JODY McINTYRE BEING ASSAULTED BY POLICE

To my delight footage has been found of an officer from the metropolitan police dragging a disabled protester from his wheelchair and across the road during the demonstrations last Thursday.

Jody McIntyre said he was twice pulled out of his chair by the same officer whist taking part in the protests. He had asked for witnesses to come forward as a result of which this video footage came to light.

It shows an officer pulling Jody from his wheelchair and dragging him across the street. The policeman has to be pulled away by a fellow officer.

Jody has been collecting statements from witnesses and even has the badge number of the offending policeman. He intends taking legal action and will be complaining to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Jody quite rightly believes that he has the same rights as anyone else to protest. He has a brother of 16 who will not now be able to go to university because of the charges.

I’ve elsewhere made a spirited defence of the protesters, excusing some of their rather dubious actions because of the spirit that overcomes a crowd in such circumstances. The adrenalin, the feelings of togetherness, and of shared intent can take over a crowd, and make people do things that afterwards they may feel ashamed of and regret.

Now, I’m sure that the police, just like troops, are affected by the same phenomenon, the same feeling of 'the total being greater than the sum of the parts’, but the police are professionals, whereas the students are not. We pay policemen generous salaries and train them to deal with these situations. Part of that training will surely be how to control your emotions at work. I don't pretent that it's easy, but who said that life wold be easy.

I don’t know what kind of a person it takes to drag a wheelchair bound lad across the road and away from his chair. I’m not sure that it is any kind of “person” at all. But I hope that just for once, just this one time, we manage to nail this sub human “espèce de putain” and drum him out of the police.

The video is from Youtube, and it is towards the end of it that you will see this event. There is, not unreasonably, some swearing in the clip, so don't watch if this offends you.

WE ARE IN THE RED, AND WE ARE STAYING THERE

Quantitative easing and low interest rates have not worked.

UK consumer borrowing is around £1.45 trillion and despite interest rates being at an historic low, it has not started to shrink. This is a serious matter, as interest rates are unlikely to stay this low for long and what should have been the ideal opportunity to pay down debt will have passed.

The Bank of England has warned that more than half the people with unsecured debts, such as credit cards or personal loans, are having a hard time coping. Of course the banks have been greedy with interest rates having risen from 17.8% in November 2007 to 18.7% now despite base rates dropping from 5.75% to 0.5%.

The Bank also found that nearly 50% of people still have fixed rate mortgages, which means that they are still paying off their housing debt at rates appropriate to 2007. That translates on an average mortgage to £680 a month compared with £530 a month for those on tracker mortgages.

Household income is reducing too as some people are taking drops in salary and others are losing jobs altogether. More than 50% of people are worried about their debt getting out of hand. People who have high mortgages compared to the value of their houses are struggling the most. Some of course were given 120% mortgages shortly before the crash in house prices and the house has depreciated in value by a further 10-20%. They can’t sell; they can’t move, to take up a job or for whatever reason. They are stuck with negative equity in a house they can't afford.

It is unlikely that there will be a consumer boom to lift the economy if people are spending their money paying off previous debts, unable to remortgage and unable to get further credit.

It seems to me inevitable that the inflation rate, already at 4.5%, is bound to rise as a result of quantitative easing... or money printing as I prefer to call it. When that happens surely interest rates, and thus mortgage rates, credit card and loans interest rates will rise. Add in to the mix, the VAT rise and increases in fuel and food, together with a drop in the level of services and the future looks rather grim.

HOW MUCH WILL PEOPLE TOLERATE FROM A DISCREDITED LEADERSHIP?

Following the disturbances in London on Thursday last and the fact that Charles was involved, Cameron has decided to get tough. He looked jolly cross when he was ticking everyone off the other day.

It is not, absolutely not on, to ruin other people’s things unless your father has enough money to put the whole show to rights the next day. And terrorising innocent bystanders is only alright if it’s in an upmarket restaurant, in Oxford, and only rich people are involved, and it must never involve a prince of the blood royal unless he was in your house, or at least another chap’s house at school.

More seriously the idiot who is paid to be in charge of policing in London told the protestors that they were lucky not to be shot. Apparently it is within the right of the police to shoot people who are threatening a “highness”. Kinky Boots May, the home secretary has hinted that she would not stand in the way of police using water cannon (which is a pity because I wouldn’t mind seeing her being blown down the Thames with a hose up her frock). So for the first time in Great Britian, water cannon could be used. (After old Boris banging on the other day about how jolly decent it was of us chaps not to use them, ooops.) Other people have suggested tazers and tear gas, and I think I heard rubber bullets proposed.

I wonder what effect that would have. OK. I know, people would get very wet, or teary or sore..., and if they shot people, I suppose they would get very dead.

