After sending an email to Judy Mallaber asking her to denounce the actions of the likes of the UAF I was directed to a site called Democracy Club.
I their own words:
Democracy Club is a non-party-political group of volunteers. At the next election, we want to hold candidates to account, and stimulate public engagement.
Firstly the YourNextMP section allows you to access a database of candidates standing at the next election. It states they are ‘asking volunteers to help track down all these candidates, and find out their contact details. We also want to find and link to factual and opinion pieces about them on the web'.
Hmmm, not sure about that one, especially as Mallaber is a big fan of the UAF, Hope Not Hate etc.
Secondly, the TheyWorkForYou site, lets you check what your MP has been voting on in Parliament and of course their expenses.
The final section, The Straight Choice, is for uploading leaflets you receive from political parties.
You can register and give your opinions on what you think needs attention in your area. Why not take a look.
By the way, I still haven’t received a response from Judas, sorry, I mean Jude. I’d better resend the email.
Isn't it funny how reporters drag up anything negative about the British National Party in the run-up to an election? I was going to write about the rodent above but the Green Arrow has done such a good job I have mirrored his article...
Matthew Moore describes himself in the prelude to his articles in The Daily Telegraph as being a journalist with a particular interest in the creativity, community and humour of the internet. You and I would describe him as a vicious little rodent seeking to take a pop at the British National Party. If you want a mental picture of the creature, think dirty little "flasher" in a garbadine mac.
What the rodent Moore is doing, is to try and track down the models used in British National Party leaflets around the country and see if they do actually endorse the views of the BNP and writes "we would liked to speak to the people involved". By "we" he means he would, no one else really gives a rats arse who the models are. The reason for the BNP's use of models as already been explained numerous times.
Were the British National Party to display images of actual members, they are only too aware that those people would be hounded by The Establishment Press. Moore as already started baying for the hunt for the models to begin. Point made I think.
There is of course the fact that real BNP members would be in danger of losing jobs, having their homes vandalised and possibly being attacked by the vicious thugs of the SWP/UAF. Is that what Moore really wants? I suspect it is.
If Moore wants to track down people, why does he not write an article asking for people to trace the vandals of the British National Party billboard above that was vandalised a few days ago in Aberdeen. Now in some countries defacing political billboards is a serious crime. It should be. Because when you remove the telephone number then you are removing the right for people who would see that billboard to discover the truth for themselves.
No Moore, you are just a cheap turd looking for a cheap story to whip up some trouble and I see that from the comments to your Bounty article that the readers have seen through your cheap little game.
Simon Darby interviewed on the North East Politics Show
Ignorance: The 'political interviewer' doesn't even have basic knowledge of different electoral systems used in this country. He denies churches are turned into mosques but as you will see in the video the evidence is there for all to see
Agression: The 'political interviewer' doesn't allow Simon Darby to answer the questions. It was the usual case of bully-boy tactics; bombard with questions but don't allow the answer in full.
The British National Party's first ethnic member, Rajinder Singh, has been appointed special advisor on Islamic extremism to Nick Griffin and has been tasked with preparing an initial report on the extent to which British society has already been Islamified.
"Mr Singh has personal experience of the consequences of the Islamification of his home country and is thus in a perfect situation to point out all the tell-tale warning signs," Mr Griffin said.
"His first assignment is to prepare a comprehensive overview of the Islamic presence in Britain and the extent to which that community has been radicalised.
"Topics which will be covered include identifying the 'tipping point' at which Muslim numbers become an overwhelming influence; how the Labour and Tory-supported wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have played into the hands of the Islamic fundamentalists; and the use of 'Islamic centres' as a means for creating de facto mosques," Mr Griffin said.
Mr Singh said he was "very pleased" to be taking on this role so soon after having joined the BNP. "I have said all along that the single greatest danger threatening the existence of Britain is the creeping Islamification process.
"If left unchecked, radical Islam will spell the death knell for all other religions and cultures," Mr Singh said. "I love the Britain in which I first settled, and do not want it to face the same fate as my homeland. I saw with my own eyes the destruction that radical Islamism wrought, and if I can help prevent that happening here, I will have contributed to saving this nation," he said.
Two female suicide bombers killed at least 37 people and injured 65 on packed Moscow metro trains today.
