The 25th British Social Attitudes Report - More Cooked Up Nonsense To Make The English Look Happy With Inequality In The UK...

The 25th British Social Attudes report is, like other recent examples, apparently largely cobbled together to keep the people of England squarely under the undemocratic cosh of the UK Government.

Would we rather be governed by a "new" English Parliament OR by Westminster? Er, I'd like to be governed by an English Parliament AT Westminster, it's the traditional location of English Government. But the phrasing of the BSA report carries hints that a new building will have to be forked out for if an English Parliament were established! Once more the bogus, "cost" issue is vaguely wafted about. It's all in the word "new" - new usually costs!

And then there is a very undemocratic tick box response to the question:

With all the changes going on in the way different parts of Great Britain are run, which of the following do you think would be best for England?

There are three options, and the second one is:

b) Each region of England should have its own regional assembly that runs services like health

But we shouldn't HAVE regions - the North East, the only area allowed a referendum, voted 78% NO to them!

Some of the questions are carefully phrased, water muddying is going on as per usual, but one finding stands out a mile and cannot be disguised: 61% of those surveyed think that Scots MPs should not be allowed to vote on English issues!

I must go to bed now, work looms in about seven hours - but Gareth has lots more on the BSA Report - I strongly recommend a visit to Toque.

Goodnight!

Telford: Traffic Road Works Signs In Welsh - First And Foremost?!!

From Wonko's World:

It’s my birthday on Saturday and I’m off work tomorrow so, as tradition dictates, I popped to a nearby Chavda to buy some cakes and biscuits.

As I was driving back through some roadworks I noticed the roadsigns were all written in bloody Welsh with English translations underneath. Welsh. In Telford, which is about 40 miles as the crow flies from the nearest point of the Welsh border.

I phoned the council and they said that as long as it’d got English on there and it was legible it’s fine. I pointed out that if you’re reading a road sign and the first line is foreign it means you’ve got to scan the sign for the English which takes longer and hence makes the signs less safe. The disinterest went off the disinterest-o-meter.

This strikes me as being positively dangerous: road safety signs in England with Welsh as the primary language? There are tourists and newcomers here who are not even that familiar with English and the signs could be very confusing when people are driving at night in wintery conditions...

And just how many people in England speak and read Welsh? Our road safety signs need to be ABSOLUTELY CLEAR. What the hell’s going on?

Fiona Bruce - Radio Times - Bigging Up Scottish Ancestry, But What About English?

We don't know who Fiona Bruce actually is, as we don't watch modern TV at all, but this Radio Times cover made us feel slightly ill. More Scots pride. More posturing. Can you bear it? Apparently, it's all in aid of a BBC show called Who Do You Think You Are? What's the betting that English participants will not be getting a lovely pride-filled Radio Times cover to themselves? In fact they'll probably be referred to as "British". I imagine if the surname "Bruce" had belonged to an English participant, the BBC would place great emphasis on its French origins - more here.

With all that's going on, especially the racist attacks on the English in Scotland, the cover strikes us as the height of bad taste. Do we really want it on our coffee tables? Sadly, as we all know, Scots' pride can be a dangerous thing. Especially if you're English.

More here.

Greedy And Hateful - UK MPs To Change The Law To Conceal Their Expenses From The Electorate?

From Little Man In A Toque:

On the 16th of May 2008 the High Court ruled that MPs’ expenses must be published under the Freedom of Information Act.

This Thursday, MPs are voting to change the law to keep their expenses secret after all, just before publication was due and after spending nearly a million of your pounds and seven months compiling the data.

Your MP may not even know about this proposal (it was sneaked out under the Heathrow runway announcement). Please take a few minutes to alert them to this attack on Parliamentary transparency and ask them to vote against the measure.

I'm short of time today and can't write anything up, but I strongly recommend that you visit Toque to find out what YOU can do to try and avert this appalling proposal to change the law to suit "our" piggish (and often priggish) MPs.

Yet More Anti-English Racism in Scotland. And David Cameron And Gordon Brown Do Not Condemn It!

The CEP News Blog is putting out some great articles at the moment.

Earlier this week it was reported that a woman in Aberdeen had been viciously assaulted by a Scottish racist who targeted her because she was English.

Now it appears that the Scottish racists have struck again, this time forcing an English family from their home in Paisley.

Despite leaving several messages for his press secretary, there’s still no comment from David Cameron on the racist attack earlier this week and no doubt he’ll remain silent over the latest racist attack and the wider problem of anti-English racism in Scotland which even the Scottish police admit is a serious problem.

I also expect David Blunkett will remain silent rather than calling on the Scottish to reclaim their flag from the racists like he famously told the English we must do to stop the racism of the British National Party.

And even more interestingly is this from the Comments thread:

"The problem is not the individual case although that is bad enough but that the Scots (and others) have been taught that abusing the English is acceptable. From the execrable Braveheart, Jack McConnell, Andy Murray, David Cameron and many others in my personal experience. I had a perfectly nice, sane and intelligent Scottish colleague who informed me that she hated the English because of what we had done to Scotland. Speaking for myself and all my relations, including those that are deceased, we have done nothing to Scotland. We are not responsible for past history (in which the Scots invaded England more often than the English invaded Scotland) nor for the activity of the British government."

Many Scots thrive on hating the English - it is one of their largest motivating factors. And that hatred is formed by centuries of anti-English lies and scapegoating. The same is true in many parts of Wales.

The only way England can get a fair deal is by breaking away from its Union prison. And with MPs representing English constituencies grunting merrily around the piggery that is Westminster, allowing the evil Scottish Raj to do exactly as it pleases, that is not going to be easy.

Don't Forget To Celt Gelt

These awful £20 notes are becoming more and more common. Celt Gelt - you know it makes sense! Click on the red text for more details.

Songs Of Praise: The BBC And Aled Jones - More Anti-English Bias

Scilla Cullen, of the Campaign for an English Parliament, has noted yet another example of anti-English bias on the BBC. You know, the English are to be referred to as "British", the Scots and Welsh by name? As with the outrageous anti-English The Surgery feature, on BBC Radio 1, this latest outrage involves a Welshman called Aled - this time the 1980s choir boy Aled Jones. Scilla has written to the BBC.

Songs of Praise 18th January 2009

The Welshman Aled Jones refers to the ENGLISH heroine Grace Darling as “one of Britain’s best loved heroines”. You can be sure that if she had been Welsh he and the BBC would have made sure that her origins were well advertised. However because she was English you deny her identity. Shame on you. You always ignore your own editorial instructions to differentiate between English and British when that would confer an English identity on a hero or heroine or an English achievement. This bias is institutional. You have a series on Scottish history but those on English history are always called British.

Scilla Cullen
Chairman, Campaign for an English Parliament

The BBC's anti-English/anti-England bias is getting beyond on a joke. Remember all their on-line stuff about the Olympics and how the English were always referred to as "British" and the Scots and Welsh as Scots and Welsh? Recall it here.

John McDonnell - Heathrow Third Runway Plan: A Disgrace To The Democracy Of This Country

From the BBC:

A Labour MP has been suspended from the House of Commons for five days after angry exchanges over the decision to approve a new Heathrow runway.

John McDonnell was sanctioned after he picked up the mace, the ornamental club which represents the royal authority of Parliament, in a breach of protocol.

The Hayes and Harlington MP said the decision not to hold a vote on the runway was a "national disgrace".

Anyone manhandling the mace is considered in contempt of Parliament.

'Disgrace'

During a statement by Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon on Heathrow Mr McDonnell left his seat, grabbed the mace - which dates from the reign of Charles II - and put it down on an empty bench on the Labour side of the House.

