YOB problem? - Call The Respect Squad

Have look at this over at Chicken Yoghurt. It's hilarious.

This is a serious government initiative; and you just couldn't make it up. Honest!

Talk about 'Gotham City! - Just hand them a potential ASBO case (Use the Red telephone!!) and the 'Respect Squad' swings into action; a 'Mission Squad' is appointed and wham! - hoodies better run.

Visions of Squad Leader Alex Rhind and her 'Nuisance Strategist' Bill Pitt leaping into their 'Respectmobile' and zooming off to deal with the baddies.

Honest. It's all there on their very own web site - all linked from Chicken Yoghurt

Rory Bremner - Russ Abbot - Bian Conley ---- Get busy.
________________________
Update: 7th July
From Beau Bo D'or - The 'Respect Squad' tooled up for a mission

Asymmetrical Extradition

Hat-tip to Beau Bo D'Or

The extradition arrangements between the UK and US are enshrined in a treaty signed by David Blunkett in March 2003 and incorporated into UK law in January 2004. The new treaty was promoted on the basis of the need for 'a streamlined Extradition process to deal with the new global terrorist threat after September 11th'.

"So far so good", you might say. Two problems though - and they are BIG problems:

1. It allows extradition to the US based on mere 'information' and without prima facie case evidence; whereas extradition from the US to the UK requires a full prima facie case to be made

2. As is the case with other 'anti-terrorist' measures, it is being used for cases wholly unconnected with any alleged terrorist threat.

You need only have an open-minded look at the three cases [ Nat West Three, Gary McKinnon & Babar Amad ] currently proceeding under the provision to see its potential for gross injustice; not to mention the massive extension to the reach of the US criminal justice system.

The case of Babar Ahmad is particularly problematical. His name is probably enough to put a lot of people off giving him a fair hearing, so what chance does he have against allegations of terrorist plotting by the US authorities? Nevertheless, his web site deserves at least as much fair minded attention as the others. In light of my own experience in Parliament Square on 15th September 2004, I find the description of his initial arrest eminently believable too.

Murray in damage limitation mode

During press interviews earlier this month, Andy Murray said he would be supporting "anyone but England" in the World Cup finals. He now appears to have entered damage limitation mode

In a statement posted on his Blogg yesterday, he said: "I Want to say that I'm not anti-English!" . Funny thing is that bit of his post has now been removed although most of the comments referred to in a BBC report about it are still there, including one from a droll Scot suggesting he get himself a tee-shirt with the slogan "Anyone but me" on it.

The BBC report is on their Scotland pages. Pity they couldn't post it on their England ones too.

Sleep-walking to Police State Britain

Remember these scenes in Parliament Square on 15th September 2004 during the 3rd reading of the Hunting Act? I do too. I was present throughout and the experience turned my view of the police on it's head. From traditional friendly defenders and protectors of the public, they became the armed, bone-headed enforcers of an oppressive State.

Simplistic sounding I know. All I can say is that, when you have been on the receiving end of that kind of 'enforcement', then listened to the 'official' version of what is SUPPOSED to have happened (all very plausible to the public who always want to give the police the benefit of any doubt), your view of the police and the State can never be quite the same again.

I have been forcefully reminded of all this a number of times over the past 12 months, from the Charles de Menenez and Forest Gate shootings at one end of the scale to the detention and prosecution on 18th June of Steven Jago under the "Serious Organised Crime & Police Act" for - get this; it is taken from an article in today's Independant and 100% accurate:

...carrying a placard in Whitehall bearing the George Orwell quote: "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." In his possession, he had several copies of an article in the American magazine Vanity Fair headlined "Blair's Big Brother Legacy". The police told Mr Jago this was 'politically motivated' material, and suggested it was evidence of his desire to break the law.