I think people are angry at being treated badly, at being expected to pay back money the bankers lost them, and at being spoken down to by Cameron and his poodle Clegg, both looking very angry (or possibly frightened). It’s been a bad time recently for authority, or what passes for it. MPs have been found to be on the fiddle and lords too have had their snouts in the trough. In Yorkshire two senior police Officers are under investigation for fiddling recruitment so that their family would profit, and elsewhere senior police have been found wanting and in court. A police officer killed a passerby at a protest last year and got off with it. And the prince of Wales has defied the tenets of the church he will (perhaps) one day lead by marrying a woman with whom he had an adulterous affair whilst married to the Princess of Wales and who herself has a living spouse.

What’s to respect?

Just how much of a beating will people take from people whom they see as corrupt before the kick off properly?

If police shot someone because they poured paint on a car which happened to belong to Charles, what do you think people would do?

I’ve put up a poll... please give your opinions, and of course leave a comment if you wish. I’m interested to know what people think about this.

Opinions from foreigners are equally valid (Danny).... Les avis des étrangers sont également valides (Yves).

Sorry, all the pics are of Theresa May, because I just can’t get over what an old perv she appears to be with her kinky shoes, and there she is doing some dirty dancing with a row of men in police uniforms. Enjoy, I bet she did!

TO FIND A HAPPY STORY TRIS SEARCHES THE WORLD

I looked back over the last few posts and realized that they were singularly depressing. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a reflection of how things are in the UK right now.

But having promised Monty that I would look for something a bit more cheerful, I was searching around through the tabloids. I went through the NOTW, Record and Star (I reckoned the broadsheets would be too serious) but apart from Jordan looking like a ridiculous old string bag in a lacy pink thing more suitable for a girl 1/2 of her age (her real age, not the 31 she seems to have been for the last decade or so), there was nothing.

No, I lie, I had a real laugh at William’s moan in the NOTW that he was “furious at being made to smooze (I presume that means creep) with two faced FIFA officials”, which I thought was hilarious seeing as we are all obliged to “smooze” with him and his family. Oh dear, the thought of that has just caused a wave of nausea.

Apart from that there was X Factor related material. Apparently there has been a SHOCK exit of Cher (whom I thought was a 70 something year old American singer with a face lift that involves her knees being around where her bosoms used to be, but no, once again I’m wrong). Anywho this new Cher (you’d think she could have found another name; it’s very confusing) has been snubbed by someone called Cheryl. So that was interesting wasn’t it? Wasn’t it? ...Oh OK.

I was surprised not to see Brucie on the front page ... I heard Ann Widdecombe got ditched from his show...so sad. But Peter André managed appear with yet another girl friend to make Jordan jealous, or is it the cage fighter that dresses up with women’s clothes... Another confusion. It’s really much more intellect sapping than The Spectator.

I did eventually find a happy story, however, in the Gibraltar Chronicle. It concerns a young lad called Carl Figueras who has had to have a liver transplant. He was apparently surprised last Wednesday when a ‘wish of a lifetime’ came true and he got to go to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid to see Real Madrid play against Valencia.

Young Carl got to meet players from both teams including Ronaldo from Real Madrid (see pic) and his favourite player Casillas (goalkeeper). That’s odd; goalkeepers aren’t usually “favourites”... Oh well, another puzzle for me to worry about.

The visit was sponsored by Gibraltar charity, Wobbles. I love it when a kid, who should never have to go through anything like a liver transplant, has something really wonderful happen to them. Wobbles sound like a great charity.

I hope Carl continues to make a recovery and can soon go back to Madrid to see his team... hey, maybe even have a kick around with Ronaldo, and see if he can get one past Casillas...?

Right I think that that is a good news story. It’s a pity I had to go to Gibraltar to find it.

Pics: (1) Jordan. With smoothed out the wrinkles and a pink string bag. Looks dead natural too, don't it just? Apparently, at least according to the NOTW, that is sexy. Oh well, "à chacun son goût" as they say in Monaco. (2) Two normal young lads out or a stroll together. (3) Gibraltar: Funny wee place. I flew over on a day trip from Morocco once. Tiny, lots of apes and really funny money. (4) The happy lad Carl with enjoying his day. I hope you Google your name Carl and find this. Get well soon matey!

IS THE ESTABLISHMENT AND CLARENCE HOUSE OUT OF TOUCH?

Bruce Anderson, The Daily Telegraph, the paper of the establishment:

“....... Most of the students still do not understand the damage that Thursday’s riot did to their reputation and the extent to which they have alienated every decent person in this country....... The public is beginning to draw the obvious conclusion: if the police cannot even protect the Duchess of Cornwall, why should we believe that they will catch a burglar?....”

Of course being Scottish and having no need of any more qualifications may affect my views, but should this make my views so different from Anderson’s “decent people”? Will the Telegraph’s establishment move forward on this, based on what they fondly imagine “decent people” feel.

The riot was unfortunate, no doubt about that. There are people in hospital, one having had brain surgery. There are broken windows in the Supreme Court and some other government departments, and there is graffiti on some statues. Someone tore down the union flag.

