Happy St George's Day And Slaying Alexis!

We've recently had a couple of rather bitchy comments containing such delights as "what an amusing blog you have here!" and then picking up on issues covered on WENAP, ignoring many of the points raised, and basically wittering on endlessly in a British Unionist or Scots Bigot manner.

One such point was that the Tories originally raised the idea of community service for youngsters in England, and New Labour merely stole the idea. But that does not detract from the fact that Gordon Brown is seeking to impose this on England alone, whilst pretending it will apply to BRITAIN. Nor the fact that it won't apply to his own constituents.

We don't have time to devote to "water muddiers", a couple of whom have even become followers of this blog so that they can monitor posts and flood us with time-wasting nonsense. We are all very busy people and this blog is maintained simply because we feel that every little bit of the blogosphere devoted to the cause is worthwhile.

So, such followers have been banned. Honestly, we haven't heard bitching like it since the days of Dynasty!

This is one dragon (we imagine in pastel pink economy-sized 1980s shoulder pads) we have now slayed.

Enjoy St George's Day!

Google Does St George's Day And Shakespeare's Birthday

In the past on this blog, we have criticised Google for ignoring England's national day. But last year and this we have been very pleasantly surprised to see Google bucking its trend with witty and appropriate St George's Day logos. 2009 is the best yet - and the clever doubling, the joint marking of Shakespeare's birthday, makes us very happy indeed.

Thank you, Google!

And happy St George's Day, England!

Sir Alec Jeffreys: DNA Database And The Innocents

It was on the 10th of September 1984, at 9.05 am, that Sir Alec Jeffreys, in his lab at Leicester University, accidentally made a world-changing discovery:

Said Jeffreys: "I was on my own in the darkroom at 9.05 on September 10, 1984, when that pattern came up and I twigged what we had stumbled upon. Just that single bit of X-ray film threw open a door we didn't even know was there. It opened the whole science of forensic DNA."

This 1980s discovery has had a tremendous influence on crime detection, and, less happily, led to the setting-up of the current UK National Database. Which, as we all know, retains the DNA of many, many innocent people.

Now Sir Alec has spoken up in an interview with the Guardian:

"My view is very clear that if you have been convicted of a crime then you owe it to society to be retained on that database for catching in the future should you reoffend. But the retention of entirely innocent people is a whole different issue. There is a sort of presumption here that if they haven't committed any crime now, then they will in the future."

He also called for improved genetic testing procedures, warning that the current system could result in a miscarriage of justice.

Jeffreys' genetic discoveries at Leicester University in the mid-1980s enabled the establishment of the national DNA database 10 years later; it is now the largest in the world, storing details on more than 5 million people.

Thank you, Sir Alec, for speaking out against the guilty-until-proven-innocent ethos of the Database. Click on the red text to read the Guardian article.

"Smeargate" - What A Lack Of Imagination!

Like many people, I've been following the events concerning Mr McBride and Mr Draper and "Smeargate" all weekend with great interest.

The only thing which dampens my interest is "Smeargate". I'm tired of "Gates". My palate is seriously jaded. We've had all sorts since Watergate - including Sharon-Gate (EastEnders) - and I now find the -Gate thing instantly boring. And is this any way to attract the interest of those even younger than myself - many of whom already have zero interest in modern politics and view the '70s as prehistoric?

Is it supposed to be evocative? Instantly put us in the picture, whet our appetites to "read on"? I was born in 1965 and I don't even remember Watergate. The -Gate thing makes the whole McBride/Draper affair seem dull, nothing new and the latest in a long series of similar events, stretching back to the early 1070s, sorry I mean 1970s, IMHO.

Whereas in reality the suggested abuse of modern technology for political gain is fascinating, worrying and "of the moment".

But "Smeargate"? Yawn...

Night, night, folks...

Gordon Brown Tells Lies Again - England Once More Becomes "Britain"

What an absolute liar Gordon Brown is!

Here he goes again:

Writing in the News of the World, Mr Brown insisted: "It is my ambition to create a Britain in which there is a clear expectation that all young people will undertake some service to their community, and where community service will become a normal part of growing up in Britain."

Two mentions of "Britain" in one sentence, but the dishonest toad has no authority on this matter in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland - only in England, where he is not accountable to the electorate.

We really do need an honest Government which is accountable to the electorate in England. The sooner we vote this England-hating Scots-elected dictator out, hiding as he does behind the smoke and mirrors of a fictitious "Britain", the better.

"I'm Being Picked On Because I'm A Woman," Says Sexist Person Jacqui Smith

Well this made us smile.

No, Jacqui, you're not being "picked on" because you're a woman.

You are being scrutinised because there are certain questions being asked about your integrity.

You are being heavily criticised because of your dictatorial nature, enforcing illegal measures like the DNA Database - on this blog we call you "Hitler In Knickers". The Hitler mentality, of course, is not gender specific.

Here you have been criticised because you are sexist - your recent speech to a women's group in which you stated that "violence against women and girls is unacceptable in any form" - inferring that violence towards men and boys is fine, was completely unacceptable. We grew up in an area where a lot of the women were very prone to initiating acts of violence.

This latest whine of yours reveals just how desperate you are. Are we supposed to say, "Ah, poor Jacqui, how un-chivalrous we've been?" Do you want the old fashioned pedestal chivalry as well as equality? You have a highly paid top government job. Your behaviour should be above reproach.

