomachs. Very few people in this country want an "in or out " vote, but the majority do want a vote on the Lisbon Treaty. Nick Clegg and his front bench know this, and yet they still insist on putting up this smokescreen.

Many of those who oppose a referendum love to tell us that the public aren't interested. I assure you they will be if they don't get one. What Clegg and Brown must understand is this: there are many members of their respective parties who do understand the situation and do care passionately about the public's democratic right to have their promised referendum. The Lisbon Treaty comes in at number one on my list of political priorities and I'm sure that is the case for the vast majority of those who take an interest. The general public may not be paying much attention at the moment, but party members and those who are most likely to drag their backsides to a polling booth, are.

If David Cameron and the Conservative party were not supporting a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, I would be lost politically. I could not support a party that did not honour one of the most important manifesto promises made by all parties in the last 20 years. I could not support a party that denied me my democratic right to vote, purely because I would vote in opposition to their aims. If I were a Lib Dem I would be making it very clear to Nick Clegg that membership card would be fed into the shredder unless he honoured the party manifesto.

Nick Clegg - Shit or get off the pot.

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Labour gimmick number twenty seven. Drugs.

You've got to admire our Labour government for their endless stream of headline grabbing gimmick policies. The latest is to cut the benefits of persistent drug users. I'm no expert but I think I can spot a couple of flaws in the idea. For a start the major problem associated with drugs is the amount of crime committed to get the necessary funds to buy them. How the hell will cutting benefits improve this problem? Surely if a drug user has less money in their pocket then they are going to have to commit more crime to get their fix. The cost of drug-related crime in England and Wales is estimated at more than £13bn. About one in five people arrested is a heroin addict.

Another problem could be deciding at what point you cut benefits and then deciding when to restore them. The government are claiming that drug use is at an all time low. I don't know where they are getting these figures from, or what drugs they are including in them. The UK now has the highest number of Heroin users in Europe and the second highest number of cocaine snorters. I feel a little bit of creative maths has been employed by the Labour spin machine - again. Addiction rates in the UK are double those in France, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. There has been a 111% rise in the number of people jailed for all drug-related offences between 1994 and 2005.

And as for the classic policy of seizing assets of suspected drug pushers without charge? They are having a bubble - surely it's against their human rights, and as we all know, criminals in the UK have more human rights than the rest of us. Instead of coming out with yet more gimmicks, the government should concentrate on the reason why only 3% of those going on the 12 week rehabilitation course come off clean.

Climate Change Part 22 (daytime running lamps).

The next time Gordon Brown spouts his usual rubbish about how signing the Lisbon Treaty will enable the EU to reduce climate change, remember this:

From Hansard written answers:

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate her Department has made of the likely increase in annual fuel consumption resulting from the requirement to have daytime running lamps on motor vehicles.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Research undertaken for the Department for Transport indicated that the requirement for new types of motor vehicle to be equipped with dedicated daytime running lamps would result in an increase of about 5 per cent. in fuel consumption.

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2008, Official Report, on motor vehicles: safety, what provisions have been agreed with her EU counterparts on the exemption of vehicles registered for road use before the commencement of the relevant European directive from the mandatory use of daytime running lights or their equivalent.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Following EU decisions on daytime running lights (DRL) issues, a European Directive will require new vehicle types to be equipped with dedicated DRLs from early 2011 (cars, vans) and summer 2012 (other vehicles). Vehicles registered before these dates will not be required to be retro-fitted with DRLs or to use existing lights as an equivalent.

Luckily this only applies to new vehicles registered from 2011 onwards. However, we have 32,897,000 vehicles registered for use on UK roads including cars, vans, taxis, buses and trucks, and each year we are seeing approximately 5 million new vehicles registered (and growing) to use our roads. So this EU policy of fitting daytime running lamps to all new vehicles will see an increase in fuel consumption (5% of 5 million) the equivalent of adding a further 250,000 cars to our roads. This is of course the low end figure, and is for the UK only. I dread to think what the total number of additional vehicles would be for the entire EU.

This is the problem with the EU, one hand passes regulation for one reason, without realising that it conflicts with what the other hand is trying to achieve. If the Lisbon Treaty is ratified we can only expect more of these ridiculous rules to come our way.

ComRes poll gives Conservatives a majority of 38.

A ComRes poll carried out on behalf of the Independent puts the Conservatives 11 points clear of Labour - equating to a majority of 38 for David Cameron's team. The Conservatives are on 41 per cent, Labour are on 30 and the Lib Dems remain on 17 per cent. The really bad news for Gordon Brown is the fact that the Conservatives now lead Labour in every region apart from Scotland.

