ASKING FOR THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE

You sometimes have to wonder how those of us born just after World War Two, or before, have lived so long. According to the our health authorities we live in a world full of dangers, we can’t eat butter, chips and many other foods in case they may kill us, we are told to drink miniscule quantities of alcohol in case it does us serious harm and when it comes to germs and viruses, well, we shouldn’t be allowed to breath in case we become infected and start a pandemic. If that lot doesn’t bump us off then worrying about it certainly will.

When I was a kid mothers had measles and chicken pox parties to get the inevitable infection over and done with. Us nippers used to cough and scratch our sore bits for a few days, enjoy the time off school and that was it - over for good.

Sadly, in these over regulated nanny state days kids are not allowed to have measles, mumps, chicken pox and other ailments, they have to be inoculated against them and woe betide any parent who questions the bullying attitude of the authorities - their concerns are of no matter to the state, parents have to obey and get their kids pumped full of drugs and bugger any after effects.

As we all know a very large number of parents have serious concerns about the MMR jab and its links to autism, they simply asked for the freedom of choice to have their children inoculated for each infection seperately rather than in one go as they worried about the effects of this cocktail of drugs being thrust into their children's small bodies. Many parents who were intimidated into going ahead are convinced the MMR jab triggered autism in their children with days of the inoculation - they were ignored and their complaints written off - they had no one to turn to but each other for support until the arrival of Dr Andrew Wakefield.

Andrew Wakefield highlighted the problems they were having and gave them hope that there could be a better way so other parents would not have the trauma they were suffering. Because of their very valid worries many other parents either chose not to have the MMR jab or asked for separate inoculations. And what was the states response to this? It stuck two fingers up to all parents and told them it was the MMR jab or nothing and if their kids became sick it was their fault. Considering the state is run by people we elect to represent us and act on our concerns, the attitude of this and past governments can only be described as crass.

Sadly, still refusing to listen to worried parents and give their electorate the freedom of choice regarding MMR, the authorities chose to launch a full scale attack on Dr Wakefield and to ridicule and undermine him - they really did set out to do a hatched job on this chap because he did not tow their line. The result was an action taken against him by the General Medical Council who on Thursday 28th January ruled that Dr Wakefield broke research rules and acted unethically - naturally those parents now caring for autistic children would disagree with this verdict. Dr Wakefield himself stated the ruling was “unfounded and unjust”.

The crux of it all is that the GMC have not discounted his findings on MMR or judge if they were right or wrong, they they have taken him to task on the way he went about his research into the link between MMR and autism - which ironically adds to his findings. He now faces being struck off the medical register for standing up for the majority of concerned parents. In these over regulated and controlled days Dr Andrew Wakefield is a very brave man indeed, all parents should boycott the MMR jab and let nanny jump up and down and have as many tantrums as it likes - parent power should come to the rescue of Dr Wakefield - after all they are only asking for the freedom of choice.

UNDER THE TYRANNICAL GAZE OF THE STATE

What do you do on-line, what do you get up to in cyberspace? Most people use of the internet is quite innocuous, e-mails to family, friends and work colleagues, a bit of on-line shopping or catching up with the tittle-tattle on Facebook and other such sites, nothing usually for anyone to get hot and bothered about. However, Big Brother is increasingly watching our every internet move.

Just recently, on-line security expert Professor Ian Walden, has warned that the Government is taking liberties with our liberties by using the excuse of terrorist bombing to erode our civil liberties.

He warned that “Orwellian” surveillance of our on-line habits was now more intrusive than CCTV, which considering the amount of CCTV surveillance of our society that is really saying something. He warned that the Government is pressing ahead with privately held Big Brother data-bases which amounts to the state spying on all of us who use the internet.

What we do on-line will be recorded and stored for years under the excuse of monitoring terrorism, which has become a very handy excuse for this Government which has given the state massive mandate to pry into our lives and and restrict our freedoms over the thirteen years since hard Labour came to power.

