How Not To Help People With Chaotic Lifestyles!

East Renfrewshire Council's decision to open a hostel for "young people with chaotic lifestyles" in Council owned housing on Anderson Drive, Mearns Village, is now surely doomed to failure following its 100% rejection by local residents.

At a 'Public Meeting' held tonight in the Fairweather Hall around 140 people from the Mearns Village area turned out to voice their complete opposition to Council proposals to refurbish two blocks of housing on Anderson Drive, to install CCTV outside the complex and to put a 24 hour warden service into the buildings because the Council simply have not done anything to reassure local people that the people these blocks will house will not create even greater public disorder than they currently experience.

Councillor Jim Swift, Conservative Group Leader, rightly pointed out to local residents that he proposed extra policing for 'Hot Spots' in the evenings, 7 days a week - 52 weeks of the year, in his Council budget amendment and that this would have been a first step to addressing local concerns on crime, anti-social behaviour and youth disorder. The other three Councillors present tonight who voted against this amendment, without proposing any alternative to crime management, should hold their heads in shame for asking local people to give them suggestions as to what to do about anti-social behaviour emanating from Anderson Drive when they had the power to do something about it only weeks ago by voting for Jim's amendment.

Tonight we saw a exercise in local democracy that proves the people of East Renfrewshire still care about their local area. Well done to the people of Mearns Village - they can be assured of the support of their local Conservatives as they fight a bad plan for the wrong location!

Who's A Very Lucky Boy Then!

You always realise how lucky you really are on those special occasions when family and friends rally round to help celebrate with you.

It was my 37th birthday yesterday and from start to finish family and friends did all they could to ensure I enjoyed my day and to make me feel just a little special - if only to them!

Whether it was my cards in the morning, a bottle of champagne from a business partner before lunch, or the trip to London for dinner and a relaxing weekend organised by my wife, Elaine, everything people did for me yesterday emphasised to me how tremendously lucky I am to be surrounded by the people who are important to me.

So thank you everyone, I had a wonderful day thanks to wonderful people! Let's hope I am able to do the same for you when your time comes.

Glasgow East - A Battle For Hearts And Minds

Over the past week or so, Scotland's political elite have descended on the East end of Glasgow as never before. Having spent some considerable time there myself, I find myself contemplating all I have seen and heard in a by-election that could shape the country we live in forever.

If Glasgow East abandons the Labour Party and goes SNP it sounds as if it is highly likely Gordon Brown would be forced out of Downing Street. After all there are not too many Labour MP's with majorities of 13,500+ and given this basic arithmetic the Parliamentary Labour Party would surely rebel in fear for their own job prospects should Labour lose in the Prime Minister's own backyard.

Should the SNP win the Glasgow East By-Election I think this would also have a major impact on the mood and feeling in Scotland, with nowhere immune to the mantra of the separatist administration at Holyrood. David Cameron and the Conservative Party in England and Wales have shown that once you have positive momentum and an appetite for change amongst your electorate a lot of what you wish for becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Opinion polls move in your direction, your core vote become motivated to get out and vote and even people who traditionally vote for other Party's look to you as the place to lend your vote if you want to see change.

The truth in Glasgow East is that local people are looking for a candidate and a Party that can give them the one thing they believe they have been denied for generations - HOPE! They want to be able to drag themselves, and their area, up without government interference and they want to have a representative to the UK parliament who will be a positive force for change on the issues that really matter to them.

Unfortunately this is not the message our national media wants to portray. All they seem to want to talk about is independence, Iraq and Wendy Alexander. In contrast, the people of Glasgow East want to talk about their standard of living, jobs, tackling drug misuse in their communities and better policing of local streets to tackle crime and youth disorder.

I credit Annabel Goldie in particular for being one of a very few voices in this by-election campaign who is actually addressing the concerns of local people; and rightly so given her recent record at Holyrood.

After all it was Annabel, and her MSP group, who delivered a new drugs policy for Scotland based on abstinence, who delivered an additional 1,000 police officers and who ensured our small businesses benefited from lower Business Rates now, instead of at a much later date.