Apart from the first one, none of these things really matter. I suspect that there are people working in Whitehall who will be relieved to know that their bombproof windows have been tested and found wanting, and hoping that the authorities will replace them with something that works. As for damaged statues and flags? Insulting to people’s memories, yes, maybe, but in the end they are stones and cloth. “Clarke’s Criminals” or “Smith’s Slackers” can repair the damage.

So am I out of line with “decent” people; am I an “indecent” person; or just a Scot? Or is Anderson’s, establishment coming at this from the wrong angle?

If they cannot protect Mrs Parker-Bowles how can they protect the masses from burglary?

Simples.

Clarence House sent the prince and his ‘wife’ out in a large-windowed Bentley or Rolls, her replete with jewels and clothes worth a fortune; him looking like a tailor’s dummy, and straight into the riots? I suppose they knew that there were such things as riots, and students, parents, lecturers, ordinary people? Yes?

Did it not occur to them that to rub this outrageous display of publicly funded wealth in the faces of people who were facing a struggle for the rest of their lives with the fees repayment, was a tad on the insensitive side? Do they not care, or are they just too stupid to understand? Or was there something more sinister?

Recent polls have shown an overwhelming majority of people don’t want Charles as king, or Mrs PB as queen. If Anderson and his like think that the days of “decent” people being repulsed by people standing up for their rights against a shower of lying, self serving MPs and an imperious, self important, relic of a prince, they are bang out of line.

It would be incredibly stupid of them to plan for future events, of which I’m sure there will be many, based on these suppositions. ‘Off with their heads’ was probably not really what the students, parents, lecturers and other people on Thursday’s protests had in mind. But it could easily come.

And Cameron-Clegg may wish to reflect that what happened to Charles the other day might spread to people who will promise anything to the public to gain power.... and once they have it discard their promises and pledges like Tesco carrier bags.

* I abridged Mr Anderson’s comments. He does question Stephenson’s management of the riots. Click on the quote or here for his piece.


Pics: Mr Anderson, who writes for David Cameron, wrote for Mrs Thatcher and who, according to Wikipedia, approves of torture, even of children in supposed ‘ticking bomb’ situations. (Wonder if he would do it himself, or who exactly he’d find who would.) together with scenes from the London protests

OUT OF THE WAY PEASANTS: HIGHNESSES COMING THROUGH

My jaw hit the floor this morning listening to the Today programme. Sarah Montague was interviewing Paul Stephenson the commissioner of the London’s Metropolitan Police, and Boris Johnson, mayor of London.

Boris has always seemed like a bit of a clown to me, a strange choice to have as the mayor of the capital of England, but a relatively harmless old thing. However this morning he came over as barking mad. His biggest concern, it seemed, about last night’s disturbances was the shock caused to Mrs Parker-Bowles. I’m not entirely sure where Boris is coming from on this. Many of the people who voted for him are those whose kids will be worst hit by the £9,000 fees. Yet in his outrage at the shock caused to Mrs Parker-Bowles he forgot all about them. We were lucky, he told Sarah; the authorities allow people to do this kind of thing in this democracy; there could be water cannon, but no. And still, for all that freedom he gives them, people have the audacity to frighten the life out of Mrs Parker-Bowles!

Is Mrs Parker-Bowles one of Boris’s paramours, I began to wonder as he ranted on about her.

And the “incredibly lucky to still have his job” Stephenson was no better. It was outrageous, he spluttered, that “the highnesses” (yes he actually said “THE highnesses”) had been so disturbed by what, presumably, he would call “the lownesses”.

He seemed not to respond to Sarah’s point that most half way sane people wouldn’t have driven through that part of London on a night when they knew that there were riots, inconvenient though that might be. He eventually replied that the situation changed very rapidly and they were caught unawares. Imagine being caught unawares with “highnesses” in the car ....Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

He would have no truck with the fact that it was idiotic for two people dressed up in theatrical costumes, paid for by us, costing many times the entire wardrobe of any of these students and all of their friends, in a car also provided by us, that probably none of them would ever aspire to owning, in a convoy of protection agents, again provided at our expense, drove straight into the middle of the riots.

Sarah asked him if it would not have been sensible for them at least to have been in a less conspicuous car, but no. He was having none of it. The “thugs” (yes he called them that), were at fault.

But I keep the best for last. He said that the protection officers had done a wonderful job and that they had acted with restraint. They were armed. He left it hanging in the air...

Clearly somewhat flabbergasted Sarah asked if he thought it would be reasonable in the situation for protection officers to shoot people, and he simply repeated that his officers had acted with restraint, that their job was to get what he called their “principles” to their destination safely by whatever means.

Sarah gave him several chances to disclaim the obvious inference to be drawn from that... that it would have been in order for them, if they thought there was a possibility of the “principles”, or “highnesses” (whichever, I was getting confused about who they were by now) not getting to the theatre on time, to simply mow down the “lownesses”.

Boris, was asked his opinion and declined to disagree with the commissioner. I fear he may have forgotten in dismissing the "thugs" with such disdain, that when he was their age his hobby was getting drunk and smashing up restaurants in company with the prime minster and the finance secretary.

