Kemi Badenoch Wins Tory Leadership Contest
4 hours ago
I am not a sheep, I have my own mind
I have had enough of being told what and how to think
Whilst we are still allowed the remnants of free speech,
I will speak out.
I also reserve the right to discuss less controversial matters should I feel the urge.
"There was a 9% rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year, a charity has reported.This article is illustrated with a photo of a swastika painted underneath a Star of David. Now I cannot find the CST report for the first six months of 2008 on their website but I did find their report for the year of 2007. In that year there seems to have been a fairly high number of anti-semitic attacks by those of an Asian, Arab or black appearance. This sort of information is of course not allowed to be reported on the BBC in case it damages Community Cohesion. Community cohesion being a phrase used to describe the way that some minority groups receive special treatment so as to try and stop some of their communities from killing members of other communities.
There were 266 incidents up to June, compared with 244 last year, according to the Community Security Trust (CST)."
"The real issue is the content of the treaty; and in its structure and consequence, as well as its content, it is different from the constitution and does not meet the bar of whether it constitutes fundamental constitutional change."See Hansard
"Public opinion will be led to adopt, without knowing it, the proposals that we dare not present to them directly... All the earlier proposals will be in a new text, but will be hidden and disguised in some way...What was [already] difficult to understand will become utterly incomprehensible, but the substance has been retained."
Valéry Giscard D'Estaing, President of the Convention on the Future of Europe which drafted the EU Constitution.
"Our constitution cannot be reduced to a mere treaty for co-operation between governments. Anyone who has not yet grasped this fact deserves to wear the dunce's cap"
Valéry Giscard D'Estaing, President of the EU Convention, speech in Aachen accepting the Charlemagne Prize for European integration, 29th May 2003.
"Most people don't know what has been decided,we continue step by step until there is no turning back".
Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, The Economist, September 24, 2004
"The difference between the original Constitution and the present Lisbon Treaty is one of approach, rather than content."
Valéry Giscard D'Estaing, The Independent (London) October 30, 2007."
"Defence solicitors in England and Wales have warned serious offenders are getting off lightly because police are chasing performance targets.
They said on-the-spot fines and cautions are overused to boost convictions and avoid court cases."
"serious offenders are getting off lightly because police are chasing performance targets"
"I've known a caution for a serious offence of actual bodily harm where the victim required stitches." ... "A caution was issued for having a house full of cannabis plants. A 20-year-old man who had unlawful sex with a 15-year-old was cautioned."and that
"Solicitors have also described how some offenders exploit the system by giving false addresses and said there was no proper confirmation of their identity. They also said half of fines are not paid in full. Mr Johnson said: "The criminals play the system day in day out. They admit the offence quickly to qualify for a ticket, which is the fastest way of getting out of the police station.""
"Another solicitor who works with the Ministry of Justice described the system as "staggering and deranged". "The bottom is falling out of the criminal justice system, workload in London courts is easily down by half."
"The Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents rank and file police officers, says that pressure on forces to improve crime detection rates is to blame. A federation spokesman said officers are being "encouraged to dispense instant justice where at all possible". He said: "It's a dumbing down of the criminal justice system. Persistent offenders, like shoplifters for example, can cross county borders picking up £80 fines and never pay them.""
"After 13:00 Jeremy will be speaking live to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who'll answers listener questions on the Labour leadership, Europe and Iran."I wonder which David Miliband will be on show today, the one who fearlessly wrote an article for Comment is Free outlining the way for Labour to fight back, without once mentioning Gordon Brown, or the one who subsequently had to perform a partial recant. I think a certain "Gordon of Southwold" might want to ring in with some questions of his own or maybe he will leave that to "Ed of dual subsidised mortgage".
"Gordon Brown has suffered a fresh blow to his political authority with an opinion poll showing the Conservatives enjoying a 24-point lead among voters in key marginal constituencies."A poll carried out by CrosbyTextor in 30 key marginals showed the following voting intentions - Conservative 41%, Lib Dems 18%, Labour 17%. A year ago a similar poll had Labour six points ahead of the Conservatives (32% to 26%). Of the 30 seats in which the opinion poll was held, 20 seats are held by Labour, nine by the Liberal Democrats and one by the SNP.