Please read that article. It is real eye-opener. It provides alarming insight into just how, on the back of whipped up outrage and fear, through the 'Respect agenda', 'fighting crime', increasing 'security' and the 'war on terror' the State is undermining what little there is left of our so called 'free society'

See you, Murray - at Wimbledon

Tempted to cheer for Andy Murray at Wimbledon this year?

Thought so. We're such softees, we English aren't we?

But just remember that young Andy seems to belong to that chippy, resentful category of Scots - all too common now they have their own Parliament and rule much of England too - the "ANYONEBUTENGLAND" category.

As Richard Littlejohn in the Mail on Sunday puts it "I do hope Murray won't be too disappointed if English tennis fans decide to support whichever foreign star he comes up against at Wimbledon."

Chris Smith's 'Cri du Coeur'

Chris (Now Baron of Finsbury, no less) Smith - formerly minister for culture media and sport. Remember him?

Josie Appleton interviews him in Spiked about his new book 'Suicide of the West'. She describes it as 'Smith's cri du coeur for fundamental enlightenment values'. I read it with increasing irritation and contempt. She dubs the book "a timely intervention". If the stuff quoted is any guide, 'self-serving tosh' would be more like it - as in:

"We are now at a fork in the road. One way lies cynicism and despair, the other is rediscovering a belief in the things that we hold dear."

or

"I joined the Labour Party because I thought that it was the best vehicle for social change, for making people’s lives better"

Oh really? how very touching and original. "Furthering my own political agenda and forcing my own [suspect] morality on others" is a reasonable translation from the Orwellian doublespeak of those two little gems I'd say.

As a member of a recently persecuted minority group, Chris Smith might have been expected to have some insight into what it feels like to be demonised and marginalised prior to being legislated against. Apparantly not. This is the man who voted consistently for the most extreme options on hunting with hounds, including support for the original 'Foster Bill'. Over 700 hours of parliamentary time squandered on a spiteful tribal measure introduced for precisely the kind political expediency he claims to abhor. With his full support, it finally resulted in a total legislative ban farce.

The man is a regulating/banning/social engineering control freak of the kind now sadly typical of much of left wing UK politics. He (they) wouldn't recognise genuine enlightenment values if he fell over them.

If the West really IS committing suicide, then it is Smith and his kind that are the immediate proximate cause.

Tags: Chris Smith, Hunting, Hunting with Hounds, Fox Hunting, Animal Rights

Lammy to the slaughter as minister attones for rural slur

From the Sunday Times Atticus column:

"Culture minister David Lammy will be enjoying plenty of fine country fare next month: namely, several large slices of humble pie. Lammy is off on a tour of the countryside to atone for an ill-advised speech at the Labour conference last year in which he referred to rural folk as “inbred”.

Luckily for Lammy, his remarks to the Fabian Society were overshadowed by the eviction of 82-year-old Walter Wolfgang from the conference hall. But they did not escape the attention of the Countryside Alliance. After an angry exchange of letters, Lammy has apologised “unreservedly” and has agreed to slip into his government-issue green wellies for an instructive tour."

What he actually said was that all members of the Countryside Alliance looked alike, as a result of inbreeding. (I wonder what would happen to anyone saying something similar about - coloured people say?) The remarks were made at a Fabian Society fringe meeting. He clearly didn't realise that CA Chairman John Jackson, a lifelong member of the Fabian Society was in attendance. And of course he was only parroting the routine insults of many Labour delegates (commonly known as ingratiating yourself). For the second year running they had vandalised the CA stand in the conference exhibition area and hurled routine foul-mouthed abuse at those manning the stand.

His notoriety increased again recently with his "ICONS of England" initiative.

With any luck he'll learn a little about real breeding during his forthcoming tour - especially if he can steel himself to visit a - a -a horror-of-horrors! - a HUNT KENNELS; but I suppose that would be asking just toooo much,

Tags: Hunting, Hunting with Hounds, Fox Hunting, Animal Rights, Animal Rights terrorism

EU Constitution - A way MUST be found to get around those pesky voters

Cranmer has just posted a good piece on the European Constitution.