Annabel is leading from the front for the Scottish Conservatives at this by-election and is even phoning round Party activists to ensure every last door is canvassed. We have already delivered to every door in Glasgow East, at least once, and with twelve days left to campaign it is clear to me that it is the Scottish Conservatives who are speaking the same language as local people.

Politics is like football. It's a funny old game! On any given day anyone can beat a favourite and in Glasgow East it appears we still have no clear favourite. I never bet on politics, but if you asked me today for a prediction I would tip Labour to hold, despite an 8% swing to the SNP, and as I have yet to meet anyone who admits to voting Liberal I would make my bet a double predicting the loss of the Liberal deposit.

So on this occasion I am prepared to accept the reds will very probably beat the blues, (even though they don't deserve it). One thing is for sure, Annabel will come out of this by-election campaign with her reputation much enhanced having guided us through a difficult campaign with energy and determination!

Thank You Britain For Our Aircraft Carrier Contract

Alex Salmond would have us all believe there would be no material difference to the Scottish way of life if Scotland were to achieve independence. What tosh!

The SNP are of course correct to suggest we Scottish are perfectly capable of governing ourselves if we wanted to and indeed to suggest we would make a good fist of it. But what they are not honest enough to admit is that the breakup of Britain would come at a heavy cost to Scottish industry, to Scottish jobs and to whole sections of Scottish society.

As just one example, there is the terrific news for Clyde shipbuilding that the United Kingdom government has formally signed contracts to buy two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. Because this involves procurement of strategic national importance to the UK government they are able to place orders with our own domestic shipbuilders without including foreign yards in full scale competitive tendering. In this instance that means job security for yards on the Clyde, Rosyth, Barrow and Portsmouth.

The two new aircraft carriers that are to be built will be the biggest ships ever to enter service with the Royal Navy at more than 65,000 tonnes each. The contract, signed on 3rd July 2008, guarantees more than 7,000 jobs across the UK and means we retain vital skills in our country for the foreseeable future.

Had Scotland not been part of the United Kingdom, with our proud tradition of supporting our Navy, there would not have been any likelihood of an independent English government placing an order of strategic importance to it with a Scottish yard. Indeed, were we not part of the United Kingdom I am in no doubt Scotland would not have a commercial shipbuilding industry of the type and scale we see today. Without Royal Navy contracts the Clyde's shipbuilders would have shut up shop long ago and in the event of independence, but for a few fishery protection vessels, I do not believe there would be frigate, submarine or aircraft carrier orders from a Scottish government to sustain a significant shipbuilding industry in the future.

Independence would dramatically reduce the size and capability of our armed services. Scotland would not procure massive aircraft carriers, would not need the jet fighters that go with them and our army would be a shadow of its current size given our relative irrelevance on the international stage. And yet, today, our armed services support the economies of whole areas of Scotland and play vital roles in the moral fabric of society as we know it. All this would be put at risk by independence and no one should be in any doubt that cuts to Scotland's armed services capability would occur within weeks of any divorce from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

So, unless I have missed something, the independent Scotland offered by Alex Salmond and the SNP would be detrimental to our armed services. We are a country of 5 million people talented and resourceful people but we would not need, and could not sustain, the number of army, airforce and navy personnel we currently support as nationals of a country with a combined population of 55 million+, even on a pro rata basis.


I am sure HMS Queen Elizabeth II and HMS Prince of Wales will be shining examples of all that makes our country GREAT!


Our two new aircraft carriers, built on the Clyde, will be glorious symbols of why we should be proud to be British and they should serve to remind us all of the benefits Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland gain from being part of a Union that delivers social, economic and strategic advantages - benefits we would not enjoy if we are force apart.

So thank you, my fellow British citizens, for our aircraft carrier contract. Together we will proudly defend our nation, while apart we would surely be shadows of our current selves, both at home and abroad!

Knife Crime - Get It Off Our Streets!

Knife crime is very much in the news these days. Too many of our young people are being injured, or are dieing, as a result of stabbings and that is because too many of our young people carry knives in the first place!

