Au revoir once again!

So I have said my final farewells to both of my daughters and my grandson, once again it was a case of unpacking my bags before I could pack them again, and the fridge is empty.
Off to bed soon so I will wish you all the very best for the next three weeks, may the sun continue to shine upon you all, although I know my mother wants rain to fill her water barrels.
Till we meet again - au revoir!

Last day's blogging.

As some of you will know this is my last day at home so blogging will be a bit hit'n'miss as I run around trying to do all the things I meant to get done during this leave.
Whilst you are waiting for my next post I will leave you with some fantastic images of Spring on Mars from the Indy.
Enjoy the rest of the day I might be too busy to do that!

Bercow beats Beckett.

So John Bercow has been elected as the new Speaker for the House of Commons, another piece of party politicing chicanery from NuLabor, having failed to get OGUL's nominee Hanging Baskets Beckett into the job.
Perhaps I am being unfair to the man, I should at least see how he conducts his first PMQs, but I have that feeling the better man lost in the finally ballot last night.

The FO did fail them, whilst OGUL lied!

James Denselow piece in the Guardian's CIF site concerning the reporting of the return of the bodies of two of the five hostages kidnapped in May 2007, with the insinuation that it was wrong of the Indy to headline it's front page article "Failed by the Foreign Office", and the complexity of hostage negations in Iraq raises an interesting point.
The Indy was right to say the FCO had failed the families of the hostages, staff from that office of our state should have been "hand holding" these unfortunate families, even if they had nothing to tell them they should have maintained open lines of communications with the hostages relatives.
That is where the FCO has fallen down on it's duty of care.
Where Mr. Denselow piece gets really interesting is in the penultimate paragraph -

"Rather than any failure by the FCO or their associated negotiations team, the real story is the disconnect between Brown's claim of regular briefings with the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and high levels of co-operation between the two governments, and Maliki's spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh's claim that the Iraqi government was not involved."

Now who do you think is telling the truth over this?
It would appear OGUL's lying knows no bounds especially where human life is at stake.

Is the Footsie trying to tell us something?

I have been watching with some interest the dropping Footsie this morning. I cannot think of anything that might spook the markets this Monday morning.
So are dealers on to something we should all know about?

Drano Drops?

Whilst having a wander this morning I came across an intriguing post headline that led me off to see what it was all about.
So if you see any footage of US forces coughing/spluttering with tears running down their eyes in Afghanistan or Iraq, it's not the effects of CS gas but our humble Fisherman's Friends!
I also liked the response from Hugo on another post in reply to one Yank's observation about the number of teabags in our compo rations -

"We run on hot brew and biscuits"

Regime change - Praiseworthy!

Bruce Anderson's eloquent arguing for the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war announced by OGUL sickens me.
Regime change is praiseworthy?
Excuse me Mr. Anderson if regime change is such a praiseworthy enterprise why are you not calling upon OGUL to do the same in Zimbabwe?
After all Robert Mugabe is inflicting as much pain and suffering on his people as we saw Saddam doing when he was in charge in Iraq. Also OGUL is supposed to be leading the fight against poverty on the African continent and what more praiseworthy way of doing it than removing Zimbabwe's present dictator.
No Mr. Anderson we need something like the South African Truth & Reconciliation hearings to cleanse the Iraqi stain from our democracy. I would like to see Tony Wots His Name and the other NuLabor tonks that took us into the Iraq war answer one question in public -

"Did you take this country into this war using deceit, half-truths and fixing legal opinion, and you may only answer Yes or No bearing in mind you are under oath, and if you are found to have perjured yourself you will be delivered to the Hague? "

Stitching up the Irish?

Daniel Hannan (he of the fantastic critique of OGUL at the EU Parliament which became a YouTube hit) is right to point out that Brian Cowen (Eire's leader) is returning to Dublin with just a vague promise to allay the fears of his electorate about the Lisbon Constitution, and nothing set in stone to prevent the EU leaders reneging.
Once again I will re-state my happiness to be in a common market with our European trading partners but not a political federation. So if you want my vote Mr. Cameron stick to your promises and do not turn out to be just another deceitful politician!

Druids, the Media and Stonehenge - they're all wrong!

As any self-respect Celt will know it is not the Summer Solstice that is to be celebrated but the exact opposite - it's the Winter Solstice.
Or should I say sunrise on Decembre 22nd should be the date remembered, from personal experience I prefer celebrating the Winter Solstice at Avebury henge, but whichever henge you decide to practice at wrap up warmly!
Melanie McDonagh is right to point out that St. John's Eve is a more traditional festival in this country. So just tell your boss you won't be in Wednesday as you will be recovering from St. John's Eve!

OGUL just can't help himself.

Like a junkie who is constantly involved in the desperate search for his next fix, or the liar who will continue to argue his Big Lie in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, so OGUL cannot help himself from trying to fix the election of the new Speaker of the House of Commons for party advantage.
Margaret Beckett with all her questionable expenses claims would be no better a choice for Speaker than old Airmiles Martin was.
It was because old Airmiles was "one of them" a fellow MP, a Labour MP to boot with all their clannish tendencies, that caused all the problems in the first place.
Perhaps the Speaker should be someone from outside of Parliament, maybe appointed by the Queen, or even elected by ourselves!

DAB another money making scam foisted upon us?

When DAB radios first came out the price put me off even trying the medium, since then prices have fallen to the level where I did invest in a DAB set from ASDA, and mightily have I been disappointed with it. So much so it now resides somewhere under my bed in it's original box with the threat of eBay hanging over it.
I discovered it could not pick up a signal from inside my cabin, basically a steel box with two windows in it, yet my old FM set would happily find any station I wanted. Then I found out it would not pick up anything over on the continent - at all! The final straw was the quality of sound and reception when I could get it to operate.
So I agree with Libby Purves this morning about it being a con, conspiracy theorist I am I think it was a sneaky collusion between manufacturers who wanted to force us into buying these useless sets and the government who saw the selling off of the vacated airwaves as another money making scam to foist onto us.
I think DAB should be read as Don't Anyone Buy!

Mandy our very own EU Quisling?

I always thought that the Prince of Darkness's return to UK politics was a strange move, it was like the boss of BT with the pay and perks deciding he was going to pack it all in to work as a shelf stacker in Netto because he wanted to be near his mate Gordong, it just did not add up.
Now I am beginning to believe the conspiracy theories going about that really Mandy has only come back on Tony Wots His Name's urging to make sure the Lisbon Constitution gets thru Parliament. Which in turn would help TWHN's ambitions to get the EU presidency.
Having read William Rees-Mogg piece over at TimesOnLine I am becoming more and more convinced Mandy is selling us the British public out, and is prepared to ruin the Labour party for his true masters in Strasbourg.

Father's Day - I hope you had a good one!

Just got back home from a very pleasant Father's Day out with my two daughters and grandson. It started at 4am this morning when my grandson who was staying over with me decided that it was a good time to get up to greet this special day.
Then whilst we were playing in the park at 7am my eldest rang up to wish me a happy Father's Day and to invite me to lunch. This proved to be beef medallions with cauliflower cheese, green beans, roast spuds and of course Yorkshire pud!
We all then went out for a walk around Ponty race course, calling in at a local hostelry for some liquid refreshments, and for once I didn't have to put my hand in my pocket. Although knowing my two I will pay for it in the long run.
After saying good bye to them all I arrived home to find someone had sneaked in and done all my ironing! All rounded off by a very entertaining episode of Last of the Summer Wine.
Well I hope you all had an enjoyable day regardless of if you are a father or not.

