English GP Services Now Under Threat

1,236,085 people have signed a petition against planned UK Government "reforms" of the current GP services in England - and only in England, those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are safe.

DARZAI MUST RESIGN! – says the GPs conference!

FAMILY doctors yesterday expressed their furious opposition to privately-run polyclinics and voted to take ‘unprecedented action’ in response to ‘unprecedented political threats to general practice’.

Read it all here.

Big hat tip to charlie marks.

The BBC - Another Attack On England... Sorry, I mean "The Regions"...

With all its dedicated national services for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and its usual complete refusal to admit that England and the English exist, splitting our nation up into artificial regions with no dedicated national English services, Auntie Beeb has now decided that BBC News has “a general bias in favour of stories about England”.

Um, is that because England is much larger than the "devolved nations"? And the BBC is not covering stories about England really. Rarely does it let that word escape its priggish and bigoted lips. There is absolutely NO national BBC service for England, unlike Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

From The Times Online:

The Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish never cease to complain that the BBC is really the English Broadcasting Corporation. Despite its chorus of regional accents, they imagine that it is full of metropolitan luvvies who venture beyond the M25 only rarely and in trepidation.

The BBC Trust's review of coverage of UK nations and regions suggests that it has embraced the same implausible view. It claims that BBC journalism is failing the UK's devolved nations and favouring England. It is utterly wrong.

By examining only UK network news, the trust has ignored whole swaths of the BBC's own journalism. Since devolution, Scots have had dedicated coverage of the Holyrood Parliament and a national news programme of their own. BBC Scotland opts out of Newsnight to transmit Newsnight Scotland. Wales is equally well supplied. BBC Northern Ireland provides for Ulster appetites on radio, television and online.

This expensive reality is overlooked by the report's assertion that BBC news shows “a general bias in favour of stories about England”.

Read the full article here.

It's time we disbanded the BBC. It's simply not fair minded enough to broadcast. Its instinctive anti-England bias is now way beyond ignoring.

Cornish Nationalism On The Supermarket Shelves?

After my last post, "Cornubian" has written to say that Cornwall is also excluded from the national flags on the packaging at the Co-op. Interesting point, although personally, until there has been a referendum on the subject and the people have actually voted for independence for Cornwall, I do not believe that Cornish produce should carry the "Cornish" flag - unless it is coupled with an English one. Being half-Scot myself, but regarding myself as English, I have grave concerns about the whole exclusive "Celtic" thing which is so much a part of Cornish nationalism.

I have written on this subject here .

I'm sure that "Cornubian" will be pleased to know that the Co-op was stocking Ginster's products with the Cornish flag proudly displayed on the packaging.

"It's All At The CO-OP Now!" - Scottish, Welsh, British But Not English

Today we trundled down to our local Co-operative supermarket, the dear old CO-OP, to check out the situation regarding flags on packaging. We found the Scots flag on some meat and fish products.

We found the Welsh flag on some meat products.

We found the British flag on a variety of products - including English meat products.

But we found no trace of an English flag.

"British" = English, Scottish and Welsh. The Co-op is yet another supermarket which sees fit to recognise Scotland and Wales but totally ignore England.

UPDATE: "Cornubian" has written to say that Cornwall is also excluded from the national flags on the packaging at the Co-op. Interesting point, although personally, until there has been a referendum on the subject and the people have actually voted for independence for Cornwall, I do not believe that Cornish produce should carry the "Cornish" flag - unless it is coupled with an English one. Being half-Scot myself, I have grave concerns about the whole exclusive "Celtic" thing which is so much a part of Cornish nationalism.

I have written on this subject here and here.

Anti-English And Absurd Asda

Seeking a supermarket that does not flag up Scottishness and ignore Englishness, we today tried our local Asda. We hadn't gone far into the store, when my wife called: "Look at this!" And we saw the above labels. The usual thing. British and Scottish as separate entities.

As always, we reflected that the whole "British" nationality actually came about because of the union of Scotland and England, and that the Saltire is also featured as part of the Union Flag.

We're aware that some English cheese on sale in Asda bears the Cross of St George. And we're well aware of the effort made by one individual to achieve this. But elsewhere Asda is failing as dismally as Tesco and Sainsbury's to recognise the fact that England exists, and deserves the same recognition as Scotland.

We found the labels pictured above absurd and offensive.

"We Say What About EU Dictatorship?"

Lipdub Europe United par les Jeunes Européens - France
Uploaded by JeunesEuropeensFrance

This video, a spoof of a dreadful 1960s-sounding song from the 1990s, is absolute trash. Were the youngsters taking part brainwashed? Paid well? Or simply thick? And as for the miming... well, I ask you!

Tesco Update

Alfie The Awake has news of a brilliant development in the long running saga of Tesco The Anti-English.

And we can report several hits at this blog in the past couple of days (since our last Tesco blog post) from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire... which just so happens to be home to Tesco Head Office.

Keep up the pressure, folks, on Tesco's and Sainsbury's - remember Every Little Helps...

Uncaring David Cameron - The Union Comes Before English Lives!

David Cameron has been in Scotland again telling the Scottish Conservative Conference: "I am passionate about our Union. I do not want to be the prime minister of England. I want to be prime minister of the United Kingdom - all of it, including Scotland."

But the Scots also have a First Minister and a parliament to represent their interests. England doesn't and David Cameron seems perfectly happy for that state of affairs to continue.

"Better an imperfect Union than a broken one. Better an imperfect Union than a perfect divorce. My answer is simple. I choose the United Kingdom."

It fascinates me that David Cameron sees fit to condone an "imperfect Union" when it is only England that is disadvantaged.

It fascinates me that David Cameron has a pronounced jingoistic streak that prompts him to brag of "Scottish blood" in his veins and that certain of his ancestors "...were Scottish Empire builders - conquered all sorts of parts of India, I think."

Mr Cameron has roundly attacked those in England calling for equality as "sour little Englanders". He has told various Scots audiences that the English need to understand the Scots better and that the English are basically rather thoughtless and insensitive types - to say the least!

The truth is that the English do not have the same democratic representation as the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish. The truth is that English lives are not valued as highly as those elsewhere in the UK. The truth is that public services for the English are not funded as well as those in other parts of the UK.

