Another problem for humanity

The watchers inform us that:

'If you look in sun direction in time of sunset you could see the largest sunspots since 2005 . Active region 1339 is now visible from the Earth. These huge sunspots have been slowly rotating to face the Earth since November 3, 2011. The largest of these sunspots, Sunspot AR 1339, is said to be 17 times the Earth’s width. The gigantic sunspot is about 80,000 km(50,000 miles ) long. This region of the Sun has caused massive solar flares which can trigger radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. Right now Sunspot AR1339 is crackling with M-class solar flares, unleashing at least five of them in the past 24 hours.'

Standby for interruptions to satellite based communications, gps etc. etc. etc. 

Weird story of the week

The Sun report that:

'WACKY Bob and Lizzie Gibbins share their bungalow with a world-beating collection - of 240 love dolls.

The couple choose and name the "girls" together and go shopping once a month for new outfits, wigs and make-up, costing £100,000 so far.

...

Dad-of-two Bob, 60 - who takes a favourite, Patsy, for drives - said: "A lot of love doll owners use them for sex but I've never been interested in them in that way."

...

Lizzie, 55, added: "It is a hobby Bob and I share together. We just enjoy dressing them up."'

Here's the video...


There are plenty of photos on the Sun website....

The Budget aftermath

From listening/watching/reading the BBC's post Budget coverage you would expect the Country to be in a state of rage. However the first post-budget opinion poll (reported in The Sun) shows that 57% of those polled thought the Budget was right for the Country and 43% think that George Osborne was doing a good job. Just remind me what was Gordon Brown's approval rating in April?

The BBC are pushing the Labour narrative for all they are worth, the Conservatives need to lance that festering boil.

The burning question of the 2010 election - 'Did the Sun Photoshop the page 3 girls' underwear?'

The Guardian may have 'uncovered' a scandal:

'The Sun claims Labour and the Lib Dems would abolish page 3. But did it alter the colour of the models' pants to underline its point?

...

The scantily-clad, human rights-threatened women appear to have taken a united stand against such a grim scenario in today's newspaper, by all wearing blue undergarments in an apparent unanimous show of support for the Conservatives.

Except, it seems, the Sun picture desk may have had more than a little to do with that.

The online version of the same picture shows only one of the 16 models wearing blue apparel, while the rest opt for non-partisan colours such as lime green, purple, white and black. One is even wearing red (she'll probably be sacked by the Sun before any Labour/Lib Dem legislation comes into force).'

More at The Guardian but in the interests of seekers after the truth, here are the two pictures...
Print version -

Online version -

But which is the original? Come on all you Photoshop experts, examine away; there must be tell-tale clues...

Has Vince Cable really been consistently right on the economy?

If you listen to the BBC you might think that Vince Cable had been right all along and totally consistent in his views on the economy. Of course this is propaganda spread by an organisation desperate to prevent the Conservatives winning the general election. Of course the BBC would prefer a Labour victory but a Labour/Lib Dem alliance is definitely preferable to the 'nasty party' winning. Hence the BBC's boosting of Vince Cable and talk of a hung parliament.

So I was interested today to see that The Sun have turned on Vince Cable:

'LIB DEM deputy leader Vince Cable is today exposed as a hopeless "flip-flopper" who cannot make up his mind on what's best for the economy.

Wobbly Mr Cable - who triumphed with viewers in TV's Ask The Chancellors debate last week - has been caught out making a series of embarrassing U-turns on key policies.

It shatters his image as the wise and cool-headed "recession guru" who voters could trust to put Britain back on course.

Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Mr Cable, 66 - who could still land in the Cabinet if there is a hung Parliament - made these five monster flip-flops:

He slammed the Government in January last year for printing more money in a bid to kick-start the economy. He declared: "This is the Robert Mugabe school of economics."

Nine months later he claimed the plan was RIGHT and said: "There is a Robert Mugabe school but this is not it. If I gave that impression, it clearly was wrong."

Mr Cable said in December 2003, that Britain should not be "panicked" into cutting public spending by the International Monetary Fund.

But last September he claimed: "I argued that there was a problem in relation to asset prices and borrowing...

"I don't think I launched a sustained attack on the IMF."

He said in October 2008: "It is entirely wrong for the Government to stimulate the economy by yet more public spending."