It doesn't wash. Equality means you take the brickbats as well as the bouquets, without screeching: "Oh, poor me, I'm a woman!" After all, you have a Women's Minister to look after you, and various initiatives we men could only dream of.

But then that's "equality".

You really are a scoundrel.

CEP challenges Ed Miliband's opposition to devolution for England with a call for a national conversation for England

Writing for the new ‘Labour Space’ website Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has come out with strangely contradictory opinions on devolution. On the one hand he has endorsed devolution for Scotland and Wales because, he says, ‘devolution provides democratic accountability for decisions in Scotland and Wales which used to be made centrally’ On the other, when it comes to England he demands that decisions should still be made ‘centrally’ by UK Parliament MPs like himself. ‘He is still very Establishment,’ says Gareth Young of the CEP, ‘unable to live with a UK that is rapidly changing before his very eyes. He’s a captive of yesterday still, there is a lack of political imagination. The world has moved on.’

Replying to Miliband on the same Labour Party website Gareth Young put it to him straight. ‘You say you do not see a parliament for England as the answer to the lack of democratic accountability which is probably the main constitutional and political problem England is now experiencing; and your Labour colleague Jack Straw very predictably has joined you stating that ‘I am wholly opposed to an English parliament.’. Fair enough. But the two of you – you might not quite see this- are just two people out of 50 million English men and women. Just two. No more.

‘What are the facts about public opinion on this matter? Your government’s Ministry of Justice, headed by Jack Straw, has never commissioned any research into the level of support for an English parliament or English votes on English Laws. And by never, I mean never; not once, not ever.

‘However, all the following polls have found a majority in favour of an English dimension to government, whether it is an English Parliament, English Votes on English Laws, English independence or a combination of the three: ICM for the Telegraph December 2007, ICM for the Campaign for an English Parliament April 2007, YouGov for the Sunday Times April 2007, BBC Newsnight Poll January 2007, Daily Mail ICM Poll January 2007, ICM for the Sunday Telegraph November 2006, IPSOS MORI for the English Constitutional Convention June 2006 and YouGov for the English Democrats Feb 2004.There can be doubt that what has galvanised the outcomes of those polls, which you should have the openness of mind to consult, is the degree to which the people of England resent with justifiable bitterness the way in which devolution has benefited the Scots and the Welsh while doing nothing whatsover for them.

‘Mr Milband, it all amounts to evidence of public opinion that you and your government colleagues should not ignore. You are happy to declare support for democratic accountability for Scotland and Wales.yet oppose it for England. The outcome of the coming General Election might well give you cause to change your mind. We call on you to support a National Conversation on England; we call on you to come out from the Westminster bubble and give a hearing to the people of England'

Contacts:

Gareth Young -

http://ourengland.labourspace.com - joint co-ordinator the CEP website www.thecep.org.uk

Email: gpy1973@yahoo.co.uk

George Orwell: It was 1980. It was 1982. It was 1984. It's 2009...

According to the Penguin Modern Classics edition of George Orwell's 1984, the author was originally going to set the action in 1980. Then, as the years and the writing of the book went on, 1982. And finally he decided on 1984.

And here we are now, with our database and CCTV State in 2009. Seems a far more appropriate setting than what, in reality, turned out to be the era of Thatcher, Reagan, shoulder pads, Spitting Image, Greenham Common, The Miners' Strike, Rubik's Cubes and Apple Macs, doesn't it?

Is the Government and, indeed, the EU, using Orwell's 1984 as a guide?

I simply can't believe what's happening. And as I start today knowing that all our internet movements are now being monitored... I can't help wondering...

What the fuck is going to happen to us?

Where is it all going to end?

The DNA Database: Jacqui Smith - She Of The Hitler Mentality - Simply Doesn't Understand "Innocent Until Proven Guilty"...

Yep, here she is again Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, old Hitler in Knickers and Ms Honesty-Plus herself.

The National DNA Database has been declared illegal by the European Court Of Human Rights and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.

But Jacqui Smith doesn't want to know. This woman, who has charged some of her husband's porn viewing to the taxpayer and been called into question over her accommodation expenses, makes vague burbling noises about some changes being made at some point. Not enough. The UK DNA Database is immoral and illegal and Jacqui Smith and this government should be sued by every person currently on it who has not been convicted of any crime.

Oh, and Jacqui Smith should be fired for having aroused suspicions about her honesty and worthiness to hold public office. Guilty until proven innocent does, after all, seem to be a notion she strongly favours. When it comes to others.

And today is the day that internet snooping begins.

It's all totally unacceptable.

The evil that men do. And persons, too, of course.

Tommy Sheridan, The Daily Record And Socialist Unity - Rewriting Poll Tax History

Ugh, this makes me seethe! An article appearing in The Daily Record and Socialist Unity once again rakes up the Poll Tax - and in a not-very-clever reworking of history, we are led to believe that it was the Scots who "spread" the Protest Campaign to England and Wales! Yep, apparently we English were bleating around like a load of sheep, as usual! It took the brave and noble Scots to energise us.

Rubbish! The arrogance of it!

I find this particularly offensive as I joined an anti-poll tax group in England in 1988 and we were going great guns by the beginning of 1989. Indeed, there were similar groups all around England before the end of 1988.

But was it worth it? After all, with history being rewritten at the Daily Record and Socialist Unity, one can hardly believe that the English had any gumption on the matter at all before the Scots showed them the way.

Drivel!

Here's some stuff about the campaign in England in 1988 and 1989 -

http://80sactual.blogspot.com/2005/05/say-no-to-poll-tax.html


This one by Maria