President Dmitry Medvedev declared Russia would act 'without compromise' to root out terrorists as he ordered airports to be put on alert and security to be stepped up throughout the country.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the worst attack on the Russian capital for six years, but suspicion will fall on Muslim militants from the North Caucasus, where the Kremlin is fighting a growing Islamist insurgency spreading from Chechnya to neighbouring Dagestan and Ingushetia.
Witnesses spoke of panic at the two underground stations, with people falling over each other in dense smoke and dust as they tried to escape.
The first blast tore through the second carriage of a metro train just before 8am as it stood at the Lubyanka station, close to the headquarters of Russia's main domestic security service FSB. It killed at least 23 people.
About 40 minutes later, another blast in the second carriage of a train waiting at the Park Kultury metro station, opposite Gorky Park, killed 12 to 14 more people.
Russian leaders had declared victory in their battle with Chechen separtists who fought two wars with Moscow. But while violence subsided in Chechnya, it has spread and intensified in neighbouring Dagestan and Ingushetia, where clan rivalries overlap with criminal gangs and Islamist militants.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov told reporters that female suicide bombers had carried out the attacks.
Prosecutors said they had opened a 'terrorism investigation' after forensic experts found the remains of a female bomber.
Vladimir Putin cemented his power in 1999 in launching an ultimately successful war to overthrow a separatist government lodged in the Chechen capital Grozny.
Russian leaders fear the loss of this region endangering energy transit routes could destabilise other areas in a country spanning 11 time zones.
'I was in the middle of the train when somewhere in the first or second carriage there was a loud blast. I felt the vibrations reverberate through my body,' an unidentified man who was on the train at Park Kultury told RIA news agency in a video interview.
The Council for Equality & Human Rights Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (CEHRNN) has had funding cut after joining 'anti'-fascist protesters opposing the EDL in Nottingham on December 5th last year.
It looks like it was the last nail in the coffin for them. Here's the full story courtesy of the Nottingham Evening Post...
It states:
"Some council officers felt the CEHRNN's involvement with the recent English Defence League assembly had risked doing more to increase tensions than to reduce them.
"It was noted that the CEHRNN had been attempting to balance its role between defending freedom of speech for the Muslim community, recognising the EDL's right to freedom of speech and encouraging the Police to guard against incitement of religious hatred.
"Nonetheless, the general feeling shared by Nottingham City Council and the Police was that the Council for Equality and Human Rights Nottingham and Nottinghamshire's presence and strategy on December 5 was unhelpful and was contrary to that agreed by the local authority and its partners."
The cost of policing demonstrations organised by the EDL and anti-fascist groups in Nottingham was put at more than £200,000.
Notts Police have refused to clarify why the presence of the CEHRNN was unhelpful and an explanation has not been provided by the city council, despite requests by the Evening Post and the CEHRNN.
Staff at the CEHRNN refute the allegations and claim they are being undermined.
Workers who were at the EDL rally say they simply stayed close to a group of young Muslims who had become involved in a fracas on the day and guided them away from potential trouble.
Nottingham South MP, Alan Simpson, who was involved in speaking with numerous organisations ahead of the EDL rally and on the day, said: "If anyone was scuppering any plan on the day I would have been informed. "This retrospective criticism does not have any credibility."
Other criticisms in the report include:
Inappropriate representation on the CEHRNN board.
Lack of cover for staff in key positions, staff absence and difficulties.
The CEHRNN continues to focus on mainly race inequality instead of looking at all forms of inequality equally
Not setting out new name and remit quickly enough.
Not enough work with groups other than black and ethnic minority groups
Offices sometimes not open or staff not contactable.
Gordon Griffith, chairman of the CEHRNN's board, said:
"The concerns raised in the equality impact assessment have all been and are being addressed.
"For example we have representation on our board with members of Nottingham's gay community and our chief executive is also sitting on boards representing the interests of disabled people.
We are an organisation which has been in existence for 54 years and embedding change can take time but we have been responding to all the points raised. There have also been some staffing issues and again these are being addressed. The city council have also accused us of breaking protocol in relation to the EDL rally but we have not been informed of any protocol.
The whole report seems to be riddled with these strange accusations. There is no other organisation which is dealing with inequality in the city and this decision by the city council undermines the 54 years of hard work by the former Race Equality Council, now CEHRNN."