I have to say that it must have been a frightening experience for these "highnesses", and I can feel sorry for them, but there are other issues here, and the idea that crowds could be shot at because "highnesses" are being threatened is simply ridiculous. They should not have been out in that situation. It's not like they were going to some important function on which the future of the state relied. THEY WERE GOING TO THE THEATRE.

Anyway, there you have it. Middle Class students and parents be warned.These “principles/highnesses” people must get to the theatre on time regardless of how many of you are sacrificed in the process.

You really would think that the theatre would just hold the curtain, wouldn’t you.

Post script: I read that no less an august and respected personage than the prime minister, Boris's wrecking mate, Camerclegg, has said that the mob which attacked the "royal" car must be punished with the full force of the law. What a prat.

1. Pics: (1) Sarah Montague in the 'Today' studio with John Humphries; (2) A highness looking a bit high, but then if I had to live with that idiot, even in a 200 room council house I'd get drunk too; (3) “I’m bored with all this election stuff; just appoint me Mayor for Life. quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur. I was at Eton and Oxford you know.”; (4) Paul Stephenson in yet another one of the Met’s disasters; (5) “Do you think that this £9,000 dress was provocative to these lownesses?”

PROTESTS AT PARLIAMENT: WELL NO ONE IS LISTENING, WHAT DID THEY EXPECT?

I watched this video of the demonstrators outside the English parliament building tonight with mixed feelings.

I deplore (I really mean that) violence of any kind and I’ve spent my life trying to avoid it and discourage other people from it, but I guess sometimes you have to ask yourself, what else is there to do?

We live in a democracy, people say, so what you do is you wait till the next elections and you vote for the other lot. (Of course the other lot is just as useless and have almost identical policies so that’s a bit of a non starter.)

But what if you have a situation where one of the parties voted into government said that they would not do ‘something’. In fact they said that to do even half of that ‘something’ would be a disaster, never mind the whole thing. They even went so far as to sign a pledges not to do this “something”. They achieved a deal of publicity about swearing and promising that they would not do this ‘something’.

Then, lo and behold, and quite unexpectedly, they found themselves in government, with flashy cars, and massive offices; with staff bowing and scraping; with people calling them “Minister”, or “Secretary”, or, in one case, “Deputy Prime Minister” and every principle they ever had went flying out of the big posh office windows.

And what of this pledge that they had trotted around every university town in England? What of the photographs in the local press the length and breadth of the country? Well, at the first sniff of the Ministers’ Dining Room Wine List, they scrunched it up and dropped it into the ministerial waste paper bin to be emptied by the ministerial lackey.

So... what’s the option? Wait till the next election? Vote for the person who signs a pledge to repeal the law? Take the word of the prospective MP?

Huh?

What happens if he too drops his pledge into the ministerial waste paper bin as soon as he is comfortably ensconced in his ministerial armchair?

Peaceful protest is fine, indeed it’s right, except that this far from an election no one pays any attention to it.

The only time that the people in England have managed a change in the government’s policy was when they turned London upside down over Thatcher’s Poll Tax. The government listened then, just like the French government does.

Do you see where we are going with this? It’s not a pleasant picture, is it? But what is the alternative?

Tonight there will be arrests, but the real criminals will ride out of the building with their fat, self satisfied, lying bottoms on the rich upholstery of a ministerial car paid for by us, safe in the knowledge that they had their university education for free. Paid for by us!

Fair? Thought not.


Pics: (1) Qu'ils mangent de la brioche. Ex-Saint Vince laughing it off, after all he got his car and his office...and his doctorate; (2) Fires near the Westminster parliament. It will soon be the only way many of us can keep warm; (3) His magnificence Charlie and Mrs Parker Whatist’s car was hit by missiles and daubed with pain as they tried to get to the theatre. I can just hear his “ghastly people”. Don’t worry Chic, the feeling is mutual. Nice car by the way. Who paid for it? (4) Nick the Dick doing an advertisement for furniture polish. It’s clearly the only kind of pledge he knows.

FMQs totally devoted to snow today, can be viewed here.

WIKILEAKS: THE POLL...AND THE FUTURE

I’d like to thank everyone who took part in the poll (which I didn’t really announce, but just stuck there) on whether WikiLeaks were a good or bad thing.

A majority said that they thought a good thing (78% is pretty conclusive). One person could care less... representing 5% of the votes and 3 voted “bad” representing 15%.

I should have introduced the subject in an article, but the idea came to me when there was something else to post... so sorry about that. It may explain the very small number of voters.

I voted good, and I have been fulsome in my praise of Julian Assange. I was disappointed on the day that he gave away details of places, plants, installations, etc, which were vital to security and economy of America. That was wrong in my opinion. However, overall I’ve not changed my mind.