UPDATE: A breakdown of the poll by region can be viewed by clicking HERE (Table 3)

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Is Hillary Clinton getting desperate?

Barack Obama's campaign manager is claiming that pictures of the senator wearing a robe and turban were circulated by Clinton staffers as a smear. Hillary's campaign manager dismissed the accusation of a smear, but did not deny claims that staffers circulated the photo.

Clinton must win in Ohio and Texas next week to stop Barack. I know it's close but are the Clinton camp really that desperate?

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Lisbon Treaty - Is Nick Clegg making a massive mistake.

I thought the morally bankrupt Lib Dem idea of dodging the Lisbon Treaty referendum question was dead. Their original call for a referendum on membership of the EU (in or out) rather than one on the Treaty was seen universally as fence sitting in its lowest form. However Nick Clegg seems to resurrected this pathetic policy - why? I don't know. Perhaps it's just to grab the headlines, or maybe it's an attempt to muddy the waters of the real debate. The Lib Dems are expected to table a House of Commons motion on Tuesday demanding a public vote on whether Britain stays in the EU. As William Hague points out:

"This is an attempt to paper over the Lib Dems' widening split on a referendum on the renamed EU Constitution. "But the key question remains whether the Liberal Democrats will honour their manifesto promise. The Lisbon Treaty is in substance, nearly identical to, the EU Constitution. "That is what the Lib Dems promised their voters a referendum on. They did not mention an in-out referendum to voters - they have no mandate for one."

I doubt very much that this Lib Dem smokescreen will be agreed to by the House of Commons. And you can bet your house on Clegg counting on that. The motion will fail and Clegg will claim that the Lib Dems backed giving the public a vote whilst the other parties refused. Clegg knows that the majority of the public, both left and right, want to stay in the EU (according to the polls). He believes that if his pathetic motion does by some wild chance get passed and the public do get a referendum on our membership of the EU, we will vote to stay in.

I'm not so sure. The polls say that the majority of the people want to stay in the EU. The polls also say that the people would reject the Lisbon Treaty if given the chance. What the polls do not tell us is this: How the people would vote on membership of the EU if they were refused a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. I'm for staying in the EU as it stands now. However, if we are not allowed a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, I would vote "out" if given a referendum on our membership of the EU. It would be a protest vote. Some would call this petty, but I would call it grasping at the only shred of democracy left to me.

So I hope Clegg gets his "in or out" referendum, because he could get more than he bargained for.

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England - France - off to the pub!!!

Off to the pub to watch the rugby. Come on England!

Police Federation respond to Labour gimmick number 25.

No 25 on the list of Labour gimmicks:

Responding to the launch today of the Government’s plan to tackle violent action, Jan Berry, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, says:

“Police officers remain dedicated to tackling violent crime and violent offenders, but I fear that much of today’s announcement is nothing more than sticking plaster solutions that do nothing to actually address the root of the problem, and the growing lawlessness and loutish behaviour we are experiencing on the streets.

“We welcome the presumption to prosecute those who are found carrying a knife, and agree there needs to be tougher sentences to deter anyone from considering such action. This is certainly better than the option being considered by the government just a year ago which would have seen those carrying knives merely getting a fixed penalty notice and not the possibility of a custodial sentence. We also congratulate Sarah Payne for her persistence to ensure changes to the law to protect families from those who prey on young children. This seems a measured and sensible way forward to ensure public safety without the fear of vigilantism.

“But actions speak louder than words. If the government really want to make a difference and free police officers to tackle the most serious offences and offenders then the Home Secretary should change Public Service Agreement 24, thereby removing the Offenders Brought To Justice (OBTJ) targets, or sanction detections as they are better known. It is these targets that result in the arrests police officers are compelled to make merely to satisfy national diktats, not what the public actually want.

“In the same vain, the government should also restrict the use of Penalty Notices for Disorder to the most minor offences. We are encouraged to issue them for a range of crimes including theft, criminal damage and public order offences, and the reality is they don’t deter crime and half of them are never paid. It’s high time we were allowed to get back to some common sense policing, using our discretion, and putting these persistent offenders before the courts. Otherwise they are just laughing in the face of the law and feel confident to go on to bigger and more serious criminal activity.”

Mass defection from Labour to the Conservatives

According to a report in the Derby Telegraph approximately 300 Labour members in the Derby city area are to defect to the Conservative party tonight. Conservative party chairman Caroline Spellman is believed to be visiting the city to welcome them.