The decision to pull the funding was published on Friday following a behind closed doors meeting involving Coun Hassan Ahmed, responsible for equalities, and deputy council leader Coun Graham Chapman.
Nottingham City Council's corporate director for community and culture, Michael Williams, said: "The city council appreciated the work the CEHRNN had done to promote racial equality and diversity in the city.
"Unfortunately, despite considerable support from the city council, it has not been able to fulfil its wider role. In particular it has not been able to monitor and respond effectively to all hate incidents including racial harassment, homophobia, disability-related crime and other hate crime for which it now receives its funding."
"The city council's single equality scheme, Fair and Just Nottingham, makes tackling hate incidents a top priority but the CEHRNN has not been able to complete the areas of work the city council and its partner agencies need to focus on to meet this priority, despite support from the council.
"We have done everything we can to work with the CEHRNN and help it tackle the new requirements.
"The city council will continue to fund these services in alternative ways which will pick up the wider issues in all communities including schools, older people and disabled and vulnerable people."
I was watching East Midlands news earlier and they were saying that 16 Staffordshire Bull Terriers have been admitted to a rescue centre in Leicester this week alone.
They say it is because of the story of a man who adopted a dog and it bit him. Well actually, it nearly ripped his face off and he spent four days in hospital.
As a dog lover myself I cannot comprehend any of my dogs biting anyone, but having said they they aren't used to being with children so who is to know what could happen if they were left alone with one.
All I want to say to those out there that want to see dogs like Staffordshire Bull terriers banned is this...
IT IS THE DEED AND NOT THE BREED.
In an article I wrote a while ago, I reported on the top 10 most dangerous dogs in Britain. You would be surprised to know that the Dachsund (sausage dog) comes out on top.
Yes, the Daschund!
I'd like you to take a look at texasgirly1979's channel. You will see from her videos just what can be done with 'dangerous dogs' such as the Pitbull; Sharky is adorable.
Congratulations to former police officer Mr Michael Green who is standing as Parliamentary candidate for Neath, South Wales against Labour’s Peter Hain.
Regulars to my blog will remember my report on Peter Hain; the man who was acquitted of bank robbery despite being positively identified by five eyewitnesses including the bank teller who was robbed; the man who conveniently ‘forgot’ to mention £103,000 in campaign donations; the man who founded the anti-Nazi league, known today as the violent UAF.
Michael Green states:
“In my years of experience as a police officer I have developed a finely tuned nose for smelling out crooks by a mile. Whenever I go within 50 miles of Westminster, I can tell you, it smells like a barnyard.”
Well Mr Green, now is your chance to get rid of one of the Westminster crooks.
Thanks to the disgraceful behaviour of UKIP at the European Parliament, European taxpayers will have to give their hard earned cash to Third World countries for ‘climate change’.
UKIP MEP’s left the chamber before the final vote giving the go ahead by only five votes.
To understand what is going to happen to America's health care delivery system, we must first understand what has happened to Detroit.
Detroit is dying. Yes, I know that there are lots of books on "The Death of. . . ." That word sells books. But Detroit really is dying. It is the first metropolis in the United States to be facing extinction. We have never seen anything like this in American history. It is happening under our noses, but the media refuse to discuss it. To do so would be politically incorrect.
Two factors tell us that Detroit is dying. The first is the departure of 900,000 people -- over half the city's population -- since 1950. It peaked at 1.8 million in 1950. It is down to about 900,000 today.
In 1994, the median sales price of a house in Detroit was about $41,000. The housing bubble pushed it up to about $98,000 in 2003. In March 2009, the price was $13,600.
Today, the price is $7,000. Check the price chart.
There has never been a collapse of residential real estate values of this magnitude in peacetime history, anywhere. Detroit is dying.
We are unfamiliar with anything like this. The media are silent. The Powers That Be are not interested in reporting on this, because readers might ask the obvious question: "How did this happen?" Obvious questions tend to lead to obvious answers.
Detroit has been killed by flight out of the city. The 2008 Clint Eastwood movie, "Gran Torino" dealt with this problem. Eastwood plays an 80-something Korean War veteran who will not leave the neighborhood. His children keep bugging him to sell and move into a retirement home. He will not hear of it. He is alienated from them and from his immigrant neighbors: among refugees from South Vietnam. They have trouble with the Blacks. Every group is essentially trapped in a neighborhood, with the gangs running the show.