While doing so, he shouted: "It's a disgrace to the democracy of this country."

The runway will wipe the village of Sipson from the map. Ironically, Gordon Brown, who presides over the current UK Government, could not inflict the same horrors on his own constituents as the Scottish Parliament controls their planning procedures.

Whatever happened to democracy? Whatever happened to accountability?

In England it is dead.

Thanks to the Scottish Raj at Westminster, unaccountable-to-England MPs representing Scots and Welsh constituencies, and MPs representing English constituencies who resolutely refuse to represent England's local or national interests, keeping their snouts buried deep in the trough.

Sickening.

Well done to John McDonnell, even if he's only just become aware that something's rotten in Westminster Heaven.

Take a look at the broader issues, John.

UPDATE:

“Gordon Brown has introduced a Bill specifically designed to circumvent current planning law and force a third runway through” - Susan Kramer MP

Gareth has more - just click on the red text to go to Toque.

Lucy Newman: Anti-English Scots' Racism - Violence On The Streets, And Inequalities Heaped Upon Us By The UK Parliament (Thanks, Gordon!)

Lucy Newman was punched in the face in Scotland simply for sounding English. As fact has it, she is in fact English, but had lived in Scotland since she was four years old. 'Get back to ******* England - English *******!' her Scots attacker shouted at her.

The attack severed nerves behind her eye, blacked both her eyes and broke her cheekbone. Her face may need reconstructive surgery.

Horrendous, isn't it? As is the anti-English racism (and charges of racism CAN be brought on grounds of discrimination against any nationality) perpetuated by Gordon Brown, David Cameron, and the Scottish Raj (health apartheid included), whilst arrogant, trough guzzling UK MPs representing English constituencies stand idly by.

It's on the streets of Scotland and Wales (for a recent Welsh incident see here). It's at Westminster and in the European Parliament. Anti-English racism is everywhere.

UPDATE:

From The CEP News Blog:

Where is David Cameron’s condemnation of this latest racist assault by a Scot on an English person? Or are his laughable ambitions for a Conservative resurgence in Scotland too important to risk upsetting the Scots? If there is English ignorance of Scotland and the Scots then it is amongst the out-of-touch, British political class typified by David “I’ve got Scottish blood coursing through my veins” Cameron.

Read the rest of the article by clicking on the red text.

CEP Press Release: CEP Welcomes House Of Lord's Review Of The Barnett Formula But Is Not Optimistic

'We very much welcome the statement Lord Joel Barnett, Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Harold Wilson, has issued this weekend about the Formula named after him,' Mrs Scilla Cullen Chairman of the Campaign for an English Parliament. 'It should have been made years ago but better late than never, even though vested interests will fight any reform every inch of the way. He is very critical of the Formula and the way it has worked out over the last 30 years. As he has said, although the Formula was not intended to give the Scottish population the immense financial advantage they have over the people of England, who are actually paying for it with extra taxation, that is how it has worked out.'

Lord Barnett has made a very emphatic criticism of the Formula. It enables each Scot, man, woman and child, to have £1600 more spent on them than every man, woman and child in England. But it is the English taxpayer who pays for it. As he has said, it was not based on need but on nationality. 'A fairer system', he has now said, 'would be based on need taking account of factors such as level of income in each part of the UK.' Parts of Scotland are richer than parts of England but all the Scots get the extra expenditure nonetheless.

Lord Barnett did not mince his words. 'Successive governments have failed to deal with the issue for fear of upsetting the Scots. When David Cameron made his first trip to Scotland as Tory leader he assured the Scots that he would keep the formula. 'That strikes me as absolutely stupid because Margaret Thatcher and John Major kept it going for 18 years and turned it into a formal formula only to lose every single seat that they had held in Scotland.'

'We can rightly supplement the criticism he makes of the Conservatives', says Mrs Cullen. 'All Labour governments since Wilson have needed Scottish MPs to give them a majority. Callaghan and Blair saw it to be in their interests to plunder the tax revenues taken from England to give to Scotland, which is precisely the attitude of Gordon Brown today.

'The CEP welcomes the fact that Joel Barnett has managed to get a Lords' committee to review the Formula. We recognise that its composition is weighted in Scotland's favour and we know that the present government under Brown will not implement any changes in the direction of justice towards England which might reduce Treasury excess in respect of Scotland. Brown is not going to do anything to harm his own prospects in Scotland or in Westminster, especially if it could be to the advantage of the SNP. But the Review is a start. And we welcome that.'

Contacts

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

Michael Knowles. Media Unit CEP. Tel: 01260 271139 Email: michael-knowles@tiscali.co.uk

CEP Press Release: The Strange Case of David Cameron's Preferential Treatment Of Scotland At England's Expense

It may be because he has family in Scotland and a Scottish name. Or it may be because he is still hoping against hope and against all predictions that somehow he can hold on to the one seat the Conservative Party has in Scotland in Dumfrieshire and be able to claim, if he does become Prime Minister, that he represents the whole of the UK. ‘Whatever is the reason, David Cameron’s latest bulletin about what he intends to do if he gets into 10 Downing Street reveals a staggering disregard for justice for England and an equally amazing intention to give Scotland very preferential treatment’.

That is the response of the CEP to Cameron’s disclosure to the Financial Times (Tuesday 13th January) that he intends to cuts the number of MPs by 10% ‘in the interests of efficiency. He specifies that to meet that target he will reduce the number of English seats from between 40 and 50 and Welsh seats by about 10. But at the same time he will let Scotland keep every seat it has, and that despite the fact that Scotland is already over-represented in the House of Commons in comparison to England. Scotland has 59 MPs in Westminster (in addition of course to another 129 MPs in the Scottish Parliament). That number of 59 would need to be reduced to 53 to bring the two countries into line in terms of MPs per constituents. Nor is that all. The Isle of Wight, Britain's biggest constituency, has an electorate of 108,253 while Na h-Eileanan an Iar, formerly known as the Western Isles, is the smallest constituency in Britain with an electorate of 21,884.

‘Such blatant favouritism in favour of Scotland should be not allowed’ the CEP has stated in response to Cameron’s announcement. ‘We hope that if he gets into No 10 and approaches the Electoral Commission with his proposal, they will throw it out. Whatever changes in electoral representation are needed, and doubtless some are, they should be made on the basis of equal treatment of each of the three nations of this island. Scotland should not continue to be favoured above England. Scotland enjoys the Barnett Formula which gives each Scot £1600 more health and education expenditure than anyone in England. It has the highest degree of devolution, while England has none at all. It has free university education, free prescriptions, a freeze on council tax, free personal care for the elderly, free hospital parking, and above all its own parliament with 129 MSPs elected just to focus on Scotland’s needs and development alone. None of any of that exists in England. And 80% of the cost of all of it is paid for by the English taxpayer. The injustice is grotesque. Cameron should think to represent England as earnestly as Scotland if and when he becomes PM’. .

Contacts:

Michael Knowles CEP Media Unit

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

EU Money For Scotland, Wales And Northern Ireland. But the UK Government Says "No" To England Having Any...

From FT.com

Some of England’s poorest regions are losing out on extra funding from the European Union while Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland benefit from the additional largesse, the Financial Times has learnt.

The government has determined there is insufficient time for the regions to spend a sudden windfall after the precipitate fall of the pound boosted the value of euro-denominated European Union grants by about a fifth.

To help them spend the money to fight recession, the European Commission recently offered an unprecedented six-month extension to its December 2008 deadline to all countries for unused funds as part of a €200bn (£178bn) economic stimulus package.