"PANICKING Labour ministers are considering a 'suicide election' to give the party a fresh start under a new leader, following their humiliating defeat at the hands of the SNP in the Glasgow East by-election.The ferrets in a sack fight it out:
Senior figures disillusioned with Gordon Brown want a senior Cabinet minister to take over the party leadership and head immediately to the polls either this autumn or next spring, even if defeat is the likely option.
They believe such a move would be better than Brown clinging on to office until 2010 when, they fear, the party would face a wipe-out on the scale of that inflicted on the Tories by Labour in 1997."
"Jack Straw, the Lord Chancellor, is being touted as the ideal stop-gap leader.
There were claims last night that MPs close to Straw were actively seeking support on behalf of the Justice Secretary.
One Labour MP is reported as claiming that backbencher George Howarth had told him Straw was "ready to tell Gordon that the game was up" so long as he had enough backing.
The Justice Secretary's spokesman insisted last night, however, that Straw had "not sanctioned this behaviour", adding that MPs needed to "calm down" over the crisis.
One minister said: "The worst case scenario for the Labour Party is that we carry on with Gordon as leader and then have an election at the time of his choosing.
"If we got rid of him and went for an immediate option, that would still be a better result for us than waiting for him. There is no one in the Labour Party who is capable of running the party worse than him."
"This isn't about Gordon any more," said another senior party figure. "This is about the Labour Party and the number of people who are looking at their jobs."
Other reports suggested one contender for the job, James Purnell, had formed a pact with Foreign Secretary David Miliband, promising not to stand in his way if Miliband stood following a Brown resignation.
One senior Scottish party figure said of the 'suicide' option: "We get it over now and we don't allow the Tories to build a swing like the one we had in 1997. The way things are going, we are heading for a Tory Party victory on the scale of 1997."
Last night, one Government source opposed to Brown said: "The Cabinet now has to do something. What is Alistair Darling going to do and what is Jack Straw going to do? We have to get rid of him. There is no support for him staying."
Those who back deposing Brown say that, even if they were to lose the snap election, it would be better than staying on in power. They say David Cameron's Conservatives would be forced into power without having prepared enough for the tough economic times ahead."
"Can Gordon lead us into the next election and win? Yes. I'm absolutely confident about that"David Miliband has had to name Gordon Brown in his press conference reference to his article in Comment Is Free.
"Gordon Brown's allies today hit back with savage anger at David Miliband after he unveiled his vision to rescue the Labour Party.
They accused the Foreign Secretary of being "disloyal" and "self-serving" and of lacking "judgment and maturity"."
...
One of them said: "I think MPs will be appalled. David Miliband has shown himself to be not only disloyal but also self-serving.
"People at least thought he was a serious figure and a grown-up politician but by allowing his head to be turned by this leadership nonsense, he has revealed a surprising lack of judgment and maturity."
"Against all odds we can still win, on a platform for change - Labour must stop feeling sorry for itself, enjoy a break, and return afresh to expose the emptiness of the Tory alternative"without mentioning the great helmsman Gordon Brown even once.
"Response to the terrorist attacks on LondonAlways good to see a leftist taking an attack by some Muslims and turning it into an "all the fault of the BNP" type piece.
The events of the previous Thursday were on our minds and the NEC agenda. Jamal and I had both submitted Emergency Motions on the terrorist attacks, but we all agreed that it would be more productive under the circumstances to have an informal discussion based around the motions and the issues to decide what we could do collectively to tackle some of the challenges arising out the attacks.
There were really three things on my mind during that discussion: outrage at what had happened and sorrow for those affected; gratitude towards the staff and management of NUS who had spent a great deal of time phoning around to make sure everyone was safe; and horror at an e-mail I had received from the Muslim Safety Forum over the weekend recounting a spate of unjustified and unprovoked attacks against black people and people of different faiths following the attacks. A Mosque in Leeds was attacked with a petrol bomb, there had been an arson attack on a Sikh Gurdwara, reports of ABH, malicious communications (including towards NEC members) and other racist and fascist attacks. I’ve since learned that the BNP have been peddling their racist filth through the letter boxes of Becontree, near where I live, where a by-election is taking place with slogans like ‘Isn’t it time you listened to the BNP’ and images of the attacks. That the BNP should use these attacks to spread fear and suspicion and misdirect outrage against terrorism into hatred towards innocent people is despicable. Whatever your party, whatever your politics, I would urge everyone to get involved in the fight against fascism wherever it presents itself."