The most dreadful discrimination is levelled against every citizen of England. And David Cameron plays it down. He slags off the English to the Scots. He says he favours an "imperfect Union" above no Union - and damn England. Damn you.

David Cameron plays down or ignores the absolutely horrendous facts of life in the devolved "UK". Like health apartheid:

A grandmother battling lung and brain cancer is paying £1,500 a month for the drug that is keeping her alive - even though it is free on the NHS in Scotland.

Carol Rummels, 60, was given just two months to live when doctors discovered tumours in her lungs and on her brain.

A year after her diagnosis, she is still fighting and, thanks to the £5,000 she has spent on the drug Tarceva, her tumours are shrinking.

If she had lived 285 miles north, the lifesaving drug would be free.

Read the full story here.

Mr Cameron told the Scottish Conservative Conference: "Being British is one of the most successful examples of inclusive civic nationalism in the world. We can be a shining example of what a multi-ethnic, multi-faith multi-national society can and should be."

Really? Newcomers to England are only offered a "British" option. Englishness is not on offer to them. Politicians seem to thrive on this divide and rule tactic, demonising Englishness as "exclusive" and "racist" in the process. Many Scots and Welsh people have long bitterly rejected Britishness. The English have seen their own country and their own national institutions submerged beneath a suffocating blanket of Britishness.

Wonderfully inclusive Britishness, with equality for all?

Why isn't Mr Cameron expressing outrage about health apartheid, the West Lothian Question and the Barnett Formula? Why isn't he expressing outrage on behalf of people like Mrs Rummels?

Answers please - and Mr Cameron, what have you got to say for yourself? And what do you say to the likes of Mrs Rummels?
To recap, at the conference, Mr Cameron said: "Better an imperfect Union than a broken one. Better an imperfect Union than a perfect divorce. My answer is simple. I choose the United Kingdom."

But then of course, Mr Cameron doesn't have to depend on the English NHS, does he?

Campaign For An English Parliament Press Release: A Display Of Staggering Hypocrisy On The Part Of Gordon Brown...

The refusal of Gordon Brown to support the demand by Wendy Alexander Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland for the SNP to call a independence referendum amounts to a staggering display of hypocrisy on his part. 'Gordon Brown made a solemn pledge specifically to the people of Scotland, and to them alone, that in his every action and deliberation he would support their right to decide the form of government best suited to their needs,' Michael Knowles, member of the National Council of the Campaign for an English Parliament has said to a meeting of CEP members in Congleton in Cheshire. 'But he is now opposing that very right of the Scottish people which he had declared he supported.'

In Edinburgh on March 30th 1989 together with 133 fellow members of the Scottish Constitutional Convention Brown put his signature to what the SCC called the Scottish Claim of Right. It read: ‘We, gathered as the Scottish Constitutional Convention, do hereby acknowledge the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of Government best suited to their needs, and do hereby declare and pledge that in all our actions and deliberations their interests will be paramount’. He signed that pledge. So did the present Speaker of the House, Michael Martin. Gordon Brown had been the driving force behind the SCC. His vision of Scotland's future was for it to remain within the United Kingdom but in the most beneficial and unique position as could be attained and maintained. He devised and promoted the policy of Scotland having its own own parliament with total power over all its internal affairs such as education and health. In 1997 on coming to power and as Chancellor of the Exchequer he put through the Scottish devolution legislation which in 1998 established the Scottish Parliament and the astonishing degree of 75% of independence for Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom, while retaining the right of Scottish MPs like himself to become UK Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers; and retaining access for Scotland for the funds, denied to England, for free university education, free personal care for the elderly, in due course free prescriptions, many other advantages such as a freeze on council tax rises, and retention of the Barnett Formula which gives £1500 expenditure more per head of population in Scotland than in England. For Brown it was essential that Scotland remained in the UK if it was to to continue to have access to UK wealth and power, 80% of which is produced by England and enable Scots like himself to become the UK Prime Minister. For that reason he has always opposed the SNP claim for total independence for Scotland.

'Gordon Brown thinks he knows what is best for Scotland,' Michael Knowles stated to the meeting. 'Though he pledged himself to support and work for the right of the Scottish people to determine for themselves the form of government best suited to thr needs, he believes he know best what that best form is. And to his mind it is not independence. It is instead,he believes, what he achieved in the 1998 devolution legislation.'

'It is a staggering display of arrogance and hypocrisy on his part, that having made the 1989 Pledge of the Scottish Claim of Right to leave it to the Scottish People to decide what form of government they wanted, for him to oppose a referendum on independence. His fear of an outcome different from what he wants for Scotland does not justify his refusal to let the Scots choose for themselves the form of government best suited to Scotland. It is illogical and it is hypocritical,; stated Mr Knowles.


for contacts:
Scilla Cullen, Chairman
Tel: 01438 833155 Email: scilla.cullen@thecep.org.uk

David Cameron - No Hope For The "Sour Little Englanders"...

"Sour Little Englanders!" says David Cameron...

Since the disastrous results of the local elections for Labour, there's been a sudden rise in chortling Tory types where once there were screeches of "Justice For England". Despite David Cameron's pronounced anti-English/England stance, we're supposed to vote for him and embrace a new Tory Government which does not promise anything that different from the old NuLabour one.

"If Cameron gets in, we'll end up with better!" seems to be the glib assurance. I'm not so sure. He hasn't said.

"If Cameron get in, we'll end up with an English Parliament after a while!" seems to be another glib assurance doing the rounds.

I'm not convinced about that, either.

David Cameron is unfeeling and anti-English - whilst posing as "English". He doesn't care about health apartheid in England, or the elderly selling their homes and plundering their savings for care that is free in Scotland. He doesn't care that the poor scrimp and save in England for prescriptions free to millionaires in Wales.

A parliament for England? No!

West Lothian Question resolved? Don't bother - it's not even on his "top five list" of priorities!

Are we seeing a re-emergence of Little Britisher Tory types? I think we are. But for those of us who are genuinely concerned about the situation in England, remember that David Cameron is not committed to what is best for you, he values the Union above and beyond your lives if you happen to live in England, and his spitefulness towards the English often spills out on his visits to Scotland. Remember this is the man who declared those of us calling for parity: "Sour Little Englanders!"