Not just content with snooping on the internet, it also intends to use the forthcoming 2011 census to ask all sorts of intrusive and personal questions about us as a means to pry even further. To ensure they gather the details upon each and everyone of us in minutia and miss no one, they are enrolling a team of census “non-compliance” officers who will have police powers to make sure we all do as told and return our completed census forms. Failure to do so and let this perverse Government know our sexual orientation and other personal details will result in a visit from the Census police and a fine of up to £1000. We are now a nation under the tyrannical gaze of the state.

A COST TOO FAR

Lord Stoddart, his question revealed the additional cost of EU membership.

The Government has admitted in an answer to a written question from Lord Stoddart of Swindon, the independent Labour Peer, that British contributions to the EU are to increase by nearly £1 billion in 2010. This follows the European Parliament's approval of a massive 6% increase in the EU's budget for 2010. This represents an overall 8% increase in British contributions to the EU budget. Lord Myners for the Government, admitted that the budget increase would raise annual British contributions from £10,879 million to £11,735 million in 2010.

Lord Stoddart said: "This comes at a time when the public sector is facing massive cuts in spending with workers having their salaries frozen or cut and with private sector workers receiving less than 1% increases and many thousands losing their jobs altogether. For ordinary people, trying to make ends meet, handing over all this money to fat cat bureaucrats in Brussels really is a poke in the eye with a very large stick. While the public and private sectors suffer, it seems the EU is immune and keeps on milking Britain dry."
The full text of Lords Stoddart's Question and the Government's answer is below.

Extract from Hansard 20.01.10, EU: Budget Written Question:

Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon To ask Her Majesty's Government what effect a 6 per cent increase in the European Union budget for 2010 will have on the gross contribution of the United Kingdom to that budget. [HL1079]


The Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Myners): Under the 2009 Adopted EC Budget, UK Own Resources payments were set at £10,879 million. Under the 2010 Adopted EC Budget UK contributions were calculated at £11,735 million.

RISKY MEMBERSHIP

Currently Britain pays the European Union around £1 million per hour in contributions, on the other hand the Government has announced that it is to cut back on counter terrorism operations in Pakistan due to a cash shortfall of around £110 million.

This means our lives are now all at risk from terrorism for the equivalent of 110 hours of EU membership. Another reason to quit the EU - membership is too risky.

CONSIDERING THE IMPOSSIBLE

You don’t have to think back too far when remembering the rhetoric when the EU’s euro was launched upon the people of Europe, who, as is the way with the EU, had been given little chance to say about it anyway.

In those not too far off times the euro was going to be such a strong currency it was going challenge the might of the US dollar, it was going to become a global currency and our sterling curreny in the UK was going to be so badly squeezed we would have no choice to scrap the pound and join the euro anyway. This was despite the overwhelming opposition to it as voiced by the vast majority of the British people.

Now fast forward to today, oh dear, what a sad and pathetic little currency the euro is. Generally disliked by the people of Europe du to the inflation it created, struggling from one crisis to the next, with an interest rate that is an impossibility for the European Central Bank (ECB) to set, and constant rumours that some of its club Med countries could either go bust or crash out.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph on Monday 18th January 2010, Ambrose Evans Pritchard reported that the ECB is now so worried that one of the eurozone countries could crash out, namely Greece, that it is preparing legal ground for euro rupture.

What happens to a country that does crash out and reverts to its original currency is the question in hand, does it cease to be a member of the EU too? This and other legalities are now being seriously considered. According to Ambrose the possibility of expulsion from the EU is a “warning shot” for Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain. He stated: “If they fail to marshal public support for draconian austerity they risk being cast into Icelandic oblivion.”

The squeeze in the eurozone is on and it aint going to be too pleasant, especially in Ireland and those club Med countries as the design flaws of monetary union become obvious. When the euro was spawned, acording to the EU’s acolytes, there no way it was going to fail or that any nation would ever want out, but now the ECB is having to start considering the impossible.