The UK took up the option for devolved regions but rejected it for England, casting a shadow over Gordon Brown’s tour of recession-hit areas and angering people in Merseyside, where the cabinet met on Thursday and which has missed out on a £10m exchange rate windfall.

To read the full FT article, click on the red text.

So, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, each with their own national governing bodies, have snapped up the money, whilst also wallowing in Barnett Formula payouts from England. But England, occupied by the UK Government and broken up into undemocratic regions against the will of the electorate, will not be getting any.

Because the occupying UK Government has said NO.

Big hat-tip to the Witanagemot Club.

Gordon Brown - Another Racist Hypocrite

As stated before, I in no way condone Prince Harry's use of the "Paki" word, but I do find it hard to keep quiet when hypocritical politicians move in to disapprove.

Take Gordon Brown: this man abuses England, the largest and most cosmopolitan UK nation, to an alarming degree. He isn't even accountable to his own constituents for around 75% of the legislation his Government passes, as these lucky people have their own Scottish Parliament. And the people who are affected, the people of England, cannot vote him out.

Gordon Brown thinks that the people of England should die for want of medication available on the NHS in Scotland. Indeed, he swiped £2bn from the English NHS in his last act as Chancellor, leaving the Scots and Welsh services (already more highly funded thanks to subsidies from England) intact. He thinks health apartheid, the West Lothian Question and the Barnett Formula are great.

And Gordon Brown's loyalties are to a tiny minority - the Scots in Scotland. To this end, he signed the 1988 Scottish Claim of Right (in 1989):

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 shall be paramount.

And he has NEVER renounced that Claim.

Gordon Brown seeks to break up England into tin-pot artificial EU regions, whilst ensuring that his fellow country people up in Scotland are treated as an elite.

As, legally, charges of racism can be brought on grounds of nationality, it is clear that Gordon Brown is guilty of the most appalling acts of racism against every man, woman and child in England.

And he has absolutely no right to go passing judgement on others. I think that Prince Harry's use of the "Paki" word was unacceptable. But I find Gordon Brown's hatred and spite against the people of England much more so.

David Cameron, Racist, Criticises Prince Harry For Racist Comment

Good grief, here's David Cameron, criticising Prince Harry for his racist "Paki" remark, which I in no way condone, whilst backing UK discrimination - racism - against every single resident of England!

Speaking of Prince Harry's comment, Mr Cameron told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show:

"It is obviously a completely unacceptable thing to say and it is right that he has apologised.

"I think that it is important in the great institutions, whether it is the Army or whether it is political parties, we have had to root out attitudes... and that has to go right across the institutions."

Heavens to Betsy - but Mr Cameron thinks it is perfectly fine for people in England to die for want of medication available on the NHS in Scotland! He thinks it's fine for the Scots and Welsh to be subsidised by the electorate in England to enjoy better health and social care services than those in England. He brags jingoistically about his family's involvement in a Scottish Empire" (note - not "BRITISH"!) - "conquered all sorts of parts of India" whilst calling people in England who want equality with Scotland "sour little Englanders"; he brags about "Scottish blood" in his veins (some sort of white tribe, are they?).

He slagged off the English to the Scots at a time when Scots' racist violence against the English was making headlines.

On Tyneside a couple of days ago, Cameron basically told everybody in England to get stuffed:

One member of the audience complained of the huge differences between services in the North East and Scotland.

She complained that free prescriptions, university tuition and care for the elderly in England should be a priority issue for any Cameron Government.

Mr Cameron responded: “I don’t want to do anything that will encourage a sense of English nationalism and distance between the two countries.”

But Scotland having all these priviliges that the English don't enjoy is creating a sense of "distance".

In short, David Cameron is a racist himself. Before you write to tell me that the English are not a race, charges of racism can be brought on grounds on nationality, and before you write and tell me that Cameron is English, I don't believe it. His loyalty is not to England. He treats us with contempt. David Cameron is an arrogant Brit-Scot, and a racist. It's time the Tories ditched this outrageous hypocrite.

David Cameron Reveals His Anti-English Bias Yet Again

Quite a lot of folk I have spoken to in the past have told me that David Cameron is not anti-English. He is simply a Unionist.

So, when he calls people in England wanting equality with Scotland "sour Little Englanders", nips over to Scotland and tells the Scots that the English are basically ignorant and unappreciative of them (and this around the time of racist attacks on English people wearing England football shirts in Scotland), and then nips back to England to bleat on about the part certain of his ancestors played in the "Scottish Empire" and the "Scots blood" in his veins (there's no such thing!), we're supoosed to think it's because he values the Union.

The fact that the Barnett Formula and West Lothian Question do such terrible things to the people of England is not supposed to matter.

Well, I'm sorry, but I've NEVER believed that Mr Cameron is only a Unionist. I believe that, like many of his ilk, part Scots, privately educated, politically correct, and insulated from the woes of modern day life, that he does not like England nor care for its people at all.

Occasionally, Mr Cameron muddies the water, by claiming to be "English", but his other comments negate those witterings. He merely seeks to confuse.

One gets the impression that Mr C does not hold any different views from the Scottish Raj and the current shameful shower of MPs "representing" constituencies in England infesting Westminster today. And that the sufferings of the people of England would continue under his leadership.

Gareth came across this report about David Cameron's recent visit to Tyneside:

One member of the audience complained of the huge differences between services in the North East and Scotland.

She complained that free prescriptions, university tuition and care for the elderly in England should be a priority issue for any Cameron Government.

Mr Cameron responded: “I don’t want to do anything that will encourage a sense of English nationalism and distance between the two countries.”

So, he's happy to spout jingoistic nonsense about the "Scottish Empire" and to slag off the English in Scotland, he's happy for the English to die for want of medication available on the NHS in Scotland, but he is not happy for the people of England to realise what is going on. He is certainly not happy for the people of England to wake up to the fact that England is a country and it is being abused.

What a complete and utter unreasonable... person... David Cameron is.

We have lots about David Cameron, his treatment of England, his thoughts on his family's part in the "Scottish Empire" (note NOT "British!!), and MORE here.

Big hat-tip to Toque!

CEP: Promoting England's Farming Economy

CEP Organiser for the East Riding of Yorkshire, Della Petch, has written to Hilary Benn, Minister at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs suggesting that leading supermarkets could encourage shoppers to buy English produce by using a 'bonus points' system similar to the one already operated successfully by retailers in Ireland promoting local products. Since the 1998 Devolution legislation the DEFRA Minister’s responsibilities are for England only.

Shoppers in Irish supermarkets are alerted to local produce by shamrock symbols on supermarket shelves, which then also appear on till receipts. These products can often earn bonus points through supermarket loyalty schemes. Della Petch’s suggestion is that English produce could be similarly 'flagged up' on till receipts with a small English flag, which could also earn bonus points where loyalty schemes exist.

She has now written to Cabinet Member Hilary Benn to ask him to raise the idea with England’s major retailers. The UK Government has already established working relations with the major supermarkets to promote environmentally friendly practices such as reducing carrier bag use.

Commenting Della said:

"Earning bonus points for buying local could be an excellent way to boost England’s economy and cut down on unnecessary food-miles this winter.

"There are already a number of labelling initiatives run by the supermarkets and producer groups, and introducing a further incentive to buy local could be a shot in the arm for England’s farmers.

"Just like the shamrock in Ireland, the English flag on the shelves and then on the till receipt would help to emphasise how easy and important it is to buy decent local produce, and reward shoppers in the process.