It appears to have become socially acceptable to teenagers to carry weapons and to wield them with bravado, and yet they join the rest of society in our revulsion whenever one of their friends or family are the victim of knife crime.

Scottish and British society sit today at a crossroads. We either take action to tackle issues like knife crime or we accept them as part of modern day society and allow our way of life to continue to corrode.

I believe this is yet another issue where the answer lies in our approach to policing of our communities. Police Officers serve two purposes - firstly they are there to detect crime and secondly, and possibly most importantly, they are there to deter crime!

It is time to support a national campaign to rid knife crime from our streets! Police Forces across the UK must participate in a national 'stop and search' campaign designed to demonstrate our determination to get knives off our streets and to ensure our young people feel safe in our communities without the need to carry weapons. Once young people know that if they carry a knife there is a definite chance they will be caught in possession of it we have deterrence, and once we have police on our streets for this purpose we will start to catch those carrying and using knives providing us with detection.

In addition to this measure I would give our courts new powers that ensure those committing knife crime are automatically jailed, and for longer terms than at present. Those in possession of knives should also face custodial sentences where there is no good reason to be in possession of an an item that can be used with potentially lethal consequences.

It is time to take action to protect, to detect and to deter. The safety of everyone in our society is an essential element of ensuring better communities and our Police and Courts both have major parts to play in restoring our faith in society!

Stabilising Fuel In An Unstable World

At last, the chance of a little bit of common sense to help those on low and fixed incomes to pay for their fuel!

Earlier today the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, unveiled a radical new plan to soften the impact of future fuel price rises on families. Put simply, his 'Fair Fuel Stabiliser' would reduce duty when fuel prices go up, and raise it when fuel prices go down.

To give people some perspective as to its potential impact, if a Fair Fuel Stabiliser had been introduced at the 2008 Budget fuel would now be 5p per litre cheaper, shaving £3.50 off a tank of fuel for a Ford Mondeo. If, however, instead of rising, oil prices had fallen below the $84 forecast in the Budget fuel duty would have risen to ensure the government received its revenues forecast from fuel.

In essence George is proposing a mechanism that ensures government does not profiteer from rising oil prices but which guarantees them their revenues from fuel will remain unchanged regardless of the cost of the crude material. George described his stabiliser as, "A common sense plan to help families, bring stability to the public finances and help the environment by making the price of carbon less volatile", and I agree!

A "BRITISH" Wimbledon Champion!

Well done Laura Robson!

Going in to this years Wimbledon fortnight none of us really expected to be talking about a British victory on Finals weekend unless we were appending the surname "Murray" to the victor, and yet today it is Laura Robson who has us celebrating a British win in terrific style!

Laura's 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win in this afternoons Girls Singles Final showed grit, determination and a typically British "never say die" spirit. Watching her composure and professionalism, both during the match and even after having won a Grand Slam tournament, I couldn't help thinking this young lady has what it takes to go all the way in the game.

It takes a unique blend of talent and dedication to breed a champion and I believe Laura will be a true British sports star for a very long time to come. So come on Britain, let's get right behind Laura, the Murray's and all our other elite sports men and women in the hope that they provide our young people with the inspiration not to waste their talents preferring instead to put them to good use!

A Positive Solution To The West Lothian Question!

Tam Dalyell is a man known for asking awkward questions - the answers to which few, if any, are able to find. So to answer Tam's biggest question of all who better than a 'big beast' of British politics to propose a positive solution.

Earlier this week Ken Clarke MP announced the result of his 'democracy task force', proposing a positive answer to Tam's 'West Lothian Question'. Ken's proposal, backed by David Cameron, is that MP's representing Scottish constituencies should be able to vote on the second and third readings of every Bill, even those that affect only English constituencies, but that were a Bill only applies to England its committee stage, during which MP's formally amend Bills, should only be considered by MP's representing English constituencies.

To those who are not aficionados of Westminster procedure this may seem like a very confusing proposal but to political hacks like me this seems to be a clever and elegant solution to ensuring fairness for England in this post devolution era.

