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English - not white

During conversation today it was suggested to me that to talk of an "English Parliament", "England" or to speak of the "English" may imply something to do with being white.

Let me make it quite clear, the reason that I and others in the CEP want an English Parliament is entirely political. We want equity with the Scottish, freedom from the British parliament (and so-called Scottish Raj) and democracy closer to the voters.

People like Yasmin Alibhai-Brown completely miss the point: click here for more info.

Petrol protests - terrorism?

Update: Wonko has made an excellent contribution to this story and I urge you to read his post: The advance of the police state.

My concerns about government increasing its power to detain and to treat people inhumanely and to insist on branding them like cattle by imposing ID cards, have mostly been about the principle. I took it as a given that the UK's government was largely trustworthy and unlikely to take political prisoners or otherwise abuse its power.

Then I set to thinking about the EU and how much power Thatcher, Major and Blair have given away with the Single European Act, Maastricht and Nice respectively. I wondered about their gung ho attitude to what is largely accepted as the majority opinion in England and, despite Scotland, the UK. If the government is willing to treat the electorate like that, what might they do with:

• ID cards
• the power to imprison without being:
  • allowed to question why;
  • allowed to ask what evidence is held; or
  • given a trial
• The power to restrict and stop peaceful protest

Trust betrayed
Then the Blair government made sounds to suggest it could invoke anti-terror legislation to keep fuel protests being repeated as in 2000.

This makes me angry.

It isn't just an abuse of power over constitutional change. That could be undone in the future when the EDP or Tories take power (under a new leader). This is an open threat to those who would protest that if they do, they will be treated like terrorists. Let us remember that the terrorists that this legislation was written for, were people willing to commit multiple murder. That they may use this legislation this way is stating that peaceful and legal civil disobedience shall no longer be allowed. It is a suggestion that the state has primacy over the individual.

This is morally wrong in so many ways. Not even the socially conservative Thatcher government would stoop to such levels - and they invoked Clause 28.

At the next election (because our constitution does not allow for a popular recall) we must take these despots out of power. If you are reading this and were brought up by someone who told you

"Don't vote Tory, whatever you do, don't vote Tory"

ignore them for the next election because England cannot and should not cope with more erosions of civil liberty.

Checkpoint reporting

Once again Justify This has found an 'oversight' of the British media: Click here.

It is a worrying that terrorist organisations may be gaining, or learning to exert, power in the Gaza strip. Ariel Sharon should not consider further withdrawals from the West Bank until it is clear how this power struggle is going to pan out in Gaza.

French, Turkish and US Visitors

I've been having more and more frequent visits from people in France, Turkey and the United States. Welcome!

Blowing my own trumpet

Blowing your own trumpet always sounds better than listening to someone else's... Or maybe that's just me!

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you how clever the BBC's editors are and how consistent.

First they placed my response on their Action Network on the front page for a day - it pleased me a little, I have to say.

Second, today they've used my photo as the main photo of the Noticeboard:

The caption says "photo by Gavin Ayling". How very exciting for me only!

King Alfred Picture

The following picture shows another view of the planned new Frank Gehry King Alfred in Brighton & Hove.

I know you want them so let me know if you find any other pictures and I'll include them here.

SEERA - QuaNGOs got promoted

SEERA is the South East England Regional Assembly. It is an assembly set up by the Labour government which is unelected but which makes decisions above the County Councils which are elected.

The Regional Assemblies of England are part of the EU's plan of creating a "Europe of Regions" with areas of size similar to the German Lander. The English need a parliament and they don't want these Regional Assemblies. The North East were given a referendum on an elected regional assembly because the government and their Liberal Democrat allies thought that the North East was the region most likely to agree to be split from England. Click here for the result.

Now the SEERA has released a news release stating that they must be consulted (an elected body must defer) on planning applications that have "regional significance". We must remember, dear readers, that these regions have no historic or cultural merit and are designed purely to contain the right number of people. The "regional significance" that the SEERA refers to is a significance that happens to have bearing over an arbitrary area drawn within England.

It seems obvious to me, and probably every other person who doesn't have a vested interest in the EU or splitting the English nation for political ends (for there are significant advantages for Labour in resplitting England along lines other than its real borders which house mostly Conservative voters), that an English Parliament should be making these decisions for us, not unelected 'representatives'.

I found this parliamentary transcript courtesy of Hansard which was transcribed as the Conservatives former MP, Teresa Gorman, proposed an English Parliament to countenance the Scottish Parliament and Welsh assembly in 1998: Hansard transcript. In it Mrs Gorman makes observations and predictions that are spot-on. Some of the things mentioned in the debate have already happened and others are likely to happen yet.