In February last year his message had changed to: "We believe the Government stimulus is right and necessary."

When Mr Cable was asked in 2008 about Gordon Brown's backing for Lloyds TSB's takeover of stricken HBOS, he said: "We have no quarrel with what he did. That seemed the right approach."

Just four months later he said: "It looks increasingly as if Lloyds is being dragged under by the dead weight of HBOS." Mr Cable later admitted: "It's fair to say I did change my position on that issue."

He told the Lib Dem conference in September 2008: "The Government must not compromise the independence of the Bank of England by telling it to slash interest rates."

Only weeks later he said the Chancellor should urge the Governor of the Bank to make "a large cut in interest rates".'

Of course these five flip flops will not affect the BBC's pro-Vince 'narrative' in the slightest, after all there is an election to be affected.

The Sun finally catch on

The SUN quite sweetly declare that

"A SUN investigation has unearthed an alarming BBC bias against the Tories in the run up to the Election.

Covert smears on David Cameron's Conservatives are being made right across the state-owned network - sparking hundreds of viewers' complaints.

News coverage, chat shows and even kids' TV are guilty. We found:
#

BBC News gave disproportionate coverage to the row over Tory donor Lord Ashcroft's tax status;
#

LABOUR panellists were given more time to speak on flagship political show Question Time;
#

A POLL on The One Show ignored issues with Gordon Brown to ask only, Is David Cameron too much of a toff to be PM?
#

THE Tory leader was stitched up when footage of him adjusting his hair was sneakily fed to all broadcasters;
#

THE Basil Brush Show featured a school election with a cheat called Dave wearing a blue rosette."

OK I didn't know about the Basil Brush incident but the rest have been covered here, at Biased-BBC and at Beeb Bias Craig. The latter site being quite possibly also responsible for this section

"The Sun's analysis showed Labour politicians on Question Time were allowed to speak for a full minute longer than Tory counterparts.

On March 11 ex-Labour minister Caroline Flint got SIX minutes more than Tory Justine Greenings.

And on February 18 Labour veteran Roy Hattersley spoke for nearly three minutes longer than Tory Rory Stewart."

Well who cares who broke the stories so long as the news about BBC bias gets spread beyond us bloggers and into the real world. Would be nice if The Sun had linked to us though...

BBC terminology

The BBC report Peter Mandelson's "attack" on The Sun newspaper and include this phrase "The Tory-supporting paper...". It's odd but when The Sun was a supporter of first the Tony Blair and then the Gordon Brown led Labour party I don't remember the BBC describing the newspaper as "The labour-supporting paper". Why not? Why the sudden change now?

The BBC go on to report Peter Mandelson's accusations thus:

"Let's understand what's going on here. The Sun's owner, News International, has made a decision to support the Conservative Party...

"They've effectively formed a contract, over the head, incidentally, of the newspaper's editor and their readers, in which they are sort of bound to one another.

"What the Sun can do for the Conservatives during the election is one part of of the contract and, presumably, what the Conservatives can do for News International when they are elected is the other side of the bargain.

"Now, I'm not so much worried about this, because it's plain to see and, frankly, they are welcome to each other and the public will be the judge.

"But there is a wider question. When the Sun creates the news in this way, this is then followed up by Sky News, which then puts pressure on the BBC to follow suit.

"I think this has wide implications for the election, which I think is of wider public concern."

Once again does anyone remember Peter Mandelson getting quite so outraged by The Sun's support for the Labour party at the 1997, 2001, 2001 and 2005 elections? Did Peter Mandelson ever wonder aloud what Labour would have to do for News International as part of that bargain? Did Peter Mandelson ever concern himself with the prospect of The Sun making anti-Conservative news in the past and the effect this would have on Sky News and the BBC?

To paraphrase Shakespeare's Hamlet "The lord doth protest too much, methinks"

"apparently"?

The BBC are still in full defend Gordon Brown mode over The Sun story about his misspelling of Jacqui Janes's name. The BBC head up their piece with the words:

"Gordon Brown apologises to a mother after apparently misspelling the name of her dead soldier son in a letter. "

Take a look at the top of the from The Sun today -
"Apparently"? Surely it is beyond doubt. The BBC go on to report Gordon Brown's second defence:

"Mr Brown said he was sorry "for any unintended mistake", adding that his writing could be "difficult to read". "

Pah!