Poll after poll, the overwhelming majority of Scots indicate they understand it is not fair for Scottish MP's to legislate on issues that only affect England when English MP's are not able to vote on the same matters for Scotland as a result of devolution. That is because we Scots believe in fair play, equality and in protecting our democracy!

Ken Clarke's solution would allow MP's representing Scottish constituencies to register their vote on every Bill considered by Parliament, preventing any allegation of the creation of a two tier system of MP, and will address the fundamental unfairness of Labour's devolution settlement in relation to its impact on democracy in England.

Thanks to Ken Clarke, I look forward to campaigning at the next General Election on the basis that, if elected, the people of East Renfrewshire can be assured I will represent them on every issue before the UK Parliament by voting on every Bill put before it. In doing so the people of East Renfrewshire will be able to judge me on my record and by ensuring this becomes formal Westminster procedure the people of England can rest assured the Conservative & Unionist Party will have provided them with a solution to the most difficult of constitutional questions by restoring fairness to their democracy, as they so rightly demand!

Dogs - Mans Best Friend or Offensive Animal?

I am widely quoted today, in national newspapers, following the decision of Tayside Police to apologise for using a puppy dog in an advert designed to publicise their non-emergency telephone number. This apology followed a complaint by a Dundee Councillor that this image is offensive to Muslims because dogs are considered to be ritually unclean in his religion.

I am in no doubt that the advertising agency who designed this advert did so on the basis that the UK is the most dog loving nation on earth. In our culture dogs are viewed as mans best friend and I am sure the ad agency simply wanted people to think of their local Police as mans best friend by using the imagery of one of their dog, 'Rebel', to advertise the Tayside Police force.

The British way of life means is happy to respect cultures from all around the world and to allow them to prosper in Britain alongside our own way of life. I am quite sure Andrex will not drop their puppy dog from advertising, packaging and branding and I am equally sure their toilet tissue will continue to be used by people of all religions.

Britain is a nation that know all about respect and we have the right to have our culture respected. 'Rebel' is simply a puppy dog training to serve his local community in our Police Force. He's a cute little thing and I am sure he will do a lot of good for the Tayside community, regardless of their religion!

Winning Is Better Than Smiling!

Andrew Murray is constantly being given advice by our national newspapers about how to win over the English public during this years Wimbledon championships. Unbelievably one daily newspaper even claims he need only smile more to ingratiate himself to 'Joe Public'.

Having beaten Richard Gasquet in a five set thriller tonight I think it is fair to say the best way to win over the great British public is pretty simple - WIN!


We love an underdog and a good loser, but what we really want to follow and support are determined winners.

So "some on Andy" keep up the good work and win one for Great Britain and make us all, including the English, love you as the British treasure you undoubtedly are!

Why Are We Waiting For The Lights To Go Out?

It's now only a matter of time until lights start going out across Scotland because of electricity shortages.

With many of our ageing fossil fuel and nuclear power stations nearing the end of their working lives and scheduled for decommission our government continues to procrastinate over how to replace their output. For me, it is governments job to ensure Scotland and the UK are energy self-sufficient in the unpredictable world we live in today.

So what, you may ask, is our Labour government and SNP Scottish Executive's solution? Renewables, renewables, renewables is the mantra from Westminster and Holyrood, even though everyone knows this simply will not fulfil our energy requirements given the unpredictability of output from the wind turbines that are being thrown up all over our countryside.

You only need to ask the residents of Eaglesham about the effectiveness of wind turbines to know that when the wind is not blowing hard enough they don't turn, when it blows too hard they don't turn, when the wind blows from the wrong direction they don't turn and often for no apparent reason they simply don't turn.

With the UK needing to import gas, coal and oil to fuel many of our existing power stations and given our international obligations to reduce CO2 emissions the only solution to bridging our electricity energy gap while meeting these targets is nuclear. Business knows it, science knows it and ordinary people who study the issue know it.