I believe that the extradition application is trumped up. They have chosen a “crime” that most people will find distasteful. The US government has cobbled together something too and may also ask for Assange. In theory as Sweden got in first they should have precedence, but as we all know American presidents or secretaries of states only have to make one phone call to overturn British policy on any subject. That reminds me of the minds of Alan Johnston or Vince Cable.

The magistrate who refused his bail despite Assange having gone to the police voluntarily, despite his surety being £100,000, backed by well known people, and despite the prisons being full, says that he fears the man would flee the country. But that’s highly unlikely given that he would be obliged to surrender his passport, and surely the border guards must be aware of Mr Assnage’s face by now.

I suspect that he may be looking for a seat in the House of £300+ a day.

But despite Mr Assange’s custody, the leaks continue. Despite efforts to close the websites and starve the organization of cash, Wikileaks are now mirrored by hundreds of sites all over the world... plus an email, or a letter, to the newspapers covering the story would suffice to continue the leaks. They must all exist in paper form by now....somewhere.

The “Authorities” in the UK and around Europe, not to mention the USA, would do well to tread carefully. They seem to have no idea just how angry people are.

We have been lied to; our troops have been sent on pointless missions where they have died, relatively frequently in “friendly fire” incidents; despite our best efforts we appear to have been thought useless by America and Afghanistan alike.

Our banks have been bailed out with our money, which they are now refusing to use for our good; a few stupid people have ruined people’s lives and made others very much harder; our politicians have been stealing from us, and continue to do so; our government in London has been crawling up America’s backside and doing us down in the process. And now to cap it all we are suffering the worst winter weather in decades, just as fuel companies are lying to us about why they are putting up fuel prices by more than twice the rate of inflation.

No one believes a word any politician says now, and yet the London lot address each other as Honourable, Rt Honourable and bloody Noble when many of them are quite simply the dregs of humanity.

Something has changed, and I don't think it will change back.

Pics: (1) Julian Assange in a nicer place than he is tonight; (2) Wikileaks, our opportunity to see just how much lying they've been doing; (3) One seriously angry group of people done over by their governments and their banks in Eire. It's possibly their standards of living will have to fall as far as parity with the UK's! No wonder they are angry.

WIKILEAKS COMES TO SCOTLAND

I listened to Alex Salmond on the Today Programme this morning. He occupied the peak listening slot at 8.10 am normally given to very senior English politicians.

The main thrust of the interview was the Al Megrahi compassionate release question and its re-emergence into the public’s eye today grace à Wikileaks.

In fact the leaks tell us virtually nothing new. They confirm that the British (English) government was told that if Mr Al Megrahi died in a Scottish prison the Libyans would punish Britain economically. An American diplomat used the expression “cut off at the knees”. Apart from that phrase, we knew all that anyway.

We knew that Blair made a deal with Kaddafi on prisoner transfer (which, in fact, was probably out with his remit to do); we knew that the British Foreign Secretary wrote to the Scottish Government saying that it would not be in British interests if the prisoner died in a Scottish jail; we knew that the Libyan Foreign Ministry contacted the Scottish government and offered “treats and blandishments”, which were turned down.

We also knew, because it was laid out to us in the simplest terms, the steps which Scots Law demanded be taken in the case of a person considered to be dying in prison. We know that these steps were followed to the letter. We know too that there was some politicking by Labour and the Tories, but that no senior legal figure has come forward to dispute that what was done was correct.

Alex Salmond performed faultlessly. In a calm and measured tone, with none of hysterical arguments or the trotting out of the latest political buzz phrase so habitual at 8.10, he explained that Wikileaks had told us little that was new. He agreed that he had spoken with the Edinburgh Consul General of the United States Government. He agreed that the just of what he had said was transmitted on to Washington, although not in the exact language that he had used.

Reflecting on the circumstances I can see no reason, other than the one that Alex offered, for releasing Al Megrahi. The government knew that it was dealing with a situation with ramifications well beyond Scottish shores, and most importantly in America. It will not have been lost upon them how much America could hurt Scotland economically. When France refused to join its illegal war in Iraq, it was rewarded by a ‘hate France’ campaign which not only involved changing the name of French Fries, but was economically damaging to France particularly in wine exports and tourism! Scotland’s tourism industry is hugely dependent on American visitors. Its whisky exports to America are not insubstantial. The release risked damaging these businesses.

What measures Libya could take against Scotland along these lines is not clear. The threats made were against the British government and presumably had to do with arms sales and oil exploration. Given that the British government had treated the new Scottish government with distaste and disdain, and that relations between Alex and Brown were abysmal, it seems unlikely that the Scottish government would have risked Scottish tourism to save British armaments.

In all his dealings with the United States, with the UK government, with John Humphries this morning, and with our own parliament and people, Alex Salmond has shown that the process was both thought out and carried out in accordance with the principles of Scots Law.

Great post here.

DOES SCOTLAND EXIST, OR IS IT ALL A DREAM?

The Daily Telegraph at its English-centric best!

BRITISH schoolchildren, it says, have slipped down the OECD tables, coming 28th for Maths along with a many other impossibly bad figures.

