Will they ever heed the voice of Britain? Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2206910/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-Will-heed-voice-Britain.html#ixzz27PcToz5b Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

For three decades, an official annual report has highlighted the widening chasm between the views of the British people and those of the metropolitan, liberal elite who control the levers of power.
Indeed, the findings have become so familiar that the 30th British Social Attitudes survey, published this week, has attracted only perfunctory coverage.
Yet it reveals a crisis in our democracy that screams out for attention. It calls into question the very integrity of our system of government, as an inward-looking and increasingly isolated political class blocks its ears to the views of the people it is supposed to represent.
Take immigration. The survey finds that 75 per cent of the public want it reduced immediately, while more than half – up from 40 per cent in 1995 – say it should be cut by ‘a lot’.
For the first time, too, a majority reject claims that migrants are good for the economy, with resentment highest among the low paid (who, unlike the bien pensant advocates of open borders, have to compete with foreigners for work).
Defying public opinion, however, the Coalition allowed net immigration to hit a record 252,000 last year.
Meanwhile, the BSA report finds that just a third believe immigration has been of cultural benefit, while 48 per cent say it has had a negative effect.
But you won’t find a single mainstream politician who speaks for that 48 per cent. Indeed, with one voice, the major parties argue vociferously against their views.

More...

• Half the British population think immigration 'is bad for the economy' as public support for welfare state falls to record low

Or take the welfare state. A resounding 62 per cent say unemployment benefits are too high and discourage work, while increasing numbers believe disability benefit claimants have been wrongly classified as unable to work.
These are not the findings of some Right-wing think tank with an axe to grind. This is the Government’s own research, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Yet the widely-held views voiced in the BSA survey are either ignored or howled down by the publicly funded BBC – by far our most powerful news organisation, which has relentlessly pushed the liberal line and vilified the views of the people.

 

   

More from Daily Mail Comment...

•   A destructive plan to soak the middle class 23/09/12
•   DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Planning free-for-all is a blueprint for discord 20/09/12
•   DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Grayling must prove Ken Clarke wrong 19/09/12
•   DAILY MAIL COMMENT: What will they tell the next war widow? 18/09/12
•   DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Rigorous exams are vital for our future 17/09/12
•   DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Will Miss Greening turn off the aid tap? 16/09/12
•   The Duchess and the irony of privacy laws 14/09/12
•   A 23-year stain on the British establishment 13/09/12
•   VIEW FULL ARCHIVE

Meanwhile, even the feeblest attempts to match official policy to the public’s beliefs are fiercely resisted on both government and opposition benches.
No wonder voters are close to despair that their crosses on the ballot paper will ever make a difference.
When will the political class reconnect with the people – and remember the meaning of democracy?

Money to burn

As state borrowing spirals out of control and most ministers search desperately for cuts, the Department for International Development has the opposite problem.
For so bloated is its budget that officials are struggling to spend it fast enough to meet David Cameron’s target of increasing it to a blistering £12billion.
Earlier this week, it emerged that DfID splashed out almost £500million last year to aid consultants – while one  firm alone, as the Mail reports today, scooped contracts worth £100million in just nine months.
Yet, as evidence mounts that aid often does more harm than good to the needy, Mr Cameron still speaks of making it illegal for DfID to spend less than 0.7 per cent of the UK’s income.
This is madness. The Mail believes firmly in rich societies’ duty to alleviate the suffering of the world’s poorest – and Britain’s charitable donors are already the most generous in Europe.
But while families at home are suffering, how much longer can the Coalition go on squandering billions this country doesn’t possess, just so that politicians can feel good about themselves?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2206910/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-Will-heed-voice-Britain.html#ixzz27PcPw7pZ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

The EU

From http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/debate/article-2203926/124-billion-reasons-time-brought-curtain-tragic-EU-pantomime-Camerons-powerful-Tory-critic-argues-new-Common-Market-Europe.html

124 billion reasons why it's time we brought the curtain down on this tragic EU pantomime: Cameron's most powerful Tory critic argues for a new Common Market in Europe

By LIAM FOX

PUBLISHED: 01:43, 16 September 2012 | UPDATED: 01:44, 16 September 2012

• Comments (0)
• Share

Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox is calling for a new Common Market in Europe

Now that our magnificent Olympic games are over, politics is returning to normal and the harsh reality of the problems we face are coming back into focus. The problems of economic debt and worries about global security have made headlines in recent days – but the issue of Europe is again rapidly rising up the political agenda.

There are two separate but related issues for Britain’s politicians to deal with – the self-created crisis of the eurozone and the vexed question of Britain’s long-term relationship with the European Union itself.