"I have written to the Cabinet Secretary asking him to look at the idea in more detail, and to discuss it at his next meeting with the major supermarkets.

"We need to make full use of England’s magnificent larder if we are to promote healthy eating, reduce pollution from transporting food, and boost the economy during the current downturn.

"A simple scheme like this could make all the difference."

Contacts:

Della Petch, email: dg.petch@btinternet.com

Michael Knowles, email: michael-knowles@tiscali.co.uk Tel: 01260 271139

Planning Wars - It's ENGLAND not BRITAIN Which Is Under Threat!

Waking Hereward reports on yet another load of media nonsense, in which devolution does not exist, in which England, the only country subjected to New Labour's undemocratic new planning laws is referred to as BRITAIN. Smoke and mirrors? Not 'arf!!

Here's Waking Hereward on January 7:

Last night's ITV's Planning Wars programme concerned itself with the imminent concreting over 'of Britain'. It majored on new must-have runways running straight through someone's front room, mega huge warehouses the size of Shropshire and 3 million new houses.

As per usual with such productions, they sanitised the info. England, the real target of this concretia was sort of buried and forgotten - much like the average English citizens democratic rights. According to the Gravelly-Voiced narrator, it was 'Britain' which was bracing itself for the flop of wet concrete on a verdant green belted landscape. It was Britain which was about to be trowelled into oblivion. It was 'Britain' which was about to suffer from the obscene new planning laws....

Interestingly, "Waking H" includes the following fact:

'Films of Record' were the producers of the programme. That's the outfit run by Roger Graef - the guy who likes to big up his factually accurate credentials. What a pity that instead of telling it as it is, his production company elected to follow the usual new Labour snail-trail of fudge, inaccuracy and lies.

Flipping typical when it comes to media types backing up New Labour's corruption of democracy for the citizens of England.

Read it all here.

The English Lobby - Talking Gobbledygook

From the English Lobby site:

For decades since the 1950s, England as a nation has been largely ignored, and use of the words 'English' (as applied to its citizens) and 'England' (referring to the nation) steadily declined. This trend continued throughout the 1970s, especially after law relating to discrimination on the ground of race, ethnicity, nationality and national origin was increasingly enforced in tribunals and the courts in the 1980s and after.

Hang on.

"This trend continued throughout the 1970s, especially after law relating to discrimination on the ground of race, ethnicity, nationality and national origin was increasingly enforced in tribunals and the courts in the 1980s and after."

So, this trend continued throughout the 1970s, especially after things which occurred in the 1980s and beyond? But surely the "1980s and after" came after the 1970s? Surely "this trend" couldn't continue throughout the 1970s as an effect of events in the 1980s - as the '70s had ended before the 1980s began?

Is this another "let's mention the 1970s for God's sake" type comment, which renders the rest of what's written complete and utter nonsense? The Web is full of them.

Surely it SHOULD read:

This trend continued, especially after law relating to discrimination on the ground of race, ethnicity, nationality and national origin was increasingly enforced in tribunals and the courts in the 1980s and after.

Sorry, English Lobby, it's my first look at your site and I have to say I find this type of thing disappointing.

Stuart Cosgrove, Director Nations And Regions - Just One Reason Why Channel 4 Hates England And The English

From Britologywatch:

Channel 4 used to be edgy and innovative; now it just seems to churn out the same old formula programming and anti-English bias as all the other terrestrial channels.

But of course, old matey. Channel 4 has joined the UK Government in abolishing England, wothout a say-so from the electorate/viewers, and despite the North East of England, the only area allowed a referendum on regionalisation, voting 78% NO.

But never mind democracy. Like the UK Government, Channel 4 has no time for such a concept when it comes to England and now has a "Director of Nations and Regions" (because England is not a nation, of course). The nations are Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England does not exist.

Channel 4's Director of Nations And Regions is one Stuart Cosgrove, a Scottish journalist, not noted for his love of the English, but very much noted for his love of Scotland, his homeland.

So, there you go.

Read Stuart Cosgrove's Wikipedia entry here.

In the TV clip at the bottom of this post, Stuart Cosgrove is actually billed as "Director Nations And Regions 1997-present", which must be a lie as devolution hadn't happened in 1997 and "nations and regions" were unheard of! Perhaps Stuart Cosgrove was originally director of regions - areas outside London. Seems, Mr Cosgrove, there has been a little tweaking since devolution - which is, of course, completely in line with UK Government policy and brainwashing (lets make the English think "nations and regions" have ALWAYS been a facty of life) and in the interests of England-hating Little Scotlanders and Little Walesians everywhere!

The CEP News Blog has this on the "Nations and Regions" coinage, which is almost certainly post-1997 - because back then there was only one nation - the UK. Scotland and Wales had no government other than Westminster.

Interestingly, the “nations and regions” political spin so loved by Gordon Brown appears to be a Scottish idea from The Institute of Governance at the University of Edinburgh.

http://www.institute-of-governance.org/forum/Leverhulme/TOC.html

Actually from a Scottish or Welsh perspective, “nations and regions” does have a certain logic in relation to the disproportionate size, population and influence of England as a UK territory - makes things appear a lot more equal and proportionate. Unfortunately, from an English perspective its insulting.

And to end on, here's Stuart Cosgrove, Director "Nations And Regions", 1997-present day. Or so he claims.

Gordon Brown's New Year Speech - Just How Long Can He Fool And Abuse The People Of England?

Insisting that his "guiding principle" was the wellbeing of British families and businesses, he added: "What keeps me up at night, and gets me up in the morning, are the hopes and aspirations of the British people."

Gordon Brown in his New Year speech. But surely Mr Brown's first priority is the Scottish people? He signed the Scottish Claim Of Right in 1989 promising to put Scots' interests first in all he did. And he has never renounced that promise. In his last act as Chancellor, he swiped £2bn from the English NHS budget, whilst leaving the Scots and Welsh services intact.

Proof of his intent to serve his fellow "Celts" if ever there was one.

And now he's breaking up England into regions, against the will of the electorate, basically abolishing England, and still ensuring that Scotland is far better funded via the Barnett Formula.

"British people"? You are an evil liar, Mr Brown. You look after your own - and that means the Scots.

Campaign For An English Parliament: UK Establishment Prejudice against England, typified by George Monbiot, is blighting England’s Future

‘England, the land of my birth. means nothing to me.’

That is the declaration made by George Monbiot a very well-known campaigning environmentalist writing in the Guardian newspaper Tuesday December 30th 2008. It is as good an illustration anyone can get of the prejudice England experiences from the UK Establishment as England slowly but surely grapples with the realities and implications of the 1998 Devolution legislation which gave Scotland and Wales their own parliament but did nothing, nothing at all, for England. That legislation gave constitutional and political recognition to the distinct nationhood and national identities both of Scotland and Wales. It gave them self-rule thorugh having their own parliaments. But not England. Unlike them politically and constitutionally England does not exist; and that is because of the attitude towards England of the UK cultural and political Establishment to which George Monbiot belongs

It is an Establishment that is not at ease with England, with the idea of England as a nation, with Englishness and English identity. The great majority of them are English of course, but it is the sort of English who are itchy and unhappy in their English skin. The mere mention of England brings them out in all sorts of strange political and cultural goose-pimples. They duck and dive to avoid anything that might seem like a normal human attachment which love of one’s country is. They just cannot be English in the same relaxed and easy way a Scot is Scottish or the Welsh are Welsh. George Orwell recognised the type over 60 years ago. “England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. (The Lion and the Unicorn).