OGUL's big brownie splitting the Balls?

The Spectator's Fraser Nelson, who helped uncover OGUL's big brownie over "NuLabor investments v Tory cuts", reports on tensions inside the Cabinet over this.
As Mr. Nelson reports Blinky is so much OGUL's toady that he will willingly push his Master's BIG LIE with-out so much as blinking about the deceit behind it. Whereas Mrs. Balls was one of those questioning OGUL's strategy over this.
So is the ball bag about to split?

Songs of Praise, but not as we know it Jim!

The blatant bias towards NuLabor from the Beeb has now hit a new low with reports that OGUL is to appear on Songs of Praise next month.
OGUL will be appearing in a special edition focusing on courage, is someone at the Beeb extracting the urine over this?
This from the Fifeshire Feartie who has not even shown he has enough personal courage to attend a single returning fallen heroes body from any of the two wars he was involved in starting, let alone contaminating such a godly programme with his deceitfulness.

"I'll take you down with me!"

The Observer tells us this morning that Tony Whats His Name was instrumental in getting OGUL to announce the Iraq war inquiry would be held in private scared that he might actually have to tell the truth under oath.
What the feck is going on here?
Has TWHN really left No. 10, or is he running it by remote control?
With the history of feuding between TWHN & OGUL I would have expected OGUL to use the Iraq inquiry to shaft TWHN. So good old Tony must have some real dirt on OGUL to be able to get him to make the sort of announcement he did!
Evidence of who was the fourth homosexual in TWHN's first Cabinet perhaps?

Remploy, a stain on this Labour Government.

Deborah Orr over on the Indy highlights the scandal of a Labour Government rewarding the bosses of Remploy with nice fat juicy bonuses whilst closing down more Remploy factories.
Anyone with a bit of common sense and modicum of financial understanding would know that the Remploy factories would never be a massively profitable operation. However they would give the employees, the disabled and disadvantaged members of our workforce, a sense of purpose and pride in their being in work.
Something no accountant could put onto any spreadsheet or business plan to justify the extra cost of keeping these workers in employment. Yet I would have thought it was a founding principle of the Labour Party to help workers regardless of their disabilities.
The most shameful Labour Government we have ever had? I leave you to make up your own minds.

Lindsey to be OGUL's Orgreave?

Not many people noted that Thursday was the 25th anniversary of the industrial action at Orgreave coking plant in South Yorkshire during the Miner's Strike.
Seen as a major political and ideological victory for Margaret Thatcher, then PM and leader of the Conservative Party, it was seen as the defining moment in British industrial relations whilst the miners defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement.
Although Mrs. Dale seems to think it was her contribution to the abolition of the Dock Labour Scheme in 1989 that played a more significant part in smashing the unions in this country under Maggie than the earlier Miner's Strike!
Whichever event you use as a baseline the one constant was Maggie's involvement in both actions, probably the strongest PM we have had since Winston Churchill, instead of the Fifeshire Feartie we now have at the helm.
So it is very much tongue in cheek I suggest the escalating strike at Lindsey might be OGUL's Orgreave - I hope it's his grave instead!

7/7 - Now Andy Hayman calls for a public inquiry!

Well it is good to see my old sparing partner Andy Hayman, former A/C Specialist Operations at the Met, is calling for a public inquiry into the London bombings on July 7th 2005.
Finally seen the light!
Or is this another example of how weak this government is perceived to be that even former members of the Establishment who have an axe to grind with NuLabor are prepared to come out into the open now?
Although I do hope Mr. Hayman's call for a public inquiry are based upon a real desire for the truth, also that we might finally see some movement on this.

Guardian - Health Warning!

Just like our government insists on there being health warnings on our cigarette packets there should be a health warning about the Guardian today; it carries an interview with OGUL, which I'm not going to even bother to read as I do not want to be sick, nor sent my blood pressure higher than it already is!
Instead I had a quick look at what Seumas Milne had to say over it, as I thought OGUL does not come out of it as a man with principles that he is prepared to stand up for, more likely a self-serving, popularity seeking, amoral party freak who should never have been allowed to get into No. 11 Downing Street let alone follow that by getting the key to the door at No. 10.
So if you do have a strong stomach do read the Guardian's interview, otherwise steer clear for your health's sake.

OGUL & McBride, the siamese lying twins joined at the hips.

Peter Hoskin over on the Coffee House blog alerts us that OGUL's Smear-Master-in-chief, the poisonous toady Damian McBride, is still in touch with his Lordship, despite OGUL telling the House of Commons that he was not.
It would appear that our PM is more happy lying than ever admitting the truth, his father must be crying up at that manse in the sky every time his son opens his mouth.
What sort of example is he setting his children, let alone the rest of the country, and do you think Sarah makes him wash his mouth out with salt water before he is allowed near her every day?

PS
It would appear I am not the only blogger who thinks OGUL is a lying amoral scum, TheFatBigot Opines about it much better than I could, so do have a read of his post.

Purging the Iraqi poison.

Steve Richards over at the Indy misses the central point when he dismisses the need for an open inquiry into the Iraq war, whilst still having a go at OGUL's weakness in government.
I was in South Africa when they had the Truth and Reconciliation hearings going, whilst there were horror stories coming out from both sides, it was fascinating to see the effects this was having on the public at large.
You could actually feel the healing effect this was having bringing it all out into the open. Also I think the election of Nelson Mandela, with his vision of hope for the country, helped speed this process up.
So the Iraq inquiry needs to be our own Truth and Reconciliation moment, anything less will leave this poison festering in our democracy, when for once the establishment proves to us it is not frightened by the truth being told in public.

Half baked NuLabor?

As Libby Purves observes in her column at the TimesOnLine NuLabor's attempts at reforming the House of Lords has been half baked to say the least. Now with OGUL deciding to by-pass us the electorate and just appoint his lackeys to the upper House it is almost bordering on criminality.
However Ms. Purves's view of NuLabor policy in the upper House can be extended to virtually their whole reign over us. Most of their legislation has been knee jerked onto the statute book and only then do we see the flaws in these new laws.
Policy making has been done on the back of a fag packet to accommodate the previous day's headlines. I'm afraid historians will look back on NuLabor's time in office as the most half baked we have ever had!

The Grimsby pickle man.

I always thought Austin Mitchell was a light weight person when he was a reporter on one of the local news programmes up here, so I did not have much hope for his constituents in Grimsby when he became their local MP.
Following him in the TimesOnLine he has remained his usual flippant self, more a clown always playing to the crowd than a serious MP. His latest offering on his part in the MPs expenses scandal shows he still thinks he knows best, and still fails to understand the disgust not only his constituents but the public at large feel towards MPs.
It's no good protesting you've paid the money back, it should never have been taken from our pockets in the first place Mr. Mitchell! I hope the good people of Grimsby decide you need more time to enjoy your pickles washed down with whiskey behind your security blinds the sooner the better.

The chipmunk lives to be squashed another day.