Jasvinder Rai, 37, of Littleover, has supported Labour all his adult life and will be leaving Labour to join the Conservative ranks. He said:

"In Labour, I felt it was undemocratic and when the leadership said jump, we were expected to say 'How high?'."I supported Labour because it ran in the family, my grandfather was a supporter and so was my dad, so I followed suit."When I actually sat down and looked at Labour's policies, I don't agree with their stance on issues like immigration, crime and university fees but I look at Conservative policies and see they match up with my views better."

The defection follows anger within the Asian community about the de-selection of Sinfin councillor Hardial Dhamrait. Asian community leaders also say they are disillusioned with Labour policies and are no longer prepared to offer the party the unquestioning support it has traditionally received from their fathers and grandfathers.

Full story HERE.

Labour's trips to Auschwitz are a gimmick - Full stop.

Let me start by saying that I wouldn't be a member of a party that did not take the dreadful horrors of our history seriously. Today CCHQ sent briefing notes to the MSM on a speech by David Cameron - attached to the notes were a list of Labour gimmicks. Number four on that list was "Trips to Auschwitz". This as caused a PC storm of hand wringing disapproval (unsurprisingly from the government). They are asking with faux outrage: "How can the Tories put the words gimmick and Auschwitz in the same sentence?" I'll tell you how - the bloody government promised to send those kids on these very important trips, what they didn't mention was that the schools involved would have to stump up almost a third of the cost.

Sending kids to Auschwitz is not a gimmick, making out that you are performing a grand gesture whilst having no intention of fully funding it, is. If Labour had fully funded the school trips to Auschwitz, those trips would not have appeared on the following list of Labour gimmicks:

1. Community kitty for every neighbourhood
2. Funding for flooding
3. Honours for sportsmen
4. Trips to Auschwitz
5. New Border Police
6. Reversing 24-hour drinking policy
7. Police to confiscate alcohol from teens
8. Titan prisons
9. Prison ships
10. Engaging the public in policy making
11. 1,300 new train carriages
12. Protecting Public Spaces against terrorist attacks
13. British jobs for British workers
14. Deep Cleaning of hospitals
15. NHS constitution
16. Screening tests: cervical cancer
17. Screening tests: C.difficile
18. 1,000 troops home before Christmas
19. Deportation of foreign nationals
20. Inheritance Tax
21. Tenants forced to work
22. Five hours of culture a week
23. Netball to be introduced for the 2012 Olympics
24. Migrant Charges
25. Knife Scanners
26. Petition plans.

And please do not forget to read the rest of the list.

US Presidential Elections: Friday update - 22 Feb.

Click HERE for the latest update.

The latest news from the Democrat race is Obama's victory among Democrats living abroad (66% of the vote) delivering his 11th straight win over Clinton. Hillary doesn't like losing, and she's not taking it gracefully. Clinton has accused Barack of "change you can Xerox" following accusations that he plagiarised a speech given by one of his supporters, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (See video). Hillary quipped: "If your candidacy is going to be about words, then it should be your own words." Barack quite smartly decided not to trade insults and took the moral high ground saying: "What we shouldn't be doing is tearing each other down, we should be lifting the country up" (Someone please pass me the LARGE sick bucket).

The democratic senators are now campaigning in Texas and Ohio, which together have a total of 334 delegates up for grabs. The Clinton camp see these primaries (4th March) as "must wins" if she is to claw back the lead from the runaway Obama campaign train. Barack now leads Hillary by 1,391 delegates to 1,250, though both are still way short of the 2,025 required to ensure victory.

On the republican side things are not going smoothly for poor old Senator John McCain. McCain has been accused by the New York Times of having an inappropriate relationship with a female lobbyist (Vicki Iseman) in 2000. The Senator said:

"I'm very disappointed in the article. It's not true... At no time have I ever done anything that would betray the public trust or make a decision which in any way would not be in the public interest and would favor any one or any organization"

Of course this isn't going to have any bearing on the outcome of the republican contest. McCain is the outright leader with more than 600 more delegates under his belt than his nearest rival Huckabee (273 more delegates ensures a win). However, this kind of mud has been known to stick and it could reduce his chances of defeating the democrat candidate in the latter stages.

See you next Friday.

DNA Database - Some disturbing facts.

I was browsing through yesterday's Hansard written answers and came across a question about our DNA database:

Mr. Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how long the Government retains the DNA records of individuals who are not found guilty of committing an offence.

Meg Hillier: Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984, the police have the power to take and retain DNA from anyone arrested for a recordable offence and detained in a police station. PACE does not set a limit on retention. Instead, the police follow retention guidelines issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), which state that records will normally be retained for 100 years from the person’s date of birth, regardless of whether they are still alive.