SWEET & SOUR

One of the biggest battles the famous Midlands chocolate manufacturer, Cadbury’s, fought over long period of time was with the EU. Unlike the surrender monkeys in our Parliament and offices of state who always cave into the EU, our milk chocolate manufacturers won the battle.

That battle, of course, was as most things relating to the EU, was a pointless fight of a nonsensical issue, the very right to continue calling milk chocolate ‘chocolate’. The EU under its arcane rules wanted it re-branded ‘vegolate’. It took a lot of effort and many years, but we kept our milk chocolate for which Cadbury’s is so famous.

Now our last chocolate manufacturer has lost the battle and is to fall into foreign, and most probably, disastrous ownership. It has been announced that Kraft foods is to purchase Cadury’s for £11.5 billion. Kraft itself is having to borrow £7 billion in order to secure the deal.

For those of us raised in the Midlands, just down the road from Bournville which is the home of Cadbury’s, this is sad news indeed. For those who have not visited the area, Bournville was built as a model village by the Cadbury family founded on their Quaker principles. Apart from the lack of pubs it is a desirable and pleasant place to live, still. The Cadbury’s Trust care and maintain a lot of the properties and keep the place as the Cadbury family would have wished – there is even a working carillon there.

Now that Kraft is 90 per cent certain of taking over our treasured chocolate company, it just needs approval from the shareholders, the future of Cadbury’s looks bleak. Kraft have a reputation for cutting jobs, closing factories and moving manufacturing abroad – this could be the fate for Cadury’s as it was for Terry’s and Fry’s before it.

For those few who have bothered to read the tongue in cheek sister blog to this, ‘Eurosoap’, which attempt to show a grim EU future in a humorous way, will have noted how many things in it have become true since it was first written. Part of the tale concerns Cadbury’s chocolate being smuggled into the country as the company moved abroad.

Something else so traditionally British is going from us, and when Kraft begin to tinker with Cadbury’s production methods and ingredients to cut costs, as it must do to be able to cover it £7 billion debt, our beautiful milk chocolate will never be the same again – our sweets will have turned sour.

MISUSING THE EXTRADITION WARRANT

There has not been much time for blogging this week, but here is a very interesting item from the Law Gazette.  It looks as if the EU has been routinely misusing the EU-wide arrest warrant.

A MESSAGE FROM SOPHIE

Sophie Symeou, the sister of Andrew Symeou who faced the injustice of the European Arrest Warrant and has been incarcerated in a Greek prison for six months, has sent out a message of thanks to all those who joined her last Saturday at a protest outside the Greek embassy.

Her message stated: “Thank you to all the people who braved the cold on Saturday and came to support Andrew's case, in our peaceful demonstration outside the Greek Embassy. It meant so much to me and my family and particularly to Andrew, that it was a success.

Approximately 140-150 people were there to support and chant ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Both British and Greek media parties were there to document the event, so we hope this helps in Andrew's plight to receive bail and to receive a fair trial as soon as possible. We know truth is on our side but there has been no progression of the case in 6 months and Andrew is unnecessarily suffering. Thank you again, Sophie Symeou.”

The plight of Andrew Symeou has been reported on this several times over the course of this sad affair, but this is not just Andrew’s plight, it is one that belongs to us all as we are all victims. The reason I say this because we have all been abandoned by this and past Governments who have allowed this situation to happen. It is, or should be, the duty of all those elected to represent us to protect our best interests and to ensure we are not victims of foreign oppression, sadly for well over the last thirty years our politicians have abandoned us and have co-operated with those foreign based agents in the European Union to allow the situation where British citizens can be arrested on circumstantial evidence and arrested on these shores under the orders of a foreign court. This is wrong and shows that the pro-EU political coalition of the Lib, Lab Con no longer care for the interests of the people of Britain or for the country itself.

It is for this reason we all should support Andrew Symeou and his family in this fight for justice. Write to your MP, the PM, Foreign Minister and anyone else you can think of and voice your protest – it may be you they come for next.