For calling for equality in medical provision?

For calling for equality in social care provision?

For calling for democratic equality?

For calling for public spending equality?

Mr Cameron also tends to bang on about his forebears and the "Scottish Empire".

It's all very well to welcome the deserved drubbing of NuLabour at the recent polls, it's all very well to welcome the idea of a change, but fawning all over David Cameron and forgetting his hateful attitude towards England is not something I can manage.

"You WILL Be Regionalised!" Says The BBC

Remember John Prescott's regionalisation campaign in England and how it failed? The North East voted 78% NO in a referendum, and Nu Labour decided not to give anybody else a say and continue the regionalisation process without a mandate from the electorate?

Well, it's jobs for the boys (sorry - I mean "persons") and the usual sterling Government arse licking from the thoroughly "impartial" BBC, who are now advertising for a "Brand Executive, English Regions".

Keep up the brainwashing, Auntie - you undemocratic old bitch, you!

Hat tips to For England and Waking Hereward.

Is It Good News For England That The Tories Have Done Well?

The local election results show that the Conservatives have given New Labour a well-deserved drubbing, but is that good news for England?

England lacks a First Minister, but hear David Cameron:

"I want to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, not England".

So, is Mr Cameron proposing an English Parliament complete with English First Minister? No, actually - he most definitely isn't.

England is severely disadvantaged by devolution - Scots lives are valued higher than English ones and prescriptions are free to millionaires in Wales, but hear David Cameron:

"I would rather have an imperfect Union rather than some perfect constitutional construct that would threaten the Union."

Roughly translated, this means that discrimination against the English is fine, so long as the Union is preserved.

And the West Lothian Question, which allows non-accountable MPs to vote on English legislation? It's not one of David Cameron's "top five issues"

The democratic deficit levelled against England as a nation is attracting increasing attention, but hear David Cameron:

"Sour Little Englanders".

David poses as being English, but let's face it national loyalties are all in the mind and Mr Cameron has bragged about "Scots blood" in his veins (whatever's that?!) and made bizarre jingoistic comments that some of his forebears:

"...were Scottish Empire builders - conquered all sorts of parts of India, I think."

Mr Cameron has been very happy to nip up to Scotland to diss the English on many occasions.

And as for the EU? Oh dear, whilst many want more say and doubt the benefits of the EU, Mr Cameron says:

"The vast majority of the British people want to stay in the EU. From the very next day our businesses will flounder and be unable to export to the EU."

The vast majority of the British people want to stay in the EU, Mr Cameron? When was the referendum? And the stuff about our businesses floundering and not being able to export to the EU is pure hogwash.

The Tories did well in the local elections only because New Labour has been so unbelievably awful. But the Tories could wipe the floor with the opposition if they would simply make democratic parity for England their priority.

But with David Cameron at the helm, that isn't likely.

And dissention in the ranks is not noticeable.

Perhaps being an Opposition MP is simply too comfortable these days, and the glittering rewards offered to gravy train riders from an EU future far too glittering to resist simply for the sake of democracy.

Whatever the reason, Cameron and Co are not in politics for the benefit of the people of England.

Paul Points The Finger...

The election of two British National Party councillors in the town of Heanor (a "fairly unremarkable little place", according to Paul Linford), East Derbyshire, has Mr Linford proclaming "The Shame Of Derbyshire". Very worrying indeed, but surely the shame must rest mostly with our mainstream political parties?

New Labour which broke its promise over the EU referendum?

New Labour, which thinks mass immigration and payment of slave wages is great for the economy?

New Labour with its skewed system of devolution bringing us health apartheid, the West Lothian Question, etc. (one could perhaps call it a racist government - racist against every man, woman and child in England!).

The Tories - with David Cameron prattling on about "Scots blood" in his veins, the "Scottish Empire" and how the Union is more important than parity for the electorate in England?

The Lib Dems - who have been backing the creation of elite electorates in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for a very long time?

Charges of racism CAN be brought on the grounds of nationality, so we could say that the mainstream parties are all inherently RACIST against the people of England. Remember, a Scots' life is worth more than one in England.

I am very concerned at the rise of the BNP, to anybody considering voting for this party I would say reconsider a thousand times, but I also believe that the BNP's rise is more than a little due to the mainstream parties ignoring the concerns of the electorate, becoming increasingly withdrawn and autocratic. The current EU set-up is not helping. We want a Union, not a dictatorship.

And Mr Linford seemed very happy when Gordon Brown was appointed PM., despite the fact that he was unelected and a great deal of his government's legislation would not have any effect on his own constituents.

The success of the BNP worries me. But so does the attitude of Mr Linford, writing about "Shame" without bothering to think about "Cause". The attitudes of the mainstream parties, including Mr Linford's own beloved New Labour, can hardly be called non-racist or democratic, either.

The British Soap Awards

Strange logo. Do the organisers of the British Soap Awards know exactly where Britain is?

British soap awards? Only soaps produced in England are eligible.

The annual British Soap Awards are looming. And once again the only soaps eligible for votes are soaps produced in England. Which also happen to be the only soaps that are networked. The BBC allows "River City" to remain preciously Scottish.

And there are are no English/Scots/Welsh catogories to allow "River City" to be voted for - and does Wales still have its own Welsh-speaking soap? It did a few years ago.

Once again, England and the English are submerged by "Britain" and the "British" and the Scots and Welsh are left out in the cold.

This kind of outdated nonsense does nobody any favours.

But never mind, eh, celeb seekers? Why bother your heads?

Google Does St George!

When we retired to bed at around 3am, Google had its usual logo... but checking back in just now we've found the above.

Excellent. We can't reasonably apologise for doubting Google in the first place, but on this occasion we "jumped the gun" and for that we do apologise.

Once again, happy St George's Day, England. Whatever you're doing, have a good day. Where we are it's pouring with rain. England in April in the rain! LOVELY!!

Brollies up!

Channel 4 - Nations and Regions

Tonight I was taking a look at a documentary about Channel 4, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2007. Predictably, I found the section on the 1980s the most interesting, and was just skimming through the 90s and 2000s when I discovered footage featuring a Scots guy called Stuart Cosgrove, apparently Channel 4's "Director of Nations And Regions" since 1997.