"Ken’s the kind of mayor who’s shown real leadership. From his stoic response to the 7/7 bombings that united London, as terrorists tried to turn us against each other and the Muslim community came under attack"Ah it was the Muslim community that came under attack, odd I thought that the people who died, including a friend's wife, and those that were injured were attacked by some Muslim terrorists. I do not condone any reprisal attacks on Muslims as a result of the 7/7 bombings as the majority of Muslims are peaceful citizens of this Country BUT to turn the horrendous attacks of 7/7 into being about an attack on the Muslim community is just not a fair reflection of events.
"Al Gore's bold challenge to get 100% of our electricity from cheap, clean sources within 10 years is already under attack from the oil and coal companies. Can you sign our petition to help turn back Big Oil's attack on Al Gore?"It's going to take more than HOPE.
"Gordon Brown will be in charge of the government this summer even while he is away on holiday...
When his predecessor Tony Blair jetted off for sunnier climes, his deputy John Prescott famously took the reins.
But this is not the case for Mr Brown. His spokesman said: "The prime minister is the prime minister and remains in charge whether he's on holiday or not.""
"Harriet Harman has sought to end the questions over who is in charge while Gordon Brown is on holiday by saying: "I'm minding the shop this week."
Downing Street had earlier said that Ms Harman was one of "a number of senior ministers in London to deal with the day to day business of government".
The spokesman said "the prime minister remains in charge while on holiday".
But, after her comments, he said "she is the minister who is co-ordinating government business this week".
When Tony Blair used to holiday abroad it became an annual tradition that John Prescott would act as stand-in prime minister during August.
But the prime minister's official spokesman had declined to say that Ms Harman was in charge when he was asked repeatedly about it at Monday morning briefing for lobby journalists.
He said she was one of the senior ministers seeing through the daily business of government - and stressed that Mr Brown was still in charge during his bucket-and-spade English beach holiday.
He did admit that Ms Harman, who appeared on BBC1's Andrew Marr programme on Sunday and GMTV on Monday, "has held meetings in Downing Street this morning".
Later on Monday Ms Harman was asked what her role was by the BBC's Carole Walker, which is when she said she was "minding the shop while the proprietor is on holiday".
After this, No 10 agreed that she was the person co-ordinating the government's work "this week".
Different senior ministers are due to take on the coordination role in the next two weeks - expected to be Chancellor Alistair Darling next week, followed by Justice Secretary Jack Straw."
"these children have been told just how strict secondary school is going to be. They have been read lists of rules and consequences, by several different people. They have been told how lucky they are to be at this school, and they know that they should be grateful. They don't want to jeopardize their places at this wonderful school which they and their parents fought so hard to get into. They are frightened on so many levels..... Come September of course, these children will still behave angelically. They will be angels for about 4 to 6 weeks. Over that time, reality will slowly dawn on them. They will begin to notice that while school SAYS that X is expected, in reality, it is not. While school SAYS that X behaviour will result in one losing one's place at the school, in reality, rarely, if ever, does a child get permanently excluded."
"Fear of getting caught does not have an effect on crime they say. Fear of punishment is not a deterrent they say. Well, I'm not too sure about what they say."
"the liberal-left in Europe and North America has been lucky to have Bush.
By building him up into a great Satan, the oil man who invades countries to seize their reserves and the Christian who orders bloody crusades, they have hidden the totalitarian threats of our age from themselves and anyone who listens to them. Bush allowed them to explain away radical Islam as an understandable, even legitimate, response to the hypocrisies and iniquities of American policy. Even those in the European elites who do not buy the full 'America has it coming' package believe that Bush is a cowboy who doesn't understand that the postmodern way to end conflict is to compromise rather than fight.
In January, Bush will be history, leaving liberals all alone in a frightening world. Little else will change. Radical Islam will still authorise murder without limit, Iran will still want the bomb and the autocracies of China and Russia will still be growing in wealth and confidence. All those who argued that the 'root cause' of the Bush administration lay behind the terror will find that the terror still flourishes when the root cause has retired."
"Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has warned that any leadership challenge to Gordon Brown would be "pointless" and "divisive".
He said no potential successor had the "right skills" to replace the PM."