"Ah! but didn't both the French and Dutch decisively reject it in referenda?" I hear you ask.

They did indeed, as would the British had His Toniness dared ask them. But hey! what does democratic rejection of a proposal mean to the EU Aristocracy/Brussels Bureacracy?

Absolutely nothing it seems because they appear determined to resurrect it. No doubt we will be required to vote and vote again until we see the error of our ways, unless of course they can find a way of getting around the awkward and irritating need to consult their subjects at all.

New Labour - Tabloid Slaves

As expected, the Sunday papers were full of His Toniness' and Bruiser Reid's latest lectures on the inadequacies of 'The Criminal Justice System'. Most highlight the absurdity of it all (see for example the Telegraph, Times & Guardian), so I won't labour their well made points.

Suffice to say that after nine + years of responsibility for the whole shebang, 40+ new pieces of criminal justice legislation and over 700 new criminal offenses, "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" is wearing just a little bit thin.

What sticks in my mind most about this latest bout of pious outrage though, is a widely reported phrase used in his Bristol speech on Friday. It was: "Tony blair has accused the political and Legal Establishments of being in denial about the state of the criminal justice system". See here, here, and here for a report selection

So, just WHO does he think has been at the head of the 'Political and Legal Establishments' these past nine years I wonder, if not himself and his old flatmate Charlie Falconer?

Resist the tobacco (Hunting?) Taliban - Rod Liddle again

Following my earlier piece about Rod's 'plain English' suggestions for the Hunting Act, his latest in The Sunday Times is another good illustration of how it came about and where it is heading.

It's actually about the latest demands of the anti-smoking crusaders, with his usual scathing insights into the mindset of most single-issue pressure groups - those self-appointed, self-righteous arbiters of others peoples' behaviour - but, substitute the acronym 'LACS' (League Against Cruel Sports - or RSPCA or IFAW - or in fact the entire 'Animal Rights' movement) for 'ASH' (Action Against Smoking) and you wouldn't notice the difference. as in:

..... the sort of people who populate LACS (ASH) simply cannot stop themselves; they will agitate for more and more legislation because that is the only reason for their existence. In the case of LACS(ASH), what began as a noble campaign to prevent gratuitous cruelty (prevent smokers from inflicting their habit upon everyone else) has turned into a far more intensive campaign to perpetuate their own salaries. In the meantime this repulsively pious lobby issues forth ever more spiteful and immoral injunctions [Ed - and let's not forget the thuggish, balaclava'd grave desecrating activities of its footsoldiers]. There is within some people a deep-seated need to victimise those they consider racially, socially, sexually or ideologically aberrant. Hunters (Smokers) are a convenient and politically correct target for those who wish to take out their inchoate anger but are sharp enough to realise that, these days, you can’t vent it on Jews or homosexuals [Spot on Rod - see HERE for pictoral examples].

We are all addicted to something and our acquired habits are only rarely (as is the case with hunting) socially beneficial. But it is part of what makes us human. When LACS (ASH) has got rid of the hunters (smokers) [Ed: or rather THINK it has], who will it turn its guns on next?

Guns?? - Freudian slip there. Shooters, that's precisely who.

Tags: Rod Liddle, Hunting, Hunting with Hounds, Fox Hunting, Nanny State

2 Jags - 2 planes

Can't resist a good Blair/NuLab-bash.

'because they're worth it'

Hot on the heels of news that his Toniness is to order 2 jets for use by ministers and HMQ, here's a hoot of one from Beau Bo D'Or

Addendum to the earlier precious metals piece

Here is another piece on pm price suppression shenanigans. It's by Rob Kirby who inspired my piece on Peak Oil and dollar hegemony on 15th June.

Some thought provoking insights into what those who believe our financial markets are 'free and fair' are up against.