Now, as we all know that "nations and regions" is basically Nu Labour claptrap which aims to legitimise the abolition of England into regions and bolster up the so-called "Celtic" nations, it seems surprising that Channel 4 has apparently been using the phrase since 1997. Or was the post renamed in more recent times?

Channel 4 has a brown neck from having its head up the Labour Party's arse for so long. In the 80s, I could understand it - in fact, applaud it. But now?!!

Channel 4 seems to have the same regard for the democratic rights of the people of England as the Government. We never voted for a UK of "nations and regions".

And this was the station which recently brought us what could be construed as fascist bile about "pure Celts" and "mongrel English" in programmes like Face Of Britain and 100% English. Click on the Channel 4 label at the bottom of this post for more information on 100% English.

David Cameron Tells Lies About The EU

David Cameron irritates the hell out of me. Not quite as much as Gordon Brown, but he still does.

Cameron is the man who tells those of us in England who don't like health apartheid, the West Lothian Question and the Barnett Formula and who want parity with Scotland that we are "sour little Englanders".

Cameron is the man who speaks proudly of having ancestry who were involved in a "Scottish Empire" and brags of having "Scots blood" flowing through his veins.

Cameron is the man who tells us in England that the Union is everything. Far more important than health apartheid, etc.

Cameron is supposed to be in Opposition to the Government - but it's rarely obvious. Are the Tories SO comfortable that they simply don't want the bother of governing?

And are they, like so many other career politicians, eyeing the glittering prizes available to them through a continuation of the current undemocratic EU set-up? I mean let's face it, integration and interaction on a tiny planet is all to the good, but do we really want dictatorship?

But Mr Cameron thinks its commendable - like Gordy and co, he's willing to tell lies about what would happen if we pulled out of the EU. I'm guessing that he is telling lies. Because I don't think any leading politician could possibly be so thick as to spout the following nonsense in good faith:

Question to David Cameron: Why would you rather be in Europe rather than govern, why don't you want a landslide victory that that policy would give you?

A. The vast majority of the British people want to stay in the EU. From the very next day our businesses will flounder and be unable to export to the EU.

Utter nonsense. Read it all over at "Is There More To Life Than Shoes?"

Campaign For An English Parliament Press Release: England Excluded From Ministerial Meetings

This week there have been vitally important meetings, meetings which directly affect England and the English taxpayer but from which any English representative and English voice have been excluded. They are the regular ministerial meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee. The Committee is made up of the UK Prime Minister, the Scottish First Minister, the Welsh First Minister, the Northern Ireland First Minister, and their deputies, and the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is no one representing England. ‘It is totally weird’ said Scilla Cullen, chairman of the Campaign for an English Parliament, ‘how these people still think England is the UK and the UK is England. England is just one of the four parts of the UK and both the identity of England and that of the UK itself should be respected.’

The range of inter-governmental respnsibilites the Committee considers is quite vast. They cover health, the economy, poverty and European issues of which fishing is but one, as well as financial matters and the operation of the Barnett Formula. All involve finance, and it is the English who contribute 84% of the UK tax income. This week JMC meetings have considered the dispute between Scotland and the UK over the £400 million council tax benefit Scotland receives and the £120 million the Scottish Government claims it is owed through the way the Barnett Formula works. Under the Barnett Formula Scotland is entitled to 10% of any money spent in England, in this case on England’s overcrowded prisons, which the Scottish government can then spend on any thing it thinks fit. Lord Joel Barnett himself has called for the formula to be revoked as completly out of date and unfair to England.

‘The Joint Ministerial Committee is only one out of many examples of the grotesquely unfair way in which England has been left out of and penalised by devolution’, says Scilla Cullen ‘It has no voice of its own, absolutely none. Unlike the Scots, the Northern Irish and the Welsh it has no institution with MPs specifically elected to represent its interests. The discrimination practised by the UK state against England and its people is intolerable. It is one of the issues that will be discussed at the National Conference on the future of England on Saturday April 26th from 10:30 to 4:30 at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1, which is free and open to everyone to attend.’

End of Nations - The EU Takeover And The Lisbon Treaty

Politicians no longer listen to us. We want devolution for England as a nation? Hard titty. We want a referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty? Hard titty...

It's odd, but the politicians suddenly seem to be all in it together. The Tories don't really seem to want to challenge New Labour that much - so David Cameron announces that those who want devolutionary parity in England are "sour little Englanders" and goes on to say that the Union is sacred. Health apartheid? Who cares?

Very few politicians in the mainstream parties seem to be acting for the electorate any more. Our wishes are blatantly ignored. So, what is going on? On the devolutionary front, there's definitely a racist, anti-English Scots/Welsh/"British"/PC faction at work, but why so few protests from English MPs?

Why is England so determinedly being broken up into regions, despite the 78% NO vote in the North East, the only area allowed a referendum?

What's going on? Why is democracy going to the wall?

This is essential reading and viewing:

We set out to make a video about the pros and cons of the Lisbon Treaty and found out to our horror the lies, manipulations and deceit behind the EU. From MEPs, legal experts and EU researches the true nature of the EU unfolded, how it really operates from behind closed doors and away from prying eyes. We discovered the massive power grab away from citizens and nations to the elites that is being proposed in this treaty. Most shocking of all was how our elected representatives are willingly handing us over to this emerging Totalitarian Superstate by deception , propaganda and outright lies.

This video details how the structures of the EU really operate, what the full significance of the Lisbon Treaty is and how it is the end of Nations within in the EU. MEPs describe their experience in Brussels and how they are undermined by the real power of the unelected and unaccountable Eurocrats who run the organization. How the politicians are working together for their own selfish needs while being used for a bigger agenda.

The video lasts for 1 hour and 22 minutes. I strongly recommend that you watch it all and read the associated material. It's all here.

EU Lisbon Treaty Death Penalty UPDATE

The Secret Person has been researching the full details of the EU's Lisbon Treaty reinstatement of the Death Penalty:

(a) Article 2(2) of the ECHR:
‘Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this Article
when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary:
(a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence;
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully
detained;
(c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection.’

