Are we surprised? Yesterday, the Queen’s Speech, setting out the government’s final plans for the country before facing the electorate in next year’s general election, was conspicuous by one very large omission – there was no mention of any legislation relating to MP’s expenses. Following one of the biggest political scandals of the last few […]
government
Afghanistan – The History Of Failure.
We are not an occupying army,” Gordon Brown told the BBC on Friday. “It’s not like previous interventions…. We are actually creating the conditions by which the Afghans themselves, and not an occupying army, can run their own affairs.” The words above are quoted from an excellent article in today’s Independent by author James Fergusson. […]
Afghanistan- We Will Eventually Have To Talk (Pt 2)
I suggested it back in July, in my post Afghanistan – We Will Eventually Have To Talk! but now it seems our government is finally catching up with my common sense theory, that nothing will be resolved in Afghanistan unless we all start talking. They have asked the government of Hamid Karzai, the President of […]
A War Is A Good Payday For MoD Civil Servants…
Civil Servants at the Ministry of Defence have been paid bonuses this year of £47 million. The payments are, apparently, performance related although quite how ‘performance’ is measured in a department that deals in armed conflict I am at a loss to understand. Do they get a payment based on a reduction in injuries or […]
Unemployment – What Hope For Our Young?
The Office of National Statistics has announced today that the number of people unemployed in the UK has risen by its smallest amount since May 2008. Before we pop the champagne corks and explode the party poppers, we should remember that the rise was still 30,000 bringing the total number of those out of work […]
What makes a Soldier….
I meant to post this at the weekend but foolishly, I left the original email at work. It was sent as part of a weekly newsletter I receive from the Red Fridays campaign. I have no idea who the author is but I found it to be extremely thought provoking; it brings reality into the […]
Remembrance Sunday and The Afghanistan/Iraq Conflicts
Today is the day we remember all those who have died in conflict fighting to preserve our freedom. Since my earliest childhood memory of men and women standing around the Cenotaph in warm black coats, silently laying wreaths of bright red poppies, it has been about those who fought in WW1 and WW2. Now, though, […]
Life On Planet Concussion!
It has been a while since I last posted on here, following my spectacular dive down the stairs and my teeth numbing stop, using my head as a brake, against a doorframe. Since my unplanned flight, I have been living on Planet Concussion. It is a strange world I entered after needing the rather confusing […]
Great ‘Expenses’ Quote From Ann Widdecombe MP
One of the best quotes of the day, referring to the MP’s expenses repayment saga, must have been supplied by Ann Widdecombe, Tory MP for Maidstone. She was trying to make the point, that limits for expenses should not have been imposed on MPs retrospectively and was implying that MPs should be trusted to govern […]
Guardian Gagged From Reporting Parliament!
The Guardian newspaper has announced it has been gagged from reporting parliamentary proceedings, on legal grounds, for the first time in living memory. It has said in its report: Today’s published Commons order papers contain a question to be answered by a minister later this week. The Guardian is prevented from identifying the MP who […]