ID Cards Will Not Be Compulsory

The Telegraph is reporting that Alan Johnson has announced that holding an ID card for Britons will be voluntary. This is a major climb down and a victory for all those such as David Davis MP who felt this policy was an infringement of our liberties and campaigned hard against its introduction.

We were told that ID cards were necessary to:

help protect people from identity fraud and theft

ensure that people are who they say they are

tackle illegal working and immigration abuse

disrupt the use of false and multiple identities by criminals and those involved in terrorist activity

ensure free public services are only used by those entitled to them

enable easier access to public services

(Home Office website)

Has the Government found another way of dealing with these concerns or is the real reason for scrapping amending the scheme due to the state of the nations finances? Estimated costs of introducing ID cards were in the region of £5-15 billion – money that the Treasury simply hasn’t got. 

Shrinking Economy

The UK economy shrunk by 2.4% in the first quarter of this year which is the fastest rate of decline in over 50 years and is a damning indictment of the way the Government has managed the economy over the past 12 years.

All those comments by Gordon Brown that we were as a country better placed than others to weather the economic storm sound foolish to say the least. But what is even more worrying is the continued talk by Brown of trying to spend his way out of recession at a rate which will burden the country and taxpayers for decades to come. How will any future Government pay back a national debt to £1.4 trillion which is what we are likely to be left with if Gordon Brown has his way?

Blackwash!

There is condemnation in the media, press and public this morning of MP’s from all parties after heavily edited and ‘blacked out’ expenses were published. The redacted publication of expenses is according to our elected members an apparent step towards openness and  transparency.

MP’s rightly feel embarrassed for outrageously abusing the expenses system but removing pages from their files of expenses prior to publication will only lead to more outrage and reduce their standing further. By taking this course of action, every MP has given the Telegraph several months more of expenses headlines as its reporters will now sift through every MP’s published expenses and compare this to what it holds on its database of expenses which it obtained and highlight what each MP has tried to hide.

Surely a better way forward would have been to publish every single detail, repay what was excessive and apologise for abusing the system. At least that would have given every MP the defence of saying that he had been open and honest with his expenses instead of the ongoing negative headlines and cries of dishonesty.

Unemployment Up Again

The number of people out of work increased by 232 000 in the three months to April 2009 with unemployment now at at 12 year high of 2.36 million.

At this rate of increase, Labour will leave office with more people out of work than when it came into power!

Another Whitewash?

The announcement that the Iraq war inquiry will be held in private is regrettable to say the least. David Cameron has rightly described it as ‘an establishment stitch-up.’ Holding the inquiry in private will mean that its findings will be viewed with the same suspicion as the previous reports/inquiries into the Iraq War and doubts will remain as to whether access to all relevant documents is granted and adequately scrutinised. And to state from the outset that no blame will be apportioned is just ludicrous. How can a serious recommendation be made if a mistake isn’t acknowledged and identified?

This inquiry should be held in public or not at all as this Government’s record on transparency on this issue is non existent. It has previously defeated Conservative proposals to force a public inquiry and vetoed the publication of minutes of cabinet meetings discussing the legality of the war; and the Hutton and Butler inquiries raised more questions than answering them.

But the biggest cop out of all is that the inquiry will only report its finding after the next general election when many of the cabinet/elected members who should be held accountable have been re-elected or have retired or have lost their seats! By delaying the inquiry the Government has ensured that no one will be held responsible or accountable for the deceit in taking this country to war.

No Recession In Football?

Real Madrid have tabled a world record £80 million bid for Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo which unsurprisingly has been accepted. Only a few days ago Real bought Kaka for a record £56 million. Where Real is getting its buying power from is unclear but the sums are mind bogglingly huge.

As a Man Utd fan, I am pleased that Ronaldo will be sold. While he has been an excellent player and contributed hugely to the club’s success especially in the past two years, he has in the last 12 months given the impression that his heart lies elsewhere and his petulance and ego were beginning to spiral of control. Most Man Utd fans would agree that he appeared to be more concerned about individual records than the team’s success and that £80 million is an offer too good to refuse.

Labour MP’s Celebrate Defeat!

Yesterday I wrote that Frank Field among others was encouraging Labour MP’s to rebel and put Gordon Brown out of his misery but besides a few MP’s it seems that most aren’t prepared to put country and/or party before office/salary. Paul Waugh has written about Brown’s meeting last night with the PLP which clearly shows that most of Brown’s troops are prepared to criticise him behind his back but don’t have the bottle to do so to his face. What the clapping and table thumping was for is a total mystery. After being routed in the local and European elections and allowing the BNP to gain two MEP’s, I’d have thought they would have shown a little remorse and humility instead of behaving like a football crowd celebrating an important goal.

It’s a bit like the CEO of a major company coming to a shareholders meeting to explain why the company has made a loss of millions only to be greeted by a standing ovation!!

And then they wonder why people won’t vote for them!

Frank Field Encouraging The Rebels

Frank Field MP has been typically candid and written a post on his blog which won’t be well received in Downing Street. He writes:

‘Labour cannot win with the present Prime Minister. I was one of the seven who would not support his coronation after Tony Blair was shoehorned out of Number 10. But even I didn’t think a Brown administration would be as inept as this one. [Ouch]

The Brownites are attempting to terrorise Labour MPs into inaction. If they succeed then we deserve our fate.

It is simply absurd to argue, as does No. 10, that the next leader must call an immediate general election. A new leader, when being invited by the Queen to form a government, should inform the Monarch that he or she intends to return in April of next year to call for a General Election on May 6.’

Racists Elected!

The BNP has won two seats in the European elections including getting its leader Nick Griffin elected in the North west region….more comment later

Brown Clinging On!

The cabinet reshuffle is in full swing and Gordon Brown clings on for dear political life. After the devastating comments from James Purnell in his resignation letter more Cabinet member resignations were expected but this hasn’t happened yet.

I still believe that Brown won’t survive. Once the election results are in and backbench Labour MP’s realise that they have little or no chance of holding on to their seats with Brown in charge, they will act and sign any email or letter put in front of them asking Brown to stand down.