"This service has been temporarily suspended for maintenance work. Don't worry, we are still accepting faxes and letters, and you can still let us know your opinions via an epetition or on our new Twitter service."A few days" or five weeks, I suppose it doesn't matter when you are listening and learning and keeping on...
We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We hope to be back up and running in a few days.
23 June 2008"
"ALMOST a third of British Muslim students believe killing in the name of Islam can be justified, according to a poll.
The study also found that two in five Muslims at university support the incorporation of Islamic sharia codes into British law.
The YouGov poll for the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) will raise concerns about the extent of campus radicalism. “Significant numbers appear to hold beliefs which contravene democratic values,” said Hannah Stuart, one of the report’s authors. “These results are deeply embarrassing for those who have said there is no extremism in British universities.”
...
The researchers highlighted Queen Mary college, part of London University, as a campus where radical views were widely held. Last December, a speaker named Abu Mujahid encouraged Muslim students to condemn gays because “Allah hates” homosexuality. In November, Azzam Tamimi, a British-based supporter of Hamas, described Israel as the most “inhumane project in the modern history of humanity”.
James Brandon, deputy director at CSC , said: “Our researchers found a ghettoised mentality among Muslim students at Queen Mary. Also, we found the segregation between Muslim men and women at events more visible at Queen Mary.”
...
In the report, 40% of Muslim students said it was unacceptable for Muslim men and women to associate freely. Homophobia was rife, with 25% saying they had little or no respect for gays. The figure was higher (32%) for male Muslim students. Among nonMuslims, the figure was only 4%.
The research found that a third of Muslim students supported the creation of a world-wide caliphate or Islamic state."
"My job is to listen and to lead, and that is what I will do..... people want to be assured that the government will steer them through these difficult economic times. I think that over the next few months it will become clear that the decisions we have made ... will see the economy through and ... will prepare the economy for the upturn and for prosperity to follow."
"But Labour would be doing EVEN WORSE if Gordon Brown was dumped for another leader, our exclusive YouGov survey reveals....
Our poll shows that Labour would be in deeper trouble even if they were led by Tony Blair.
And it confirms potential successors Ed Balls, David Miliband, Jack Straw, Harriet Harman, Andy Burnham, Alan Johnson and James Purnell would ALL make things even worse in voters’ eyes.
Asked if voters would back Labour under a different leader, all of the suggested alternatives have a minus net reading.
This means they would all make Labour’s position in a general election worse...
YouGov asked voters if they would be more or less likely to vote Labour if a string of candidates were leader instead of Mr Brown.
Taking the two results, Tony Blair would have a minus three rating.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw would be on minus four and Foreign Secretary David Miliband the same.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson would also be on minus four as would Culture supremo Andy Burnham.
Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell notched up minus five.
And least popular would be deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman and Schools Secretary Ed Balls, both on minus 10."
"The panel have been asked since April to give their opinion on a range of British institutions. The BBC has consistently received the highest net approval rating of all the institutions included in the PHI5000 tracker,and currently has a score of 30.
However, a breakdown of figures by political affiliation reveals that this high rating is due to the overwhelming approval of Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters, who each currently give the BBC a net approval rating of 50.
In contrast, the score from Conservative supporters stands at just 7, meaning it has now fallen not only below 'Broadsheet newspapers’, but also ‘British Business and Businessmen’ and the Bank of England in their estimation."
"FOOTBALLER Cristiano Ronaldo is being lined up to star in a multi-million dollar remake of the epic TV series Roots.
Producers say the star's treatment at the hands of Manchester United make him the perfect choice to portray the young African slave who is beaten by his brutal masters.
The Portuguese winger said he had been traumatised by 'outrageous' demands that he honour the £125,000 a week, legally-binding contract, which has brought him only, misery, adulation and Gemma Atkinson.
Speaking from the titanium gazebo in the rose garden of his 31-room mansion, Ronaldo said: "I feel I can relate to the suffering of African slaves."
"SNP stuns Labour in Glasgow East" - "The Scottish National Party has pulled off a stunning by-election victory by winning Glasgow East, one of Labour's safest seats by 365 votes.The SNP victor, John Mason is given a couple of lines to express his views and then it is straight into Labour party navel gazing, complete with the Labour reflex line from Douglas Alexander that his party needed to "learn the lessons" from the "bad result" and from Margaret Curran that "I do believe the Labour Party has to listen and has to hear the message from the people of Glasgow East." Yet again we hear of the need for Labour to listen and learn; surely the public are speaking VERY LOUDLY and what they are saying is "we are sick of you, please go away".