(b) Article 2 of Protocol No 6 to the ECHR:
‘A State may make provision in its law for the death penalty in respect of acts
committed in time of war or of imminent threat of war; such penalty shall be applied
only in the instances laid down in the law and in accordance with its provisions…’

Read the full details and analysis at the Secret Person here.

The EU Lisbon Treaty Brings Back The Death Penalty

We're not against the concept of a European Union - we actually love the idea. But not a European Dictatorship - which abolishes nations and basically our right to any say. And that is what is happening with the current EU set up.

It's terrifying. And all our politicians are keeping rather quiet about it - even those shouting are not shouting nearly loud enough, our media is not reporting the truth of what is happening, everything is ignored, lied about or played down to the max, and we, the voters, of course, are being denied a referendum.

All sorts of incredible things are happening, and now, via Wonko, we learn that the libertarian EU, apparently so anti-death penalty, has now decided it is to be reinstated - though the fact is craftily hidden away in a footnote in the Lisbon Treaty: the death penalty is apparently abolished "except in the case of war, riots, upheaval".

We're personally against the death penalty under any circumstances, but here the EU makes it plain it will not be used against proven murderers or the likes but in the event of war or protest.

Looks like our powers to protest against our new Masters are being severely curtailed. Unless we want to pay the ultimate price.

The EU experiment must be halted.

1984 - Orwell's Version Becomes Reality

Experience the horrors of 1984 - no, not that one!

We've viewed with concern the new powers the UK Government has given itself in the name of anti-terrorism, and the pathetic eagerness of some to give up hard fought for civil liberties. And guess what? The new laws have already been used to spy on perfectly ordinary, everyday people - suspected of a highly trivial, non-criminal misdemeanour.

Under the New Labour fright regime, spying on innocent people is a functioning aspect of our lives. The council in Poole, Dorset have taken advantage of the anti-terror laws brought in by the Blair part of this disgraceful government. Poole Borough Council has disclosed that it had legitimately used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) to spy on a family. This family had been "shopped" to the council by an unknown person. For two weeks the middle-class family was followed by council officials who wanted to establish whether they had given a false address within the catchment area of an oversubscribed school to secure a place for their three-year-old.

Read the full, startling and infuriating tale over at A View From Middle England - here.

The Truth About The Unfair Barnett Formula - By Its Creator...

We've known it for years, Lord Joel Barnett, devisor of the Barnett Formula in the late 1970s, has admitted his shame over his name being associated with the Barnett Formula, and now he is speaking up again after Gordon Brown has once more told a bared faced lie in the House of Commons, trotting out that hoary old chestnut that the formula is "needs based".

Says Lord Barnett:

"All I did was put together, almost on the back of an envelope, a mechanism for allocating public expenditure between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the basis of population - even that was on approximate numbers.

"There was nothing scientific about this but I naively thought it made life easier for me because I didn't need to then have detailed and individual debates with the individual Secretaries of State for the various areas of the UK."

He added: "I don't think I even put it to Cabinet because it was simply a system of expenditure allocation, making life a little easier for me."

Lord Barnett said he thought it would only last a year or two before being replaced by a system based on need.

"The current Prime Minister has frequently said in recent years that the formula is based on need but it isn't.

"It is based on a per-capita basis although varied slightly over the years - a very simple system, very simple but very wrong."

Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, Toque has news of Gordon Brown's latest wheeze - selling off English NHS hospital land and buildings. Read it here.

But, of course, this is only in England - it's only the best for Gordon's own constituents up in Scotland - and for the elites in the two other so-called "Celtic nations"...

Thanks to the Barnett Formula and Gordon's incredibly pronounced anti-English/England stance.

The CEP stands up for English university students while the NUS lets them down

Press Release: CEP stands up for English university students while the NUS lets them down

The CEP carries on with its opposition to the Government’s policy of discrimination against English university students.

The Campaign for an English Parliament has deplored the decision of the National Union of Students last week to end its opposition to the tuition and top-up fees which are being imposed upon English university students.

‘We want every English student to know’, stated Mrs Scilla Cullen, Chairman of the CEP, ‘that the Campaign for an English Parliament will not stop campaigning against the fees New Labour has inflicted on English students while sparing Scottish and Welsh students. English students are being hit with immense debts while Scottish students are not.

In England university students have to pay £3145 each year of their university life. Students loans then have to be repaid at 4.8% interest rates after graduation.

Welsh students don’t have anything like the fee burden English students have. Their fees are only £1255 pa.’

However, in Scotland university students have no fees to pay. What’s more, the Scottish parliament has also made grants up to £2510 available to Scottish students coming from families on low incomes, which are not available in England. To make the discrimination even worse English students at Scottish universities have to pay their fees, while EU students do not; and Scottish students, and indeed Isle of Man students, at English unviersities pay no fees. What is quite grotesque about the whole situation is that, at the same time as the Scottish Parliament was legislatiing to relieve its students of fees, the vote in the UK Parliament to impose top-up fees on English students was carried only by the Scottish MPs in Westminister voting for them to give New Labour its majority in the vote in the House.The majority of English MPs voted against them.

‘The only way forward out of this discrimination’ says Mrs Cullen, ‘is for England to have its own parliament just as Scotland has. The UK government is just seeing England, which provides 85% of its whole tax revenue, as a milch cow from which Scotland and Wales benefit at the expense of the people of England. All the MPs who have imposed these fees upon English students got their university education completely free. The injustice to England is grotesque; and it is time that of the 660 Westminster MPs the 550 who are English start to stand up for their country. England should matter as much to them as Scotland does to the Scottish MPs both at Westminster and Edinburgh. They should stand up for their constituents. I can assure English students that is what an English Parliament will do.’

All students are invited to the CEP National Conference taking place at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn London on Saturday April 26th from 10:30 to 4:30. It is free and open to everyone.

Campaign For An English Parliament: Gordon Brown's Statement Reeks Of Hypocrisy

GORDON BROWN SLAMMED FOR HYPOCRISY AND DOUBLE STANDARDS.

CEP Press Release, Wednesday, 26 March, 2008.

On the eve of announcing a review of devolution in Scotland for the purpose of extending the powers of the Scottish Parliament Gordon Brown denounced nationalism in the UK, saying it was a threat to the stability and the health of the Union.