It goes on to blame Labour for the fall in standards since 2000 and to complain about how much GCSEs have been dumbed down.

Strangely there is neither mention of the blame being on the SNP government nor any mention of standard grades.

What on earth are they talking about?

Ahhh, “chink”, a light has just gone on....

I wonder if the Daily Telegraph in its infinite wisdom has any idea that there is a country to the north of England, called Scotland (you know, the place they sell the so-called “Scottish Edition” of the paper). I wonder if they understand that that country (to its continued determent) is a part of Britain. And that that country hasn’t had a Labour government in charge of its education since 2007. And that that country does not set GCSEs nor has it ever done so.

As an afterthought. I was driving home listening to the BBC (big mistake, I know) and they tell me that the Justice Minister has announced a whole raft of new policies. But strangely his name is no longer Swinney (late correction, see below...MacAskill); they've given the job to someone called Clarke. Odd that!

Pics (1) OECD: The world’s most developed countries... or so THEY say. Some might think otherwise. (2) What Tory Cabinet minister does a pair of scruffy brown (Hush Puppies?) represent? (3) Kenny MacAskill getting a few minutes shuteye. (Eck works them hard)

TELL YOU WHAT TOM, WE'LL ASK THE TORIES NICELY TO SORT IT OUT FAIRLY

Tom Harris makes me laugh.

He was on the Today Programme this morning waxing lyrical about how diabolical it was that protesters shut down the “flagship” Topshop store in the London’s Oxford Street because he has a little tax wrinkle which, rather conveniently, involves him not paying any...

Our Tom was puffing and blowing with indignation. It was unjust to target Mr Green who provides jobs for thousands of people and clothes for millions more in his (Tom’s) beloved United Kingdom. If we were to blame anyone for Phil’s tax avoidance it should be the government, and he happily conceded that that mean the Labour government too! (Well he would, I suppose. I’ve wondered why Tom doesn’t cross the floor and join the Tories, and the only answer I can come up with is that they are too left wing for him.) Tom, the government won't begin to listen and you know it. So people either take this action or do what MPs would love them to do, and go back and watch Coronation Street and Brucie and his dancing Widdecombe. Or maybe you think we should picket MPs' houses as we can't protest outside your parliament?

UK Uncut the pressure group organizing the protest that shut Topshop, says that Green, who is a government advisor with the task of helping the government make economies in public services, allegedly avoids tax by having his companies which include Burton, BHS and Dorothy Perkins, registered in Mrs Green’s name. She is Monegasque and pays no tax here (or in Monaco, where the Casinos provide the money to keep the microstate going).

Activists from UK Uncut also picketed other shops from the Green Empire and warned of a list of hundreds of other companies which can expect the same treatment.

Figures vary, but at a conservative estimate tax avoidance and evasion cost the Treasury between £70 and £100 billion a year. If everyone paid their taxes there would be no need for the draconian cuts in public service spending announced by the government. And indeed we might be able to pay our senior citizens a living pension... Huh, fat chance.

The Tories come to power with big plans to wipe out malfeasance at the lower end of the social scale vis a vis benefit cheating and no plans at all for tax cheats. The Liberals have managed to convince them to do a little but at best we shall see up to £7 billion recovered.... A drop in the ocean.

More power to UK Uncut’s elbow. It’s time to stand up for ourselves. I’ll gladly join a protest in Dundee if there are any to be joined.

If anyone has any suggestions as to an appropriate home for Tom Harris’s views, please don’t hesitate to let the rest of us know.

Pics: (1) Tom, who, it seems, doesn’t use Topman himself; (2) Topshop’s no stranger to controversy. This protest in Edinburgh is about the use of “slaves” picking cotton in Uzbekistan for Topshop garments; (3) Saturday’s protest at London’s Oxford Street. Pay your taxes Green, or we’ll shut you down.

IF YOU DON'T PUT YOUR HEAD UNDER Mme GUILLOTINE YOU ARE LESS LIKELY TO GET IT CHOPPED OFF

"Drat! How could I have been so stupid?"

I’m sick of hearing about England’s FIFA carry on and them blaming the BBC for it. Now Ken Livingston has apparently been saying that it would have been better to put off the Panorama programme until after the draw.

Surely that is nonsense. If the BBC had held it back, would it not have been and would not England then have been, complicit in the corruption?

Would it not have said: "We know that you are a corrupt body, but as long as your corruption is working for England we will turn a blind eye".

It's said that England has been humiliated. Actually I don’t think it has. But if it has, it is surely only because it sent a high ranking prince (probably its next King), along with its PR/marketing prime minister and its most iconic footballer to do a job that Sport England, the FA and the English sports minister should have done.

They are apparently furious because Prince William had guaranteed support from 7 people who then voted for Russia. Are all the people involved in the presentation rank amateurs? Did they think that people don’t tell lies? Especially folk that are overawed by, and don’t know how to say no to, royalty.