So for the vast majority of innocent people their DNA will be kept on record for life. I take it that the ACPO don't see those over 100 years old as a risk. Did you know that one in ten of the adult population of England and Wales are now on the DNA database? There are approximately 43m adults and there are 4,523,154 on the DNA database.

Now, this is a little strange seeing as only 3,903,482 individuals have had DNA samples taken. The reason for this massive 13.7% discrepancy? Well it seems that one reason for this is that the person being arrested gave different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests. Now this looks to me as if the police have taken DNA samples from people without bothering to find out their true identity - or once they have found out their true identity the arresting officer has failed to update the DNA database. Meaning there are 619,672 individuals on the DNA database that do not exist.

EU states have agreed to incorporate into EU Law, a system which will allow its members to view DNA, fingerprint and car registration data of criminal suspects. There is one glaring problem with this system: There are over one million British citizens on that DNA database who have never been convicted of any crime. This system was incorporated into EU law without any consultation of our Parliament or the European Parliament. Do you remember giving your consent to share our country’s confidential data with foreign Governments? No, I didn’t think you would.

From the Daily Mail, May 07:

In the past 12 months, the samples of 81,000 children convicted of no crime have been added to the database, which can be checked against any crime scene. It takes the total to 105,000. Since April 2004, anyone aged ten or above who is arrested in England or Wales can have their DNA and fingerprints taken without their consent, or that of their parents.

Around 80,000 innocent children are likely to be added to the database every 12 months, as that is the average number of children arrested for the first time each year but never convicted. Parents can appeal to have their child's DNA removed but this is at the discretion of chief constables.

Police say those who have had their DNA taken include two schoolgirls charged with criminal damage after drawing chalk on a pavement and a child in Kent who removed a slice of cucumber from a tuna mayonnaise sandwich and threw it at another youngster.

I'm not against the DNA Database, I'm just against the way it is being abused by the police and the government. No innocent should be on the database.

Taking the day off blogging.

I really wanted to blog today, but I've just got home from work and I'm knackered. Normal service will resume tomorrow.

Cheers Steve

Is there something in the offing? Labour Troll alert.

Just a quick one. Go to Iain Dales blog and go to Consevativehome and look for posts about Gordon Brown or Labour published in the last few days. Look in the comments and you will find more labour trolls than conservative visitors. Look for the disinformation. These are clever trolls. These aren't your common all garden variety. These look like pros. They use names but not google names. They big up conservative MPs, at the cost of others. Example: George Osborne seems to be getting a slating and John Redwood is being touted as his replacement by groups of anonymous posters. This seems to be organised and centrally controlled. What's the answer?

Is there something big in the offing, or are they just trying to save a dead party by wrecking the Conservatives?

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Minette Marrin - You won’t stop violent children now, minister.

I read an excellent article from Minette Marrin on Sunday and I forgot to post a link to it. Minette's story covers something that troubles a growing number of the population - violent children:

For all the billions of pounds thrown by Labour at poverty and education, there is now a critical mass of savage, unsocialised boys and girls who make life dangerous and miserable for themselves and others.

To read the article in full click HERE.

Jack Straw's bug inquiry is late, are you surprised?

The report into the bugging of Labour MP Sadiq Khan and his constituent - terror suspect Babar Ahmad, is late. Chief Surveillance Commissioner Sir Christopher Rose was to carry out an investigation and he hoped to report his findings to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Justice Secretary within two weeks of the 4th of February. Jack Straw told the House:

The chief surveillance commissioner, Sir Christopher Rose, has agreed to conduct an inquiry with the following terms of reference:

To investigate the circumstances relating to the visits to Babar Ahmad at HMP Woodhill by Sadiq Khan MP in May 2005 and June 2006, to establish whether the visits were subject to any form of surveillance and if so by whose authority and with whose knowledge, and to report his findings to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and to me as “the Justice Secretary.

The inquiry will of its nature be fact-finding. Sir Christopher has told me that his aim is to conduct the inquiry as quickly as possible, but consistent with the thoroughness required. He says that he will do his best to complete his task within two weeks. A further statement will be made to the House once we have received and have been able to consider his findings.

Two weeks have passed and there's no sign of the report. Obviously it's possible that Sir Christopher may need more time. However it's also possible that the report is complete and Jack, Jacqui and Gordon are waiting for a suitable hole to bury it in. A hole just like the Northern Rock hole that the draft WMD dossier was dropped into, days before it was officially due to be released. Or am I just being cynical?