‘England means nothing to me’ states George Monbiot. Yet if anyone has benefited from the very best England has to offer it is him. In every possible respect England made him. He was brought up in a big country house in affluent Henley with a garden that backed on to Peppard Common. His father was the managing director of Associated Biscuits Ltd., Chairman of Campbells Soups UK and a deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. His mother is the daughter of a Conservative MP for an English seat. Both parents were leading members of the Oxford Conservative Party. He was sent to board at Stowe public school, he got a scholarship into Brazenose College, Oxford. His first job on leaving Oxford University was with the BBC. He is now a regular columnist with the Guardian newspaper, founded in England, printed and published in England, read overwhelmingly in England. Two years ago he moved to Wales and now boasts that he feels ‘an irrational impulse in supporting Wales in rugby, football and in all its competing claims against other nations’. Yet he says ‘I despise nationalism’ -obviously in the same way as on environmental grounds he condemned travelling to America by plane which he does, and to Australia too.

Unlike Wales, and even more so Scotland, England has no political or constitutional existence or recognition or self-rule. The people of England pay for prescriptions and hospital parking charges, which the Welsh do not. Unlike the Scots their students pay university tuition fees and their elderly people for personal care. They do not get free eye tests, their council tax has not been frozen. And each Scottish and Welsh man, woman and child receives £1600 more per year from the UK government than any English man, woman and child for education, health care and social services.

‘It is because of the indifference and hostility of such UK Establishment figures towards England as George Monbiot, because of their lack of concern for it, that its people are so discriminated against,’ Michael Knowles, media spokesman for the Campaign for an English Parliament, has said in his New Year message to CEP members. ‘Yet England made people like Monbiot. England gave them every advantage they now have. Culturally and politically they are its ruling class, a position they exercise to the full. In 2009 we must campaign even harder against them and their attitude to get for England what the UK has given to Scotland and Wales. If the United Kingdom is to continue, then each of its constituent nations should stand in the same relationship to both the Union and to each other’


Contacts:

Michael Knowles Head of CEP Media Unit. Tel: 01260 271139 Email: michael-knowles@tiscali.co.uk

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

2009 - The End Of England?

Happy New Year, folks, though as the CEP News Blog reminds us, 2009 sees Westminster still very much occupied by political enemies of England and England in more danger than ever of being abolished forever.

We need an end to health apartheid and the evil works of the Primary Care Trusts and "Supporting People" organisation in England.

We need a proper, representative national Government.

We need an end to the arrogant Scottish Raj.

We need an end to enforced regionalisation. The internal government of England should be decided only by MPs representing the people of England.

We need an end to the Barnett Formula and West Lothian Question.

Here's to 2009, folks.

Let's keep up the fight for justice and equality for England and all its people.

Merry Christmas...

Merry Christmas, folks. To those who won't be working but don't celebrate, enjoy your break. Here's a little ditty that was in the charts around Christmas 1987 - and no, it ain't The Fairy Tale Of New York!

Campaign For An English Parliament: The Union Works Against England's Sovereignty And Interests As The Scots Nibble Away At The Border

‘The demand now being made by the Scots to regulate fishing rights in the English section of the River Esk in the county of Cumbria is an invasion of England’s sovereignty’, Mrs Scilla Cullen, Chairman of the Campaign for an English Parliament, has stated. ‘The demand is being made by Mr David Mundell, MP for Dumfrieshire, Clydesdale and Tweedsdale. He is the only Conservative MP in Scotland. Very possibly, come the next general election, he will have a place in history as the very last Conservative Party MP in Scotland. By reason of the 1998 Devolution legislation his demand is unconstitutional.’

‘When the Scotland Act was passed and a Scottish Parliament established in 1998, the Union Government had Scots as Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Lord Chancellor and had members of the Scottish Constitutional Convention involved in drafting the actual devolution legislation. A direct constitutional consequence of the Union Parliament giving Home Rule to Scotland in 1998 in the form of a Scottish Parliament was the declaration of the internal sovereignty of Scotland. Scotland now has complete and independent control of its internal affairs. However, the very obvious constitutional implication is of course that its sovereignty is limited to its borders. The constitutional implication of the Devolution legislation is the internal sovereignty of England.

‘The Scots who drove that legislation through the Union Parliament in 1998 had only the advantage of Scotland on their minds. There is now universal acceptance that the legislation, though historic and radical, was rushed and ill-thought-out. Included in it were the regulations of fishing rights and responsibilities on rivers that crossed the Scotland/England border. Unconstitutionally it handed responsibility for the regulation of fishing rights in the River Tweed and all its tributary rivers to the Scottish Parliament, even tributaries like the River Till in Northumberland which flows entirely in England. That constitutes an invasion of English sovereignty.

‘However,the legislation correctly gave to the English Environment Agency responsibility for the English section of the River Esk which flows into the Solway Firth. Now Mr David Mundell, who is also, quite inevitably, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, is demanding that the control of fishing in the English section is taken from the English Agency and given to the Scottish Parliament To make this concession would be an attack upon England’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. This government has already done this by conceding to Scottish demands to extend their control of the Solway Firth into English waters and by placing the whole of the River Till under Scottish control.

‘It now remains to be seen what response England’s Environment Agency and the Union Government give to Mr Mundell’s demand. The Chairman of the Environment Agency is Lord Chris Smith who is a Scot. However, he has lived all his political life in England and as an MP he represented an English constituency in Islington in London. The Union government however has a Scottish Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, who in March 1989 made the pledge, which is called the Scottish Claim of Right, that ‘in every deliberation and action the interests of the Scottish people will be paramount’.

Contacts

Michael Knowles CEP Media Unit Tel: 01260 271139 email: michael.knowles@tiscali.co.uk

Scilla Cullen Chairman. CEP. Tel: 01438 833155. email: scilla.cullen@thecep.org.uk

Church Of England Out, Halal Meat In

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. The smirk says it all.

Well, it looks like New Labour is about to bring an end to the centuries old link between the Church of England and the State. Smirking Welshman Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is, of course, no fan of such an English institution and has been working from within to weaken it for years. Another traditional English institution moved off-stage. Mr Williams says: it would be “by no means the end of the world if the Establishment disappears”. And he's the Archbishop of Canterbury! Read more here.

There are of course, complex issues - more than I have time to go into here - but I cannot help feeling uneasy at this move, although I am not myself religious.

I suppose, thinking back to the Christian assemblies and teachings I had at school, I did and do derive some stability from them. And I was not uninfluenced by Christian teachings about how to treat my fellow ... er... person, etc.

Nowadays it's as though Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, etc, are all to be respected and recognised as such, whilst the traditional religion of England, Christianity, is bored down into almost nothingness.

But New Labour, of course, is committed to the destruction of England, whilst wittering on about multiculturalism, etc, and stating that one religion should not take precedent over another.

Is that why some state schools are removing pork from their menus and serving Halal meat, making the change it seems without consulting the parents?

I have nothing against Muslims, the Muslims I know are perfectly nice people.

But I do have a difficulty with State institutions like schools imposing what I and many others regard as inhumanely killed meat on our schoolchildren for the sole benefit of a minority religion.
Wonko reveals that Sikh parents are also unhappy - read it here.

The Lunatics Are Taking Over The Asylum...

Reading through various blogs and web sites today I was struck once more by just how barmy and utterly sick things are today. Plaid Cymru's Adam Price has been giving his views as Wales Online goes into overdrive, with an article beginning: "huge spending cuts imposed by the UK Government on the Welsh Assembly will seriously damage public services in Wales, it was claimed last night."