Unfortunately, an English Parliament is not yet Conservative policy, so I urge you to write to your MP. The people of England are the ones who can make a change in this policy which is one of the most dangerous pro-EU policies at the moment.

David Davis

David Davis has shown, in one speech, why he is the leader the Conservatives and, indeed, England, need.

He has made an impassioned speech that talks of the very basis of his beliefs and looks to his origins. David Davis has said what everyone secretly knew but couldn't articulate - that England needs opportunity for all not limited by a welfare state but augmented by state-sponsored compassion.

I commend David Davis and hope he wins the leadership contest.

See:

• The BBC's article; and
• David Davis for Leader Blog

Gun crime in London

Knowing, as I do from individual research, that the Daily Mail cannot be trusted to tell the truth the whole time, I am making this post despite my reservations.

According to the Daily Mail Weekend magazine's review of Murder Blues, a BBC1 program airing as I write, London is the 3rd worst city in the world for gun shootings. When you consider that this is in 'competition' with cities like Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Nottingham and any number of third world and other US cities, that is truly shocking.

The US is world renowned for having legal, even protected, gun ownership - the so-called "Right to bear arms". And yet they manage to only have a maximum (as I don't know what the top two are) of two cities above London? Incredible.

King Alfred Approval

Thank goodness the application was passed: Brighton Council's article.

This is a partial success on the way to an exciting proposal that is taking a frustratingly long time to get even this far. The site confirms that there is yet more bureaucracy to get through. For more information about the design etc, try the following page: The plans.

Update: Thanks to John for his comment. The post on his site is excellent and I recommend you visit it.

Jeremy Clarkson

We advocates of technological solutions to global warming are heartened by Jeremy Clarkson's public statements. I am glad, too, that he can laugh off a custard pie attack: BBC News.

Petrol queues

The established media is reporting a surge on pumps in some locations, but I can confirm that at all times this evening there have been queues at all petrol stations in the Shoreham-by-Sea area...

I'm as guilty as the rest - I was planning on going to a petrol station shortly when I thought it would be quieter. My sources say queues are still stretching around the Holmbush roundabout.

The oil companies assure us there is no shortage but surely they cannot cope with this sort of sustained and sudden demand?

Petrol shortage / rationing

The UK government has done something so stupid that even I, a serial criticiser of New Labour, am surprised.

They announced today that if there were to be a petrol shortage they would ration petrol. That is not to say there will be a shortage - the protesters have said that they will not seek to cause disruption as happened five years ago. Unfortunately, the people of this great nation rightly think to themselves "If I'm going to be unable to buy petrol shortly, I'd better buy some now."

This is only sensible, forward thinking. It's just a shame that the government could not have foreseen this and stayed schtum.

Petrol duty has, as the IOD said today, removed the market for petrol that would keep prices at a consistently low level in England. A short drive from an area dominated by one town to another area will show that prices vary according to the local competition and not according to any nationwide pricing strategy. The government's ideological taxation of petrol is an unfair tax on people's need to travel - taxation should be about raising revenue and not about incentivising people to have a conscience about the environment.

The issue of a flat tax has been raised again recently and petrol duty should be included in the list of taxes scrapped as part of this change (along with VAT and alcohol duties). I will support any legal protest to reduce or remove this highly unfair tax.

I implore you to visit the following site: Less Tax On Fuel

Stats

I'm confused by my site's stats....

I have a country counter on the right of my site that is, granted, a bit newer than the 1 September, but it stores stats for my consumption on another site.

My web hosting service, however, has much more detailed stats about all sorts of things including what the visitor had for dinner the previous evening. The following is a screenshot of the most recent info for September:

First of all, what is the 'European Union doing on the list; if it's there why is Great Britain separate; and finally, why does the US show as the largest number of hits when all other indications suggest that English visitors (with a few Scottish visitors too - you are welcome!) are by far in the majority.

On another matter, does Great Britain imply that Ulster visitors are listed elsewhere? Also, according to my NeoCounter stats (which I have checked with the help of a Canadian and a Russian) I have had several Swedish visitors, whereas my hosting's stats say that I have had only one Swedish visitor ever... A pinch of salt shall be used in future...

Kwik Fit - insincere - boo!

Don't you hate it when a company uses false sincerity as a weapon against you in order to make a sale?

I was cold-called just now having used Kwik Fit for new tyres during the weekend. They asked about the service I received and, when I said it wasn't good, they said "Ah well, I've made a note of that." and then proceeded to tell me about their insurance offering...

Frankly, I don't think he made a note of it and I think he said it to make a possible insurance sale... Or maybe I'm cynical?

English Parliament Petition

There is a petition online for an English Parliament at the following location: PetitionThem.com

I urge every one of you to sign this petition. If you are not sure of the reasons for an English Parliament, please visit the Campaign for an English Parliament's website and add a comment if you still have questions.