They should have had some real intelligence out there finding out whether it was worth sending Prince William for the entire event, if at all, along with David Beckham, and Cameron doing shuttle diplomacy. He flew over, did his salesman bit, flew back to do PMQs, because his other half was in Kazakhstan, and then flew back to Zurich. It was like it was the only thing that needed his attention, while the whole of England slithered to a halt, and it also meant that he invested a lot in it.

A yes would certainly have been a coup for him at this difficult time with riots and protests against student fees and non taxpaying government ministers and advisors. He would have been able to associated himself with a general sense of joy in England had he brought back the tournament. As it was he has associated himself heavily with England’s failure. And worse showed himself to be a poor sportsman by refusing to telephone Mr Putin and congratulate him. (Reminiscent of Mr Brown and Mr Salmond 3 ½ years ago.)

Of course Alex Salmond did exactly the same thing when Glasgow was up for the Commonwealth Games. A risky business and he shouldn’t have gone in my opinion, but at least he pulled it off.


Sporting tournaments should be dealt with by sporting organizations. Of course governments need to be behind these bids. They have, after all, to guarantee improved infrastructure and underwrite the event. But if they needed a political figure the English minister for sport should have been sufficient.

One more grouse.

“I felt humiliated. I felt my country humiliated. I felt every British citizen had been humiliated.” wrote Dan McCurry on Labour Uncut.

No they haven’t Dan. I shouldn’t think that even every Englishman has been humiliated. Many won’t care, probably quite a few will be laughing like a drain at Cameron smarting from a defeat that he should never have been associated with, but for his ego.

But for certain, whilst most reasonable Scots aren’t gloating, (we, after all, would never have got it), we aren’t even slightly humiliated.

Other Pics: Wills got all dressed up for the occasion (wee shame). I actually do feel sorry for David Beckham. He’s a good guy doing his best for his country. He deserved better. And this is (hold on I’ll look it up) Hugh Robertson, Junior Minister for Sport in England. Of course, how could I have not recognised him?..... Happy looking fellow, innit? Hmmm.

WHEN SOMEONE CLOSES A DOOR, SOMEWHERE, SOMEONE OPENS A WINDOW...

...And so it is with our bold boys. The Daily Mail has headlined these fine chancers. Technically probably they are doing nothing wrong, although if they were “ordinary people” claiming benefits from the same government that they are claiming their expenses from, they would have the book thrown at them.

Instead.................... during this time of hardship for the country; this time when people all over the UK are losing jobs because people like them, these four members of the Labour and Tory parties, were not holding the last government to account; were not keeping an eye on the property boom which most people’s pet canaries could have told you would burst at some point; au contraire, they were enjoying the property boom themselves with the capital being supplied by none other than daft mugs, you and me..............these people are profiteering from the new regulations.

As they are no longer allowed to claim mortgage repayments what they do is rent out their houses which we paid for, and move into rented accommodation themselves, which... you guessed it.... we pay for. They then collect the rent on the property that we bought for them.

Sometimes I wish we still sent people to the Tower of London to get their greedy heads cut off.

I reproduce these picture stories from The Mail on Sunday, where you can read a more detailed (and possibly a more measured) account of their murky doings. You can't turn your back on them for ten minutes, can you?

YES SIR MISTER PRESIDENT SIR (YOU DO STILL CARE DON'T YOU?.... PLEASE...OH PLEASE.......)

It appears from the cables to Washington of the American ambassador and his deputy, that Britain has been sickeningly creepy in their subservience to America and positively paranoid about the imagined fragility of the imagined special relationship.

As I listened to the commentators on radio this morning, I was reminded of early teenage romance and the insecurity it brings; the constant attention to any sign of a cooling from the tenor of a text message to a smile at a potential rival.

So it has been, particularly since Barack Obama entered the White House, with Number 10 and its paramour.

One cable said the British fawning "would often be humorous if it were not so corrosive". They were tempted to take advantage of it to "make London more willing to respond favourably when pressed for assistance".

Another said that Britain would give "unparalleled" help for America to satisfy its aims.... (like go to war; arrange for dossiers to be “dodgy”; tell lies to parliament?)

The British attitude was described elsewhere as neurotic. On taking up the presidency Mr Obama returned the bust of Churchill that Tony Blair had lent George Bush. It was seen as a snub by the UK, whereas in fact, it was Mr Obama being polite enough to return something that President Bush had forgotten. Britain worried that in a speech listing his allies Mr Obama mentioned France and Germany before Britain causing the FCO the heartache that only a spurned teenager knows.

Brown was largely seen as unstable and presiding over a government that lurched from disaster to disaster. (Tell us something we didn’t know.) Cameron and Osborne were seen as shallow, lacking a grasp on political reality and only interested in short term political gain for their party. Fox promised a very pro-American arms procurement plan and said he would deal with those in the party who were against it (Ha ha ha. As if Fox could deal with squat!) Hague went into raptures over how every British PM soon “learns of the essential nature of the relationship with America. We want a pro-American regime. We need it. The world needs it." He might have continued that the universe needed it and prostrated himself before the Ambassador promising eternal devotion. (You’ll remember that almost before he had sat down at his desk in the FCO he was on a plane to America to do some heavy-duty creeping.