Meanwhile The Sun have picked up on the Gordon Brown not bowing his head at the Cenotaph on Sunday.

If it's an anti-Brown story then the BBC lead with the defence

ARRSE alerted me this morning to the story in The Sun about Gordon Brown's scribbled and poorly spelt letter to the parents of a dead soldier. Do read The Sun's article and ARRSE's take on the story; there seems to be very little respect for Gordon Brown amongst the military, I wonder why. Meanwhile the BBC lead with the defence

"Downing Street has defended the way the prime minister writes to bereaved families after a dead soldier's mother said Gordon Brown misspelled his name.

Guardsman Jamie Janes, 20, from Brighton, East Sussex, was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan in October.

The Sun newspaper said his mother Jacqui had described Gordon Brown's letter as a "hastily scrawled insult".

Mr Brown has personally contacted Mrs Janes to assure her he did not mean any offence, Downing Street said

In a statement, Number 10 said the prime minister "would never knowingly misspell anyone's name". "

When will the BBC realise that the public have got Gordon Brown sussed; he's a nasty piece of work with little or no respect for the armed forces or indeed much of the traditions of the UK, he's a conman who has destroyed much of the UK through his vanity and delusions of ability.

The Sun deserts the Labour party

The headlines this morning revolve around the Sun newspaper's decision to drop support for Gordon Brown's Labour rabble and start supporting David Cameron's Conservatives. The announcement is being given much coverage because The Sun newspaper likes to portray itself as the paper that decides elections. In truth The Sun follows the electorate as much as it leads them, Rupert Murdoch always likes to be on the winning side but it does have a role to play in helping to mould the perceptions of its readership. Any newspaper that could convince the working man that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were honest decent men could persuade their readership of almost anything.

Labour are claiming that they don't care about the newspapers. Remember this is the political party that set out to control the media agenda from the mid 1990s and only now are finally losing control. "The Grid" is all but a busted flush, just like its masters - Gordon Brown, Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell.


In truth this decision has been a long time coming. Post the 2005 election afterglow, The Sun has been moving from supporting Labour to Conservative since late 2007 and I have been reporting this move here. It started with turning against Gordon Brown as the perception of him changed from prudent economic mastermind to wasteful incompetent.
In November 2007 I blogged

"Today it seems as though the Sun newspaper maybe about to turn on Gordon Brown, the hints have been there before but today that point is noticeably closer."

In March 2008 The Sun was still able to report seriously that:

"GORDON Brown today gives Britain his personal guarantee he will save the nation from financial meltdown....“My guarantee to the British people is that we will hold on to stability in these latest tough times."

In May 2008 I reported on a Trevor Kavanagh Sun column that seemed to echo one of my own and I concluded

"I am glad that Rupert Murdoch's tabloid paper is finally turning against Gordon Brown and the Labour party. Maybe the powers that be realise that Labour are a dead duck party. Read the whole article it's not the article that a Labour supporting paper would carry."

In August 2008 I reported The Sun comments that

"Gordon Brown has a reputation for dithering. He has added to it this week. And by doing so he has made David Cameron look like a credible leader."

In February I blogged that The Sun was about to swap sides and that

"today is not a moment too soon for Mr Brown to say sorry to the British people.

And walk out of Downing Street for good." I concluded "If it was indeed "the Sun what won it" in 1992 then I wonder if it will be again in 2009/2010. "

In March I concluded that

"Rupert Murdoch is moving his forces away from New Labour and that is the biggest signal that he has read the mood of the Country and he is moving to align himself with winners not losers. "

In May I wrote

"The Sun newspaper will never be behind the curve if it can help it so today's article entitled "Give Britain an election... now" is a real end of the line for Gordon Brown and the Labour Party."

Later in May I reported on Nick Robinson's claim that

"The Tory leader has struggled to get much attention for his call for a general election to elect a new Parliament to go along with a new Speaker. This, despite the fact that he is working in partnership with the Sun. "

In June I blogged about another Trevor Kavanagh article that included this call

"If you are a jaded but loyal Labour supporter, sitting on your backside is a form of protest, too. But as this newspaper argues today, the best way to get your message home - at least on Europe - is by using your ballot paper and voting Tory."