There is no surge of buyers to take advantage of fabulously low prices in Detroit. Can you imagine buying a home for cash for $13,600 in 2009 -- a house that had sold for $98,000 six years earlier -- and losing half your money?
It's incredible.
The "Wall Street Journal" recently ran one of the most creative stories I have seen in years. The journalist told the story of the history of a 5-bedroom home in Detroit, from the land purchase to its recent sale. It was built by one of the most influential men you have never heard of, Clarence Avery. Avery was on the Ford Motor Company team that conceived of implementing an assembly line for Ford's factory. He copied the idea from a hog-slaughtering operation.
His home was a very nice home for the time. The journalist located his daughter, now age 91. She said that she always thought the home was the best home she ever lived in.
As recently as 2005, the home sold for $250,000. It was purchased by a woman who was lent $200,000 to buy it. It was financed by a subprime loan. The asking price was $189,000. Where the other $61,000 went, the woman has no idea. She defaulted.
The deteriorating house was bought by a Christian organization that is renovating it. The house sold for $10,000.
This is simply inconceivable to anyone who is unfamiliar with Detroit since 2005. Nothing like this has ever happened. How can we conceive of a lender lending $200,000 to a woman to buy a $250,000 home offered at $189,000? How can we conceive of a fall in price from $250,000 to $10,000?
This is the sign of a dying city. This does not happen in a normal environment. Even with the mania created by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in conjunction with Alan Greenspan's Federal Reserve, nothing like this has happened anywhere else.
If you had predicted anything like this in 2005, you would have been dismissed as a crackpot on crack. You would not have been taken seriously by anyone. Yet it has happened.
The city planners, the Federal government's subsidy defenders, and the welfare state aficionados are all discreetly silent about Detroit.
The city funds its schools with property taxes. Property taxes have collapsed as sources of revenue. An honest property tax system will generate less than ten cents on the 2003 dollar.
Last week, the school board announced the closing of one-quarter of Detroit's schools. The city is out of money. The central agency of propaganda by the government is in the process of closing up shop. This is not "anti-business as usual." This is collapse.
The American public does not perceive what is happening in Detroit.
When a city simply shuts down from the effects of government mismanagement, the media say nothing. Detroit has become the poster child of government regulation, welfare
systems, and a population that has given up hope.
The media say nothing because they are caught in a dilemma. If they say that the local government's welfare programs are not really to blame, what does that leave? The unmentionable issue: 82% of the city is Black. So, that means blaming white employers, who discriminate, despite 40 years of Federal anti-discrimination laws. But the main non-employers today are the region's auto companies, and two of the three are partially owned by the U.S. government. One -- GM -- is mainly owned by the retirement fund of the United Auto Workers. So, the media are not about to blame the auto companies -- not now.
That leaves that other politically incorrect issue: the rate of illegitimacy, which is in the 80% range. That social phenomenon represents a moral collapse, but the participants
were all educated by the tax-funded schools.
Who ya gonna blame?
The media pundits cannot decide, so they simply ignore the collapse. "Detroit? Never heard of it."
The lesson of Detroit is this: the experts do not see a collapse coming. They assume that next year will be like today, give or take 3%. They do not believe that anything as complex as a city can collapse. So, they believe that things will continue, as they always have. Taxes need not be cut. Spending need not be cut. Schools should be allowed to educate. Tax-funded welfare programs should be increased. When it comes to tax revenues, "there's always more where that came from."
And then, overnight, the system collapses. The assumptions were wrong. Real estate prices collapse, indicating an irreversible flight of capital from the city. The ability of the government to collect taxes collapses.
OBAMACARE
This brings me to the other subject: the health care law. It is not law yet, but it soon will be.
I know what is going to happen.
1. Cost overruns
2. Fraud
3. Additional coverage extended to groups
4. Rising deficits in the program
5. Lower payments to physicians
6. Lower payments to hospitals
7. Delays in payments
8. Rising taxes on the rich
9. Rationing by doctors, hospitals, government
10. Delays in treatment
11. More HMO care: assembly line medicine
12. A search for scapegoats
(Does this ring a bell?)
In 1977, I was involved in an early warning operation. Three teams of physicians and economists toured the country. We hit 30 cities in two weeks. We warned physicians in
poorly attended meetings that something like Obamacare was coming. It has now arrived. The physicians we spoke to are mostly retired. They saw some of this happen on a minor
scale, but they escaped.