It is very clear that a number of EU countries intend to move much closer to political and economic union. Only last week,  European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso tried to use the euro crisis to justify  a new push to what he called ‘a federation of nation states’.

He said ‘pooled sovereignty means more power not less’.

My response to that is, yes, more power to the very people in Brussels who got us into this mess. When will Mr Barroso and Co learn? The answer is not more Europe, but less.

But all this should come as no surprise to us.

The very first line in the Treaty of Rome talks about ‘ever closer union’. This was not, of course, what the British people were sold in the referendum of 1975, but it is nonetheless what we were buying and history has shown that the Eurocrats and the European political class have continued without deviation down this path.

This latest chapter is simply a continuation of the ratchet process applied treaty by treaty to achieve the ambition of a federal European state by stealth.

The latest developments represent a historic milestone in the development of the EU and we had better understand their importance. Frankly, if the sign on the front of the bus says ‘ever closer union’ and that is not  the destination we want, then the logical thing to do is to get off the bus. We may not be alone  in seeking a different direction. In Finland, the Netherlands  and the Czech Republic, public opinion seems to be moving away from the assumption that ever closer integration is desirable. 

Cracking under pressure: The EU is doing its best to weather the storm and come out the other side

In any case, the eurozone represents only 17 out of 27 European countries and that number is likely to shrink as the full  horror of the eurozone disaster begins to sink in. How wise John Major’s Government looks in retrospect to have kept Britain out of the euro at a time when Tony Blair’s Labour Party, the BBC and the Guardian were telling us that we would be economically doomed if we stayed out of the project. It is impossible  to say exactly when the euro project will start to fall apart but the contradictions within it make it inevitable. 

How will the Eurocrats in Brussels react to events? History suggests that they will try to do nothing and hope they can continue their project encompassing as many countries as possible. They will throw European taxpayers’ money at the problem for as long as they can – after all, they are not accountable to those who pay the taxes.

 

More...

• Cameron in secret referendum threat to EU leaders over power grab plans that could create a ‘federal Europe’
• Iceland to be fast-tracked into European Union to stop economic meltdown
• $1m an hour to schmooze sheiks? No wonder Mr Blair's preening like the new peacocks on his country estate

When that is exhausted as an option they will probably try to do the minimum damage to their political ambition and that is most likely to mean a Greek exit from the euro. This could be the worst possible option. Once the markets recognise that the principle of membership can be breached, it will be a one-way bet forcing one country after another to leave under constant market bombardment. It will be the ERM writ large. There is a strong body of opinion, which I share, that suggests if a number of countries leave simultaneously that will at least send a signal to the markets that the remnant currency has  a real prospect of maintaining  its value.

Throughout this tragic pantomime, Britain will be largely a spectator waiting to see how much damage will be done to our collective economic prospects, before an inevitable economic reality sets in.

Beyond the Eurozone crisis, there is still a much wider issue of Britain’s relationship with the European Union. The British people have never given their agreement to political union. They voted in 1975 for an economic and trade relationship.  I believe it is time to keep faith with the British people. It is time to get back to a common market. Let’s just look at the financial and legal implications of our current position.

It's clear not everyone wants Brtiain in the EU as Hazel Prowse is shown burning the EU flag during a demonstration by UKIP supporters

The think-tank, Open Europe, has estimated that the total cost of new regulations on the UK economy as a whole in the decade up to 2010 was £176 billion and of this £124 billion, or 71 per cent, had its origin in the EU.

When people say that we should not talk about Europe and focus on the economy, they are missing the point that a great deal of the cost and regulation of our economy comes from Europe. The issues are indivisible.

To get an idea of where this burden has fallen on Britain we need only look at three individual EU regulations.

The Working Time Regulations have cost Britain £17.8 billion to date, the Vehicle Excise Duty Regulations – implementing the EU pollution directive – have cost British motorists  £10.4 billion and the Data Protection Bill, implementing the data protection directive, has cost British taxpayers more than £8 billion.

Policemen clash with protesters during an anti-austerity rally in Athens

These costs are on top of Britain’s contributions to the bloated EU budget – a budget that its own auditors refuse to sign off. This has continued to rise despite the austerity programmes being imposed by national parliaments on their own people. It is a disgrace that spending will rise by 6.8 per cent this year while only six out of 41,000 Eurocrats will have their posts cut.