So Hazel Blears survived a bid to have her de-selected as NuLabor trougher for Salford last night. Now the good voters of Salford will have to do what the local NuLabor party failed to do, by throwing the flipping trougher out at the next general election.
As the Beeb notes not all those who turned up at the meeting were eligible to vote. I wonder if the results would have been different if it was one member one vote?

Brown outs this summer?

From the oil refinery site that took OGUL's "British Jobs 4 British Workers" boast to it's heart we now have an escalating dispute over job loses there, which has led to about 900 workers being sacked.
How soon will it be before this spreads to other sites around the country? Although I have yet to see evidence of sympathy coming from fellow workers, but as we saw over the "British Jobs 4 British Workers" strike most of the secondary action was at power plants around the country.
So if we do see strikes affecting electricity generation stations will we also see electricity rationing in the form of brown outs?

Update

Well it appears that things are spreading with secondary action kicking off at a number of sites around the country. Personally my sympathies are with the strikers, not because a French company Total is involved, but because I think it does boil down to the bosses trying to screw the good old British worker and taking advantage of the recession.
Gregor Gall writes about it over on CIF at the Guardian; whilst one of the commentators, robbinghood, makes some very valid points which are well worth reading.

OGUL's electoral reforms and Legal Aid?

I had been mulling over doing a post on the TimesOnline's piece about NuLabor forcing the reverse auction procedure onto the Legal Aid programme all day yesterday.
Not because I am concerned about the diminishing Legal Aid funds in this country, with the affect it will have on the less fortunate members of our society. By the way can anyone tell me if this will only apply south of the border? As I'm just worried it's another example of the Fifeshire Feartie stuffing us English - again!
Nor was it because the reverse auction, where the winner is the one tending the lowest not the highest bid, has already had a bad effect on end-of-life and dementia care for the elderly in London where the NHS has already used this shady practice.
There was something else nagging me about it ...
Then I got it just as I was woken up by that bloody magpie that seems to have swallowed an alarm clock and always lets rip near my bedroom window at 5am!
It's like OGUL's investments that he keeps on about where really the lying, two faced son of the manse means the exact opposite. I can see it now in relation to his announcement on wanting to make changes to the electoral system.
A reverse first past the post system where the party polling the least votes gets elected. Having read the chicken entrails OGUL knows that where NuLabor are headed under his stewardship. Also it would really wrong foot David Cameron!

Pot, kettle and the colour black.

The saying "it's like the pot calling the kettle black" immediately sprang to mind when I read that Lord Butler, of the whitewash 2004 WMD inquiry, is calling for a more open/public inquiry into the Iraq war than the brownwashing one OGUL announced.
Even Lord Hutton who led the walk-in-the-woods Dr. Kelly inquiry has joined in with a call for more openness.
On another level it does show how much contempt OGUL is now held in, if even these two "establishment" figures question his announcements.

It started in America.

It would appear that even our cousins across the pond have wised up to the fact that OGUL was a crap chancellor, and he was responsible for the financial troubles we now find ourselves in.
The Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal rather firmly pins the tail on our economic donkey of an ex-chancellor regarding his part in the recession hitting us now. So the truth is out across the pond, let us hope that it spreads to the voting public here in the UK.
The WSJ also reports how OGUL's financial feck-up is affecting some of our Olympic hopefuls in the run up to the 2012. Although I'm sure if challenged upon this OGUL would tell us "investment" in our Olympic team is being increased year on year under his government!

Sprouts off the menu on HMS Bulwark.

The Daily T reports this morning that Captain Keble, RN commander of the assault ship HMS Bulwark has banned Bruxelle sprouts from the ship's menu, believing them to be "the devil's vegetable".
I would not agree with Commander Keble on this as I love sprouts but they must be cooked properly, just on the soft side of crisp, with scraps of cooked smoked bacon mixed in with them.
Off course being on watch afterwards can be an airy experience!

Et tu Ed?

Whilst I can understand General Sir Richard Dannatt, the army chief at the top of our general staff, being concerned that OGUL's secret Iraq inquiry will not clear the poison from our democracy. Also that it was amazing a man in his position and with his experiences was not even consulted by OGUL about this inquiry.
What really surprises me is seeing Blinky Balls apparently speaking out against his Master's voice by saying he would prefer a more open inquiry. Also he seems to be distancing himself from some of the decisions atken at the time.
Has Blinky finally realized that being linked so closely with OGUL is a political death sentence. and is he now beginning to position himself for after the general election?

Blair tortured over policy.

It would appear that Tony Wots His Name allowed our secret services a moral "get out of jail free" card with regard to the torture of terrorist detainees held by other country's counter-terrorist forces.
The Guardian reveals a letter linked to No. 10 when TWHN was in power that stating whilst our MI5 & MI6 officers must not torture themselves they were to turn a blind eye if those they were being questioned were being tortured.
So once again TWHN is revealed as being a lying, two faced NuLabor toad and the sooner he is put on trial to face war crimes charges the better.
I wonder if now that OGUL has announced his behind closed doors/blinkered Iraq inquiry we will see a drip drip of embarrassing titbits for NuLabor over Iraq?
Well we are back home again now, so hopefully blogging will be back to normal.

Same old Fifeshire Feartie brownwashing the Iraq inquiry.

Well my prayers were not answered, I even ended up with a touch of sun stroke on the top of my head where the old hair is getting a bit thin, but managed to get everything done in the garden for my mother.
So the Fifeshire Feartie never changes it's spots, we had all sorts of promises about turning over a new leaf, more openness in government. Then he goes and spoils it all by showing his old self, announcing the Iraq war inquiry will be in private.
This is going to re-ignite a lot of the anger felt over the original decision to go into Iraq. One wonders who advised OGUL on this decision, but knowing OGUL I think it's another of his petty party political decisions.
One I hope he will come to regret.

Blogging

Blogging will be a bit light today and the next couple days till I get back oop north - got a jobs list as long as your arm from my mother, with most of them in the garden.
Hope it rains, or at least just here!

Global cooling?

The Daily T this morning carries an editorial warning us that global cooling might affect this year's crop yields with the knock on effect of rising food prices once again.
It would also appear the low activity of sun spots might have some affect on the abnormal weather conditions being seen all around the globe.
However what I like about the Telegraph's editoral is the punch line concerning the EU -
"And the EU, we must always remember, is now our government – the one most of us didn't vote for last week."
A nice little dig at our main political parties not giving us a chance to comment on the EU Constitution, sorry I meant "treaty".

The West Lothian question unanswered.

With all of OGUL's latest slipperiness on political reforms, Tom Watson's sudden longing for PR, there remains one problem facing our democracy that has not been announced for reform - the good old West Lothian question.
Or to put it another way the power of Scottish MPs to effect our lives south of the border, and also keep NuLabor in power.
Once again OGUL shows his anti-English side.

Shrink to survive?

Interesting proposal coming from America that cities need to shrink to survive in these changed economic circumstances.
It has started in Flint, sixty miles north of Detroit in the Mid West state of Michigan. Where the local government has been buying up abandoned homes, knocking them down to return the land to nature.
I can not see it catching on here as we seem to build more substantial homes than our American cousins. However if NuLabor did decided to knock some of the Tory controlled cities down in revenge for the local election results they could again say it started in America!

Iraq inquiry.