The SNP overturned a Labour majority of 13,507 to win with a swing of 22.54%.
The SNP polled 11,277 votes in the contest, while the Tories came third with 1,639 and the Lib Dems, with 915 votes, came fourth.
SNP candidate John Mason said the victory was "off the Richter Scale", while Labour expressed disappointment.
Voter turnout was 42.25%, down on the 48% figure at the last election, with 26,219 votes cast.
The result was declared at Glasgow's Tollcross Leisure Centre in the early hours of Friday, after a re-count was requested by Labour, which won 10,912 votes in the contest."
"BBC Scotland's political editor, Brian Taylor, said it was an appalling result for Labour in a constituency it had held in various guises virtually since the party came into existence.
He said: "Will it add to the pressure on Gordon Brown? Of course. Frankly, though, I don't expect him to stand down any time soon.
"He already knew he faced a tough fight. It will, however, increase the trepidation around him."
"Margaret Curran started her campaign in Glasgow East by declaring that the "Labour fightback starts here"."and is more of a history of the by-election result than anything else and devotes more time to the Labour party than the SNP.
"Christopher J. Dodd Chairman (D-CT)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Jack Reed (D-RI)
Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)
Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Tom Carper (D-DE)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Robert P. Casey (D-PA)
Bob Corker (R-TN)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Richard C. Shelby Ranking Member (R-AL)
Robert F. Bennett (R-UT)
Wayne Allard (R-CO)
Michael B. Enzi (R-WY)
Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)"
"Senator Obama did not appear in the Senate to vote on the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment calling on the government to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity and thus suffer the imposition of sanctions. On the day of the vote on the amendment, however, Obama issued a statement announcing that he would have voted against it. In the statement, the closest he came to addressing the merits of the amendment was his assertion that "he does not think that now is the time for saber-rattling towards Iran." The amendment passed the Senate 76-22 on September 26, 2007, with many Democrats including Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Richard Durbin, and Chuck Schumer voting in its favor."Do read the PowerLine piece as it also details the three very different positions on this matter that Barack Obama has taken subsequent to the vote.
"Let me be absolutely clear," Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, said today at a press conference in Amman, Jordan. "Israel is a strong friend of Israel's. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under a McCain...administration. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under an Obama administration. So that policy is not going to change."
Do not wear nail polish.
Women should only wear a limited amount of jewelry.
Shoulders and arms must be fully covered (no strapless tops, no tank tops, no short sleeve shirts.)
Do not wear green. (Explained later as the color of Hamas)
Closed-toe shoes, women should also wear stockings.
"Obama Has Modest 4-Point Lead" and that "Barack Obama maintains a modest 46% to 42% lead over John McCain among registered voters nationally in Gallup Poll Daily tracking, with no sign yet of a significant "bounce" from Obama's high-visibility world tour."
These are the figures with comparisons on a month ago CON 47% (+2): LAB 27% (-2): LD 15% (-2). These figures, like all MORI surveys are based on those “certain to vote”. The fieldwork ended on July 20th - so it’s up to date.Now why would not over-representing public sector workers be important? Could it be that Gordon Brown's client state is more likely to vote for the hand that feeds it than the rest of the population?
The pollster which is the only one that does not applying a political weighting to its samples. has undergone a major methodological review which took place following the London Mayoral election. All surveys are now done by telephone and the pollster takes measures to ensure that it is not over-representing public sector workers in its samples.
"More than 500,000 official "spying" requests for private communications data such as telephone records were made last year, a report says.
Police, security services and other public bodies made requests for billing details and other information.
Interception of Communications Commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy said 1,707 of these had been from councils.
A separate report criticises local authorities for using powers to target minor offences such as fly-tipping.
Figures show public bodies made 519,260 requests to "communications providers" such as phone and internet firms for information in 2007.
Under available powers, they can see details such as itemised phone bills and website records. But they are not allowed to monitor conversations.
The total number of requests for last year - amounting to more than 1,400 a day - compared with an average of fewer than 350,000 a year in the previous two years.
...
But a separate report, by Chief Surveillance Commissioner Sir Christopher Rose, criticises the techniques employed by local authorities to deal with minor offences such as fly-tipping or avoiding council tax.
