Labour cuts the UK's anti-terrorism defences

The Times explains: "how a government decision over Foreign Office funding led to the slashing of millions of pounds from programmes to counter the growth of terrorism overseas." Do read the whole article but to get a flavour of the incompetence and stupidity of this Labour government, here's an extract:

"A political storm erupted after Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead’s admission before the House of Lords on Wednesday that the Foreign Office had been forced to cut back counter-terrorism programmes in Pakistan because of a budget shortfall created by the decline in the value of sterling.

The shortfall is the direct consequence of a 2007 Treasury decision to abandon the overseas price mechanism set up to ensure that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) budget was shielded from the vagaries of currency fluctuation.

Lady Kinnock caused outrage with her announcement that the Pakistan counter-terrorism programme would be cut to make up a £110 million shortfall, only hours after the Prime Minister told the Commons of the “No 1 security threat” emanating from the “crucible of terrorism” on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

...

Counter-terrorism projects outside Pakistan have also fallen prey to the cuts. One counter-terrorism contractor whose programme was axed told The Times that the budget cuts would leave Britain open to potential attacks from abroad.

“The project that was cancelled would in time have restricted the ability of terrorists in that region to move freely and threaten Western interests,” the contractor said. "

When will people realise that this Labour government is not fit for purpose and must be removed from office, soon. As David Cameron's Conservatives seem to be scared of taking power as they dither and dally, do we need to look elsewhere for firm leadership?

The best person for the job is replaced after less than four months

Gordon Brown brought Glenys Kinnock back into his Government as Europe Minister this summer saying that she was the best person for the job. I note that yesterday she was moved to be responsible for Africa at the Foreign Office and replaced by Chris Bryant. Maybe Gordon Brown could let us know at what point Glenys Kinnock ceased to be the best person for the job of Europe Minister and why Chris Bryant is better suited to the role.

Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic and Hitler directing non-existent armies on his war map spring to mind as analogies.

"UK 'backs Blair for EU president' " (update)

I knew I had posted something about Tony Blair's "ineligibility" to be EU President. Back in January 2008 I blogged that:

"Valérie Giscard d'Estaing, the former French president and the father of the now defunct EU constitutional treaty, said that Europe's first president must have majority support from his home country, which should be a nation that "respects all its European commitments". Something that he claimed Britain did not do.

"Tony Blair cannot be president of Europe," agreed Edouard Balladur, the former conservative French prime minister close to Mr Sarkozy, writing in yesterday's Le Monde newspaper."

Any comments Glenys Kinnock?

"UK 'backs Blair for EU president' "

The BBC report that:

"Tony Blair will be the UK's official candidate for EU president, Baroness Kinnock has apparently confirmed.

The post will only be created if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified by all EU states - Ireland is to hold a second referendum in October.

There has long been speculation that the former PM would go for the post but he has not confirmed he will do so.

It is the first time a UK government minister has publicly announced Tony Blair is a candidate for the job.

Previously, ministers have said it was premature to talk of supporting any particular candidate when the job itself did not exist.

But at a briefing in Strasbourg, Europe Minister Lady Kinnock said: "The UK government is supporting Tony Blair's candidature for president of the Council [of EU governments]."

Asked if it had been discussed with Mr Blair, currently a Middle East envoy, she said: "It is the government's position. I am sure they would not do that without asking him."

Lady Kinnock went on to say Mr Blair had the "strength of character" and "status" to take on the job.

She added: "People know who he is, and he could step into this new role with a lot of respect and he would be generally welcomed." "

The UK backs Tony Blair! Does it, does it really?

So what we have here is the wife of a failed Labour leader, a person appointed to the House of Lords by an unelected Prime Minister who avoided a leadership election, declaring that the UK would support the candidacy of the man who promised to serve a full term as Prime Minister but then resigned leaving the way open for Gordon Brown to replace him without facing an election.
Does anyone else find the stench unbearable?

The Kinnocks

The Mail and others concentrate on how much Neil and Glenys Kinnock are earning from the UK and the EU. Yes it is disgusting quite how much money this loathsome duo are earning, made even more vile since Neil Kinnock was a failure as a UK politician before moving to the EU and helping to prevent investigations into the EU lack of financial controls.

However what annoys me more is that the Kinnocks are now both unelected members of the House of Lords who will have input on UK legislation, and in Glenys Kinnock's case be intimately involved with EU related policy. As the Kinnocks are due to receive between them EU pensions worth around £120,000 a year they should know, and the UK public should be regularly reminded, that the EU can remove this pension, if in the view of the Commission or the Luxembourg Court, the recipient "fail(s) to uphold the interests of the European Communities".?
So do Neil and Glenys Kinnock's EU pensions affect their loyalty to the UK in any conflict of interest with the EU?