STATE TO TRACK NATIONAL INSURANCE NUMBERS

The campaigning group, NO2ID, which has been fighting against plans to introduce ID cards in the UK, reported that the Home Secretary has admitted in a Parliamentary answer that the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is collecting National Insurance numbers from every person who applies for an ID card, and storing them on the National Identity Register - the ID card database. 

As from next year it will be compulsory to apply for entry on the National Identity Register in order to receive a passport, this means that all passport applicants will also have their NI number collected and stored for life.

Mr Johnson's answer failed to mention other categories of information, in addition to what is currently recorded on the passport database, that are to be held on the National Identity Register.

Phil Booth, NO2ID's National Coordinator, said: 'The National Identity Scheme has never been about a card - it's about

tracking you throughout your life, linking your details by the numbers.

'This admission confirms the Home Office's intentions for the scheme. It wants to track you through every government and private database it can - and your NI number's just the start.'

ARRESTING PROPOSAL

Mike Nattrass MEP, ridiculous law.

The Sun today (Wednesday, January 6), reported that French PM Francois Fillon is supporting the introduction of the new law which could be implemented across Europe and possibly in Britain if it is deemed to be a success.

 

But UKIP West Midlands MEP Mike Nattrass said Britain and indeed the French should not implement the law which he believes would be impossible to enforce.

 

Last December, the Lisbon Treaty was ratified which in turn expanded the EU’s law-making powers and ability to restrict the power the UK Parliament.

 

Mr Nattrass fears if the EU gets involved Britain could be forced into implementing the law being considered in France.

 

He said: “Of course people should treat each other with total respect and any form of abuse should not be tolerated but can you imagine what could happen if we were forced into introducing this law?

 

“The police already have stretched resources and could be inundated with calls. How would allegations of rudeness be proved? We should not put this indecent proposal to bed!

 

“What if the EU, which makes 75 per cent of our law, decides to get involved in this issue? The EU could force us to implement this law and the situation is simply ridiculous.”

AGERS ON THE ATTACK

Stuart Agnew MEP, critical of Hilary Benn's food policy.

Stuart Agnew, the UK Independence Party MEP for the Eastern Counties, has issued a scathing attack on Hilary Benn's speech at the Oxford Farming conference on Tuesday (5.1.10) in which he outlined the Government's 20 year food plan.  Mr Agnew said:  "Hilary Benn didn't even mention the European Union, the organisation that directs most of our agricultural policy.  It is ridiculous to urge farmers to produce more, whilst at the same time enacting EU legislation that bans various pesticides whose absence will increase the cost of production, reduce yields  or  deter production altogether.

 

 "He failed to mention how the implementation of EU NVZ rules is going to make agriculture less able to achieve its potential. These rules are not based on sound science, and there is nothing he can do to change them.  Mr Benn mentioned free range eggs in particular and his desire to see these achieve an even greater share of the market. He does not appear to understand the political difficulties put in the way of doing this.  Planning applications for new free range egg units are very costly, it takes up to 18 months to achieve consent and some are rejected  after the expense has been incurred . The situation is aggravated by the EU IPPC rules that cut in with a swathe of expensive red tape, when more than 40,000 birds are farmed by one producer. This is creating a barrier that deters expansion above that level.

 

"He also failed to mention the EU ban on battery cages which takes effect on 1st January 2012.  The UK will lose at least 5% of its egg production on that date and with it a domestic market for some of our wheat. He has given producers who have invested in expensive ‘colony’ systems no assurance that he will resist RSPCA pressure to ban these as well.  Whilst the European Commission has refused to allow financial assistance to be given to our own producers to change away from cages, the situation is quite different elsewhere in the EU.  The Commission has allowed many new member states to give a 25% grant towards this cost, which the EU then doubles up with another 25%. The UK, as a net contributor to the EU, will find its taxpayers funding a disproportionate share to this largesse. To make matters worse, the EU is allowing these new member states to continue to keep birds in cages after the ban and is letting them export the eggs  to other EU countries, as long as they are in the processed form.  Two large egg producing countries, Spain and Italy will be well short of installing alternative systems by the deadline. As things stand, this production will be replaced by battery produced eggs from outside the EU. And of course, the UK will lose a useful wheat export market to Italy and Spain.