He said some councils had a "tendency to expose lack of understanding of the legislation" and displayed a "serious misunderstanding of the concept of proportionality".
Some authorising officers were inexperienced and suffered "poor oversight", he added.
He called on town halls to invest in properly trained intelligence officers who could operate covertly."
"The commissioners' reports offer valuable oversight and provide reassurance that these powers are being used appropriately.
"These powers can make a real difference in delivering safer communities and protecting the public - whether enabling us to gain that vital intelligence that will prevent a terrorist attack, working to tackle antisocial behaviour or ensuring that rogue traders do not defraud the public.""
"It is an example of the golden rule of hate speech: Only conservatives can utter hate speech (or hate cartoons) while anything that Leftists say is "free speech", no matter how offensive it is."
"With the refrain that "it is all Bush's fault" echoing through the halls, it was little surprise that the New-Age Faiths offered their unanimous endorsement to Senator Barack Hussein Obama's presidential campaign.Do read the rest, it is seriously funny and worrying.
"Here we have a true Lightworker," explained Alexis Virago, High Harridan of the Church of the Holy Hooter (commonly known as the Boobtists). "He is probably not really human, or at least not totally human; I suspect that his father was a spiritual being residing temporarily in physical form in order to accomplish The Obama's incarnation.""
"There may have been something sticky on his hands but it was only for a few seconds that he touched the prime minister"Do you really want to learn more?
"A campaigner against Heathrow Airport's third runway has attempted to glue himself to Gordon Brown at a Downing Street reception."Seems a rather foolhardy act, did he know when Gordon Brown last washed his hands?
"Dan Glass, a member of Plane Stupid, was about to receive an award from the prime minister when he stuck out his superglued hand and touched his sleeve."No stickiness of any significance"? If this was Superglue then it is not a great advertisement for their product.
Plane Stupid says Mr Glass, from north London, then "glued his hand" to Mr Brown's jacket as he shook his hand.
But Downing Street said there had been "no stickiness of any significance".
"Downing Street confirmed an exchange had taken place but denied that Mr Glass had glued himself to the prime minister.I am trying to picture the scene, Gordon Brown goes to shake hands in his very natural way with a member of the public and the member of the public tries to grab hold of his jacket sleeve so as to glue himself to it...
"There may have been something sticky on his hands but it was only for a few seconds that he touched the prime minister," a spokesman said. "There was no stickiness of any significance."
He added: "This was certainly not seen as a serious protest. It was very light-hearted. This was not a serious incident."
So the Downing Street spokesman said the incident lasted "only for a few seconds" whilst Mr Glass said it lasted "20 seconds" before his hand was torn away from the Prime Ministerial jacket. A wise move to choose the jacket and not the tie as we know what Gordon stores on the back of his ties...
"Speaking afterwards, Mr Glass said: "My left hand was covered in superglue and I stuck it to his sleeve.
"I just glued myself to him and after 20 seconds he tore my hand off - it really hurt. He had to give it a couple of tugs before it came away."
"He was just grinning about it. He didn't seem to take me seriously."No Mr Glass that's Gordon Brown's set expression when meeting "ordinary folk", he thinks it shows that he has a cheery disposition - he is so wrong.
"The Metropolitan Police said there had been no breach of security."Now why does that not surprise me? A man superglues himself to the Prime Minister using glue smuggled into Number 10 in his underwear, but there was no breach in security. I wonder what would constitute a breach in security? I drove near Whitehall today and saw the armed police that are now a familiar part of the London scene. I t would appear that they are very happy to carry arms and look "hard", but less happy to acknowledge breakdowns in their security systems.
"...I've got one or two things to say about change, like the change we must change, to the change we hold dear, I really like change, have I made myself clear?"
"The American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, has reversed its stance on climate change and is now proclaiming that many of its members disbelieve in human-induced global warming. The APS is also sponsoring public debate on the validity of global warming science. The leadership of the society had previously called the evidence for global warming "incontrovertible."
In a posting to the APS forum, editor Jeffrey Marque explains,"There is a considerable presence within the scientific community of people who do not agree with the IPCC conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution.""