Can Gordon Brown organise anything?

I read that:

"Glenys Kinnock's appointment as Europe minister descended into farce yesterday after it emerged that she could not do the job because she was still an MEP.

Under EU Parliament rules, Mrs Kinnock is not allowed to serve as a minister in a national Government until she steps down as an MEP on July 14.

Days after accepting Gordon Brown's surprise invitation to join his Government, Mrs Kinnock was forced to admit she was a mere 'acting minister'.

There was speculation in Westminster last night that Mrs Kinnock was reluctant to quit her job as an MEP as she would have to forgo some of her gold-plated pension and golden-goodbye.

The absurd situation is set to cause further embarrassment for Mr Brown as he fights for his political survival.

Downing Street sources last night insisted Mrs Kinnock had resigned as an MEP.

But a European Parliament spokesman said he had no knowledge of her quitting the post. 'We would normally get a formal notification if that had happened,' said the spokesman. 'But we haven't had one.' "

So some questions that Gordon Brown needs to answer:
Has Glenys Kinnock resigned as an MEP?
When did Glenys Kinnock resign as an MEP?
If she has resigned from what date does this resignation take effect?
Is the Prime Minister aware that EU pensions are paid on the understanding that the EU can remove this pension, if in the view of the Commission or the Luxembourg Court, the recipient "fail(s) to uphold the interests of the European Communities".?
Does Glenys Kinnock's EU pension affect her primary loyalty to the UK?

Glenys Kinnock (update)

A few questions:
1. as a former MEP when will Glenys Kinnock be in receipt of her EU pension?
2. as a present or future recipient of a large EU pension, where will Gordon Brown's Europe Minister's first loyalty lie?
3. Are Gordon Brown, Glenys Kinnock and another former employee of the EU, Peter Mandelson, aware that EU pensions are paid on the understanding that the EU can remove this pension, if in the view of the Commission or the Luxembourg Court, they "fail to uphold the interests of the European Communities".?
4. How does the above conditionality over the payment of the EU pension fit in with a Minister of the Crown's surely first loyalty to the UK?

The democratic deficit

Whilst Gordon Brown witters on about the Democratic Renewal Council the facts are somewhat different. Gordon Brown's "re-shaped" Cabinet contains two members of the House of Lords (Mandelson and Adonis) - I am not counting the Leader of the House of Lords in this list. Then amongst Other cabinet attendees are the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Lord Malloch-Brown and Minister of State (Science and Innovation) at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Lord Drayson. Then amongst those who will attend Cabinet when their Ministerial responsibilities are on the agenda is the Attorney General, The Rt Hon Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC. So the great defender of democracy has five members of the House of Lords in or around the Cabinet with two more on the way - Alan Sugar and Glenys Kinnock. Well why should members of the Gordon Brown cabinet be elected
members of the House of Commons, that's not what Gordon Brown's definition of democracy is.

Now to Peter Mandelson, it would seem that his reward for backing Gordon Brown to the hilt over the last few days is two-fold:
First his department is expanded such that his new department becomes the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which will be a merger between his old old Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills - just think of the upcoming expense on renaming, rebranding and stationery.
Second Lord Mandelson is elevated to the position of "First Secretary of State", whatever that means.

Glenys Kinnock!

I've been away from wifi, adsl and 3G all afternoon and evening which has been most frustrating as I had a radio but couldn't blog about the ever more incredible news. More in the morning about Caroline Flint, Geoff Hoon etc. .

For now all I can say is: Glenys Kinnock! Is Gordon Brown taking the piss?

Don't treat the old and unhealthy, say doctors

This story from The Telegraph last week has been kicking about in my head and it just clicked.

"Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives."

Do you remember Neil Kinnock's comments just before the 1983 election "If Margaret Thatcher wins on Thursday, I warn you not to be ordinary. I warn you not to be young. I warn you not to fall ill. I warn you not to get old."


Maybe Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are the true heirs of Margaret Thatcher after all. Mind you Neil Kinnock and his family will never have to rely upon the National Health Service as they age and wither; 13 years on the EU gravy waggon for Neil himself and 14 years of supping from that waggon by his wife Glenys will see to that. As I have explained previosuly the whole Kinnock family are nicely set-up in "public service" with the subsidised pensions and other benefits that that entails.