Finally in June I blogged about The Sun's reporting of the chaos as the heart of the Labour government

"George Pascoe-Watson has really turned on Labour with today's piece:

"LABOUR was in chaos over spending last night after accusing the Tories of planning cuts — only to admit they will have to do the same.

Children’s secretary Ed Balls said Labour would INCREASE spending on schools and hospitals after 2011 by cutting payments to other areas like defence.

But he was slapped down by one of his own Cabinet colleagues — with Deputy Chancellor Liam Byrne saying Mr Balls had no “crystal ball” and was WRONG to make the guarantee.

The amazing clash came as Labour was accused of LYING over its plans. "

The Sun and Labour

George Pascoe-Watson has really turned on Labour with today's piece:

"LABOUR was in chaos over spending last night after accusing the Tories of planning cuts — only to admit they will have to do the same.

Children’s secretary Ed Balls said Labour would INCREASE spending on schools and hospitals after 2011 by cutting payments to other areas like defence.

But he was slapped down by one of his own Cabinet colleagues — with Deputy Chancellor Liam Byrne saying Mr Balls had no “crystal ball” and was WRONG to make the guarantee.

The amazing clash came as Labour was accused of LYING over its plans. "

Do read it all.

The Sun have taken the next step

I have commented a few times before about The Sun newspaper's role in determining UK election winners and how the paper seemed to moving ever closer to saying vote Conservative. Today Trevor Kavanagh advises:

"YOU want a general election? You want Gordon Brown out?

...

The way you vote - or don't vote - on Thursday will decide the fate of this failed Prime Minister and the timing of the General Election.

It will determine whether we have a clean break and a fresh start - or another disastrous year of scandal and economic paralysis.

This is not just about greedy politicians. It is about the failure to govern - the unwillingness to address the crises of unemployment, immigration, crime, MRSA - and a TRILLION Pounds of unaffordable debt.

Another 12 months of hard Labour is an intolerable prospect for most voters.

This week offers "the little people" a rare chance to do something about it.

So it's up to you and me. We don't have to put up with this wasteful, incompetent, blundering Government any longer.

All we have to do is turn out and vote ABL - "Anything But Labour".

The beauty of it is that you don't even need to vote at all.

If you are a jaded but loyal Labour supporter, sitting on your backside is a form of protest, too. But as this newspaper argues today, the best way to get your message home - at least on Europe - is by using your ballot paper and voting Tory.

Gordon Brown betrayed us all by promising a referendum on the hated EU Constitution - then reneging on that promise.

...

The mood of voters is souring fast against the European Union - and not just in Britain.

...

For Gordon Brown, the war could soon be over. "

Is it true, could Gordon Brown be soon on his way to well deserved ignominy?

Nick Robinson - an interesting choice of words

The BBC's Nick Robinson has an interesting choice of words in his latest piece entitled "Back-slapping". The article begins:

"There will be much back-slapping in David Cameron's office this afternoon.

The Tory leader has struggled to get much attention for his call for a general election to elect a new Parliament to go along with a new Speaker. This, despite the fact that he is working in partnership with the Sun. "

"Working in partnership with the Sun"? I Assume he means "The Sun" newspaper rather than the Sun (the star at the centre of our solar system) but if so that is an interesting accusation to make - "in partnership". Why does Nick Robinson think this? Who has told him this is the case? Is it true or is it another case of Number 10 paranoia?

The Sun catches the zeitgeist

The Sun newspaper will never be behind the curve if it can help it so today's article entitled "Give Britain an election... now" is a real end of the line for Gordon Brown and the Labour Party. The piece is not a long one so I have reproduced it in its entirety:

"POLITICIANS finally got the message yesterday.

Voters have had enough of this Government, enough of greedy MPs, enough of a Commons Speaker who has turned the Mother of Parliaments into the mother of all shyster politicians.

The word on the street was loud and clear: We want an election and we want one now.

That message was hammered home as voters across the land slammed doors in the face of any MP who dared set foot on their doorsteps.

Nobody — Labour, Tory or Lib Dem — was spared.

Woe betide Gordon Brown if he ignores these angry voices.

The revelations of recent days have changed the weather.

We are rudderless and adrift in dangerous seas with nobody at the helm, a crew of discredited MPs and a Speaker who has lost all authority.

The Government is paralysed in the face of urgent and momentous challenges.