But Wales is heavily subsidised by England anyway. And has much higher spending via the Barnett Formula.

And never a murmur or whimper of concern do the Welsh make about the situation in England, with Gordon Brown swiping £2bn from the English NHS budget, the budget then being £2bn underspent and the continuance of huge cutbacks in health and social care by the corporate Primary Care Trusts and the deceitful Supporting People organisation, whilst nursing and care staff are forced to sign secrecy clauses and the public is kept in ignorance.

UNITED Kingdom? What UNITED Kingdom? Where is Welsh concern for its fellow United Kingdomers?

“We already believe that Wales is seriously under-funded, and these cuts will make things even worse." says Mr Price.

So, you want more money from England do you, Mr Price? And then we'll get Rhodri Morgan supplying more luxuries to all and sundry and making further comments like: "We have never actually managed to make the English jealous before... but we have done it!" - as he did about prescription charges, dropped in Wales with the aid of English money via the Barnett Formula (more here).

Just what we need.

Says Mr Price: “Wales is a special case, we are a socially-disadvantaged nation, and it doesn’t seem fair that we should shoulder the same level of cuts seen across the UK.”

Wales disadvantaged? With free prescriptions and loads of other goodies denied the great unwashed in England? Bollocks, Mr Price. And Wales should not be subjected to the "same level of cuts seen across the UK"? Do you mean ENGLAND?

In this instance, the UK exists for the benefit of the Welsh elite. And the Welsh elite have no concern for other "UK" citizens.

Meanwhile, up in Scotland, we get the same situation, with Scots looking to take control of another stretch of English river (details here).

Exactly the same thing. Scotland unfairly takes from England, but there is to be no give and take.

Then we have Gordon Brown writing England out of existence yet again as the prospect of the dreaded "Team GB" football team raises its ugly head. From the BBC:

The challenge, he [Brown] said, was getting a UK team to compete in 2012 without compromising the independence of the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations.

Independence from what? The UK? And what about English fans - the majority of whom are just as against Team GB?

The whole UK project is now being run expressly for the so-called "Celtic" elite - and the national bodies in Scotland and Wales appear to be staffed by one-eyed, selfish gits with no idea of what being "United" means. Some, however, have every notion of what it is like to be part of an unhealthy, smug and bigoted clique. Remember SNP member Donald Anderson, so concerned that the odious BNP had members in his own and his fellow "Celtic" nations?

Dear folks,

The entire membership of the BNP has been leaked. While this is illegal (it couldn’t happen to nicer people), it gives us the opportunity to vet our own membership from this list.

There are a large number of BNP members listed in Scotland , Wales , Cornwall and the north of Ireland . I don’t think we want any of them near any of the organisations we are in…

But do it quickly, this may not be up long.

The only reason Mr Anderson could possibly have been appealing to the county of Cornwall, and Northern Ireland and Wales, whilst excluding England, was the exclusive, white tribe Celtic myth. Scotland has no other links with these other areas.

So there you have it.

When I first heard the Fun Boy Three singing "The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum" back in the early '80s, I nodded sagely - convinced that Thatcher, Reagan and their cohorts were mad, bad and in fact the embodiment of evil.

But nowadays the song (minus the cowboy comment!) seems far more appropriate than way back then....

I see a clinic full of cynics
Who want to twist the peoples' wrist
They're watching every move we make
We're all included on the list

The lunatics have taken over the asylum
The lunatics have taken over the asylum

No nuclear the cowboy told us
And who am i to disagree
'Cos when the madman flips the switch
The nuclear will go for me

The lunatics have taken over the asylum
The lunatics have taken over the asylum

I've seen the faces of starvation
But i just can not see the points
'Cos there's so much food here today
That no one wants to take away

The lunatics have taken over the asylum
The lunatics have taken over the asylum

The lunatics have taken over the asylum - take away my right to choose
The lunatics have taken over the asylum - take away my point of view

The lunatics have taken over the asylum

The lunatics have taken over the asylum - take away my dignity,
Take these things away from me

The lunatics have taken over the asylum

The lunatics have taken over the asylum - take away my family,

Take away the right to speak...

Big hat-tips to Toque, The CEP News Blog, and The Witanagemot Club.

Campaign For An English parliament Press Release: Will The Lords Committee Of Inquiry Into The Barnett Formula Be Fair To England?

The House of Lords has set up an Inquiry to look into all the issues surrounding the Barnett Formula. The Formula is a Treasury device set up in the Harold Wilson government under the direction of Joel Barnett by which extra expenditure is made to the populations of Scotland, N.I., and Wales in excess per head of what it makes to England. Wilson brought in the measure at the urging of Scottish Labour MPs who were very worried by the increasing popularity of the SNP. It was in effect a measure to secure support both for Labour and for the continuation of the Union. After 40 years of operation it is creating all sorts of problems, and that is why the Lords Inquiry has been set up.

‘The main problem about the Formula,’ Mrs Scilla Cullen Chairman of the Campaign for an English Parliament has stated in a message to the House of Lords, ‘is the injustice it is inflicting upon the people of England. We in England pay for it, to the tune of an extra £280 per English person per annum, while being denied its benefits. The disparity is gross. Each person in Scotland, N.I., and Wales receives £1500 more per year than people in England for such important areas of expenditure as education, social services and health care. Whatever was the situation in the 1960s, in the year 2008 there are areas of poverty and deprivation in England as great, possibly greater, than any in Scotland and Wales. That fact reveals the Formula’s basic flaw, that it allows increased expenditure based not on need but on nationality. The Scots, the Northern Irish, the Welsh gain, the English lose out. That contradicts the very basis on which the Union was founded.'

‘There is also a problem with the Lords Inquiry itself. It is essential that it is so constituted that it inspires confidence. But does it?’ Mrs Cullen asks. ‘There are 12 members on it. Two have credentials to represent Welsh interests; one being knighted for services to Wales and the other ex Chairman of the Commission on the Welsh Assembly. Three have credentials to represent Northern Irish interests being an ex NI Minister, a current NI spokesman and the ex First Minister of the NI Assembly. Four have credentials to represent Scottish interests; two being ex MPs for Scottish constituencies & former Secretaries of State for Scotland, one is a Scottish Peer and the fourth signed the Claim of Right for Scotland which included the intention of putting Scotland's interests first. That leaves three Peers, two are former British MPs for English constituencies and one a former British civil servant. Who then of these noble Lords has the express credentials to represent and protect the interests of the English taxpayer?

Contacts:

Scilla Cullen: tel: 01438 833133 email: scilla.cullen@thecep.org.uk

Jacqui Smith And The DNA Database - Hitler In Knickers

From the BBC, here is the judgement of the European Court Of Human Rights regarding the UK DNA Database keeping DNA and fingerprints of two men unconvicted of any crime:

The court found that the police's actions were in violation of Article 8 - the right to respect for private and family life - of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It also said it was "struck by the blanket and indiscriminate nature of the power of retention in England and Wales".

The judges ruled the retention of the men's DNA "failed to strike a fair balance between the competing public and private interests," and that the UK government "had overstepped any acceptable margin of appreciation in this regard".

Sub-Fuhrer Jacqui Smith is determined that some innocent people will remain on the DNA Database no matter what. Say I accused you of punching me on the arm this year - and you ended up on the DNA Database because I said that, although there was no evidence and you were not charged or convicted with any crime. Well, you may or not stay on the Database - it all depends on what Dictator Jacqui and her pals decide.

In all these situations, where it's the word of one party against another, the DNA should be removed from Database. There is no excuse for keeping DNA on accusation and hearsay. Think of the dreadful possibilities that opens up - DNA being kept on accusation alone - and be careful not to make any enemies!