Against the clear mood of the British electorate, the UK is  the third highest contributor  to the EU and our cheque to Brussels this year will be a cool  £6.9 billion net.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the EU Structural Funds are particularly iniquitous. While the UK will have contributed £33.7 billion to the CAP between 2007 and 2013, we will receive only £26.6 billion back. Per hectare, France and Germany will receive £236 and £251 respectively while Britain will get only £188.

The EU Structural Funds are supposed to provide investment across the whole of the EU but there are only two regions in the UK that are net recipients.

If you are reading this in the West Midlands, you pay £3.55 to the fund for every £1 you receive. This whole sorry picture is a far cry from what the British people thought they were signing up to in 1975.

What should be done? I believe that the best way forward is for Britain to renegotiate a new relationship with the European Union – one based on an economic partnership involving a customs union and a single market in goods and services.

This would be, in effect, a common market without the political interference that the British people have found it increasingly difficult to tolerate and which politicians of both parties have discovered makes governing our own country increasingly difficult.

We should work with our European partners where it is in our mutual interest to do so.

But we must keep separate the levers that enable us to act as a sovereign and independent country where necessary.

When we have determined the relationship we seek we must set a negotiating timetable with a referendum at the end.

We must be willing to trust  the judgment and wisdom of the British people.

Our destiny should be decided on our own shores and nowhere else.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2203926/124-billion-reasons-time-brought-curtain-tragic-EU-pantomime-Camerons-powerful-Tory-critic-argues-new-Common-Market-Europe.html#ixzz26cWAIuVN

Girl gang who kicked woman in the head while yelling 'kill the white slag' freed after judge hears 'they weren't used to drinking because they're Musl

Yobs ripped lump of hair from Rhea Page's head during High Street attack
Three sisters and cousin escape with six-month suspended sentences
Maximum term for assault occasioning actual bodily harm is five years' jail
Judge: 'Those who knock someone to the floor and kick them in the head can expect to go inside, but I'm going to suspend the sentence'

By Andy Dolan and Katherine Faulkner

Last updated at 11:14 PM on 6th December 2011

Comments (1242)
Share

A gang of Muslim women who attacked a passer-by in a city centre walked free from court after a judge heard they were ‘not used to being drunk’ because of their religion.

The group – three sisters and a cousin – allegedly screamed ‘kill the white slag’ as they set upon Rhea Page as she waited for a taxi with her boyfriend.

Miss Page, 22, was left with a bald patch where her hair was pulled out in the attack and was left ‘black and blue’ after suffering a flurry of kicks to the head, back, arms and legs while motionless on the pavement.
Attack: Three of the attackers can be seen setting upon Rhea Page, 22, in the centre of Leicester. Despite leaving her traumatised, they were handed suspended sentences

Attack: Three of the young women can be seen setting upon Rhea Page, 22, in the centre of Leicester. Despite leaving her traumatised, they were handed suspended sentences
Thugs: Rhea Page is seen lying on the ground after being attacked. The four girls had screamed 'kill the white slag' as they kicked her

Thugs: Rhea Page is seen lying on the ground after being attacked. The four girls had screamed 'kill the white slag' as they kicked her

Victim: Rhea Page, 22, lost her job after being traumatised by the attack by a gang of Somalian girls

Victim: Rhea Page, 22, lost her job after being traumatised by the attack by a gang of Somalian girls

Ambaro Maxamed, 24, students Ayan Maxamed, 28, and Hibo Maxamed, 24, and their 28-year-old cousin Ifrah Nur each admitted actual bodily harm, which carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.

But Judge Robert Brown gave them suspended jail terms after hearing mitigation that as Muslims, the women were not used to being drunk. The Koran prohibits Muslims from consuming alcohol, although Islamic teachings permit its use for medicinal purposes.

After the sentencing, Ambaro Maxamed wrote on her Twitter account: ‘Happy happy happy!’, ‘I’m so going out’, and ‘Today has been such a great day’.

Yesterday Miss Page, a care worker, called the sentence ‘disgusting’ and said the gang deserved ‘immediate custody’.

More...

Girlfriend 'Tasered then buried alive': Victim was left to die in shallow grave, jury told
Terror of ex-lover stalked by high-flying banker... all the way across the Atlantic
'Woman on a tram' to spend Christmas behind bars 'for her own protection' after court views video of alleged racist rant

‘It’s no punishment at all,’ she said. ‘And for them to say they did it because they were not used to alcohol is no excuse. If they were not supposed to be drinking then they shouldn’t have been out in bars at that time of night.

‘Even after the police came and they all ran away, one of them came running back to kick me in the head one last time.

‘I honestly think they attacked me just because I am white. I can’t think of any other reason.’