We had rain down here in Cornwall to end the night just after my mother had been around watering everything! Nice morning sat here now on the balcony with my PowerBook balanced on my knees. Crows are the noisy ones this morning.
I hope DC is going to read the mood of the public correctly like he did with the MP's expenses scandal, with calls for the Iraq war inquiry to be a public one being voiced. Hague seems to be saying the Tories will be happy with a Franks style one like the Falklands one.
However I think nothing less than a full and open inquiry will purge this poison from our country's politics.

Mandy shows who is the real boss.

Well we made it safely down to Cornwall, a bit later than I expected, as we just got to Exeter to be greeted by the overhead matrix signs telling us the A30 was closed! So we ended up getting here via the A38 and Plymouth.
Coming down in the car I had to put up with Radio One, however I was surprised to hear this "pop" channel reporting Mandy's warning to OGUL about a possible threat this autumn.
I wonder if this was the Prince of Darkness just reminding OGUL who he owes his continued premiership to?

Off on the road.

Well there is nothing exciting or attention grabbing in the news this morning, nor is there anything to report from the blog sphere.
As I mentioned yesterday I'm off on another pilgrimage to Cornwall today, so I shall wish you au revoir for now.
Fingers crossed the traffic is okay, although I'm not as fortunate as my eldest daughter. When her partner and she went down to Cornwall earlier this year, they went down in his "Motorway Maintenance" van, complete with amber flashing lights on it's roof. Using this disguise, and armed with a bit of inside information, they managed to circumvent any of the delays caused by road works!

Ban CDSs - George Soros

George Soros, the man who nearly broke the BoE and caused our exit from the EERM, has called for credit default swaps (CDS) to be banned.
Quite frankly they should never have been allowed to exist if there had better anyone with common sense in charge of our financial markets.
If you want to protect yourself from a company going bust you should only be able to buy normal insurance with all the rules and regulations that have evolved in that market.
Similarly if you want to bet on a company's creditworthiness you should play the stock market, again another closely regulated market.
CDSs were just an elaborate scam to avoid regulation, make a fast buck leaving someone else holding the baby, and as such should be banned.

Hazel Blears, and that resignation apology.

Well a fine time was had by all this afternoon at our family picnic, and it was with a happy heart I returned to Barnacle Towers
Catching up with everything I came across Ms Blears apology for her resignation last week. Now whilst I detest all Ms Blears stood for and thought she was another NuLabor tonk, I didn't have her tagged as one of the spineless ones.
Her apology is almost like something out of one of those Communist show trials we used to have back in the days of the good old USSR. Which leads me to wonder what the Prince of Darkness had on her?
By forcing her to make this apology, Mandy has effectively "broken" Ms Blears as a politician. Probably as a warning to any other Labour MP who is thinking of stepping out of line.
The Labour Party is entering a new and dark phase in it's history, and not one that bodes well for democracy in this country. To any Labour Party member reading this I say be very very scared, trust no-one, and watch your back.

Fizzy pop league.

Whilst one wonders if there is any sanity left in football with Ronaldo's £80million transfer to Real Madrid from Manchester United.
It is good to see there is still humour alive and kicking in the sport in this country.
The Beeb reports that Sunderland fans managed to erect two signs extracting the urine from Newcastle United's fall from the Premier League.

It's a fine day for a picnic!

Yes oop north this morning it is a lovely day, I hope you are all enjoying the same pleasant weather, later I am off on a family picnic. So blogging maybe a bit light for the rest of the day.
Also tomorrow I am off down to Cornwall for a few days with my mother, youngest daughter and grandson will be accompanying me, so I will have my hands full!
My eldest daughter is staying up here, she has already managed to survive a week with my mother earlier this year.
Right off to get those sandwiches made.

The arms in Spain fall mainly in the bin.

The treatment of an illegal Bolivian worker in a bakery in Valencia, whose arm was severed during an accident, is scandalous to say the least. I apologize for my mocking headline, but thought it might bring your attention reader to this story.
The Beeb reports that his severed arm was thrown in a rubbish bin, whilst the worker was dumped outside of a local hospital with warnings not to reveal where the accident happened.
I think the very least the Spanish government can do is give this Bolivian permanent residency rights in Spain after his treatment by it's citizens.

Economical with the truth?

I mentioned earlier this morning that the MSM seem to be waking up to the lies & spin they have so complacently accepted in the past from NuLabor.
Also the blog sphere has evolved and matured a lot more since the last general election with the result OGUL finds himself under greater scrutiny. Fraser Nelson over on the Spectator's Coffee House blog is an example of this.
However this is all well and good for a select few, but David Cameron needs to get his message about OGUL's lying out to the greater public. What he needs to do is come up with a phrase that calls OGUL a liar at PMQs and will get by the gentleman's agreement you don't call a fellow MP a liar to his face.
Sir Robert Armstrong, the then UK Cabinet Secretary, use of "economical with the truth" during the Australian 'Spycatcher' trial in 1986 is a classic example. One that DC, or his speechwriters would do well to ponder upon.

Update
After a little research (well Googling) perhaps I am being a bit economical with the truth myself, in that I should have attributed this to Edmund Burke, who said in 1796 -
"Falsehood and delusion are allowed in no case whatsoever: But, as in the exercise of all the virtues, there is an economy of truth."

The City moving to Bruxelles?

Having read Ambrose Evans-Pritchard over in the Daily T's financial section concerning the EU threat to the City. I now wonder if instead of the presidency of the ECB, OGUL has been offered the head job at the European Banking Authority, which will be set up in London if EU plans for regulation of financial markets go ahead.
I cannot see this weaken NuLabor government standing up for our interests against the EU. So I think we will see a further dilution of the City as firms flee to other more favourable climates.
Another example of how globalization and the EU are not good for this country's well being.

Dewsbury MP's woes continue.

I see that Mr. Fawkes has finally caught up with the Shahid Malik story instead of banging on about naked picnics and vegetarian DEFRA Ministers.
Reading the Daily T's piece on Mr. Malik this morning, it looks like a whole tin of worms has exploded in OGUL's face following his decision to get Mr. Malik back into the Cabinet asap.
At the very least Mr. Malik appears to have questions to answer about claiming office expenses for his house in Dewsbury. Now it also looks like he has to answer to HMRC over questions of "flipping" on his home in Blackburn, especially when he sold it to his sister.
Tony Wots His Name promised us NuLabor would be "whiter than white" when they got elected, it would appear Mr. Malik has failed this test!

Mandy's EU treachery.

So we all know that with-out the Prince of Darkness OGUL would probably be spending more time with his family now instead of still hiding down in der Bunker.
Conspiracy theorist I am, I always wondered why Mandy was brought back into OGUL's government?
I am beginning to think that it might not be all that far from the truth that he came back to the UK to ensure the Lisbon Constitution got thru Parliament. Especially now that he has been saying the UK will "obviously" surrender the Pound for the Euro.
I wonder if OGUL was promised the presidency of the ECB in return for selling us out to the EU?

When your time is up.

This morning we learn the sad news that an Italian woman who missed the downed Air France jet last week has been killed in a car crash this week.
Obviously a case of you cannot avoid your fate in life.

OGUL's brownies being exposed.

Hopefully it would appear that for the next general election the majority of the MSM are not going to swallow the Brownies coming from der Bunker if Camilla Cavenish's piece in today's TimesOnlIne on the "NuLabor investments v Tory cuts" debate is anything to go by.
Perhaps the Press Barons and journalists are waking up to the fact that OGUL's scorched earth policies, coupled with a NuLabor victory at the next general election would mean the end of this country as we know it, and also their cosy lifestyles.