Gold/Silver investors beware - Part II

Updating my 2nd June piece

Well, we duly got those COMEX price movements beyond the fluctuation limits that were scrapped effective 4th June. In my opinion it won't be the last time either, not by a long chalk. On 12th June Gold - $42 (7%), silver -$1.69 (13%!!) ranges - practically all of it to the downside. Enough to scare the pants off most weak longs and panic them out of leveraged positions. Bet there were more than a few margin liquidation sales too.

Arch derivatives player Henry K Paulson - latterly CEO of Goldman Sachs has since been appointed US Treasury Secretary (Like other GS execs before him). One clear message this sends (among others) is that the the US monetary authorities - and by extension their sidekicks at the BOE are deadly serious about keeping some sort of cap on PM's prices - and particularly gold. It is the creative use of derivatives that is Goldman and Paulson's real forte and you can be sure both will be put to good use by the US government.

Couldn't possibly go into the detail of why; far too archane, murky and conspiricy theory sounding. But for anyone interested in the u-t-d position regarding pm's market price manipulation and its motovation - widely acknowledged to be self-evident among the pm's pros, here are are two must-read articles:

1. On Gold Price suppression
2. On Silver & gold open interest at the COMEX

Among the more startling facts about the pm's: 4 or fewer institutions (could therefore be just one) hold a COMEX net short position in silver greater than the entire annual global production and similarly 45% of annual global gold production. That's totally unheard of until very recently. How could they possibly deliver if all longs required delivery? A rhetorical question of course; they couldn't; but hundreds of thousands of longs on the other side WON'T seek delivery, leveraged at 100-1, they haven't got the money and those (that) big officially backed institution KNOWS they haven't.

Bottom line: If you get involved in pm trading believing that all market participants are there to enter and exit contracts in pursuit of profit, then you are a lamb to the slaughter. The BIGGEST players (by definition those with both the ear of Government and Official -ie Central Banking - interests at heart) do not give a toss about profiting from rising pm prices, it is price suppression/capping/rise-slowing - at almost any cost that they are there for.

I personally still regard gold as a solid investment on an 18 month view - should at least break the 4 figure dollar barrier by then. However, it is only a total collapse of the dollar, and with it probably the entire global monetary system currently based on it, that will 'send gold to the moon'. You can bet your last penny that TPTB will use every trick in the book to prevent that happening. High on that list of tricks is action which will punish anyone foolish enough to go blindly into leveraged long positions in the pm's.

You have been warned.

Rod Liddle redeems himself

Back in October 2002 Rod Liddle lost his job as editor of the BBC R4 Today program over a Guardian article he wrote about the Countryside Alliance 'Liberty & Livelihood' march. At the time several hundred thousand of us felt not a little put upon by pompous, demonising politicians and Rod's piece was like a red rag to a bull. In our eyes it confirmed 'BBC bias' and reinforced the bigoted self-righteousness of the MP's clamouring for a hunting ban.

Looking back at the article it does now seem rather tame considering the furore it caused. I guess that's because we have since become accustomed to the acerbic wit in his regular Spectator column. In fact I don't mind admitting that his column has become one of my 'must reads'. In spite of the insult felt back then I can see that his take on pretty well any controversial issue is consistent - and usually tells an uncompfortable and on-the-button home truth or two.

If I'm honest, that was arguably the case with the offending Guardian article too. It was just that the steriotypical caricatures it drew - though severely dated - were, and remain, the principle supporting motivation for the Hunting Act 2004 and to that extent he assisted the gross injustice of its passing into law.

However, his latest Spectator piece does go some way to redeeming him. Not exactly a 'mea-culpa' but nonetheless laser accurate and aimed at the really deserving ones this time. It concerns the latest wheeze of our Constitutional Affairs Minister, Harriet Harmen wanting laws to be drafted in something called 'Plain English'. In that spirit he suggests a revised 'plain English' wording for the Hunting Act 2004 as follows:

‘It is against the law to take pleasure from killing foxes. You can shoot them or club them or kick them to death, or hang them up by their ears until they die of starvation. You can even get dogs to savage them, so long as it is not part of an agreeable social ritual which brings together rich, right-wing landowners and the forelock-tugging lickspittle rural morass of peasants and impecunious villagers. Wearing stupid clothes and parping on horns and so on. Also, you toffs, stop harassing mink, deer and hares. We’ll get back to you later on badgers. All that being said, there will be no attempt whatsoever to enforce this legislation.’