Jacqui Smith is stunningly arrogant, thick, and an out-and-out dictator. She really is sick. How on earth did she get to become Home Secretary?

Read more about Ms Smith and her Database here.

1992 Is The 1980s When It's Negative News From That Year...

Sean Farrell, writing in The Independent:

HOUSE PRICES TUMBLE 1980s STYLE

NOVEMBER'S FALL IS THE BIGGEST DROP SINCE 1992

House prices are plunging at their fastest pace since the last recession as banks ration credit and nervous buyers stay away, Halifax reports.

Britain's biggest mortgage lender revealed a 2.6 per cent fall in prices for November, the biggest drop since 1992.

1992?! So, negative events of the 1990s we refer to it as "1980s" do we?

It would seem that whilst events perceived as being positive which occurred during the 1980s are transplanted (wherever possible) to the adjacent decades (read my theory here), negative events of the adjacent decades are transplanted into the 1980s wherever possible.

Don't be daft, Chris, it's a printing error! you may say. But there's too much of that kind of thing around for me to feel convinced.

A lot of people will skim that headline and come away thinking how awful the 1980s were. They may well have a point. But not for the reason The Independent has lodged in their minds.

Strange, lying, unreal, scapegoating, smug present day...

From 1960s Invention To 1980s Glory - Happy Birthday To The Computer Mouse!

I've been reading up on the history of the computer mouse. And, like the vast majority of us who first encountered such a thing in the 1980s, I am amazed that its evolution stretches back to 1963! The following clipping from macworld.com provides fascinating information about the mouse's invention in the 1960s and development in the 70s and 80s:

1963: Bill English constructs first mouse prototype based on Douglas Engelbart’s sketches. This mouse uses two perpendicular wheels attached to analog potentiometers to track movement. The first mouse has only one button, but more are to come.

1968: Douglas Engelbart gives a 90-minute demonstration on December 9 at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco. Among other things, it showcases a refined SRI mouse with three buttons.

1972: Jack Hawley and Bill English, inspired by Engelbart’s work, design a digital mouse for Xerox PARC. This new mouse does not require an analog-to-digital converter but instead sends digital positional information directly to the computer. It also contains the first mouse ball, a metal ball bearing pressed against two rollers to track movement. A similar tracking design (albeit with a few drastic modifications), would be used in most mice for the next 27 years.

1981: Xerox produces a commercial mouse for its expensive 8010 Information System (aka the “Star”). It features two buttons and ball tracking. However, the entire Star system sells for over $20,000, dooming it and its mouse to relative obscurity.

Under contract, design firm Hovey-Kelley creates the first inexpensive, mass-producible, reliable mouse for Apple. Its key components include optical encoder wheels, a free-moving tracking ball, and a precision injection-molded inner frame. This design breakthrough sets the stage for cheap, reliable consumer mice that everyone can afford.

Richard Lyon invents the first optical mouse at Xerox PARC. This mouse requires a special dot-covered pad for tracking.

Click on red text to read the the full story - it's fascinating! Happy Birthday, Mr Mouse!

BBC Radio 1 - The Surgery's Anti-English Special - One Last Thought...

Anna Bowman, executive producer of The Surgery:

It [The Surgery ] was never intended to discuss the complex political issues that you suggest should have been raised.

Aled, speaking on the programme: “Is it that the Regions of England are stronger than the country as a whole?”

The modern day "regions" are an artificial political construct of recent years which were roundly voted against by 78% of voters in the North East (the only area allowed a referendum) and still have no mandate from voters. All modern day regionalisation in England has, in effect, been done against the will of, and without any mandate from, the people of England. Yet, Aled suggests that the regions are an established fact, perhaps stronger than the country of England itself?

This would be good news from the viewpoint of:

1) A Little Walesian

2) The BBC - keen to see the abolition of England through Balkanisation.

So, complex political issues (and dictated regionalisation is a little complex, isn't it - much as the BBC toadies to the Government and follows its dictates to the letter?) are allowed so long as they are presented as being good, wholesome, and in all ways better than equality for England? Oops, sorry, I mean any recognition of that monstrous place beginning with an 'E'?

Anna Bowman, BBC Radio 1's The Surgery, Returns To Why England Needs A Parliament...

It's amazing. Two replies from the BBC regarding its anti-English stance in two days! Anna Bowman, executive producer of the Radio 1 show The Surgery , is persistent. In the latest instalment, we learn that the "Cross-of-St-George-is-racist" stance on a recent The Surgery programme apparently originates from a debate amongst football fans FOUR YEARS AGO.

Following is Ms Bowman's latest e-mail and my reply:

Dear Chris

The football tournament I'm referring to is the 2004 European Cup and there are many articles online referring to the St George's flag debate.

This programme was about investigating how listeners describe themselves and how they feel about where they are from. It was never intended to discuss the complex political issues that you suggest should have been raised.

Whilst I appreciate you continue to have concerns with this particular programme, if you wish to pursue this complaint further, you can contact the BBC’s Editorial Complaints Unit who will independently investigate your complaint. You can write to them at the following address:

Editorial Complaints Unit

Room 5168

White City

201 Wood Lane

London

W12 7TS

Alternatively you can email the Unit at the address: ecu@bbc.co.uk

Please note that any complaints submitted via email must include your postal address as all responses will continue to be issued via letter.

Whether or not you choose to pursue your complaint with the ECU please be assured your further concerns have been registered.

Regards

Anna Bowman

My reply:

Dear Ms Bowman, So, you believe that besmirching the England flag by going back to a debate in 2004 (FOUR years ago) amongst football fans, of which many of us were unaware, justifies the stance your programme took? What about featuring this story from the BBC, dated this year - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7631733.stm to balance things?

The BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit will independently investigate my complaint? The BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit? How can an arm of the BBC independently investigate the BBC? No, Ms Bowman, I don't believe that is logical or probable.

Correspondence is probably now closed. Unless Ms Bowman thinks differently? She's always very welcome here. And I appreciate her taking the time to engage in quite lengthy e-mail conversation about my grievance. It's not what I've come to expect from BBC staff.

Anna Bowman, BBC Radio 1's The Surgery - Excuses For Anti-English Bigotry...

The long-running saga of BBC Radio 1 programme The Surgery continues here with an e-mail from the show's executive producer, Anna Bowman. I must add, that after a week's waiting, the statement that I was taking the matter through the BBC's official complaints procedure last night seems to have worked wonders. Ms Bowman does not apologise. She has her own agenda, of course, and seems to think that of course it's right to question the morality of flying the Cross Of St George. Read her e-mail and my inserts [..] below and then my reply.

Dear Chris

Thank you very much for your feedback about Radio 1's Surgery Show. I really do appreciate the time you have taken to comment, and your input as a listener to the show is invaluable to us.

I'm sorry you're not happy with the speed of response to your original email - as you can imagine we receive a lot of correspondence which can take a while to process and our policy is to respond to anyone requesting a reply within 10 days.

I'm also sorry that you think the show 'came across as pure anti English' because I can assure you this was far from the intention and in my view, far from the case [that's all right then, isn't it? I'm just being silly aren't I?].

What is essential with any debate show is for the presenters to ask questions and raise issues in order to encourage discussion and comment from listeners. The comments from the presenters that you refer to in your email are examples of this:

“Wow people just don’t say English do they [many do!]? I’ve never noticed this before" and “Is it that the Regions of England are stronger than the country as a whole?” [a referendum found 78% of those polled in the North East, the only area ALLOWED a referendum, AGAINST regionalisation. The people have spoken. What the fuck did Aled think he was on about?]