"The APS is opening its debate with the publication of a paper by Lord Monckton of Brenchley, which concludes that climate sensitivity -- the rate of temperature change a given amount of greenhouse gas will cause -- has been grossly overstated by IPCC modeling. A low sensitivity implies additional atmospheric CO2 will have little effect on global climate.
Larry Gould, Professor of Physics at the University of Hartford and Chairman of the New England Section of the APS, called Monckton's paper an "expose of the IPCC that details numerous exaggerations and "extensive errors"
In an email to DailyTech, Monckton says, "I was dismayed to discover that the IPCC's 2001 and 2007 reports did not devote chapters to the central 'climate sensitivity' question, and did not explain in proper, systematic detail the methods by which they evaluated it. When I began to investigate, it seemed that the IPCC was deliberately concealing and obscuring its method."
According to Monckton, there is substantial support for his results, "in the peer-reviewed literature, most articles on climate sensitivity conclude, as I have done, that climate sensitivity must be harmlessly low."
Monckton, who was the science advisor to Britain's Thatcher administration, says natural variability is the cause of most of the Earth's recent warming. "In the past 70 years the Sun was more active than at almost any other time in the past 11,400 years ... Mars, Jupiter, Neptune’s largest moon, and Pluto warmed at the same time as Earth.""
"Tony Blair was well known for inviting showbusiness figures to his country home Chequers - and it seems Gordon Brown is carrying on the tradition.
Film legend Lord Attenborough, Beatles producer Sir George Martin and Four Weddings and a Funeral writer Richard Curtis have visited in the past year.
Sir Alan Sugar - star of BBC One's The Apprentice - and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson also attended.
...
From the media world, Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, Sun editor Rebekah Wade and former Mirror boss Piers Morgan - now a TV talent show judge - visited.
Playwright Sir Tom Stoppard and novelist and historian Lady Antonia Fraser were entertained.
Retailers on the list include Sir Terence Conran - founder of the Habitat shop chain - Marks and Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose and Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy."
"While many of Mr Brown's guests are household names, there is not quite the celebrity focus of the list given for Mr Blair last year.However they then list the people invited to be brave and sup with Gordon Brown:
That included the likes of singer Charlotte Church, DJ Chris Evans, TV presenter Adrian Chiles and the then England football coach Steve McLaren."
"Among the more famous guests invited by Mr Brown were:
ROYALTY
Duke of York
SHOWBUSINESS
Sir Alan Sugar, child psychologist Tanya Byron, screenwriter Richard Curtis, presenter Emma Freud, chief executive of Royal Opera House Tony Hall, Beatles producer Sir George Martin, playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, Lord Attenborough
AUTHORS
Kathy Lette, Richard North Patterson
OTHER CELEBRITIES
Designer Sir Terence Conran, architect Lord Foster, historian Lady Antonia Fraser, former Mirror editor, writer and TV judge Piers Morgan, architect Lord Rogers"
"wasn't it GB who was first politician to comment on the earth shattering Shilpa Shetty affair? Wasn't it also GB who had "secret" drinks with that political guru Kylie Minogue. I presume he wanted to keep that meeting secret and that it was leaked to the Sun by a political enemy, maybe not... Maybe he has always admired Kylie's musical ability and shapely bottom. Maybe he admires "Kylie Minogue, the pop sex goddess of the moment, hip chick, gay icon, and a fair old belter out of a dance tune" (David Lister, Independent, 23.02.02), I wonder why? I am sure that the lunch had a serious purpose, who else attended? Stephen Fry, one of my favourite comics and I am sure one of GB's as well.". The next time was later that same month when I blogged
"the person who awarded the Greatest Businessman prize to Innocent Smoothies was Gordon Brown. I am sure he had a very good reason for being there but I doubt if it helped show he is serious about ending the era of celebrity. You can read more about the awards presented here or you could just luxuriate in the natural warmth of Gordon Brown's smile"The next time was in November when I blogged about Gordon Brown's incredible Countdown birthday message. The next time was when I blogged about Gordon Brown's possible job offer to GMTV's Fiona Phillips - completely unconnected with his love of appearing on the GMTV sofa for a long hard interview.
"An editorial written by Republican presidential hopeful McCain has been rejected by the NEW YORK TIMES -- less than a week after the paper published an essay written by Obama, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The paper's decision to refuse McCain's direct rebuttal to Obama's 'My Plan for Iraq' has ignited explosive charges of media bias in top Republican circles.
