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 […]
politics
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 […]
Sympathy For MPs? – Not Even Slightly!
OK..Ok it’s time to own up…aren’t you feeling just a little bit of sympathy for that dysfunctional group of society called MPs? After all, they have just returned from weeks and weeks on an expensive summer vacation (working in their constituencies, of course, and not holidaying in their second homes or travelling the world) to […]
Arse Kicking At Parliament Buildings!
For a country that has so many surveillance cameras the authorities can virtually see the state of your colon as you walk down the street – and all in the name of anti-terrorism – it comes as some surprise to learn that 50 Greenpeace campaigners (protesting against global warming) have been able to climb onto […]
London’s ‘Mayor Boris’ Tries to ‘Stuff’ Paxo
I have only just caught up with this interview between London’s somewhat eccentric Mayor, Boris Johnson and BBC Newsnight’s ‘Rottweiler’ frontman Jeremy Paxman. It was recorded at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on October 5th. I am not sure if it is really about politics or is just an audition for the lead roles […]