Over the past week Business Insider have been running an online poll posing the question, "Will Scotland face an energy crisis if it doesn't build new nuclear power stations?". As I write this blog, 95% of respondents have to date replied 'YES', clearly demonstrating the concern of Scotland's business community that our failure to go nuclear before now almost certainly means an energy crisis looms for Scotland in the relatively near future.

It simply is not good enough for government to delay any further. British Energy, BNFL and any other interested electricity generator must be allowed to get on with providing Scotland and the rest of the UK with new modern nuclear power stations capable of providing us with energy security well into the 21st Century!

When the lights start going out it will be too late to start planning a sustainable energy policy. The nuclear option is the only sensible option for Scotland and the UK.

I am a great believer that if something is foreseeable it is avoidable. That is why I say let's get on with the inevitable and start building nuclear power stations! We must act now in the interest of our long-term economic prosperity and in doing so will ensure future generations don't accuse us of lacking foresight!

Business Insider's online service can be found at: http://www.business7.co.uk/

There's No Place For Political Correctness In Our NHS

The world's gone mad! Or at least it appears it has in our NHS.

"Gay" patients must now to be referred to by NHS staff as, "men who have sex with men", (MSM), and similar descriptive terms are to be used instead of "prostitute" and "intravenous drug user". Why? Apparently for fear of causing offence!

National Services Scotland, who are advising health boards on the issue, have clearly lost the plot. So much so that gay rights groups have labelled their new terminology as "demeaning" to homosexuals and even Lothian and Borders police have pointed to this oversimplification as being inappropriate.

Staff in NHS maternity units are already told not to refer to the father of a child as the mothers husband, even if they know they are, for fear of causing offence and the simple question must now be "where does this all end?".

It's time for the Political Correctness brigade to leave us all alone and let the civil, law abiding majority decide what is right and what is wrong and what is appropriate and inappropriate.

You can join the Campaign Against Political Correctness via its website at: www.capc.co.uk

The UK - Most Costly Place To Live In Western World

Reports today that the UK has the highest cost of living in the Western world come as no surprise to those of us working hard to make ends meet.

The firm of international economists who prepared this report concluded that the average "Middle Britain" family now spends £38,800 a year on its home, food and other essentials. This represents an increase of more than £2,000 a year on a report prepared by the same experts just 4 months ago.


And the reasons for this? Simply the failure of our government to manage our economy in a prudent manner. The cost of food has risen by 19.8% on last year, household fuel bills are up by around 15% on a year ago, mortgage repayment costs have escalated significantly, housing rent costs have followed suit and the cost of petrol and diesel for our cars has gone through the roof. All directly related to government policy!

And of course the government tax us more and more each year without a care as to how hard it is to make ends meet in the average household. No wonder ordinary people believe the government if out of touch!

Being Let Off Lightly!

So the Scottish Parliament's Standards Committee think Wendy Alexander should be suspended from Holyrood for just one day for failing to declare a number of donations to her Labour Leadership election campaign fund as well as accepting impermissable donation - and all for an uncontested leadership election!

Talk about being let off lightly!

In most ordinary peoples business affairs this sort of misappropriation of funds would lead to a police investigation and maybe even fraud charges.

So bendy Wendy should be thanking her lucky stars tonight that MSP's are such a jolly decent bunch and have decided to let her off lightly. I'm not so sure the electorate will be quite so kind when the time comes for them to pass their judgement!

Will Israel See Peace In Our Time?

I attended the annual Conservative Friends of Israel Business Lunch today, (a lavish affair at the Dorchester), where the principle topic of conversation naturally turned to peace in the Middle East. Unfortunately today's event coincided with the breaking of the Hamas sanctioned ceasefire, with a number of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel overnight, and marked almost 2 years since the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Lebanese Hezbollah insurgents.


Our thoughts and prayers remain with all three IDF soldiers kidnapped by militants - Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Israel is one of only two conventional democracies in the region, the other being Iraq, and tries to demonstrate leadership in the region in it affairs. It is surely incumbent upon all reasonable nations to demand the release of these three young people who only wanted to serve their country with pride and their families deserve to know they are alive and being treated humanely.