Miss Page was treated for bruises and grazes after the attack in June last year as she walked to a taxi rank with boyfriend Lewis Moore, 23, in Leicester city centre.

At the time she worked caring for people with autism and learning difficulties but gave up the job after repeated absences because of stress and flashbacks.

She is still having counselling and suffers panic attacks.

She said: ‘We were just minding our own business but they kept shouting “white bitch” and “white slag” at me. When I turned around one of them grabbed my hair then threw me on the ground.

‘They were taking turns to kick me over and over. I thought they were going to kill me.’
Approach: The girls can be seen walking towards Miss Page, a care worker, 22, as she walks with her boyfriend through Leicester

Approach: The girls can be seen walking towards Miss Page, a care worker, 22, as she walks with her boyfriend Lewis Moore, 23, through Leicester
Attacker: Hibo Maxamed, 24
Attacker: Ambaro Maxamed, 24

Yobs: Sisters Hibo and Ambaro Maxamed, both 24, who attacked Rhea. They were both given six month suspended jail sentences
Ayan Maxamad
Girl gang: Ifrah Nur, 28, who was the cousin of the three other girls involved in the attack in Leicester

Girl gang:Ayan Maxamad, 28, left, and her cousin Ifrah Nur, 28, who were also involved in the attack in Leicester
Bruised: Police picture of Rhea page's arm after the attack by the gang of Somalian girls

Bruised: Police picture of Rhea page's arm after the attack by the gang of Somalian girls

None of the defendants was charged with racial aggravation. Nur claimed Mr Moore, a fence builder, had been racially abusive, but this was not accepted by the prosecution.

Gary Short, mitigating for Ambaro Maxamed, said the attack was down to alcohol. He said: ‘Although Miss Page’s partner used violence, it doesn’t justify their behaviour.

‘They’re Somalian Muslims and alcohol or drugs isn’t something they’re used to.’

The four women, who all live in Leicester, were each sentenced to six-month jail terms, suspended for 12 months, at Leicester Crown Court last month.

Hibo Maxamed also received a four-month curfew between 9pm and 6am, while the others were ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Brown said that ‘those who knock someone to the floor and kick them in the head can expect to go inside’.

But he said he accepted the women may have felt they were the victims of unreasonable force from Mr Moore as he tried to defend his girlfriend, and handed the defendants a suspended sentence.

Speaking at her home, Hibo Maxamed said: ‘I’m not proud of it, it’s not something I want to talk about. I just want to get on with my life.’

When asked if she wanted to apologise, she replied: ‘What, to the public? I really don’t care.'

Victims: Rhea, 22, was with her partner Lewis Moore, 23, when she was attacked. He tried to defend her, the court was told

Victims: Rhea, 22, was with her partner Lewis Moore, 23, when she was attacked. He tried to defend her, the court was told


Share this article:

Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Messenger
LinkedIn
Digg it
Newsvine
Fark
Nowpublic
Reddit

Print article
Email article

Ads by Google:
Domain Names just £2.99.uk £2.99 .com, .net, .org, .tel, .mobi, .eu, .be, £9.99 .info £1.99!www.123-reg.co.uk
"Online Dating" In The UKRecommend Your Single Friends Or Get A Friend To Set You Up!MySingleFriend.com/Online-Dating

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070562/Muslim-girl-gang-kicked-Rhea-Page-head-yelling-kill-white-slag-FREED.html#ixzz1g7fl8l2L

An interesting read

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/labour-mps-expenses/#at

Another day......

This blog could almost write itself at the moment.

Tony Mcnulty's been ordered to pay back £14,000 out of £72,000 expenses for his 'second home' - where his parents have been living.

Not even going to bother commenting on that one.

Open door policy on immigration

It seems that since 2000, Labour has had an open door policy on immigration, unbenowns to the public that voted for them, so as to create a multicultural society, remove any idea of British identity, and make the Conservatives look like racist bigots should they dare to raise any form of protest against it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6418456/Labour-wanted-mass-immigration-to-make-UK-more-multicultural-says-former-adviser.html

Utterly beggars belief. Sooner we dum this lunatic load of labour the better.

Jacqui Smith - another shining example

Jacqui Smith yesterday 'apologised' (no doubt through gritted teeth with both fingers firmly crossed - for claiming her sisters home in London as her primary residence, and her family home as her second home - in Redditch.

Mrs Smith will not have to pay back the £64,000 claimed!

“I don’t believe that making a different decision would have resulted in better value for money,” Smith said in a written response to the report. “I am disappointed that this process has not led to a fairer set of conclusions.”

Sounds like a sincere apology to me!