I spoke about the percentage of the GDP (then GNP) devoted to heath care: about 7%. Today, it is 15%. Medicare and Medicaid have increased costs. The care is no better.
Except for technology, it is arguably worse.
Obamacare will lead to an expansion of these forms of medicine:
1. Concierge
2. Wal-Mart
3. ER
4. HMO
5. Mexican
CONCIERGE. The rich and very rich hire their own physicians. They pay top dollar. The physicians do not take third-party payments, either from the government or insurance
companies. They are independent practitioners. They make house calls. The houses they call on are very large.
For the upper middle class, there are fee-for-service physicians. They take no third-party payments. They do not make house calls.
WAL-MART. These are the walk-in clinics. They are price competitive. They treat minor ailments. They sell services on a one-time basis. They take credit cards. They may or may not cater to the Medicare crowd. They are assembly-line clinics. There are no major surgeries or other high-cost, high-risk services.
ER. Large hospital emergency rooms are mandated by law. The poor get treated there. In a life-and-death emergency, they work. People who would otherwise die in a couple of
hours are saved. For walk-in patients, the ERs ration by time. Patients demonstrate their patience.
HMO. This style of medicine is efficient. It cuts costs by cutting services and cutting time. You see the physician on duty. You may not have seen him before. His job is to get you in and out as fast as possible. Time is monitored by the company. Computers make this easy.
MEXICAN. This is off-shore medicine. In Canada, when you can't get treated for months or years, you come to the United States and pay. This will not be possible for Canadians much longer, except for rich ones. Mexico will serve upper middle-class Americans as the USA has served Canadians.
It is possible to get very good surgical care in Asia and Latin America. You have to know who the good practitioners are. Asian hospitals sell for 25% the same level of services. There is less regulation there. Place fares are cheap. A stay in a hotel is cheap.
There will be entrepreneurs who set up Websites off-shore that direct Americans to practitioners abroad. The Web allows this sort of advertising.
Physicians who practice alone or in small limited liability corporations will find that they cannot compete under the new payment system. Assembly-line medicine will replace the traditional doctor-patient relationship.
TRAPPED
Most physicians are trapped. They cannot sell their practices. The price of practices has been dropping.
Foreign-trained physicians who can pass the U.S. tests are coming to America. They are competitive.
Technical Services that can be digitized are being outsourced to India and other Asian nations.
Young American physicians begin with a lot of debt. They need income fast. They will be hired by the HMOs and clinics. They will not reach the salary level of this generation of physicians. They will be upper-middle-class income-earners.
There will be specialists, of course. Plastic surgeons who specialize in making rich women better looking will not be part of the new system. They will be able to do well.
But for the typical practitioner, his career options have been dramatically restricted by the new law.
I think most physicians will stick it out until they retire at age 67. They owe money. They need the income. The law's most restrictive provisions will not kick in until
2014. They will adjust.
Residents of Detroit also adjusted. Then, without warning, the economy changed. Those who were still living in the city saw their capital disappear.
People put up with the devils they know. They do not look for a lifeboat when they hear the ship's hull scrape the iceberg. They assume that it will be business as usual.
You had better decide which kind of medical care you can live with. Then you had better locate a practitioner soon. This is especially true if you want a fee-for-service
physician. People with money will go to them. They are already hard to find. They charge more. It's not easy to become a patient. They are booked up.
If you have an existing physician, do what you can to become an above-average patient.
You had better start getting into shape. You can no longer afford to be vulnerable to the diseases and afflictions of a flabby lifestyle. ObamaCare has changed the risk-reward ratio. Risk has just gone up. It will continue to go up.
There will be no roll-back of this law. It is going to be enforced for as long as the U.S. government has money.
That may not be as long as Obama thinks.
Special thanks to Lisa in Detroit for forwarding this article. Lisa informs me that her healthcare quote is $350 per month.
In her own words...
Basic healthcare starts at $124 p/m with the first $2,500 (per year) payable by yourself then the remaing split 70/30. The insurance company paying the 70%.
A better plan would be $196p/m with the first $1,500 (per year) payable by yourself then the remaing split 70/30. The insurance company paying the 70%.