These are important observations [who says so?] and questions Aled threw out to listeners in order to encourage them to get in touch, discuss and potentially agree or disagree with.

They are certainly not statements of fact - there is no point in making any definitive statements during a show like this as it immediately closes down a discussion which is the absolute reverse of what we are trying to do. With regard to Charlotte Ashton's question as to whether the St George's Cross has racist connotations - again this was an important issue to raise and ask for comment. I'm sure you remember the national debate during the last European Cup as to whether English people were proud or ashamed to fly the St George's flag [I do not recall this at all]. This is the basis on which Charlotte asked this question [Rubbish!].

With regard to the comments in your second email: You seem to have ignored my previous e-mal voicing my concerns about the The Surgery inciting hatred against English flag wavers by stating - incorrectly - that it is the flag of the hateful BNP - and by anti-English bigot Aled hosting a show in which the Welsh and Scots were portrayed as perfect and the English as racist heathens. At no time during the show did either presenter suggest that the St George's flag was associated with the BNP.

In fact I have listened back to the show and the BNP [the BNP is the only racist organisation in the UK which flies a flag - the Union Flag] isn't mentioned at any point during the two hour show.

I can also assure you that Aled is certainly not anti-English bigot [he disguises it well!]. Ultimately this show was about providing our listeners with a platform for their opinions to be heard and I believe Aled and Charlotte did a great job doing this [As long as YOU'RE happy, eh, Ms Bowman? Basically, there was no need to besmirch the English or their flag at all, but you won't admit THAT] .

I'm not sure if you listened to the whole hour of debate on the subject of identity, but if you did you'll have heard a wide variety of listener opinion, including those who are proud to be English as well as Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish etc [But did we hear any thoughts on negative aspects of Scottishness and Welshness - English bashing, for instance?]. Regards Anna Bowman Executive Producer of Radio 1's Surgery

I replied:

No, I'm sorry this reply is completely unacceptable. The flag with racist connotations, is the Union flag, and there was no need to tell lies. I do not recall a national debate about whether or not people are proud or ashamed to fly the St George's flag during any football tournament. This is BBC bias.

Also, why the regional agenda? The BBC backs this to the hilt, yet the North East, the only area allowed a referendum, voted 78% against regionalisation. Why were devolution issues, discrimination against the people of England, particularly health apartheid and the West Lothian Question, not mentioned? Racism in the UK usually involves the BNP. Please don't split hairs.

Why put a call on air about Scots sports participators being called "British" and English sports participators "English" - when a quick glance around quickly proves the reverse - I refer you particularly to the BBC's on-line coverage of the Olympics, where, it seemed that the Scots, Welsh and British were competing. Surely the The Surgery presenters should have been better versed on this matter and the phone call should have been excluded or challenged?

And if we need balance, why no mention of the supposed connection of the Scottish saltire with the Klu Klux Klan?

The Conservative Party - Don't Say England!

Like NuLabour, the Tories are dedicated to not saying "England". Under David Cameron, how could it possibly be otherwise? And relations with the similarly "Celtic" fringe biased Labour are actually pretty cordial, with all sorts of discrimination against the people of England played down or allowed to slip through the net uncommented on by Dave and his loyal crew.

Trumpeting the usual off-target nonsense, the Tories now tell us once more what they are going to do for "Britain" and "across the UK".

But the reality is that much of what follows will only apply to England or England and perhaps occasionally to Wales. However the word "Britain", meaning England, Scotland and Wales is substituted, highly misleading though that word is, because it suits the Tories, just as it suits New Labour and the Lib Dems, to lie to us. Read the following Conservative Party propaganda - and spot the lies - please note my inserts [...].

Radical policy changes are needed to help "socially immobile" families get out of a cycle of benefit dependency and educational failure, the Tories are due to say.

The Conservatives will accuse the Government of a "wasted decade" of policies and warn that in deprived areas people no longer do better than their parents did.

In a report - Through The Glass Ceiling - the party will call for early intervention when babies are born into "families with problems", and in primary school to make sure children do not fall behind with their reading.

The Tories will also set out major reforms in secondary education [applies to England only - education is devolved outside England], ensuring that schools stop abandoning many subjects that top universities are looking for, such as sciences and modern languages.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling is expected to say: "Britain is now a country [Britain is NOT a country, it is a union of three countries] where it is more and more difficult for young people to do better than their parents did.

"Worse still, we have generations of the same family trapped in a dependency culture. For 10 years the Government has been telling us it has the policies to solve the problem. But it hasn't worked. Britain really now needs a fresh direction." [Chris Grayling does not have the remit to talk about Britain in this way.]

The Tories will announce a new "whole family" approach to ending benefit dependency and generational worklessness. This is based on work being done in Germany, where entire families including children struggling at school are given support to deal with the challenges their household faces.

The report is the result of 18 months' analysis by the Conservatives. This was partly carried out by the Social Justice Policy Commission, headed by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.

Early intervention proposals will include 4,000 more health visitors across the UK [nonsense - Scotland looks after its own health service so, increasingly does Wales - both are far better funded than England's] to help parents with babies and young children.

So, the Tories are as anti-England/anti-English as New Labour? Not quite. But, like the Lib Dems, the so-called "Union" comes before little things - like equality and honesty for the electorate in England.

Read about Jim Fitzpatrick - England's Transport Minister, who insists on pretending his authority extends to Scotland and Wales here.

Kenny Farquharson Of Scotland On Sunday & Jonathan Freedland Of The Guardian Make My Point About Priggish Revisionist Activity Regarding The 1980s...

A little while ago, I wrote:

It's a strange fact but "nice" people don't like the 1980s. And that dislike runs so deep that things perceived to be good or groundbreaking which happened in the 1980s are often transported to adjacent decades by the likes of the BBC and on-line revisionists.

It's as though nothing of positive importance is allowed to have happened in the 1980s, the scapegoat decade which enables us lovely people to feel better about ourselves now.

Over at The Guardian, Jonathan Freedland writes today:

"A convention, much like the one that met in Scotland in the 1990s, could draw up a written constitution setting out how we govern ourselves."

The emphasis is mine. The Scottish Claim of Right was launched in Edinburgh in July 1988 and the Convention first met in March 1989, and signed the claim.

Just a one-off mistake?

Ah, I beg to differ - witness Kenny Farquharson in Scotland On Sunday:

"Calman's approach seems in marked contrast to that of the Scottish Constitutional Convention's Claim of Right in the 1990s, which simply stated what Scotland wanted and then challenged the UK Government to deliver it."

Two separate pieces, both published on the same day in separate publications, and both containing the same inaccurate information.

So, the Scottish Constitutional Convention and The Scottish Claim Of Right are moved from the 1980s to the 1990s.

The correct information is freely available all over the web. Jonathan Freedland and Kenny Farquharson are not, as far as I know, famous for poor research. So how come 1988 and 1989 have become something as inaccurate and downright vague in their articles as "the 1990s"?

For the correct information, start here: http://www.alba.org.uk/devolution/claimofright.html

It's all so easy.

My own belief is that the constant revising of history and the tendency to airbrush the real 1980s out of existence are dangerous. We do not examine the truth about that decade nor what we are now. We simply revise - tell lies - from the BBC's I Love... TV series to political journalists. It's not just down to personal opinions or biases, history is actually rewritten. Facts are changed.

It all feels fragmented. Unreal. Disjointed. And very dishonest.

And it worries me.