Sums up both the spirit and real intent of the Act rather well doesn't it?

Nice one Rod. I like it.

Tags: Rod Liddle, Hunting, Hunting with Hounds, Fox Hunting

Peak Oil & Dollar hegemony

Here's a piece on the Safehaven site site that caught my attention

If you are well read on 'Peak Oil', you need to persevere beyond the author's opening gambit about the strangeness of oil having being found/exploited overwhelmingly in the Northern hemisphere (about half the article actually). He proposes this as evidence that PO is a deliberate ploy to hike the oil price by TPTB, as part and parcel of the continued exponential expansion of the dollar monetary base that is required to prevent its collapse.

But his main point is not about PO at all. Get beyond that and it's worth it because the guy is an economist and it is a solid illustration of the overwhelming vulnerability of the present world fiat currency system based on the Dollar, and the 11th hour nature of its evolution to date. His PO proposal is in fact largely irrelevant to his main thesis that dramatic increases in fundamental resource (and other asset) prices are REQUIRED to prevent the present dollar fiat system from collapsing. It is therefore logical enough for an 'economist' to suspect TPTB of a PO conspiracy to raise the oil price.

To summarise; were it not for the clear (in my view) evidence of PO as an inescapable fact, TPTB would have to invent it to prevent the economic collapse that PO is likely to precipitate before too long anyway.

Oh the delicious irony of it all. We live in interesting times indeed.

Aljazeera - Interesting snippet on financing Hamas

Aljazeera reports that Mahmoud Zahar, the Palestinian foreign minister and senior Hamas member was found to have $20 million in banknotes in his luggage whilst crossing the border into Gaza yesterday on his return from a foreign trip. Quote:

"Hours after civil servants stormed parliament, the Palestinian foreign minister - Mahmoud Zahar - returned from a trip to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, China, Pakistan, Iran and Egypt with $20 million in his luggage"

Mohammed Dahlan, an influential Fatah member, said: 'We hope this money finds its way to the finance ministry and not the treasury of Hamas.' "

It appears that, under agreed Israeli/PA terms, his status as a Palestinian Authority minister allows him to bring cash into PA territory unhindered and he was allowed to proceed with it.

Provides a whole new perspective on how to finance government - (or will it be terrorist) activity though doesn't it?

More on the Menenez and Forest Gate shootings

More on the Forest Gate and Stockwell Tube police shootings from The Observer and News of the World which has published leaked extracts from the Stockwell report - originally scheduled for publication back in April.

On the Stockwell tube shooting:

The leaked report details a catalogue of police blunders, including failing to pass on alerts from the undercover team that they were tailing an innocent man. It also suggests that there was a delay of five hours in deploying a specialist firearms unit that could have taken de Menezes alive.

And the Lawyer for the Forest Gate family said:

"..the officers failed to give a warning during the raid and did not identify themselves as police. The family thought they were armed robbers wearing helmets with their visors pulled down. Nobody identified themselves as police as they stormed in wearing terrifying black hoods and started bashing them over the head."

One of the Blairs will lose his job over this -trouble is it will arguably be the wrong one. Such bungling is a direct and predictable result of the politicisation of most public services in response to New Labour spin and the climate of fear/cover-your-own-back-first, that it has produced.

Don't panic - or our culture of caution will be the death of us

'Don't panic - don't panic' - just run around in circles and chase your tail instead.

Simon Jenkins in the Sunday Times writes about the 'better safe than sorry' culture that has swept though the public services - and particularly the police - as a direct result of constant political interferance. It is a comprehensive resume of the problems outlined in my previous two posts.