'His hypocrisy is incredible' Mrs Scilla Cullen, Chairman of the Campaign has retorred. 'Simply incredible. It's time he began to have a serious debate with himself. It was Brown who with other prominent Scottish MPs such as Alistair Darling who signed the Scottish 'Claim of Right' in Edinburgh in 1989 declaring that under the UN Charter of the Rights of Nations Scotland had 'the right to govern itself'. It was he, together with Alistair Darling and his fellow Scottish MPs, who then put their signatures to the solemn promise 'to make the interests of Scotland paramount in everything they did'. It was Brown who was the engine behind the Scottish Constitutional Convention and steamrolled the legislation setting up a Scottish Parliament through Westminster in 1998. If the Union is now under threat, it is Gordon Brown who more than anyone else has wounded it.'

'What is even more hypocritical', Mrs Cullen has stated,' is the way he is now denouncing English nationalism after he spent the 80s and most of the 90s fomenting Scottish nationalism and making Scotland some 75% independent of the United Kingdom and self-ruling in all its internal affairs. He is trying to represent the rise in English patriotism as a threat to the Union when all we want is what he got for his own Scotland. He let the genie of Scottish nationalism out of the bottle, it was who unscrewed the lid. Now we want the chance to speak our minds in a referendum like his people did. We want the same opportunity to consider and debate our future just like Scotland has had. To achieve that the Campaign is organising a major national conference open to everyone to take place Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London on April 26th. Speakers include Frank Field MP, Canon Kenyon Wright OBE, Simon Lee of Hull University and Hugo de Burgh Professor of Journalism at Westminster University'


for contacts:

Michael Knowles Head of Media Unit, Campaign for an English Parliament
Tel: 01260 271139. Email: michael-knowles@tiscali.co.uk

Scilla Cullen, Chairman
Tel: 01439 833155 Email: scilla.cullen@thecep.org.uk

CEP: Prescription Charges Blow A Huge Hole In The Very Idea Of A United Kingdom

Campaign For An English Parliament Press Release.

What sort of Union has the United Kingdom become?

With the announcement from the Scottish Parliament that prescription charges will be reduced to £5 in Scotland and abolished altogether in 2011; and from the Union Parliament that they will be increased to £7.10p in England; while in Wales its Assembly has already made them free to all its population, the question has been asked yet again: What sort of Union is the United Kingdom?

'It is a Union in which the people of England are discriminated against at every turn when they look at what is happening in Scotland and Wales,' said Mrs Veronica Newman, Secretary of the Campaign for an English Parliament. 'And this is only one of an ever-increasing list of differences between the three countries which has come about since Scotland and Wales got devolution and we in England did not. What makes in unbelievably worse is the fact that the Union government makes it all possible for Scotland and Wales through taxation upon English tax payers. Every English tax payer pays £281 more tax per year to subsidise Scotland which does not collect in enough tax to pay its way. The unfairness and the discrimination is getting beyond belief'.'

Mrs Newman, who is also the organiser of the Campaign in the county of Wiltshire, raised the whole issue at a meeting of her branch members. 'Where are the 550 MPs who out of the 650 in the Union Parliament represent English constituencies?' she asked. 'Why don't they show concern for their English constituents who are being treated so unfairly? What are they elected by their English constituents for if not to stand up for them? Why do they keep silent and let this happen? All five ministers in the Department of Health: Alan Johnson, Dawn Primarolo, Ben Bradshaw, Ann Keen and Ivan Lewis are English MPs. Yet not one of them shows the slightest concern at this gross injustice. What are they in office as MPs and as ministers for? '

The Head of the CEP Media Unit has circulated a statement to all the membership in which he asks the question which everyone is now beginning to think about. 'Could it be the case that with a Scottish Prime Minister and a Scottish Chancellor of the Exchequer the Union finances are being used to benefit Scotland over England? After all,' he said, 'in 1989 both men signed the Scottish Claim of Right which expressly committed them to making the interests of Scotland paramount in everything they did as MPs. Only if England has its own parliament like Scotland has, can it stand up for just and fair treatment by the Union of the English people'

The Campaign is holding an Open Conference on 'The Future of England' at which these and related issues will be debated. It takes place in the Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London on Saturday April 26th from 10:30 to 4:30. Principle speakers are Frank Field MP, Simon Lee Department of Politics Hull University, Canon Kenyon Wright of the Scottish Constitutional Convention and Professor Hugo de Burgh of Westminster University. The conference is free to attend and open to the public.

End of press release.

for contacts:

Michael Knowles Head of Media Unit, Campaign for an English Parliament

Tel: 01260 271139. Email: michael-knowles@tiscali.co.uk

Scilla Cullen, Chairman

Tel: 01439 833155

Email: scilla.cullen@thecep.org.uk

The Union Jack - The Flag Of Oppression

Like David Cameron, Gordon Brown simply cannot resist a bit of Scots jingoism. But it will hopefully contribute to his downfall...

From the Sunday Times:

PUBLIC buildings in Scotland will be allowed to fly the Saltire year-round following a government climbdown in response to pressure from nationalists.

UK ministers will this week announce the lifting of restrictions on flag flying that have been in force since 1924. The rules stipulate that the Union Jack must must take precedence over all national flags on 18 days each year.

Scottish government buildings with only one flagpole must take down the Saltire and replace it with the Union Jack on specified national days including the Queen's birthday, Remembrance Day and Commonwealth Day. The decision to give the Saltire equal status has been welcomed by the Scottish National party. “It's a recognition that we are in charge of our flag flying arrangements,” said a senior Scottish government source.

Read it all here.

So, with no mandate Prime Minister Gordon Brown's "Britishness" drive in England and his insistence that the Union Flag (which also features the Saltire, the flag of his own country) is flown on all our public buildings, never the Cross of St George, and with Wales and Northern Ireland acquiring more and more powers, it looks like the oppression and sheer unfairness of Scottish-Raj led UK rulership is finally strangling England.

Of course, it was a daft decision for ministers to allow this latest "right" for Scotland. But it demonstrates more clearly than mere words on my part their complete and utter contempt for the people of England.

Spit on the Union Flag...

The flag which sees a non-representative Prime Minister ruling England...

The flag which sees people dying in England for want of medication available on the NHS in Scotland...

The flag which sees Scotland ruling several English rivers...