Another building society fails?

Well I must admit this one wasn't on my radar screen, but it looks like the West Bromwich BS is about to go belly up, landing us (tax payers) with another questionable mortgage book.
Now which is the next one to fail?

Political reform - Part One.

Well if it's good enough for OGUL it's good enough for your old barnacle to pontificate upon. So let me give you the first installment of my political reforms wish list.
We will start in the local constituency as I believe one needs to start at the bottom and work up.

• To be considered as a local MP one must have lived in the constituency for at least three years prior to being considered for selection.
  • This means the family home must be in the constituency and, not a room at your sister's place that you rent.
  • Once selected a candidate must continue to live in the constituency, likewise upon election an MP's family must continue to reside in their constituency, regardless of any ministerial posts the MP may hold.

• Candidates must be selected by the local party members only and, by secret ballot as well.
  • Only in the event of either - not being able to select a suitable candidate or, if no one candidate secures an overall majority shall the matter be referred to the Party HQ.

• A candidate or, standing MP may be dismissed only by a secret ballot of local party members.
  • A majority of at least three quarters of the party members is required.
  • Only party members with more than twelve months continuous membership shall be allowed to vote in these ballots
  • Party HQ may refer an MP to their local constituency for dismissal, but must abide by the results of the local ballot.
  • Dismissal will trigger a by election in the constituency.
  • The dismissed MP may stand as an independent in the by election.

• No elected MP will be allowed to cross over to another political party with-out triggering a by election.

• An MP must hold at least one surgery in their constituency every week.

• MP's allowances/expenses -
  • A monthly return of all allowances and expenses the MP has claimed must be submitted to the local party HQ.
  • At the end of the financial year an MP's expenses shall be audited by an outside party.
  • The MP's annual accounts shall be made available to the public, local & national media upon demand.

• Outside interests -
  • An MP shall be allowed to have outside interest but these must be declared both at the local party HQ, but also at Parliament.
  • All fees, allowances and expenses earned from any outside interests must be declared with the monthly return to the local party HQ, and also included in the annual audited accounts.
  • Again these shall be available on demand from members of the public, local & national media.

• An MP's pension shall be the same as the State pension.

• Any MP convicted of any criminal offence shall be dismissed.

Well I think that is enough at the local level, look out for the next thrilling installment!

Shahid Malik, the soup thickens.

My father twice fell foul of HM Inland Revenue, the second time they bankrupted him, and then he ended up in the sights of the VAT people. So with those experiences behind me I know that when one starts dealing in cash questions are going to be raised.
Seeing the Daily T's article on the report from Sir Philip Mawer into Mr. Malik's housing arrangements I cannot see how he could have signed this report off with a favourable conclusion.
I sincerely hope HMRC are following this case closely, will take it up now Sir Philip seems to have finished with it, and show me that the standards they used to prosecute my father have not slackened over the years.
Mr. Malik maybe an honest man, but as an MP he should have had the sense to cover himself, and be able to convince us of his honesty with out any doubts.

Tom Watson, the new prophet for PR?

It is amazing how the near certainty of electoral wipe-out can suddenly focus one's attention on changing the voting system. Not the ten previous years, when you had a big enough majority to steam roller any electoral changes thru, even finish off the kackhanded attempt at reforming the House of Lords if it suited you politically.
No it takes the realization that in less than twelve months you're going to be on the scrap heap to focus one's mind!
So I'm afraid it is with a heaped tablespoon of salt I read Tom Watson's sudden bleating for a change to our voting system. A man with a whiff of Smeargate about him.
Funny how this follows on from OGUL's pathetic attempts to give us some changes to the electoral system yesterday.
His Master's voice?
Can one still see the strings being tugged by Mandy deep down in der Bunker?

Update
The old uniform cap is getting wave in young merkin's (MerkinOnParis) direction for managing to say what I feel about Mr. Watson on Guy Aitchison's rebuttal of the creep Watson's longing for PR.

A poignant reminder of WW 1

The Indy this morning carries an exclusive article about over 400 glass plate negatives that were found on a rubbish tip near to Warloy-Baillon, a village very close to the front line on the Somme, which have been used to produce prints from of our Tommies.
What makes the pictures so poignant is that most of the figures in them will have been killed in fighting very soon after they were taken. Probably before the prints had even got home to their loved ones.
One of my grandfathers avoided the trenches by being in the East Africa Campaign during WW1; whilst the other was a driver with the RFC, the fore runner of our RAF.
So I do not have a direct personal interest in the Western Front, but I often wonder if I would have had the same courage as those young men to face the horrors there?

Recession over?

So yesterday we had many commentators telling us the recession will soon be over and those green shoots will bloom as the economy recovers.
For a more balance view see David Wighton's piece in this morning's TimesOnLine.
I agree with him that what we are actually seeing is manufacturers rebuilding their stock levels rather than an actual increase in business which in turn signals an upsurge in the economy.
With so much debt still hanging over our economy, both in private and public finances, I still maintain we are in a "W" shaped recession, with the next slide down into further recession being worse than what we have already experienced.

The Rubble Club.

The Rubble Club mentioned by the Beeb this morning is an organisation founded to remember buildings demolished in their architect’s lifetime.
When you go to view their website you realize the majority of their buildings knocked down were ones funded from the public purse, i.e our money.
Probably planned by many of these quangos who seem so free with our money, who again have no hesitation in demolishing these buildings when the next political fad comes along.

Schools rebuilding report says it all about NuLabor.

The House of Commons Public Accounts committee comments from it's report into the schools rebuilding project could be used as a critique of the whole NuLabor project not just on their spun schools upgrades.

Over-optimistic, poorly planned and has led to disappointment.

True to form the relevant NuLabor Minister says the MPs facts are out of date and everything is better than it should be.
You would think with the recession and the need to get the economy working again that actually this scheme was accelerated not allowed to continue at it's own sedate pace.

Dave you've just blown it!

Watching Channel Four News tonight, I almost had a sneaking feeling that it was going Toenails way by becoming another extension of OGUL's propaganda arm.
However John Snow is doing a good job grilling Andy Burnham, NuLabor's health minister, about NuLabor's spin on investment in public services so perhaps my fears are unfounded.
However, I think DC blew it by not putting someone up from the Conservative Party to debate this matter.
Mr. Burnham has already been allowed to get the "Ten Per Cent" tag out concerning the Tory's future plans. If DC wants to become our next PM he must fight for it, not expect it to be handed to him on a platter.
I'm a floating voter still, despite believing NuLabor has been the worst government ever for this country, if the Conservatives want my vote they have to earn it!

MPs on trial? No just put them in the dock on the box!

Henry Porter over on the Guardian calls for MPs to be throw in the dock and face justice from a jury over their expense claims.
Whilst I agree if an MP has acted illegally over an expense claim they should face justice, but I think with the current anger in the country against our elected representatives, they would all find themselves all facing a life sentence with-out parole!
I would suggest instead we have hearings, perhaps held in an MP's constituency, where a panel drawn from the public could question them over their expense claims.
Television cameras would be present, the best performances could be shown on a Saturday evening, hosted by Harry Hill, to give us all a bit of a laugh at their expense.
After all the tonks have been laughing all the way to the Fees Office over it at our expense!