We cannot risk delay. We cannot wait another year.

There is only one way to save our debauched parliamentary democracy.

Useless Speaker Michael Martin must step down — now, not at the next election.

Every Member of Parliament must face the jury of public opinion, win the support of their constituency and put their case to the voters.

Honest ones have little to fear. Cheats deserve what is coming.

Tory leader David Cameron has consistently called for an early election.

Let’s hear that again, David.

Time is running out. In a year’s time, the EU will have signed and sealed the wretched Constitution.

A general election is your last chance to stop it. Eight out of 10 voters want a referendum. Labour promised one and then betrayed us.

If your candidate won’t support a vote, don’t give him yours.

Oliver Cromwell was a bloodthirsty tyrant, but he got it right in 1653.

He told the discredited Rump Parliament: “It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice.

“Ye are enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

“Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!”

The rest is history."

I think this Rupert Murdoch owned newspaper has decided who will be the next Prime Minister and will throw its weight behind David Cameron.

Do as we say not as we do (part xxx)

The Sun's Whip reports that:

"THE WHIP is contacted by a source who works for the company involved in the G20 Summit being held at Excel in London’s Canning Town next month.

“Although smoking is banned within work places in the UK and has been a vigorously enforced Labour policy, it is being allowed at the G20 summit – indeed, there is a smoking lounge,” he reports."

Why am I not surprised at this Labour government being somewhat hypocritical?

The Sun and Gordon Brown

The Sun have the knives out for Gordon Brown.

In February I blogged that:

"Rupert Murdoch likes winners, that's why he swapped from Conservative to Labour prior to 1997 and why the Sun (and to a lesser degree The Times) has been shifting away from Labour over recent months. Today Trevor Kavanagh has an article that is the closest yet to a call to vote Conservative - it's actually a call for Gordon Brown to resign:

"WHY is Gordon Brown still Prime Minister?

After the events of last week, why has he not resigned? And if he won’t go of his own accord, how long before he is hounded out by voters whose homes, pensions and jobs he’s put in peril?"

Today I see that The Sun have a piece by Trevor Kavanagh:

"IT’S bad enough when senior Cabinet ministers line up to tell Gordon Brown to say sorry.

It’s worse when his instructions to stop leaking such hurtful stories are plastered all over the following day’s papers.

But when ex-minister Peter Hain pops up with helpful advice on winning an election, Gordon must surely know Labour are doomed.

His stricken, rudderless Government is falling apart at the seams and heading for oblivion. Half the Cabinet could end up as ex-MPs.

We may be about to witness the total eclipse of a domineering political clique after 13 years of unbridled power.

For the surviving rump, the only question is who will lead once Gordon is gone.

Those jostling to succeed are outnumbered only by others trying to ensure they are on the side of the winner.

Brazen Harriet Harman was first out of the traps and there can’t be a political journalist in the land who isn’t silently muttering, “Go, Hattie, go!”

If this really is “her moment”, we’ll never be short of a juicy story from the Hattie House of Horrors.

Never willingly undersold, she has even begun describing herself as Deputy Prime Minister, perhaps hoping to convey an aura of entitlement. Sadly, a new poll shows she is as unpopular with her own party as she deserves to be. But Harriet has tapped into a resurgence of the Labour Left, where her views on “wimmin” and “social justice” strike a chord.

With Tony Blair’s champagne socialism leaving a sour taste, there is a growing appetite for the real thing.

The fight for the leadership will be a titanic struggle between Old and New Labour. "

Go and read the whole piece and pay special attention to its ending:

"Flying home from Washington last week, the PM turned on journalists who asked him to apologise for his part in the Great Recession. But once Gordon started saying sorry, where would he stop? Would he apologise for turning Britain into a giant welfare state, with 12million adults dependent on taxpayers, either for their salary or benefit?

Is he sorry for opening the door to millions of unchecked migrants now in cut-throat competition for British jobs?

Is he sorry for selling off our gold at rock-bottom prices and wrecking private pension savings while bloating the public sector’s.

Will he apologise for refusing to build nuclear power stations? Or new prisons to hold those dangerous criminals now roaming free?

Does he regret the failure of schools to educate our youngsters properly for the tough times ahead?

No. After 12 years in charge, he can’t say sorry.

That would be to confess Labour has misspent more than a decade in power.