Iain Dale's vote of No Confidence in Gordon Brown.

Iain Dale is urging David Cameron to Table a No Confidence Vote in Gordon Brown. There are quite a few arguing for and against such action in Iain's comment section. I'm going with Iain 100% by saying that there is a damn good reason that now is the time. Forget Northern Rock, forget dodgy donations, forget lost personal data, forget I.D Cards, forget the Lisbon treaty, forget that Labour are behind in polls and forget that those same polls show the public have lost confidence in the Brown/Darling partnership to run the economy. In my opinion the outstanding reason for Cameron to table a No Confidence Vote is: question dodging.

I know all politicians dodge questions. They dodge questions about how things have gone wrong or things the have failed to do. What a politician should never have to do is dodge a question about his or her party's own policy. On that, a politician should be able to give honest answers to honest questions. A politician should feel comfortable defending their party's stance on the important issues. This Labour government can no longer do that. Even Gordon Brown is so ashamed of his policies that he cannot defend them in PMQs. When did Brown last give a straight answer to a question put to him in Prime Minister's questions? A couple of recent examples are: Cameron "Are you going to scrap the stop and search form?" Brown "Waffle" Cameron "Are you going to scrap A Levels?" Brown "Waffle".

And it's not just Brown, all his ministers are having to take the same course of action: David Dimbleby to Andy Burnham "What is your opinion of Caroline flint's policy to evict the long term unemployed from social housing?" Burnham "Waffle". You see the problem is that Labour are ashamed of their policies. They dare not repeat them in front of a camera or to a journalist because they know that they would be unpopular with the public.

If you don't believe in your own policies (or you are ashamed of them) but force them on the public anyway, then you are morally corrupt and totally unfit to be running this country. Go for it David.

Why do we so readily accept the unacceptable? Ambulances.

Patients are left waiting in ambulances for hours. I'm sure that in years gone bye, the shocking news that patients are being left waiting in ambulances so that NHS Trusts can hit government targets would have caused an outcry. However, we have become so accustomed to this kind of pathetic mismanagement of our services that this story will be forgotten by tomorrow.

An estimated 60,000 patients have had to wait at least an hour before being allowed through hospital doors. Of course the main cause of this is the fact that more people are going to A&E because thanks to another government cock-up: getting a GP to see you at home is almost impossible.

The government have replied to these claims in their usual fashion: spin and lies. They say that these figures are incorrect and that 60,000 aren’t all that many anyway. So who's lying? The doctors, ambulance crews and the ambulance union, or the government?

I know who my money would be on.

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Hospital Parking: Scotland takes another dig at Gordon Brown.

Do you think they are doing on purpose? It seems that every one of those annoyances we have to put up with in England is being dealt with in Scotland. This time it's Hospital parking fees. Scotland's Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has announced that anyone visiting any hospital in will pay a maximum of £3 for the day. Is Alex Salmond doing it to wind up Gordon Brown? Is he intentionally making Gordon look bad? If he is, he's doing a good job of it. The list of wind-ups is growing longer: Tuition fees, Police pay, nurses pay, School meals, life saving drugs, toll roads and many many more.

I'm pro- English Parliament, but I don't hold what Alex Salmond is doing for his people against him, or Scotland. It's not Alex's fault that he is able to provide the Scottish with services we are denied in England.

That's down to Gordon Brown.

Update: It's funny, when I wrote this post this morning it was with this kind of response from Gordon Brown in mind: Click HERE

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Is Alistair Darling a Labour Cabinet Liability?

A YouGov poll for the Times indicates that 44% of respondents believe Alistair Darling should be replaced as chancellor (Only 27% think he should stay). They blame his clumsy handling of the Northern Rock banking crisis and bad news on the economy. The same poll puts Cameron and Osborne 6 points ahead of Brown and Darling when asked which team they trusted most to run the economy.

The Conservatives are on 41%, Labour on 32% and the Lib Dems 16%.

Lisbon Treaty Referendum - 319 is the magic number.

I've been crunching the numbers to see how many Labour and Lib Dem rebels are required to win the vote for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Of the 646 seats in the house, a maximum of 637 are likely vote on the referendum (the Speaker and his deputies [4] don't normally vote, and Sinn Fein [5] don't have a vote). The only way to work this out without it getting over complicated is to assume all 637 will vote YES or NO. I'm going to divide the MPs into YES (in favour of a referendum) or NO (against a referendum) camps. I will add the known Conservative rebels [3] to the NO camp because it's almost certain that they will vote against a referendum. Everyone else will be assigned as per their party policy:

YES Camp total 212.