This is BASIC coverage. You have to see a doctor and then go through a medical underwriter who determines if you are the 'norm' or if a special rider is needed because of weight, either over or underweight.
Basic insurance does not cover prescriptions or major medical/catastrophic/hospitalisation.
There is major medical/catastrophic/hospitalisation coverage available.
Last night’s full council meeting saw the full extent of the internal discord within the local Labour Group.
None of the three Labour Councillors (Jo Ward – Langley Mill & Aldercar, Glynne Cato - Heanor East, Ian Fisher – Codnor & Waingroves) who have decided not to stand in the forthcoming elections were present at the beginning of the meeting when leader Paul ‘do nothing’ Jones praised their past efforts and wished them well in the future.
However, Jo Ward came into the meeting late and announced that she WILL be standing after all – AS AN INDEPNDENT.
Jones looked visibly shocked, obviously not aware of Wards intentions.
How embarrassing for Jones who had said of his former comrade...
“Jo Ward has been a strong advocate for Langley Mill & Aldercar as officers of the council will testify, and through her many years on the planning board had developed a very good knowledge of the subject and was also very knowledgeable in the area of Housing Benefit. She had also been Deputy Leader of the Labour Group.”
Obviously the fall out within the Labour group will get more interesting as Election Day gets closer. I can’t wait to see the leaflets they produce for Langley Mill & Aldercar!
Yet another former UKIP candidate, Andrew Moffat, has announced his intention to stand for the British National Party in the Bognor Regis seat in the South East of England.
Mr Moffat has been a member of UKIP for 12 years and twice represented that party as a parliamentary candidate, becoming the highest polling UKIP candidate ever.
“After much considerable thought I have decided that the country’s interests are best served by the BNP,” Mr Moffat said.
“I am giving people the choice they don’t have with the other parties,” he continued.
“I am campaigning to halt immigration, deport illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers, withdraw from Afghanistan, leave the EU, crack down on crime and restore Christian observance in schools.
“Multiculturalism is being deliberately imposed by Labour and the Liberals and Conservatives to balkanise Britain and erode our cultural heritage, thus facilitating undemocratic EU rule.
“The window is closing. Within 40 years, we shall become a minority in our ancestral homeland. This is the end game — England is being extinguished.”
Mr Moffat said he had left UKIP after that party’s leadership had committed itself to “cringing support” for the multicultural society.
“Culture, heritage, history and tradition are expressions of blood. It follows, therefore, that immigration has been designed to undermine the integrity of the nation,” he said.
“Britain could remain captive within the EU for 1000 years but our people could always regain their nationhood so long as they retained their integrity as a people.
“Extirpate the people who comprise the nation, along with their cultural heritage, and it will be impossible to return to our concepts of constitutional democracy, as articulated in such great statements as Magna Carta and the Declaration of Rights.
“That is because the people who gave expression to them will have ceased to exist. What, therefore, is the point in seeking to restore the integrity of the nation state when, as a result of multiculturalism, the nation within the state will cease to exist in any meaningful form?
“The abysmal failure of UKIP’s leadership to tackle this issue demonstrates cowardice. This is particularly the case when it is evidently clear that the ordinary membership hold views on this topic that are closer to those of the BNP,” Mr Moffat said.
Three pence in every pound that goes into the National Health Service is wasted, official figures revealed today.
The latest productivity data reveals billions of pounds is being squandered every year with eye-watering amounts thrown away on extra staff that were not needed or poured into excessive pay rises for doctors. Critics said the revelations are a damning indictment of Labour's stewardship of the Health Service during its 13 years in power. And the situation is getting worse according to the figures from the Office for National Statistics which show the decline in productivity in 2008 was more than double the level the year before.
NHS spending rose soared between 2001, when it was £43billion, and 2008, when it was almost £100billion - fulfilling Tony Blair's pledge that the amount spent should be on a par with other western European countries.
Much of this was funded by a 1p increase in National Insurance, but the ONS figures show that although many more services were provided for this money, the taxpayer did not get quite as much as it paid for.
Every year between 2001 and 2008, productivity fell by an average of 0.4 per cent a year - adding up to a 3 per cent fall in productivity by 2008.
It means that, by 2008, taxpayers were getting 3 per cent less in terms of operations, tests and appointments than they should have done if all the money had been spent properly. This indicates that around £3billion is effectively now being wasted every year.