Gaddafi in Rome, or is it?

Seeing the pictures of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi arriving in Rome, wearing that uniform, I was struck by the thought it was Micheal Jackson who had shed his Neverland skin turning up instead!
I loved his wearing of a photograph of Libyan national hero Omar al-Mukhtar, who was executed by hanging by Italian colonial authorities in 1931.
I'm sure fellow readers could suggest other photographs other leaders could wear on foreign visits, answer on a postcard to the usual address.

Shahid Malik, more questions than answers.

Whilst I applaud No. 10's decision to release an edited version of the report that cleared Shahid Malik of any improprieties over his expenses relating to his housing arrangements back in his constituency.
In the interests of transparency we should have had the full report, with of course personal details redacted, placed in the public domain. We are after all talking about our money here, and we were promised greater honesty in these matters, both by No. 10 and the MPs themselves.
However, it would appear that there are now questions about his office, or should I say second office expenses.
I am sure everything to do with Mr. Malik's affairs are all above board, but I would urge him where there is doubt to give us an explanation.
We are supposed to be entering a new era with regard to disclosure of MPs expenses, perhaps Mr. Malik would like to set an example for his fellow MPs to follow.

A tiring day.

Apologies that blogging has been a bit light today, but after I returned my grandson to his mother I came home and crashed out for a couple hours.
Am I glad you can hand them back!
Hopefully I will now have a bash at some more blogging today now I am fully refreshed, well at least not as knackered as I was.

The trouble with democracy.

Whilst the only thing the BNP and I have in common is a concern about immigration into this country, everything else the BNP stands for I would never support, but they now have two democratically elected MEPs.
So I actually felt uncomfortable for Nick Griffin & Andrew Brons, the two new BNP MEPs, when I saw them being attacked on Westminster Green yesterday on Channel Four News.
I'm sure if I had been there the protesters would have ignored my cries that the BNP had achieved this feat legally, with no recourse to rigging postal votes, nor were there any missing electoral registers. Also that it was better to engage the BNP on an intellectual level than with fisty cuffs.
At the back of my mind is a nagging question - has OGUL & NuLabor allowed the creation of a new bogeyman to deflect the anger felt against it by it's own natural supporters on to?
PS
Looking at how well organized the anti-BNP protesters were, bearing in mind all the rules NuLabor have passed against protest near to Parliament, was the old Bill encouraged to turn a blind eye yesterday?

Off to The Deep.

Right I think that is enough blogging for now, I'm off out today with my grandson to The Deep down in Jailhouselawyer's territory, Kingston-upon-Hull.
I hope the rest of you have a pleasant and enjoyable day.

City Watch.

So Lloyds Banking Group are closing down all their Cheltenham & Gloucester branches, with about 1500 jobs up for the chop.
As an extremely disgruntled Lloyds TSB shareholder I am still annoyed at OGUL getting Lloyds TSB to take the HBOS scandal off his hands. So I wonder if again former Lloyds TSB employees are being asked to pay the price of OGUL's financial/political chicanery?
Meanwhile in the City the FSA have just put Keydata into administration. Over 80,000 individual policy holders are in the dark as to why the FSA has decided Keydata is bust. So am I?
Although I must admit I'm not upset to see Setanta about to go down the pan, their TV advertisements used to get up my nose, and football is all big business nowadays taking fans for all they can get out of them.
With Eire having it's credit rating cut to AA by S&P, one wonders how much longer it will be before they turn their attention to the UK's own credit worthiness?

Send them a text to go away.

I have never knowingly given out my mobile number to anyone I do not want to have it. Also because I have had this number since I first became a mobile user I know my dear old mother will not have to worry about remembering a new number every time my contract is re-newed.
So I was interested to learn it will only cost me a text message to opt out of the new mobile directory being touted by Connectivity.
Do it now - You know it makes sense!

An apology.

I must apologize to my girlfriend, yesterday she greeted me with the news that a tornado had been spotted near to my home town of Bude, having told me it was reported in The Sun, I admonished her over believing anything coming from that comic.
So I must eat humble pie this morning seeing it reported in the Telegraph today.
Sorry!

A peaceful ending.

Whilst our own death is not something we want to think about on a bright summer's morning, it is something we will all come to face.
So Trea McNally advice over on the Guardian is worth keeping in the back of our minds and putting into practice if we can.
I have already planned my own funeral, also I have tried to get my two daughters used to the idea that one day I will no longer be there for them.
One piece of advice I would add is get plenty of photos of those around you now, not just posed ones at special occasions, but candid off guard ones as well. I regret not taking more pictures of my father when he was alive, and the few off guard ones I have bring back stronger memories of him than any other.
For now though I wish you all a long and happy life, but get the planning in now!

A sad day for Labour.

Labour controlled councils all over the country should put the flags at half mast outside their town halls as a mark of respect for the death of the Labour Party last night. Led by the example of the Jellyfish Cabinet, spineless Labour MPs decide to back OGUL in return for another year of troughing at Westminster.
Oops! Sorry I forgot there aren't any Labour controlled councils left!
For a more balanced view on what the EU elections meant for this country, John Curtice on the Indy is well worth reading. As he points out perhaps Cameron has more too worry about from UKIP than NuLabor do over the BNP.
Poor Polly wails like a mad banshee in the storm as she runs over the moors bemoaning the death of "her" Labour Party over on the Guardian this morning.
So it looks like Labour MPs have decided a few more months of luxury living on our money are more important than the Party, or the good of our country.
We will remember this betrayal when it comes to placing our mark at the General Election.

OGUL's devided legacy.

Gary Duncan over on the TimesOnLine highlights the latest OECD's report that shows how distorted the effects of OGUL's time at both No.11 & No. 10 Downing Street have been economically upon this country.
The North / South divide has turned into an almost London and the SE against the rest of the country, with isolated pockets of success scattered over the UK, whilst the rest of the country sinks deeper into poverty.
Something that will become accelerated as the recession bites into Government spending. Around here we have private building sites deserted of activity, yet next door public funded projects are still roaring ahead.
I have a feeling that some of this is to do with Mr. & Mrs. Balls being the two local MPs, but even so this political largesse will soon have to be trimmed. then we are really going to feel the pain other parts of the country are experiencing.
There will be no easy solution to this, although as one commentator says perhaps London and the SE should declare independence!

UK taxpayers stuffed by the banks we saved!

So the truth is out, it now appears that the brilliant rescue plan cooked up by OGUL to save the financial world was not scribbled on the back of a fag packet down in der Bunker, but actually the result of hundreds of bankers hired from the very same banks he was rescuing.
Then to add injury to insult they are charging us for it!
They even advised UK Financial Investments (UKFI) to budget in for 20 per cent of their salary bill for bonuses. Which particularly gets up my nose!

BNP win two seats.

Whilst I am surprised the BNP won two seats I am pretty relaxed about it, after all they are never going to be a main stream party in this country, or will they?
No they wont only joshing with you!
However, I hope it is enough of a wake-up call to the main stream parties that we cannot go on with unlimited immigration into this country, they will have to be more honest and actually put immigration policies on their future manifestos.
NuLabor have not only trashed democracy in this country, but also the cultural aspects of life in this country, whilst democracy maybe reformed I fear we have lost many of the cultural values this country stood for forever.