The flag which sees prescriptions are free to all, including millionaires, in Wales, and that Council Tax has been capped in Scotland whilst it soars in England...

The flag which sees lower health and public spending in England than elsewhere in the so-called "UK"...

The flag which sees that Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs can foist legislation onto England which will not affect their owsn constituents...

The flag which sees England broken up into regions, against our will, and denies the people of England a say on the future of England, the UK and the EU...

The Union Flag is a flag of oppression. You'll see it cropping up on public buildings all around you as Gordon Brown tries to hoodwink the public in England into believing that devolution has not happened.

Spread the word.

The Union Flag is now a symbol of evil.

Gordon Brown Says He Feels Your Pain, But Sadly He Inflicted Most Of It!

In an exclusive interview in the Sun today, Premier Gordon Brown tells us he feels our pain as we cope with soaring household bills. But trust in him, he will see us through.

This is the man who cut the capital budget of the English NHS from 6.2bn to 4.2bn in one of his last acts as Chancellor. Of course, the budgets of his own country, Scotland, and the fellow "Celtic" nations of Wales and Northern Ireland were unaffected - read about it in the Financial Times - here.

This is the man who this very day was standing up in Parliament talking about "nations and regions". You know the nations - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. You know the regions - fragmented areas which once constituted a nation called England.

Mr Brown feels your pain when you're dying in England for want of medication available on the NHS in Scotland. He feels your pain when you are digging deep for money to pay for soaring prescription costs - free to everybody, including millionaires, in Wales.

Actually, Gordon Brown does not feel your pain.

Gordon Brown is a self-serving, racist, anti-English LIAR.

David Cameron - A Racist Himself!

David Cameron - racist slime.

David Cameron has, quite rightly, condemned the BNP, but is guilty of a form of racism himself. Against every man, woman and child in England.

David Cameron does not have the Barnett Formula or West Lothian Question on his top five list of priorities, and as for health apartheid - he doesn't even mention it. Dying in England? Well, the Union comes before your life.

Quote: "I would rather have an imperfect Union rather than some perfect constitutional construct that would threaten the Union."

And Mr Cameron has also been revealing his Scots jingoistic natire, informing us that his maternal grandmother's family:

"...were Scottish Empire builders - conquered all sorts of parts of India, I think."

Note, not BRITISH Empire builders, but Scottish. Read the full article here -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/10/nbrits310.xml

and more WENAP material on it here -

http://englandparliament.blogspot.com/2007/12/read-between-lines-david-cameron-hates.html

David Cameron tries to fool us into believing that he is English. He is not. Nationality is largely a state of mind. He actually does not care for the English at all. He can't possibly - or he would be up in arms about the fact you can die in England for want of medication available on the NHS in Scotland, or that prescriptions are free to millionaires in Wales but in England they are soaring and many of us can barely afford them, whilst not qualifying for any financial assistance.

David Cameron talks of the "Scottish Empire" and flags up his own apparently mixed UK origins, saying we must all be British, whilst accepting that in Wales and Scotland people can also be Welsh and Scots and have their own national representative bodies and higher spending.

For those desiring parity in England, David Cameron has nothing but contempt: "Sour Little Englanders!"

David Cameron is just as bad as the British National Party and Gordon Brown. David Cameron sits by whilst people in England die for want of medication available on the NHS in Scotland and muddies the water as best he can to prolong the disparities. To keep England as the poor relation in the UK.

David Cameron has no room to go talking about the BNP. The man is a hateful, racist muddier of facts himself.

"Alba" Comments...

Alba has long frequented the CEP News Blog and others, expressing his view that it's the British who are at fault in the devolutionary debacle and that Scots as Scots have no share of the blame. After our post yesterday, Alba popped in this morning to air his views. Here they are, and our replies...

Alba: What a lot of racist, spitting, vitriolic garbage.

Us: Why? We're saying that English, Scots, Welsh and Irish are nationalities, not races and that the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish are no more Celts than the English are Anglo Saxons. Why is that racist?

Alba: Here's a few points for you, racist.

Us: Once again, why? We're not talking about "Celtic nations" as you do. We accept each nation of the UK as being multi-ethnic.

Alba: - I don't 'dream' of the day about football victories [unless you've managed to get that from the mail??

Us: You seemed to be relishing such a prospect.

Alba: - I'm not anti-democratic. I'm very much on your side - seen this morning's headlines? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7287984.stm Now THAT is scary.
- I've no idea where you get off saying I am downing Anglo-Saxon England? Is this a sideways comment to your white racist supremest thoughts about immigration?

Us: Eh? We stated that English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish are not races but nationalities. You were the one banging on about the "three Celtic nations". We don't believe that England IS Anglo Saxon and stated that clearly.

Alba: - Scotland doesn't get free prescriptions, although it may come later. I didn't make devolution and I don't need to be lectured on post-devolution imbalance. That's not a Scotland/Wales/England thing as I've told and explained to your THICK head a dozen times. It is a BRITISH problem and it is the UNION and the plate spinning therein that's to blame.

Us: We were talking about your definition of "Celts" - the Welsh get free prescriptions and Scotland is discussing the idea, the NHS in Scotland provides life prolonging medication not available on the NHS in England. The Prime Minister is not accountable to the English electorate, he was elected in Scotland and a lot of his policies do not affect his own constituents. He also signed the Scottish Claim Of Right, and has recently been proclaiming himself as being "as Scottish as Alex Salmond."

Alba: - You come across like a four-year-old and are something of a political joke.

Us: We find that the blogosphere seems to have a lot of sites which are excellent for academics and the educated; some of these sites seem to be anti-English (like Our Kingdom) whilst professing to be neutral. It is our aim to plug a gap in the blogosphere by giving our views as common-of-garden, non-academic nurses and care workers. We don't claim to be anything even remotely clever.

The blogosphere has room for all...

Alba: - 'Nationalities' are great, until those nationalities are rendered as 'regions'. And I'm afraid Scotland has a greater chance of such steam-rolling for different reasons to the problems that act as a catalyst for a 'changing England'.
- Numptie.

Us: And throughout all this, Alba still seems to think he and the Scots, Welsh and Irish are "Celts". We've no more to say.

Replies by: DREW & FIONA

We Are The Celts! Cry The Little Scotlanders, Waleans, etc...