In contrast, before the extra money was pumped in, between 1995 and 2001, productivity remained broadly stable, with the amount going in never exceeding the outputs - indicating that the Health Service was spending its limited resources much more wisely.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'This fall in efficiency has cost taxpayers a fortune, and puts the lie to the Government’s boasts about public spending. By focusing on spending more rather than making sure the budget was spent well, they have squandered billions of pounds. The NHS must now improve efficiency and give taxpayers a better deal, which will save money and improve patient care.'
There are worrying signs the situation is getting worse.
In 2008, productivity declined by 0.7 per cent compared to the previous year. This is more than double the 2007 fall of 0.3 per cent.
Three years ago, MPs lambasted the 'reckless and uncontrolled' recruitment of too many doctors and nurses. The health select committee said an 'appalling' lack of planning by the Government meant that trusts recruited far more staff than they could afford to pay. They took on record numbers of doctors and nurses between 2000 and 2004, when money was readily available - only for thousands to be laid off after 2005 as deficits began to bite.
Money was thrown at new staff but there was little effort to ensure they were being more productive. In many cases, it meant that staff were taken on but simply ended up doing the same amount of work as was taking place before.
The NHS Plan, published in 2000, said there was a need for 20,000 extra nurses by 2004. Instead, almost 68,000 were employed.
GP numbers swelled by more than 4,000 - double the number planned.
New pay contracts for NHS staff also cost much more than expected.
For example, in 2004/05, the GP contract cost £250million more, consultants £90million, while the Agenda for Change package, which covers nurses and other NHS staff, overspent by £220million.
The new contract for GPs, for example, has seen their pay rise by 47 per cent to an average of £106,000. But at the same time, the amount of work they are actually doing has fallen:by some seven hours a week. And more than 90 per cent of them have opted out of responsibility for patients out of hours - leaving it up to primary care trusts to bring in expensive cover which is often substandard.
But the Government points to improvements in waiting times and survival rates, which it says would not have happened without vast increases in resources.
Health minister Mike O'Brien said: 'In 1997, the NHS was severely under staffed and under funded.
‘We have had to address this under staffing and that has affected productivity. We can now deliver the shortest waiting times in the history of the NHS and a major reduction in death rates and health care associated infections, whilst improving quality and seeing and treating more patients than ever. Most economists and HM Treasury accept it is difficult to grow capacity and productivity at the same time, yet the NHS maintained virtually flat productivity (-0.3 per cent per annum) over the longest period of sustained growth in its history.' DAILY MAIL
Under the Representation of the People Act 2000, armed forces personnel have a choice of putting their names on the electoral roll through the Services or as civilians.
But if they take the former route, they must re-register every year rather than being able to register once for the whole of their military career.
As a result of the requirement to sign annually, the number of service personnel registering fell from 139,000 to 21,000.
Indeed, critics of the system have pointed out the bitter irony that while troops have been fighting to help give democracy to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, they themselves have been unable to exercise similar rights.
In order to try to highlight this scandal, the Conservative frontbench spokesman (and former SAS soldier) Andrew Robathan conducted a straw poll of British troops in Iraq in 2005 and found that not only were eight out of ten not registered to vote but they also did not have any idea of the rules.
In fact, only a relatively small percentage of the Armed Forces voted in the 2005 General Election.
Now, with a General Election barely seven weeks away, the same thing seems likely to happen again.
Disgracefully, Labour ministers were warned that the law discriminated against servicemen and women. Douglas Young, of the British Armed Forces Federation, published a brilliant document called Silence In The Ranks, which revealed the scale of the problem.
Then, in November 2005, the Tory MP Andrew Tyrie proposed that every member of Armed Forces should be given the automatic right to vote. However, the idea
rejected by the Labour government, which made one concession: the law would be altered so servicemen would only have to register once every five years. This change was an improvement but failed to deal properly with the problem.
This mess is compounded by the fact that even those fighting abroad who have a vote find the system very tricky.
Under electoral law, the closing date for parliamentary candidates to put their names forward to fight a constituency is only 11 days before polling day.
Next, postal ballot forms (with names of all the candidates) have to be printed — a process which normally takes up to three days.
The ballots must then be flown, for example, to Afghanistan and distributed to the isolated Forward Operating Bases in areas such as Helmand Province where many of our troops are based.