Yes, I know.

But once Gordon put his hands up, the only honest course of action would be to call an immediate election.

Kicking out this tired, tatty Government is precisely what Britain needs. And it is precisely why Gordon won’t give us the chance. "

Rupert Murdoch is moving his forces away from New Labour and that is the biggest signal that he has read the mood of the Country and he is moving to align himself with winners not losers.

The Sun may be about to swap sides in preparation for the next election

Rupert Murdoch likes winners, that's why he swapped from Conservative to Labour prior to 1997 and why the Sun (and to a lesser degree The Times) has bee shifting away from Labour over recent months. Today Trevor Kavanagh has an article that is the closest yet to a call to vote Conservative - it's actually a call for Gordon Brown to resign:

"WHY is Gordon Brown still Prime Minister?

After the events of last week, why has he not resigned? And if he won’t go of his own accord, how long before he is hounded out by voters whose homes, pensions and jobs he’s put in peril?

After all, he sacked his multi-millionaire banking pal and key adviser Sir James Crosby the moment he was exposed as a dud.

Yet Crosby’s offence — destroying bank giant HBOS — pales by comparison with Mr Brown’s sins and omissions.

The career of Sir James, knighted by the PM and handed a top job at the shambolic Financial Services Authority (FSA), is a mirror image of Gordon’s.

He was the bullying intellectual powerhouse behind the spectacular rise and fall of HBOS.

He ruthlessly exploited weakness in his opponents and brooked no criticism.

And he ignored warnings from his own whistleblower that he was taking too many risks with other people’s money.

Crosby pressed ahead regardless, leaving HBOS a crippled wreck and taxpayers with the £17billion tab for his reckless incompetence.

How did he land HBOS in such a mess — leaving Britain needlessly exposed to the worst of the world’s economic meltdowns?

Sure, this recession is global. Yes, it started in America.

But there are many countries, unlike the UK, where prudently regulated banks will still be standing when it’s all over.

We’ll be paying huge bills long after everyone else has pulled out of this slump.

The seeds were sown by Mr Brown on his first day as Chancellor, when he handed the Bank of England control over inflation — but took away their role as City watchdog.

In a fatal error, he shared out that task between the bank, the Treasury and the new but toothless FSA. Nobody was in charge of this clattering train.

Bank governor Eddie George warned Brown was putting the economy at risk of “systemic failure” — bank jargon for “boom and bust”.

Like Sir James Crosby, the Chancellor ignored him.

Instead, he threw open the casino, welcomed the biggest losers in UK banking history — and gave them our money to play with.

Tories accuse Mr Brown of failing to fix the roof when the sun was shining.

It was much worse.

He demolished the load-bearing walls and propped up the rafters with broomsticks.

Why? Because he wanted those City high-rollers set free to make billions for Labour’s binge on public services.

Even the timid FSA saw the risk. Each year from 2002 it warned Crosby that HBOS and other banks were over-lending.

Did Gordon know? Like Sauron in Lord Of The Rings, the Chancellor watched everything that moved on the economy.

In June 2006 — before Northern Rock crashed in flames — the Bank of England briefed journalists that High Street lenders did not have enough in the kitty to balance their books. Any jolt to the economy could bring disaster.

The Chancellor, who received regular Bank updates, would have known this far sooner than a bunch of newsmen.

Yet, as HBOS headed for the buffers, he knighted Crosby and made him deputy chairman of the FSA... the fox in charge of the hen coop.

When that “jolt” arrived with the credit crunch it was Crosby who persuaded Mr Brown to put up £100billion of our cash to bail out the banks — including his old firm HBOS.

It was Crosby who urged Gordon to bully Lloyds TSB into a catastrophic merger to save HBOS.

Lloyds was Britain’s only really solid bank. Today it is just another wreck, dragged to the bottom by the dead weight of HBOS.

Thanks to Gordon Brown, taxpayers face losses and liabilities worth countless billions. Take in the Royal Bank of Scotland and the sums escalate into trillions.

Co-conspirator Ed Balls predicts we will be paying that off for the next FIFTEEN years.

If that’s true, today is not a moment too soon for Mr Brown to say sorry to the British people.

And walk out of Downing Street for good."

If it was indeed "the Sun what won it" in 1992 then I wonder if it will be again in 2009/2010.