Israel is not perfect - then again what democracy is? When she does things that are wrong we in Britain should criticise her, as good friends are able to do to one another. Today, however, those of us at the Dorchester spared just a moment to hope for the safe return of the kidnapped and an end to killing in the region.

A two state solution for the region sometimes seems like a remote pipe dream but, today I left London full of hope that I will see peace in my time with a secure Israel and a democratic Palestinian state.

Zimbabwe - MDC Blood Is On The International Communities Hands

The Daily Mail summed it up best in their 'Mac' cartoon of Tuesday 24th June 2008.

While Mugabe murders innocent Zimbabweans for simply daring to vote against his regime, a regime that has turned the "breadbasket of Africa" into a "basket case", the international community are proving to be impotent in terms of their ability to protect those who need us most on the ground.

If the Presidential run-off actually happens on Friday the election will be a sham and the people of Zimbabwe will know it. They will also know that African nations, the Commonwealth nations, the European Union and the United Nations all talked a good game but let them down when they needed help most.

Most culpable of them all will be the South African premier, President Thabu Mbeki. All he need do is to withdraw support for Mugabe and offer him asylum in neighbouring South Africa, (no matter how much we would all like to see Mugabe brought to justice), and overnight Zimbabwe could become the progressive democracy, as well as the successful tiger economy, they once were and could be again!

The international community have let the people of Zimbabwe down for so long I suspect none of them expect very much from us now. I only hope that once day soon we can repay them in some little way by helping them to become the breadbasket of Africa once again!

How Many Wards Will C-Diff Close?

The games up for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, following their admission that a ward at the Victoria Infirmary is closed due to an outbreak of Clostridium difficile.

C Difficile!

I use the NHS and founded the 'Campaign For A New Victoria' to campaign for the retention of Accident & Emergency in the area and now at the site across from the existing building. As a result I keep in close contact with a large number of the clinicians, nurses, health care workers and administrative staff at the Victoria and have been told by them to expect a large number of ward closures due to C-Diff, and a range of other hospital acquired infections, in the near future - all across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and particularly at the Victoria.

The old and crumbling fabric of the current Victoria Infirmary provides the perfect conditions for bacteria to grow. That is why no one is against the creation of New Victoria buildings. However, the creation of new buildings should not endanger life either.

The creation of a Victoria ACAD is not the provision of a new "hospital", as NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the Labour Party would have us believe. An ACAD is a day clinic/health centre without A&E that will make the majority of the population this side of the river dependant on the remote Southern General for emergency admission.

Nevertheless, the current state of the Victoria Infirmary emphasises the need to take urgent action to update the condition of our hospital buildings and to tackle hospital acquired infections in our current hospitals, for as long as we use their current buildings!

My colleague Jackson Carlaw MSP has already exposed the ludicrous false economy of the NHS in Scotland, paying compensation to the relatives of those who die from hospital acquired infections instead of spending the money in the first place keeping wards spotlessly clean. He is quite right to hold the Scottish Executive to account for their failure to tackle the pandemic of hospital acquired infections the NHS seems to be happy to live with!

So today it appears the choice on the Southside of Glasgow is old buildings that kill or new buildings without essential services, which will also cost lives. For me, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde must spend money now properly cleaning our old buildings while continuing to build new buildings into which we can incorporate A&E. After all, at the end of the day the most important thing we can do for our superb doctors and nurses is to give them an environment we can be proud to ask them to work in!

You can read related articles at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article4187889.ece
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/latestnews/C-diff-warning-issued-months.4210639.jp

If All's Fair In War - Why Not Politics?

Through the course of this week Jack Straw announced proposals on funding of Party campaigns that reek of self interest and which are undoubtedly unfair!

Straw's plans for election funding would make it impossible for new candidates to compete in marginal seats

Having voted themselves a £10,000 per annum "communications allowance", (which in all probability will have been worth at least £40,000 to every Labour MP by the time of the next general election), our Labour government now proposes to deny candidates seeking to compete with incumbent MP's the right to privately fund their campaigns in advance of election time.