Update
Shamelessly I have pinched the comments of Stepney over on Mrs. Dale's Diary, but they ring very true -

The horror at the BNP gaining seats is genuine but masks a level of expectation that should leave no-one, least of all Labour, surprised.
Recipe for extremism:
Take a large chunk of disenfranchised white working class. Put to one side and ignore for a decade. Whilst it is heating up, liberally sprinkle considerable amounts of political correctness and whip up the perception that you are spending more on "newcomers" than on an indigenous population.
Don't mention anything to do with immigration. Put your head in the sand. Don't listen to the concerns of your natural voters in case you might be seen as racist. Fob them off with Labourspeak.
Reduce the opportunity for initiative and self-improvement in working communities. Increase the amount of hand-wringing, middle-class, sandal wearing social engineers.
Increase the level of tax, both local and national, on your chunk of working class. Make it punitive.
Waste those taxes on things which don't matter and which don't affect the working class taxpayer - then make it obvious you've been spending the money on your own mortgages and freebies.
Casually write a cheque for £41,000 and look confused when people get angry.
Take a large step back and say:
"This is terrible - how did we let this happen?"
If you play with matches and petrol you have no-one to blame but yourself if you get burnt.

Up yours' OGUL!

Ha ha bloody ha ha is my first reaction to reading the results of the EU elections when I got up this morning.
Quite frankly NuLabor were lucky to get into double figures, but I suppose there are still some brain dead voters out there.
I voted UKIP not only as a protest vote against the three main parties over the MPs expenses scandal, NuLabor's refusal to allow us a referendum on the Lisbon Constitution, but also because I believe we would now be better off out of the EU.
Well its going to be another interesting day in politics but I don't hold out any hope of OGUL leaving us, as the Jellyfish Cabinet members have demonstrated, there is no-one left in NuLabor with a backbone.

Sarah Brown to resign next?

I have just watched OGUL being boo'd over on the Beeb at yesterday's D Day commemorations, never thought I would see that on OGUL's propaganda channel, so perhaps the Beeb has finally woken up and smelled the coffee roasting down on the barricades.
With Caroline Flint's accusations about OGUL only using women as window dressing in the back of my head. I was intrigued to see how OGUL treated his wife, Sarah, at yesterday's reception.
Do you know it almost looked like he was trying to run away from her!
They were together when they exited the car, but you only just caught a glimpse of Sarah Brown going thru the town hall doors long after her husband had beaten her to them.
Tony Wots His Name would never have treated Cherie like that, we would have had to put up with the twats strolling hand in hand towards the entrance, milking the crowd for as much as they could.
How much longer before Sarah resigns as well?

Its starting in America again!

So everyone is sitting around the Cabinet table congratulating OGUL on his excellent re-shuffle, praising the sterling work he did in saving the banks/world from financial meltdown, rubbing their sweaty little hands with glee as the green shoots of recovery herald the next NuLabor victory in the coming General Election and four more years of their snouts in the trough.
Wrong!
Its starting again in America only this time its the bond market that is about to blow up in OGUL's face.
Foolishly at his latest press conference he alerted the world's financial markets to the fact he is not going to reign in his profligate spending of our money, nor for that matter anyone else's money he can beg steal or borrow. In this case the operative word is "borrow".
This country is already up to it's eyeballs in debt because of OGUL's incompetency when he was at No. 11. Now he has told the many holders of his IOUs he wants more and more.
Well the bond market over in the States has already begun to explode, when it gets around to looking at OGUL and this country's deficit, it will go ballastic.
The green shoots of recovery will be killed off by the coming frost of hyperinflation and stagnation of our economy.

For the good of our country? Not from this bunch!

Yesterday I cringed as OGUL embarrassed our country at the D Day commemorations by re-naming Omaha Beach as Obama Beach, and then go onto to almost do it a second time!
A Freudian slip of the tongue?
A brief glimpse into the dark complex soul of our PM?
That really he was only there to be seen brown-nosing with a man who out shines him in every department as a country's leader?
Rather than acknowledging the courage and sacrifices made on those bloody beaches sixty five years ago for our country and the world as a whole.
As the Sunday Telegraph says this morning we need to see the same commitment from our Government for the good of our country as shown by those young men many years ago.
However as one of the commentators says about OGUL and his jellyfish Cabinet -

"...have not got the moral courage to sacrifice a receipt for this country."

The unacceptable face of Tragus

In 1973, our then Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath denounced "Tiny" Rowland, the mining baron, as the "unacceptable face of capitalism".
Well today The Observer brings us the story of Targus, owners of Strada Café Rouge and Bella Italia, who are threatening their waiting staff with the sack if they try to get customers to leave a cash tip.
Then to add injury to insult Targus use the monies they collect from the card charged service fee to make up the staff's pay to the minimum wage.
The article then goes on to tell us that only now is the Government, a Labour Government, looking at regulations to change this. Which once again shows how NuLabor has lost the plot, far more interested in brown-nosing the bosses to look after the workers.
Well I for one will not be eating at any of Targus's establishments!

USS Liberty.

Today the President of the United States of America was on the D Day beaches commemorating the landings that took place there sixty five years ago to free Europe from Nazi tyranny.
In two days time there is another anniversary, but not one that President Obama will be honouring, nor will Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel want this anniversary remembered.
Because on the 8th of June 1967, forty-two years ago, Israeli forces tried to deliberately sink the USS Liberty. A United States naval intelligence gathering vessel that was working off the Sinai Peninsula in international waters during the Six Day War.
Officially classed as a case of "friendly fire", or as we say nowadays "blue on blue", controversy still rages over this incident.
President Obama just returned from his Middle East tour would do well to remember this incident, and who is the biggest stumbling block to peace in that region.

Whatever you do, don't mention the war!

Like something out of the Fawlty Towers episode "The Germans" where Basil Fawlty tries to ensure no one upsets his German guests by mentioning the war.
We now have Mrs. Dale wondering if she should have brought up the subject of OGUL's sanity on live television.
After yesterday's press conference everyone is talking about it, I even got hailed across my local car park by a friend this afternoon to enquire if to quote him -
"... had seen Bonkers Brown on the box yesterday?"
I have blogged before where I feel OGUL's problems first began, but now we must add to them the pressures he is under trying to maintain the deception of actually being capable of being PM now that he has finally got to that position.
In his ascent to the Premiership OGUL abandoned all the principles he had learnt from his father, jettisoned his "moral compass", lied and schemed his way up the greasy pole only to find he had sold his soul to the Devil for a crock of fool's gold.
So no wonder the man is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I just wished he would have it soon (preferably live on TV) and we could get someone in with some sanity to start trying to put this country back on it's feet.

Who pays the Piper? We do!

The Telegraph reports today -

"A detailed analysis of Mr Brown's expense claims also reveals that the Prime Minister claimed £30 on his office expenses for the cost of hiring a bagpiper to play at a ceremony for veterans."

Followed by -

"The spokesman added that Mr Brown would have been "equally happy" to pay the piper out of his own pocket."

Well why the feck didn't he?
Oh I forgot, he is so used to spending our money the tight fisted Scottish son of the manse could not be bothered to dip into his own pocket!

Tractor output statistics.