A scroungers charter

The Sun are shocked to report that

"A SECRET dossier on how to cheat your way through Britain has been published for Poles heading to the UK.

The spongers’ guide shows how to dodge electricity bills, rent flats for free, pay no tax and swindle insurance companies because British laws are “too soft”.

The cheats’ charter – published in the Polish media this week – was compiled after researching the most successful scams with Poles already living in Britain.

The scams include:

- Not paying rent once they move in as tenancy laws mean it will be months before they’re evicted. In the meantime the property is sublet to more Poles.

- Opening electricity and gas accounts with bogus personal details.

- Claiming your mobile phone has been stolen. Once the insurers pay out, the cheats pocket the cash and sell the phone back home in Poland for a £100 profit."

How despicable, producing a guide as to how to cheat the system. What sort of person would do that? Gordon Brown for one, as I blogged last year

"Gordon Brown published a scrounger’s charter while at university, offering students tips on how to freeload and claim benefits. His 200-page survival guide, Alternative Edinburgh, openly encouraged students to “use and abuse” the Welfare State.

“If you’re British and can give an address, free money is available from social security, basic £5.80 per week,” he wrote.

Social and medical benefits are your right, not charity hand-outs, so never be reticent about claiming them.” Mr Brown, who wrote the guide when he was 22 and a student leader at Edinburgh University, also tells students how to obtain a free meal at a hotel: “Con your way to asking for a glass of water or sit beside drinkers and they will feed you for nothing.”"

A question for Gordon Brown's next press conference?

Gordon "Courage" Brown

The Sun has this morning had "a pop" at Gordon Brown. In a piece entitled "Where's Gord?" asks:

"WHEN David Cameron arrives in Georgia today he will be the first major British politician to visit the small, democratic country being systematically trashed by the mighty Russian bear.

Some will accuse him of being an opportunist. After all, what can he do to help solve the conflict? How many battalions does he command?

But at least the Tory leader is taking a strong stand against increasing Russian belligerence.

And this was made all the more urgent by last night’s chilling warning from a senior Russian general that Poland — a member of Nato — has become a nuclear target since daring to allow America to build an anti-missile system on its land.

This escalation in tension only makes the question more urgent: Where on earth are Gordon Brown and his Foreign Secretary David Miliband?

It was only AFTER the Tory leader had been on the airwaves on Monday that Mr Brown issued a brief statement.

And again on Tuesday the Prime Minister recorded a brief TV clip AFTER David Cameron had already spoken out at a televised press conference. That was almost FIVE DAYS after the conflict had begun.

The Government has been made to look weak. Not because of anything David Cameron has done, but because of what Downing Street HASN’T done.

It is reasonable to ask where our Prime Minister is . . .

As French President Nicolas Sarkozy flits between Moscow and the Georgian capital Tbilisi, hammering out a peace deal.

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits the two warring countries.

As American Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice races between European capitals and the region trying to rein in the out-of-control Russians.

As President Bush orders humanitarian supplies into beleaguered Georgia and makes daily statements from the White House Rose Garden.

We cannot imagine Tony Blair taking such a low key role if the old Cold War had threatened to rise from the grave during his watch.

He would have been the FIRST to rally our allies, the FIRST to order in aid, the FIRST to speak out against Russian aggression.

Gordon Brown has a reputation for dithering. He has added to it this week. And by doing so he has made David Cameron look like a credible leader.

It is time Mr Brown shook his reputed “clunking fist” in Russia’s face as it threatens the world’s peaceful and prosperous future."

I have highlighted the key sentence. It would appear that The Sun has decided that, as it has to be on the winning side at the next election, it must move from Labour and Gordon Brown to David Cameron and the Conservatives.

More on VED

Today's Simon Mayo programme, from about 1 minute in you can hear the the piece on the changes to VED and if you want to hear the most pathetic excuses then Angela Eagle tries to avoid answering the point that I made here then you must listen a lot further...

In the same segment you can hear The Sun's Trevor Kavanagh is interviewed about the matter and at 8:17 calls retrospective taxation as near to unlawful certainly immoral, "taxation without representation". I think The Sun may be about to take the step of following the prevailing wind and turning against Gordon Brown and his government.


For a transcript of the most interesting part of the Angela Eagle interview I can heartily recommend this link, well it is mine.