In the context of getting risk into some kind of perspective, it's just a pity that he did not mention the startling comparative road traffic / terrorism fatalities in our worst year for terrorist activity to date - just over 50 to terrorism; 3,500 to road traffic - that's 70 times as many!

I know which I consider the bigger risk.

Blame proof vests

'He was using a lawn sprinkler.’

___________________________

Further to my earlier piece about the Forest Gate police raid involving 250 officers and the shooting of another innocent man, these two cartoons from The Spectator sum up todays policing trends rather well.

Tags: Police State, Forest Gate, Police Shootings

A licence to do 'whatever is necessary' - but necessary for what???

Last night John Reid, the Home Secretary, said:

“The police are acting in the best interests of the whole community in order to protect the whole community and therefore deserve the support of the whole community in doing what is often a very dangerous job often involving difficult decisions.”

Well, that does rather depend on how you define 'the whole community' doesn't it?

Unless there are consequences for the police for the type of gross over-reactions to dodgy 'intelligence' illustrated by the shooting of the Brazilian electrician and this latest fiasco, then we can expect more of the same. 'The war on terror' has been hyped to such an extent that the police, it seems, can get away with pretty much anything to 'protect the whole community'

How many more innocent people can the police shoot and subject to gross intrusions into their personal lives and destruction of property in 'the interests of the whole community' before they are made accountable for their actions?

And we are STILL waiting for the report into the Stockwell Tube shooting that was scheduled for publication in April. There is clearly some fancy footwork going on behind the scenes on that one.

Some solid background on the latest police anti-terror overkill here in the Guardian

What should they know of England who only England know?

Charles Moore writes in the Telegraph about the resurgence of 'Englishness' on the occasion of the annual review of the Chelsea Pensioners. Some stirring thoughts as in:

"There is a sense in our culture that such English character is under threat, through a collective educational, social and governmental scorning of our identity. So, although I am not interested in football, I am glad that so many people want to fly the flag of St George, and I share the pleasure in doing so that comes from sensing that puritans, bureaucrats and schoolteachers rather disapprove of it.

The rediscovery of Englishness is beginning, and it derives from its persecution - in an unfair devolution settlement, in a global "anti-racist" culture that makes Englishmen the only people allowed by Hollywood to be villains, in immigration which is out of control, a broken education system and a Labour Government that is more hostile to our English past than any of its predecessors".

Unfortunately he goes on to spoil it with a long and convoluted warning of alleged potential dangers by comparing it with resurgant German nationalism under Hitler. And further claiming 'Britishness' to be the allegiance which will save us from this danger.

Oh dear.

Boris Johnson on England, 'The Flag' and Old sour-face Broon

An entertaining, 'on-the-button' article by Boris Johnson in The Telegraph with lots of comments attached.

Much of the entertainment comes from the accute embarassment and discomfiture of the likes of Blair, Broon and the PC/Labour apparatchiks over support for the England football team with the consequent dilemas and bans over flying the Cross of St George flag.

Oh how sweet it is to watch them squirm

Hazel Blears - off on another planet

Tony Blair's newly appointed (much to Gordon Broon's chagrin) 'Chair' of the Labour Party with the irritating Anthea Turner-like manner and overall appearance that has landed her with the affectionate title of 'Squirrel Nutkin', demonstrates her grasp of reality. In last Thursday's Guardian she writes:

“The BBC's adaptation of The Line of Beauty is a reminder of the Tories in government: arrogant, decadent and elititist "

OK, we see the point she is struggling with, but as Jasper Garrard puts it in today's Sunday Times:

"for a senior Labourite to dare peddle such a critique at this time is, well, nutty."

Quite! But the sad thing is, she clearly has no idea just how nutty!

Touching isn't it?

Gold/Silver investors beware

Gold, silver, copper or aluminium investor? Think you've seen major price action already this past 12 months?