What I find particularly disturbing is a lengthy dispatch from the Deputy Head of mission stating: "The UK's commitment of resources: financial, military, diplomatic, in support of US global priorities remains unparalleled; a UK public confident that the USG values those contributions and our relationship, matters to US national security.

"Britain's willingness to invest in expensive weaponry is a key part of the so-called special relationship. The UK's annual military budget is running at £37billion. "

So now we know why we live in poverty, our roads and railways are third world and care of children and old people amongst the worst in Europe. It appears that if we don’t overspend on military equipment the US will stop going out with us.

This brings to mind the series of leaks and angry statements from one of the two “lightweights” when Fox was trying to keep military spending high despite dramatic cuts elsewhere. One telephone call to the Prime Minister from Mrs Clinton and lo, Osborne was overruled.

People worry about the EU’s influence over the UK. I worry far more about the fact the it only takes one phone call from Washington for our policy to be changed overnight in an embarrassing prime ministerial u-turn.

How does it feel to be the 51st state; the one right after Hawaii?

Pics: (1) Who the hell is that guy over there with the polished face? He come to sell me a car? (2) Listen up Cameron. Increase military spending otherwise you’re NOT on a promise. (3) Ohhhhhh I say matron. (4) Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, do you like my baseball cap? Should I wear it the other way round? D’yall thank it makes me look lak a reeeeeeal cool American dude?

JUST IN CASE YOU FORGOT MPs, THIS IS EARTH

You couldn’t make this up. The poor wee MPs think that they shouldn’t have to be bothered by a complicated and chaotic expenses system where they have to provide receipts for the things they want us to pay for.

And so they demanded, and were granted, a debate on the subject. The Telegraph reports: The packed session lasted five times longer than the most recent debate on the conflict in Afghanistan, with MPs abandoning their usual custom of quitting Westminster early on Thursday afternoons to attend to constituency duties.

(Or whatever else they like to do on Thursdays and Fridays....)

Obviously this was a matter far closer to their hearts than the fate of the troops out in Afghanistan, who strangely seemed to be so much closer to their hearts at election time. Isn’t it odd how one’s sympathies can change so dramatically.

By all accounts it was an extremely heated debate with MPs losing their tempers and laying down the law. They would not, said Tom Harris, be treated like that.

Treated like what Tom? Oh yes, like ordinary people, having to prove every last halfpenny, being sent back after waiting in a queue that seemed to last forever, because one tiny scrap of evidence was wrong... Like a post office maybe, or the tax office, or the passport office, or the benefits office Tom? Is that what you people will NOT be treated like?

You were all running around 6-8 months ago pretending to be whiter than white. Oh yes, we need new system, new rules, tighten up, oh yes voters we are definitely going to do that. But then the votes were counted and ...well, there you are. Your expenses are 5 times more important than the war you sent people to fight in.

Ann Clwyd the little soldier, was angry than MPs reputations had been smeared by the expense scandal. Surely not! Isn’t that awful?

She complained that someone had come up to her while she was campaigning (this is the time that MPs actually meet the public) and shouted “thief”. She said, in a very un-feminist way, that if she had been a man she would have run after him and punched him on the nose.

A Tory, Roger Gale complained that there was mistrust in IPSA... Hello! What planet are these people on?

Let’s see. More than half of them fiddled their expenses. There had to be a grass roots change including sacking the Speaker!!! Mistrust Roger, you nob? I wouldn't trust any of you with a pound coin.

The new people authority was appointed because MPs and Lords were stealing... what did they expect from the new staff? Blank cheques.

Here’s the deal MPs: We pay the IPSA to check up that you people aren’t stealing any more, and god knows some already are, with their first class train fares, and renting out the houses that we bought for them, and living in the cheaper rented accommodation sorted by parliament.

Labour MP Clive Efford said: “I have spoken to MPs who have been in tears about the financial situation that they have been put in by Ipsa, who are not here speaking today."

Well why are they not there, or did you just make that up? But if they were in tears matey...welcome to our world. Nothing works and nobody cares. That’s the world you created for us. Have some.

I don’t think these people have the foggiest idea just how angry the public is with them. There is a new air of defiance about us though. Maybe one day soon they will find out just how angry we are.

Pics: (1) The House of Commons; (2) Tom Harris’s plea to members of his own party to elect him to the shadow cabinet. They didn’t. He has categorically denied that he has stopped writing his extremely successful blog because he was told to by Ed, whom he doesn’t like and didn't vote for, but from whom he wants a job. (3) Ann Clwyd, training to be a poodle if only she weren’t just a weak and feeble woman! (4) Roger Gale, bless him, so out of touch after 27 years as an MP that he thinks any of us give a toss what he thinks about mistrust in the IPSA. Time he got another job and saw what life is actually like. Tescos are looking for people.