'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece,' NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to McCain's staff. 'I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.'...
Shipley, who is on vacation this week, explained his decision not to run the editorial.
'The Obama piece worked for me because it offered new information (it appeared before his speech); while Senator Obama discussed Senator McCain, he also went into detail about his own plans.'
Shipley continues: 'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq.'"
"The Ivory Coast government is halving the salaries of its ministers to pay for a reduction in the price of fuel.So how about it Gordon, do you feel our pain?
Prime Minister Guillaume Soro said the managers of state-owned companies would also have their pay cut in half, to pay for a 10% cut in fuel prices.
"Having heard the people's cry from the heart, the government has decided to cut the price of fuel," Mr Soro said."
"Gordon Brown will be in charge of the government this summer even while he is away on holiday...So it looks as though there will be no relief from Gordon Brown's terminal stupidity for the whole week he might drag himself away from the office for.
When his predecessor Tony Blair jetted off for sunnier climes, his deputy John Prescott famously took the reins.
But this is not the case for Mr Brown. His spokesman said: "The prime minister is the prime minister and remains in charge whether he's on holiday or not.""
"I don't care what method people use to celebrate the fact that the bitch is dead. But for most people it will be a celebration. Dancing on her grave? Too bloody right, I will.
yeractual
A 19-GUN salute? Only if they were all aimed at her.
imasmadashell
I rather like the suggestion that whatever happens she is going to be buried at sea, by the time everyone has finished p***ing on her grave...
greymatter
State funeral! She should be burned at the stake!
4danglie
‘The country owes her a 19-gun salute.’ Yeah, but we’re not cruel, she can have a blindfold as well!
BurgermaS
A state funeral would be a farce. But how about nationwide street parties or perhaps auctioning coffin nails? I’d pay good money to hammer the lid down.
Ifweworkers
I'll be there protesting and throwing eggs even if they promise to extraordinarily rendition me. Never. It’d be a crime to honour this self-serving, divisive politician who governed with minority support and who created the s*** we live in today. She did more to destroy ‘the family’ than a hundred Roy Jenkins ever could. No, no, no. Just throw some petrol on the corpse, chuck a match and let the wind do the rest.
bass46
I'd go along with it on three conditions: 1) The son Mark is stripped of his hereditary baronetcy. He has done nothing to deserve it and everything to lose it. 2) We can get it over with as soon as possible. Friday week would be good for me. 3) We do a special offer (Buy One Get One Free) with the current Prime Minister. The fact that both of them are still breathing should be no obstacle.
EastFinchleyite
State funeral? A televised public execution would be far, far too good for her.
RoyalFamily
Why waste money when half the country will be having a party to celebrate her demise, anyway?
NemesistheWarlock"
"When Margaret Thatcher was Minister for Education, she took away free milk from schoolchildren. I created the slogan ‘Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher’ and put it on a wanted poster with her picture. When she became prime minister, we wrote to her from the Chiswick Women’s Aid refuge and asked her what she would do for victims of domestic violence. A minion replied on her behalf and said that she was ‘not interested in women’s issues’. A state funeral would be an insult to this nation.
Erin Pizzey, Guardian newspaper."
"The headline ‘State funeral planned for Lady Thatcher’ is deeply irresponsible. When it appeared, I honestly thought that the week had got off to the best possible start.
Chris Gibson, Guardian newspaper."
1 Fiscal rules: Treasury to reconsider Gordon Brown’s two closely watched borrowing rules.
2 2p fuel tax.
3 Abolition of the 10p rate of tax
4 Income shifting: Last December the Treasury announced plans to tackle “income shifting”, where family firms structure their affairs to minimise their tax bill. In the Budget it announced that the plans would be delayed until 2009.
5 Tax on non-doms: Darling used his first Pre-Budget Report to announce a new levy on non-domicile workers. After heavy criticism he was forced to write a letter to tax advisers “clarifying” his plans, effectively watering down the plans.
6 Capital Gains Tax: Alistair Darling surprised businesses last autumn by introducing a new flat-rate CGT of 18pc. In January, after uproar from businesses and entrepreneurs, he announced that the first £1m of any gains will be taxed at 10pc.
7 Foreign profits: This move effectively dilutes a number of the proposals laid out by the Treasury in relation to multinationals’ tax treatment."