Democratic Unionist 9
Independent 2
Scottish National 6
Plaid Cymru 3
Conservative 190
Independent Conservative 2

NO Camp total 425.

Labour 352
Liberal Democrat 63
Independent Labour 1
Independent 1
Conservative 3
Social Democratic & Labour Party 3
Respect 1
Ulster Unionist 1

You can see that the NO camp has a majority of 213. Doesn't look good does it? This means that to win the referendum vote 107 MPs are required to rebel against their parties - the magic number being 319 votes to guarantee a win for the YES Camp.

In reality not all MPs will vote. Some will abstain (Labour and Lib Dem), especially those who are worried about losing their seats in the next election (they will be able to claim that they did not vote against a referendum). That being the likely case, then the number of rebels required will come down. I think a rough estimate would be that 90 to 95 rebels are required.

The question is: How many rebels are there? We know that there are quite a few likely to rebel on the Labour back benches, but what about the Lib Dems? There will be some, but Clegg is putting pressure on them to obey the Whip.

Can it be done? Does anyone out there have any idea of the rough number of Labour and Lib Dem rebels?

Lib Dem David Heath still faces a mock referendum.

I was very pleased to read that Lib Dem David Heath will be defying the party whip by voting for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. It's a very brave decision and he could face disciplinary action for his heroic stance.

However there is one little problem: David's constituency of Somerton and Frome has been targeted for a mock referendum by the "I want a Referendum" campaign. A campaign which I fully support. Obviously David's recent announcement to vote for a referendum has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works. David is asking why he has been targeted for a mock referendum given his stance. The Norfolk Blogger (Nich Starling) is asking if the campaign is just a Tory front seeing as it is still holding a mock referendum in David's constituency despite him being in favour of a national referendum.

Being a Conservative I found Nich's post a little disturbing. I do not want this campaign to be used as, or seen to be, a Tory front. So I called the people at "I want a referendum" for an explanation. It seems that they have been trying (and failing) to get an answer out of David for a while. They say that until the last couple of days his position has not been clear and they had still not heard from David. I asked if they would cancel the mock referendum in his constituency if he could guarantee his position. They said that it was too late as the ballot papers had already been sent out. But they did assure me that they would very publicly make it be known, both nationally and in David's constituency that he had supported and voted for the referendum.

This brings up some questions:

If David had made is position clear to the "I want a referendum" campaign from the beginning, would they have cancelled the mock referendum in his constituency? - I would like to think so (but being a Tory I would, wouldn't I).

The other question that needs to be asked is this: If David Heath has only very recently announced his decision to vote in favour of a referendum, then is this due to the success of the "I want a referendum" campaign targeting his constituency? - I will give David the benefit of the doubt and believe that he is acting on his conscience - not the fear of losing his seat.

US Presidential Elections: Friday update - 15th Feb.

Click HERE for the latest update.

One of the most significant outcomes of Super Tuesday was the news of Mitt Romney's decision to suspend his campaign for the Republican candidacy. Mitt only managed to win 280 delegates, meaning he had no real chance of catching John McCain who now has 843 delegates under his belt. However, there are still questions as to whether McCain can win enough Conservative support to be able to provide a serious challenge the Democrat's candidate. He did receive a boost yesterday when Romney endorsed McCain saying:

"Even when the contest was close and our disagreements were debated, the calibre of the man was apparent. This is a man capable of leading our country at a dangerous hour."

Mike Huckabee has managed to win in eight states to date, giving him a total of 280 delegates. While it's not a mathematical impossibility for Mike to win, it would need nothing short of a minor miracle to see him stand against Clinton or Obama. The only other Republican left in the race - Ron Paul, has only managed to secure 14 delegates after failing to win in any of the states so far.

On the Democrat side, Clinton and Obama are still neck and neck, with Barack leading by only a short nose - 1,275 delegates to Hillary's 1,220. Obama has the momentum following eight victories in a row, including wins in Tuesday's primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The race now moves on to the next set of primaries to be held in Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont on the 4th of March. Clinton will need a good result from those primaries to put the brakes on Obama's campaign, and from what the polls are indicating, she may do just that.

See you next Friday.

Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) Jobs are to be cut by the MOD.

Let me ask you a question: Suppose you are responsible for the protection of the United Kingdom from all aggressors. With that threat ever increasing, would you:

a) Increase Intelligence funding and staffing levels to meet this increased threat.

b) Implement the recommendations made in the Butler Review to improve the way our intelligence community operates.

or

c) Slash 121 posts from the Defence Intelligence Staff (The DIS analyses information from GCHQ, MI6 and the MoD).