Only then can soldiers cast their vote, before the ballots are sent back to Britain in time to be counted.
The Army Families Federation recently carried out an experiment to see how efficiently this postal ballot system worked for forces based in Germany.
She explained her own experience.
‘When my husband and I were stationed in Germany, the postal vote arrived on time only once. We had to go to extraordinary lengths to vote. I wonder how many others would go to that trouble.’
To be fair to the Government, Justice Minister Michael Wills set up a ‘working party’ to examine the problem in January.
But this was much too late — for with just two weeks before the election is due to be called, the group has yet to report its findings.
The truth is that if Gordon Brown’s government had shown any real interest in making sure the rights of British troops were upheld, it would never have set up a working party so late in the day.
Instead, right and proper voting entitlements and facilities would have been a priority many years earlier — just like in the American and Canadian armed forces.
Instead, it now looks certain that, for the second General Election in a row, many of our fighting men and women will be denied the chance to vote.
Most worryingly, this raises the very troubling question of whether Gordon Brown’s government’s failure to allow democratic representation to our Armed Forces is merely down to incompetence.
Or is there some other more sinister reason?
Could it be that New Labour’s electoral strategists cynically calculated that the majority of servicemen are more likely to be Tory voters — and have deliberately deprived them of the vote?
It is impossible to say for sure.
However, what can be stated with certainty is that as well as starving the Armed Forces of funds and sending men and women into battle with inadequate equipment, it has also denied many of them one of the most fundamental rights of citizenship.
At the forthcoming election, a number of our bravest fighting men — many of them risking their lives to bring democracy to Afghanistan — will themselves be Disenfranchised.
And for a nation such as Britain, with a glorious military history, that is a most terrible betrayal.
The video above was created by a friend of mine in the United States, MrGeorgedubya. It is such a moving tribute to Israel that I just had to share it with you.
I would just like to say thank you to the person who slashed Ian Huntley’s throat.
WELL DONE!
Next time, can you please make sure you succeed in killing the bastard?
Soham murderer Ian Huntley is reported to have had is throat slashed by a fellow inmate in prison.
It is believed the 36-year-old, who is serving a life sentence for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both ten, has been taken to hospital where his injuries are not thought to be life threatening.
The incident, at Frankland Prison in County Durham, follows one in 2005, when another inmate threw boiling water over Huntley. The convicted murderer has made numerous suicide attempts during his sentence.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "A prisoner at HMP Frankland was assaulted by another prisoner at about 15:25 GMT on Sunday 21 March.
"The prisoner was taken to outside hospital for treatment. His condition is not thought to be life-threatening."
Reports claim the attack on Huntley was pre-meditated, with his fellow inmate using a handmade weapon to attack him. Earlier this week the Prison Officers Association (POA) had called for the removal of all glass jars and containers from the possession of inmates, following a vicious assault at the same prison on March 15th.
Three members of staff were stabbed by a prisoner using a glass bottle purchased from the prison shop. Colin Moses, national chairman of the POA said: "Only for the swift and professional action of staff, the service could have been dealing with a loss of life. All three members of staff were victims of this callous attack by a convicted murderer.
A rise in the number of marriages between cousins in Britain has prompted calls for a crackdown on the practice amid warnings it is putting children's health at risk.
Figures show up to 75 per cent of British Pakistanis in some areas are married to first cousins.
In a speech to be made next week, obtained by The Times, leading family lawyer, Baroness Leech, will warn that such marriages can be a barrier to the integration of minority communities and increases the risk of birth defects in children.
She is also expected to call for testing for genetic defects when marriages between family members are arranged and for a register of people carrying genetic diseases to be set up in order for two carriers not to be introduced.
She said such a scheme could be possible in Bradford, which has the UK's highest population of Pakistanis.
Up to three-quarters of Pakistanis in Bradford are married to their first cousins.
The trend is also evident in Birmingham, where figures show that one in ten of all children born to first cousins died in childhood or suffered from a serious genetic disorder.
British Pakistanis, half of whom marry a first cousin, are 13 times more likely to produce children with genetic disorders than the general population, according to Government-sponsored research.
Although British Pakistanis account for three per cent of the births in this country, they are responsible for 33 per cent of the 15 to 20,000 children born each year with genetic defects.