This change to campaign funding rules would mean incumbency becomes a massive advantage to this government with its outright majority - as they use public funds to advertise their case to constituents while denying opposition candidates the right to spend private funds to make their case for alternative policies. The current government can claim £3.51 million of public funding every year from the "communications allowance" they created and yet they now seek to deny candidates use of private funds whether they be of a lesser, similar or higher value than the amount spent from the public purse!

Of course, this is all a side show to detract from Labour's refusal to agree to a £50,000 cap on donations from any individuals, companies or Unions. David Cameron backs this proposal but Labour are refusing to go along with it because, with 92% of Labour's funds coming from Trade Unions, it would render the Labour Party bankrupt.

As a Westminster candidate fighting a government Minister in a Labour/Conservative marginal, I have not received any central funding to take on Mr Murphy, who sends unsolicited letters to constituents on a regular basis at our cost. I rely on good old-fashioned street canvassing, leaflet drops and support of local organisations to get my message out to the public and I will never misuse any expense allowance to distribute Party propaganda!

So, Mr Straw, if you are going to cap candidate campaign spending outwith election times then make it fair and let us spend the same as MP's before elections are called. I don't suppose you'll do this or cap the maximum donation amount!


Further analysis of this proposal can be found at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/opinion/2008/06/20/do2003.xml

What About The Human Rights Of The Law Abiding Majority!?!

So, Abu Qatada, the radical Islamic cleric and Osama bin Laden’s “right-hand man in Europe”, has been released from jail because we apparently have no grounds to keep him in prison.

It comes as no surprise to me that the principle reason given by the judge, Mr Justice Mitting, for his release was possible infringement of his human rights if we continued to detain him, despite the danger he presents to British people. This followed an earlier Court of Appeal decision to refuse his deportation to Jordan, again on the grounds that it might breach his human rights.


To put this into perspective, the same court had earlier described Qatada as "a truly dangerous individual" who was "heavily involved, indeed at the centre of terrorist activities associated with al-Qa'eda". Despite this description it appears our governments devotion to the European Convention on Human Rights prevents us from throwing him out of our country or locking him.


Over the next few days, weeks and months this dangerous man will be confined to his London home for a minimum of 22 hours of every day and we will require him to wear an electronic tag. We will continue to pay his family £12,000 a year in state benefits, (£1,000 a month), and can now add to this the cost of a 24 hour a day 7 day a week police presence outside his house - all this being spent on a man the police once found with £170,000 in cash in his possession.

Devastation to a bombed hotel lobby in Amman, Jordan, November 1998

This man helped mastermind the 11th September bombings and Jordan has already convicted him, in his absence, of bombings in Amman in 1998 and of providing finance and advice to terrorists planning a series of explosions on Millennium night. To enable us to consider his deportation Jordan promised Qatada a retrial, but our Court of Appeal now says we cannot deport him to stand trial in Jordan because some of the evidence they might use could have been obtained using torture.


If this is what ECHR means to the safety and security of the UK I say we kick it into touch and fend for ourselves.


The British public is very capable of making sensible decisions on human rights and people who want to see an end to our way of life should not be allowed to hide behind European law to retain residential status and claim state benefits - no matter what they claim will happen to them if they are deported!

Football, Football, Football

It seems that no matter where you turn the European Football Championships take central stage despite none of the home nations having qualified to grace its fields.

While Elaine and I are great football fanatics I can fully understand the frustration of all those who are not connoisseurs of the beautiful game and yet their favourite TV programme, very often a soap opera, is moved to a lesser channel, put back to a later time or even postponed altogether.

With the evolution of TV and the switch from analogue to digital TV signal imminent, I wonder whether all football fans wanting to watch a live football match at a major championship on the BBC will one day simply press the 'red' button to watch the match of their choice. This would ensure that regular programme schedules do not need to be changed for those wanting to keep to regular routines!

Well perhaps one day, but until then at least Elaine and I are spoilt for choice when it comes to our football coverage at Euro 2008!