I suspect that anyone of reasonable intelligence would have gone for answers a) or b) or both. Can you guess which option the MOD are going for? That's right..... c).

There is pattern emerging here. When we have an increase in childbirth rates, what do our great labour government do? They reduce the number of midwives and close down maternity wards. When violent crime is on the increase, what do the government do? They reduce the number of Police Constables and replace them with civilians in police uniform with no actual powers. When we are engaged in a level of armed conflict unseen for 40 years, what do the government do? They reduce manning levels of our armed forces and fail to provide the required level of funding to keep them safe. There are more examples of this kind of gross negligence - feel free to add to them in the comments section.

And now they want to cut back on our intelligence analysts? Priceless....

Those MPs who are about to vote for a referendum - we salute you.

The time draws near to a vote in the house on the public's right to have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Today we hear of Lib Dem Frontbenchers who are willing to support democracy by voting in favour. David Heath, the justice spokesman and Nick Harvey, the defence spokesman are in favour of a public vote, either by voting for a referendum or by abstaining. However the party machine is getting tough on rebels and has announced that: "Frontbenchers will be expected to follow the party line."

If these brave Lib Dem rebels can hold true to their manifesto promise and their constituents, then just possibly LibDem Backbenchers will ignore the whip and vote with their consciences. This is a turning point in British Democracy. If we fail to get a referendum then this will give a green light to the political class telling them that they can do anything they damn well please and sod the little people (that's you and me bye the way).

It would be preferable if those rebel MPs - both Labour and Lib Dem were to vote in favour of a referendum rather than just abstain. This would give us a chance to win a referendum for the people and beat Labour's majority. While I value those who abstain, it could be seen as a bit of a cop-out and a way for those in marginal seats to hang on to their jobs without actually voting. It's certain that some MPs will lose their seats over this if we don't get a referendum, but those who abstain could say that they didn't vote against a referendum.

I call on all MPs to do their jobs, vote with their consciences and represent their constituents' wishes (These should all be the same thing).

Don't miss Question time tonight - Caroline Flint

Don't miss Question time tonight, Caroline (If looks could kill) Flint is on and she is always good for a laugh. It's worth watching to see if she can reply to a single question with a straight answer (unlike all the other Labour MPs). I guarantee she will lose her temper, and even better - Clive James will drag her over the coals in his usual sarcastic manner. I can't wait. In the meantime I'm having a Chinese delivered and I'm trying out Chicken Kung Po for the first time. You can't call me unadventurous.

Test blog new toy, Bluetooth Keyboard.

This is just a quick post to test my new toy. I use my Blackberry for blogging when away from my computer. However the keys are a little small to type at a decent rate. Today my new toy arrived to get over this problem. I'm typing this post on my new Bluetooth keyboard. In short, it is excellent. If you have a Blackberry, get one.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Miliband call for democracy - The cheeky sod.

I could not believe today's BBC headline: Miliband urges push for democracy. Surely someone is extracting the urine. How the hell can a man (term used loosely) who is denying the British public a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty dare to even mention the bloody word democracy? His government promised a referendum and the people want a referendum. The only problem for Miliband and his band of self serving mates, is that if the public were to be given a vote, they would in his opinion, vote the wrong way. So his boss Gordon Brown is simply not going to risk it.

This is going to be the start of the end of democracy in this country. This Labour government have just confirmed that they can in fact totally ignore the wishes of the people and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it. To add insult to injury, they are set to back Tony Blair's bid to become the EU President - Tony bloody Blair, the same man they forced out of office, the same man they didn't think was still fit to run this country, the man they now think is good enough to lead Europe in its entirety. What a bunch of two faced, double dealing, Stalinist shits.

How can this fool talk about promoting democracy abroad, when he and the rest of our government deny US democracy? There will be trouble ahead. Labour will push the people too far.

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Mr Rude causes Anglo-French relations to decline.

And you thought we had problems with Russia? It looks like our relations with France are going to become a little chilly over the very undiplomatic cartoon character Mr Rude. Mr Rude will appear in the new Mr Men series. His party piece is to get children to pull his finger, obviously he then farts. The problem for our friends across the channel is that Mr Rude has a French accent.

A French Embassy official said: “it is obviously meant in a light-hearted way, but it won’t improve Anglo-French relations”.

Celebrating Valentine's Day is a sin in Saudi Arabia.