The full version of that part of the welsh windbag's speech runs :

"If Margaret Thatcher is re-elected as prime minister on Thursday, I warn you. I warn you that you will have pain – when healing and relief depend upon payment. I warn you that you will have ignorance – when talents are untended and wits are wasted, when learning is a privilege and not a right. I warn you that you will have poverty – when pensions slip and benefits are whittled away by a government that won’t pay in an economy that can't pay. I warn you that you will be cold – when fuel charges are used as a tax system that the rich don't notice and the poor can't afford.
I warn you that you must not expect work – when many cannot spend, more will not be able to earn. When they don't earn, they don't spend. When they don't spend, work dies. I warn you not to go into the streets alone after dark or into the streets in large crowds of protest in the light. I warn you that you will be quiet – when the curfew of fear and the gibbet of unemployment make you obedient. I warn you that you will have defence of a sort – with a risk and at a price that passes all understanding. I warn you that you will be home-bound – when fares and transport bills kill leisure and lock you up. I warn you that you will borrow less – when credit, loans, mortgages and easy payments are refused to people on your melting income.

If Margaret Thatcher wins on Thursday, I warn you not to be ordinary. I warn you not to be young. I warn you not to fall ill. I warn you not to get old."


Take a read of that and see how much of that is coming true now under New Labour.

More on the Kinnocks

I blogged last week about Neil Kinnock's son's problems in Moscow. Today I read something that sets the timeline out - "Stephen Kinnock, son of Neil and Glenys, ...used to work in the British Council’s extensive Brussels office when daddy was Commissioner and mummy a Member of the Toy Parliament, which she still is. He then returned to the London headquarters just as daddy became Chair of the organization".

Just thought you'd like to know.

Like father like son

Apparently The British Council "St Petersburg office director Stephen Kinnock was followed, stopped and released by authorities on Tuesday. Mr Kinnock - son of former Labour leader Neil - was held by the side of the road on Tuesday night and accused of going up a one-way street the wrong way and of smelling of alcohol. The British Consul in St Petersburg came to pick him up an hour later." That would be the same Neil Kinnock who was fond of a drink or several with his curry on the South Ealing Road all those years ago.


Incidentally, I wonder would Stephen Kinnock's position as St Petersburg office director of the British Council be in any way connected with a certain 'The Rt Hon Lord (Neil) Kinnock of Bedwellty' being the 'Chair of the British Council'? Is the entire Kinnock family on the "public service" gravy train? Neil was UK Commissioner of the European Commission from 1995 until 2004, and is now Chairman of the British Council. Glenys (his wife) is a MEP and is a Member of the European Parliament's Development and Co-operation Committee and a substitute member of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. She is also co-president of the African, Caribbean and Pacific-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and is Labour spokesperson on International Development in the European Parliament. She is President of Steel Action in the European Parliament. His son, Stephen, is as we have already established a director of the British Council and is married to Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who is the leader of the Danish Social Democrats political party. Neil and Glenys's daughter, Rachel, works in the Political Office at No 10 under Gordon Brown.

I wonder how the interview and selection processes were carried out.

Neil Kinnock hasn't done badly for a man who once preposterously claimed to be the "first Kinnock in a thousand generations" to go to university. A thousand generations was it Neil?

Mind you this was also the man who railed for years against the House of Lords but somehow dropped his objections when Tony Blair created him Baron Kinnock, of Bedwellty. He was appointed to the House of Lords as part of Tony Blair's scheme to get a Labour majority in the unelected second chamber, a scheme that has worked not that you would know it from the way that Tony Blair portrayed it as a place still full of Tory toffs.




In researching this article, well looking for the name of the Indian restaurant where "the incident" took place, I came across this review of a book entitled "The Labour Party in Wales 1900-2000 edited by Duncan Tanner, Chris Williams and Deian Hopkin". I particularly enjoyed this part "They say that Kinnock was later "electorally destroyed by a hostile press in part because of his Welshness". Well, maybe. There is certainly no shortage of anti-Welsh prejudice in the London media. But Kinnock's real problem was not that he was a 'Welsh windbag', it was just that he was (and is) a windbag. Just remember the Sheffield rally. Or the tedious regularity that Kinnock has boasted of his handiness with his fists (the curry house incident, the Labour conference toilets etc).

Kinnock is one of these professional Welshmen, a caricature Welshman, a not very bright, loquacious chancer who talks a lot but says very little. This is a man who clearly yearns to be remembered as some sort of tragic Shakespearian character who selflessly gave his all for the good of the party and, when necessary, fell on his sword. He sees himself as a principled fighter who 'made the party electable' again, while sticking to his principles.

The reality is a little different. As a leader, Kinnock was possibly the biggest failure in Labour's history. He presided over disastrous defeats, despite ditching every last shred of principle that had accidentally become entangled to him in his rise up the greasy pole. And he hardly fell on his sword either - retiring to become a megabureaucrat in Brussels."

I like that description.


Was the restaurant called Sagar, or am I muddling up my Ealing curry houses?