One of the most ridiculous examples of racist double standards in the UK today is the idea that the English are a mongrel breed, unfit for national recognition, and the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish are "Celts" - frightening notions of ethnic and genetic purity!

It often reveals itself in the cries of Little Scotlanders, Waleans and even the "Cornish", though we've not yet come across it to any degree amongst Irish people of our acquaintance.

In this CEP thread -

http://www.thecep.org.uk/wordpress/2008/03/08/nooooooooooooooooooooooo/#comment-119

- you can read the thoughts of a regular participant, a Scot, who calls him/herself "Alba" and dreams of the day when the "Celtic nations" beat the English at football.

Very strange. The people behind Our Kingdom, meanwhile, determinedly anti-fascist (and anti-democratic) when it comes England, don't turn a hair at the notion of Celtic ethnic purity in the other UK nations.

English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish are nationalities, not races. And as the notion of an Anglo Saxon population in England is debunked and ridiculed, surely the same should apply to the primping, preening "Celts", with all their special priviliges in the modern day UK - you know, life prolonging medications, free prescriptions, etc, etc?

Not racist that sort of thing, is it? It would only be racist if it was the people of England who were enjoying the benefits, and not those in Scotland and Wales.

Sick!

WRITTEN BY DREW & FIONA

Peter Facey

Peter Facey and "Unlock Democracy" are both heartily endorsed by the chattering classes.

Peter Facey and "Unlock Democracy" are however very puzzling entities indeed.

How do we "unlock democracy" without giving England parity within the UK - and devolution has been awarded on grounds of nationhood elsewhere?

Mr Facey, and therefore "Unlock Democracy", believe that the current Governmernt should carve England up into regions and that it should be subsumed into the UK.

That England should exist no more. And that it should be at the behest of our current corrupt and non-representative political elite.

Surely, England needs a representative national parliament and THAT should decide how England is governed internally? Not according to Mr Facey.

It's illogical. It's the sort of thing that should Joe Bloggs say it, he would be snorted at derisively. But because Mr Facey has the "right background", the chattering classes allow him to chunter unchallenged and believe that the man probably has a point.

"I couldn't have debated well enough," said one person who had spent time debating the English issue with Mr Facey on the more-than-slightly twisted "Our Kingdom" site the day before the Justice Committee hearing.

But Mr Facey does not debate. He gives no replies, no good reason for his anti-English stance.

Pop eyed, defensive body language at the Justice Committee, an absolute refusal to see what democracy MEANS and a site called "Unlock Democracy". How logical is Peter Facey? How democratic? And just what is behind his bizarre mindset?

But the man has the "right background" so gets away with it all, virtually unscathed.

Who said the class system is dead? Why doesn't somebody tell this man that unless he can back up his opinions with logical arguments, he is doing nobody any favours?

Sue Campbell on "Conniving" MSP Christine Grahame

Born in England, but more Scottish than day old haggis, Christine Grahame uses her place of birth to try and make out that her actions are justified and that she's truly fair-minded. In reality, she's a conniving anti-English... er... MSP!

The SNP are anxious to use her to front their most dishonest endeavours, because then they can say: "But she was born in England! She's English! She has no axe to grind!"

No she isn't English - and yes she does have an axe to grind. She hates the English. I was born in Scotland and my Dad's a Scot, but believe me nationality's really a state of mind and I'm English!

See more about Ms Grahame here.

Our Kingdom: The Secret Person - A Reply...

From The Secret Person:

While I disagree with Peter Facey and co. Our Kingdom has also allowed the CEP's Michael Knowles and Gareth Young to make contributions. I think anything that gets people talking about the English question is worthwhile. These are exactly the type of people and arguments we will come up against in persuading the British establishment so it is useful to argue against them now.

We reply:

Thank you for writing.

With all due respect, we disagree. Our Kingdom is not what it stated it would be, the likes of Anthony Barnett are actually anti-English fascists, out to smear any campaigns for equality for England as "racist" - it is not a site for fair debate with its organisers having such a strong agenda of their own. They may deny they have such an agenda, but just read through the site. The facts speak for themselves.

Because of most of its content, we don't see Our Kingdom as a quality site. Just because it declared itself as important at the outset and the chattering classes fell on its neck, doesn't make it so.

At the end of the day, the likes of Peter Facey are spouting an awful lot of evasive, illogical drivel, which, once the public is made fully aware of the issues, he will cease doing because it IS such evasive, illogical drivel. He only does so at the moment to cloud the issues and because he hopes that he may fool a few more poor innocents into not peering too deeply into matters. "Unlock Democracy"? It's nonsense, of course - another anti-English/England organisation.

Once the issues go wide, the howls of derision at what the likes of Mr Facey have been saying will discourage any further nonsense.

Our Kingdom may allow contributions from the likes of Mike Knowles and Gareth Young, really it has to if you think about it, but that does not alter the fact that its organisers have a strong anti-English bias, and couldn't give a damn about the everyday man or woman in the street.

There's space for all sorts on the blogosphere, as I'm sure you agree. All of us involved in WENAP are breadline, working class care workers/nurses and what is happening in England makes us intensely angry.

In our view, people should not be giving the likes of Our Kingdom credence as an unbiased, respectable site for debate because it is not. It allows views to be expressed about England that it would never allow to be expressed about the other UK nations (did you read the post about our lack of moral vision being the reason why we don't deserve a parliament?) and backs up the fascist "Celt" assumption which is STILL prevelant in Scotland and Wales.

Whilst people continue to believe that Our Kingdom is "spiffing" and a "good egg", and whilst it continues with its dreadful, twisted, anti-English attitudes, we shall continue to highlight the true facts.

Thanks again for writing.

Google Decides Which UK Saints to Celebrate - 2008

Ah, the first of our annual Saint's days and Google says it's OK to celebrate St David's Day, Patron Saint of Wales. It was last year, too, but it's even better this year because last year there was only a daffodil as part of the celebratory logo, this year there is also a leek.

Now, which other Saints are OK in 2008? Last year it was St David and St Patrick (Ireland). But not St Andrew (Scotland) or St George (England). Let's take your bets for this year, ladies and gentlemen...

And happy St David's Day, Wales.