Apparently religious police visited florist shops in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to warn them against selling any romantic gifts for Valentine’s Day because it was regarded as un-Islamic. One florist in the Saudi capital said: “Sometimes we deliver the bouquets in the middle of the night or early morning, to avoid suspicion.” Shops have removed all red items on display to avoid breaking the ban.

One of the nation’s leading Islamic scholars, Sheikh Khaled Al-Dossari, said anyone celebrating the day would be committing a sin: “As Muslims we shouldn't celebrate a non-Muslim celebration - especially this one that encourages immoral relations between unmarried men and women.”

Do you think I could use the "It's a sin" excuse if I forget to get my wife a gift?

Climate change part 22: Turning off street lights.

A nearby council (Romsey) has come up with the fantastic idea of turning off the street lights after midnight to save the planet from global warming. The cretin of a councillor who came up with stupidity claims that if the lights are not being used - then why have them on? Let's put it this way: It took years and a whole lot of money to get those lights fitted. They were fitted for road and personal safety.

When will this idiot of a councillor realise that he is talking out of his backside? How many car accidents, rapes and assaults will it take to end this stupid trial? Were the residents asked about this? - I doubt it. Just like our government, local councils think they can do anything they like and sod the people who are paying their wages.

If I was a resident of Romsey I would be demanding the lights to be left on. After all, they are paying for them.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

I want a referendum - What do you want?

I WANT A REFERENDUM

I WANT A REFERENDUM

I WANT A REFERENDUM

I WANT A REFERENDUM

I WANT A REFERENDUM

What do you want?

Chris Grayling on the Jeremy Kyle show culture. (Rant).

Let me start by saying: God I hate that bloody program. If I had my way, it, and all programs like it would be immediately axed and all video of past episodes destroyed. The program professes to help people with their problems. The truth is that it's nothing but a bloody freak show. I can't watch it for more than five minutes without wanting to go vigilante with a twelve bore (after putting my boot through my TV). If half of the guests were to walk off stage and fall into a pit of crocodiles, the gene pool would be a hell of a lot cleaner.

The producers and good old Jeremy must know what they are doing. The more disgusting and ignorant the guest the more half brained scum watching it are likely to enjoy the show. It's nothing but a sodding blood sport. This is all going out on daytime TV, when young mums are sat on the arses watching it with their young children. The show is bleeped but it's more than obvious what these lovely role models are screaming at each other. Is this really how we want our children to behave? Is this really the example we should be setting? They bleep out the swearing, and most of the time it's like listening to bleedin' Morse code. If I had my way the watershed would be moved to 10pm and any show that requires bleeping would not be shown before that time.

Chris Grayling was right when he called for more positive male role models to combat the "Jeremy Kyle generation" of young men ill-equipped for adult life. We are breeding a generation of ignorant scumbags who are nothing but a blight on society and a waste of good oxygen.

Update: Before anyone accuses me of being a bleeding heart liberal of a delicate disposition - I was an engineer in the Navy for 16 years and I can swear with the best of them. However there is a time and a place for it. I just want to put a stop to the nation's scum being paraded across our screens. Children learn by example, and this kind of crap should not be on at a time when they can view it.

William Hill - 10/1 on Conservative - Lib Dem Coalition

The following is a press release from William Hill:

LIB DEMS 10/1 TO TEAM UP IN COALITION GOVT WITH TORIES

With Nick Clegg indicating that the Lib Dems might be prepared to work with the Tories in the event of a Hung Parliament situation at the next General Election, William Hill offer 10/1 that the two Parties will join together in a coalition government. 'Many punters and pundits have been betting on a Hung Parliament resulting from the next General Election, and now we are starting to see money for what may occur if that happens' said William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe.
Hills make the Conservatives 8/13 favourites to be the largest single Party at the next Election with Labour 6/5 and the Lib Dems 80/1. It is 6/4 a Hung Parliament.

CLARKE TO OUST BROWN?

William Hill have cut the odds about Charles Clarke being the next Leader of the Labour Party from 50/1 to 25/1 following his public criticism of Gordon Brown.

Gordon Brown will not find either of the above quoted odds to be good news. Is the momentum gathering on a move away from Labour - particularly Brown?

The Sixty Fourth Magical Mystery Blog Tour Bus Leaves in 5 Minutes!

Got some time to kill but don't know where to go?

Why don't you climb aboard the Magical Mystery Blog Tour Bus. There are still a few places left.

Click on STOP 1 and the Bus will take you to your first Mystery Blog location.

To get back on the Bus just click the Back Button and click STOP 2 to continue the Tour. I think you can work the rest out.

The Bus rolls out on Sundays and Wednesdays - enjoy the ride.

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