Well, you ain't seen nuthin yet!

Why? - because NYMEX has just announced that, effective Sunday 4th June for electronic trading and Monday 5th June for the pit-traded contracts, the COMEX division will operate WITHOUT price fluctuation limits. That's right WITHOUT PRICE FLUCTUATION LIMITS!

The NYMEX statement went on to say:

"This change was made in order to better facilitate the core functions of price discovery and hedging provided by COMEX products,"

Oh! is THAT what it's for? I see.

Hmmm. After 3 no-notice increases to margin requirements for silver this year, together with startling physical inventory movements in both silver and gold - plus price increases which are hurting - I mean REALLY hurting the enormous 'establishment' short position in the PM's. Something is clearly afoot. TPTB are clearing the decks; so if you dabble in PM futures, you'd better watch out.

Call me a cynic but the most likely reason that I can see is to facilitate further 'orderly' unwinding of the Silver/Gold carry trades with a little coordinated help from TPTB. Expect wondges of selling (backed by offical physical holdings materialising from wherever), resulting in collapsing prices, allowing the shorts to buy back at bearable losses; pushing prices back up again - and so on.

If you like trading volatility, that IMHO is what you're going to get from next week on - for a while - and there's likely to be serious coordination between London, Tokio (remember that rule change on naming open interests a couple of months back?) and NY too.

Novices beware!

More heartache for Reid at the Home Office

Yet more evidence of New Labour serial incompetance:

A hard-hitting piece in the New Statesman makes clear that Both David Blunkett and Charles Clarke were unambiguously warned about the foreign national prisoner problem on numerous occasions

The prisons inspector, Anne Owers, warned ministers long ago about the deportation crisis and now fears an explosion in our jails, writes Mary Riddell in The New Statesman:

"..... After the revelation that prisoners had been released without being considered for deportation, it emerged that Owers had flagged up, in her annual report of 2004, the Home Office's 'institutional blind spot' over foreign nationals, as well as the 'dilatory attitude' of the immigration service.

In fact, she tells me she had first blown the whistle in 2003, two years before Clarke says he became 'fully aware' of the deportation problem. 'For the home secretary [then David Blunkett], as for the prison service, it wasn't a priority.' Owers also pointed out the lack of a proper system to identify and manage foreign inmates in countless individual reports, as well as in every yearly summary. So Clarke, like Blunkett before him, must have been fully aware of her concerns?

'Well, yes. If we wrote our prison reports by computer, which we do not, you could push any button and find a reference to the lack of a foreign nationals strategy. I could hardly have made more clear the absence of a strategy for managing foreign prisoners. I could also hardly have made it more clear, when I was looking at the immigration side, that there were enormous administrative failings......' "

Labour don't do hairdressing...

Another well deserved plug for the Labour Don't Do web site.

An Act of singular ingenuity

Further to the National Trust piece I posted on 27th May, subsequently reported in most of the National Dailies, Bruce Anderson has a piece on the Hunting Act in the Times today <Here>. Tongue firmly in cheek, he shows that Tiny Blurr and his backbench class-war warriors have demonstrated it is not possible to ban hunting; that the whole 7 year process, involving over 700 hours of parliamentary time, has revived what was otherwise a slowly dying pursuit (pardon the pun); that the public now support hunting; that the measure, allegedly based on principle and evidence was not; and that, far from 'standing the test of time', it is likely to be the first piece of Blair era legislation to be consigned to the scrap heap.

Labour Don't do .....

<Here's> another 'brighten your day' website. Only launched yesterday but off to a flying start.

I particularly liked the above posting. Not only does it make a telling point about their uselessness in securing the borders and making effective self-defence against burglars a very risky business for the burgled; it also illustrates their susceptibility to one of the favoured forms of imagery of the militant animal rights movement - pictures like that are guaranteed to open purse strings and organisations to which Labour are in thrall (not to mention under financial obligation) are masters in their use. Nice to see the boot on the other foot for a change.