The introduction of internment without trial and the suspension of habeas corpus.The plans to introduce the National ID register and ID card scheme.The introduction of biometric passports and government interrogation centres to be attended in order to get a passport, only to be forced to answer 53 questions before being allowed to leave the UK....
The mantra of this Labour government under Gordon Brown, and Tony Blair before him, that if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear sounds, on the face of it, a reasonable argument to a public who don't think past the words and fail to realise just how stupid and innacurate that slogan is, for that is all it is - a meaningless slogan.We all have something to hide, and not only our bank account passwords and PIN numbers.How many people would be so happy to repeat out loud that they have nothing to hide and nothing to fear if they knew their National Health Service records were to be accessible by over 300,000 people at the click of a mouse. How many would say they have nothing to fear if that information was to be accessed by, say, the company who they would like to get life...
25 million peoples identities on the loose. Names, addresses, dates of birth, Child Benefit numbers, National Insurance numbers and bank or building society account details, stuffed unencrypted onto two CD's by a junior official in a government department and lost in the post.I can, and do, encrypt the files on my Mac with a click of a mouse but officials dealing with valuable and sensitive data, our data, don't even bother to do that.Government assurances on the safety and confidentiality of the public's most private details will, finally if belatedly, surely wake up those complacent sleepy sheep who constantly bleat: "If you've got nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear."Whether you've got anything to hide or not, you've got everything to fear.Government assurances that our bank...
It appears our UK Prime Minister, ex-Chancellor and man who knows a lot about money, may have broken the rules about sub-letting his taxpayer-funded office in Kirkaldy - the rules which state that an MP "may not sublet accommodation which you lease and pay for out of the allowances".Now, is it just me, or does this not sound familiar?Was one Henry McLeish not forced to resign as Scotland's First Minister in 2001 because of something similar, paving the way for the joys of Jack McConnell's disastrous reign?There is, of course, a major difference between the two cases in that, whatever the outcome, Hell will freeze over before we see Brown...
It seems that, despite already having a £20m deficit, Gordon Brown's Labour Party may have spent around another £1m in the run-up to the Autumn election before Brown took fright and cancelled it.Questions are likely to be asked when Labour's national executive meets next month.So, not content with 10 years of wasting taxpayers money, Labour are wasting their own as well.Read: Election that never was cost Labour...
A vulture known as Wee Man, who escaped from a rescue centre near Kinnoir, near Huntly in north-east Scotland on Saturday, has been found sitting in a tree close to home, and is in good condition, with no injuries or broken feathers.Volunteers spent the day trying to tempt the bird down with offers of food, but have so far been unsuccessful."He must be hungry, after getting away on Saturday," said Centre volunteer Patricia Downie.Wee Man is not an attacking bird as he feeds on dead animals. Wee ManThe other vulture, known as Prime Minister Maggie 'Feartie' Broon, is still on the run after escaping from the dangers of a recent general election, and was briefly spotted today sitting in the House of Commons being mauled by opposition leader David Cameron who, until only a few days ago, Broon...
Feartie Brown Chickens OutALL MOUTH AND NO TROUSERS “GORDON BROWN IS NOT SO MUCH THE GRAND OLD DUKE OF YORK - MORE THE BIG FEARTIE FROM FIFE!"...
Seems like the man just can't help himself.Just a couple of days after his troops stunt, Brown spun off to Essex to open a hospital in Basildon - which had already been opened by Health Secretary Alan Johnson in July.This is the same Gordon Brown who took office promising an end to spin, a more truthful and accountable goverment that the public could trust.Of course Gordon is in a bit of a spin of the other sort too, dithering about whether to call an early general election, a decision not made easier by the latest poll results slashing his lead over Cameron and the Tories.Nail-biting stuff - but mostly Brown's nails. They must be chewed to the quick and oozing blood by...
Cynical, shameless, self-serving Labour.... Brown uses troops for political gain....... no change then, GordonIt was all supposed to be so different after Blair. The end of spin, a strengthening of parliament, Gordon Brown as 'father of the nation.'Instead, more of the same. The withdrawl of 1000 troops from Iraq, the announcement made in Iraq rather than in parliament, except really it's only 500, because we knew during the summer the other 500 were coming home....... except, as we found out tonite, on Newsnight, most of the 500, or maybe the thousand... aren't in Iraq anyway... if anyone can follow that.During the week of the Tory Party Conference, Gordon Brown, the man who distanced himself at every opportunity from the Iraq war suddenly finds it essential to visit Iraq to issue a...
We know Gordon is WATCHING us all - for our own good, you understand, because he cares so much about us - but from now on he will be LISTENING to us too.From tomorrow, phone companies, mobile and landline, are obliged to keep details of every phone call made in Britain, details which will not only be available to government officials, the police and security services, but to nearly 800 public bodies including local councils, tax authorities, Department of Health, immigration, and even the Charity Commission.It is not yet clear whether Sybil, the Downing Street cat is included in the list of new snoopers tracking our every move.The new law was slipped through by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, with no parliamentary debate.RINF - Big...
Blair and New Labour turned the British into the most spied-on people in the western world. What then, is life going to be like for the UK's citizens given a further five or ten years of 'Brown's Britain' when DNA samples are likely to be collected, by force if necessary, from everyone, and we are all obliged to carry ID cards - “Papers please” - linked to the National Information Register? Already children as young as five are being fingerprinted and having biometric eyeball scans taken. Make no mistake, this is the Britain Gordon Brown wants for us all, and those sheep, and there are frighteningly many of them, who bleat "if you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear" are in for a terrible shock - when it is too late.This is not the sort of country I want to live in, and I...
Today The Times looks at the strong similarities in words and structure between Prime Minister Gordon Brown's first speech to the Labour Party conference and speeches by Bill Clinton and Al Gore.Gordon Brown and his ‘Rehash’ SpeechBob Shrum, Brown’s close (and no doubt very highly paid) adviser and former speech consultant for US Democrat leaders, apparently has one script which, with minor modifications, fits all.Shruming Down - The personal journey of Gordon William Jefferson Albert Gore John Kerry...
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in his speech to the Labour Party Conference this week, actually did mention Iraq - once - but despite his apparent concern, wrapped in biblical quotes, for all children, he failed to mention:The estimate by Iraq's Ministry of Health that half of the country’s children suffer from some form of malnutrition.The fact that less than a third of Iraq’s children now attend school, compared to 100 percent attendance before the March 2003 invasion.The countless numbers of orphaned Iraqi children who survive by begging, stealing or scavenging garbage for food.The 70 percent of young children who suffer symptoms of trauma-related stress.The virtual collapse of the Iraqi health service, causing sick or injured children who could otherwise be treated by simple means,...
Gordon Brown yesterday gave his first speech as Prime Minister to the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth.For the first time anyone in the hall could remember, a Prime Minister quoted the Bible to a party conference. "Suffer the little children to come unto me," he said, adding: "No Bible I have ever read says, 'Bring just some of the children'."Brown's Vision: A British One-Party StateGordon Brown's Vision: UK as a Work...