Wonder why all those NuLabor twats seemed to be spouting the same rubbish yesterday?
Well have a wander over to Paul Waugh's blog to see the hymn sheet they were all singing from.
Talk about OGUL being Stalin and NuLabor now resembling the Communist Party in the good old USSR days!

OGUL fiddles whilst the City still burns.

Whilst I am awaiting news of my complaint against Robert Peston to Mrs. Balls and also to the FSA, I do occasionally dip in and out of his blog mainly with a clothes peg on my nose.
Still pushing OGUL's propaganda line, especially with his "But don't panic." line on what I consider to be quite a serious and under reported piece of financial news concerning OGUL deciding to default on interest payments on Bradford & Bingley Tier 2 debt.
Once again Mr. Peston commentators show themselves to be better informed than the Beeb's business editor so I will leave the comments to speak for themselves.
However it does raise the question if OGUL is prepared to treat professional investors like this now; how will he treat personal investors if one of our (the nearly nationalized banks/financial institutions we the taxpayer have invested in) banks goes tits up and the markers are called in?

This in turn leads us onto OGUL's dishonesty with our public finances, as Fraser Nelson tried to raise at yesterday's press conference.
How much more deceit & lies are lenders going to put up with from OGUL before they pull the rug from under his feet and plunge us into financial doom by demanding higher returns on their lending to this failed Government, or even worse cease lending to us at all?

The countrys gone to the dogs!

Not only are we the laughing stock of the world on the political stage at the moment, on the cricket field we are not doing so well either!
Getting thrashed by the Dutch, I just shake my head in amazement!
Even the weather has turned against us, porridge seems more suitable for breakfast this morning than yogurt & muesli, whilst my sister was planning on a BBQ tonight down at G-H Towers.

An augury for the Labour Party?

My love of words has led me to use the word "augury" from today's editorial in the TimesOnLine.
Whilst the events of yesterday could well be a fore telling of the disaster that NuLabor faces come the next General Election. With the possibility of the rump of the "Labour" Party ending up as a regional party rather than a national one.
It also allows us to look back to see the hollowness that Labour had become when they were elected in 1997.
Those "old" Labour MPs were prepared to ditch their beliefs to ride on the coats tails of the snake oil salesmen, led by Tony Wots His Name who had taken over the Party, in exchange for being in Government.
Yesterday was the moment defeat for NuLabor turned into disaster. The spinelessness of both "old" Labour & NuLabor was matched by the self interest shown from either side of the Party. Rather than do what is right for our country they have decided to put their fingers in their ears in an attempt to keep their snouts in the trough for as long as possible.
Hoping that the voting public will have short memories when the General Election comes around, they ignore at their peril that this time it is different, there is a real hatred of this Government, it's unelected Leader, and by association the Labour Party it's self.
A hatred that should have been lanced yesterday by removing the cancer at it's centre - OGUL. Instead this hatred will fester on, polluting our democracy, and eventually killing it's host at the next General Election.

D Day salute.

Forget the political fiasco that is playing it's self out in Westminster, instead spare a thought today for the many from various Allied nations who lost their lives on the beaches of Normandy back in 1944.
The old uniform cap is doffed in remembrance of the sacrifice these young heroes made as they stormed ashore on those five beaches this morning sixty five years ago. Plus the many others supporting them on the seas and in the air who gave their lives in this historic venture.
I hope as OGUL stands there today he is shamed that we still have young people loosing their lives in the service of this country.

Its a strange old world.

One of the things I love about the internet is how blogging we come into contact with many interesting people who we might not have "met" with-out the world wide web. For me it is a pleasure to come home and catch up with what these people have been blogging about.
Grumpy Old Ken is someone I have bookmarked, dipping into his blog for another pearl of wit & wisdom from him to enlighten my day, and often been reminded of an incident in my old life.
His post How Strange has promoted me to tell you all an observation I often wonder about, as I love watching people too.
Many years ago I was taking my two daughters down to Cornwall to see their grandmother. Following my normal route I came off the M 1 at junction 28 to get on the A 38 to head down for the M 42.
We had just come off the roundabout there and around the bend onto the A 38. There in the nearside lay-by was a car with the driver's & rear offside passenger's doors wide open, and two women stood in front of the car embracing?
I'll never know the answer to that one!

A sermon from beyond the pulpit.

In what has been a bit of a farce running for most of the day non-stop with OGUL playing the lead part. I would direct you to read Archbishop Cranmer post on what OGUL's father might have preached to his errant son.
Really the whole sermon sums up what has darkened the very soul of the Labour Party when Tony Wots His Name and his disciples turned it into NuLabor.
Compassion, justice, morals, and the very founding principles of the Labour Party have been sacrificed upon the altars of greed and petty party politics by the followers of the "Third Way".
I'm not normally vindictive, but in the case of NuLabor I'm prepared to make an exception - NuLabor may your soul(s) rot in Hell for eternity.

Company pension schemes - We're robbed by the bosses!

Phillip Inman is the sort of person I would like to kick firmly in the crotch, whilst forcing him to live on the minimum wage on one of our sink council estates.
His piece this morning over on the Guardian regarding the ending of another final salary pension scheme, this time at Barclays Bank conveniently ignores two very important points.
Firstly, that the deficit many firms face over their pension schemes is almost the same as that stolen from us by OGUL when he raided our pension funds to start off his spending spree at No. 11.
Secondly, whilst those at the bottom are being told they will have to take the loss of future pension rights, those at the top still enjoy the perks denied to the lower ranks.
Whilst the unions may have questions to answer, they are after all responsible for looking after their members not those sitting around the boardroom table.
Mr. Inman I hope you get to enjoy your pension, but if you don't I wont be too upset.

The morning after the night before ...

Well I would like to comment more on what happened overnight and what might be unfolding down in der Bunker this morning, but trying to keep my grandson amused as well as blogging is proving a bit hard a juggling act this fair morning!
James who?
That was my first reaction to the news of James Purnell's resignation as I was off to bed last night, and it still is as I do not really rate him as a significant figure from the Cabinet.
Now this morning we have Fraser Nelson warning us the dynamic duo, Blinky & his missus, might be about to get promoted.
We all knew OGUL had lost the plot, if he goes ahead with moving Glove-Puppet, only the men in white coats are going to save any part of the Labour Party from annihilation.
Right back to my baby sitting duties!

Update
Having seen OGUL's reshuffled Cabinet and that press conference I'm just sat here shaking my head!
Is there anyone with a backbone left in the Labour Party & Is it only us, ordinary people, who realize OGUL is off his trolley?

Home sweet home.

Yes I'm back home again, because the project I have been working on was a tad closer to home than I normal am, I was able to have a late lunch with my youngest daughter & grandson yesterday.
I must apologize now to the waitress at the inn where we had lunch, tomato pasta & a grandson who is trying to master the skill of feeding himself left our table in a bit of a state!
Listening on the radio in the hire car yesterday I was intrigued by the Chipmunk choosing the day before the local government elections to resign. Then even more amused to see der Bunker's "Smeargate" department go into overdrive via the Daily T.
The Daily T seems to becoming as much an extension of der Bunker's propaganda campaign as the Beeb is. I'm beginning to wonder if the whole MPs expenses scandal is another one of OGUL's devious politic schemes that has backfired upon him and his little bunch of plotters?
Right I'm off to get a shower, dressed and then off to plunge my own small dagger into the Fifeshire Feartie's still quivering body at our local polling station.