 

 "The Minister didn’t dare talk about the energy gap that farmers, along with everybody else, will be exposed to in a few years time because of EU policies that put investment into unreliable, inadequate and very expensive wind turbines instead of into new coal and nuclear power stations.   Also hanging over the whole industry is his threat of 5% set-aside, dependent upon farmers doing enough to satisfy the RSPB, who, of course, are never satisfied.

 

"Hilary Benn has neatly demonstrated at the Oxford Farming Conference how restricted are the powers of a British Cabinet Minister because of Britain's membership of the EU.

EU BUREAUCRACY – BATTERIES INCLUDED

Consumers are going to be in for a shock as the charges for batteries look set to rise thanks to more European Union rules.

As from February all stores which sell more than one four pack of batteries a day will be obliged to find space to set up battery recycling bins and make arrangements for the batteries to be disposed of – at their own costs. Added to this burden, as if shopkeepers don’t already have enough to do, they will have to keep a whole array of records regarding the disposal of the batteries, not necessarily purchased in their shops, and they will have to sign up to be on the hazardous waste register too.

The companies that produce batteries will be required to set up and fund the collection of the dud batteries in vans they will have to have licensed to carry hazardous waste and fund the recycling schemes.

The net result of this is more time wasted and more costs, which naturally will be passed on to the consumers who will more than likely still bung their flat batteries in their own dustbins anyway. This then is the cost of EU membership – more EU bureaucracy with batteries included.

BELGIUM AT LARGE

For those who do not read the Mail on Sunday, there was an interesting article by Paul Belian who wrote about the ambitions of the Belgian leaders, going back many years, to govern and control a federal Europe. He warns that the new President of Europe, the ex Belgian Prime Minister, Van-Rompuy, is going to be a great danger to us all.

It is quite interesting that the Mail on Sunday should print such an article, which shows that the press is beginning to notice the true nature and intent of the European Union and its plans to dominate and control the whole of Europe. Read on.

A QUIET SUCCESS

John Gardner, the director of the British Weights and Measures Association.

In the long hard battle against EU domination it is always good to hear of a success story, one of which is the recent success of the British Weights Association (BWMA), as reported by Christopher Booker in the Sunday Telegraph (3rd January 2010).

The BWMA, which has a history dating back a long way, had become a dormant organisation until the ebullient Vivian Linaker revived it in 1995 in response to the EU posed threat to our well known, liked and understood system of imperial weights and measures. After many years of hard work and dedication Vivian stood down as the BWMA director and handed over the reigns to the very capable John Gardner, whose dedication, along with chairman Mike Plumb and many other BWMA members has given the organisation a quiet success which will be a benefit to us all.

It is sad to say that our Government, which does not seem to care a jot about Britain, its inhabitants or and of our long held customs and traditions, was quite happy to see our imperial system eradicated completely for the EU's confusing metric system. In 2002, as Booker reports, the Government "nodded through two regulations which would have made it, as of last Friday (1st January 2010), a criminal offence for businesses to make any reference whatever to non-metric weights and measures."

Gone would have been the use of 'quarter pounders' beefburger, 42" TV's and all other everyday references to imperial measures which are so much a part of our lives. However, thanks to John Gardner and all the other BWA members this EU inspired madness has been avoided.

Because John managed to convince the powers that be of the dire effect such an intolerable ruling would have had on trade, not just in the UK, but across the whole of the EU too, references to imperial measures will be allowed to continue. Most countries in the EU export a great deal of goods to the USA which uses imperial measures. The logistics of having separate production lines for labeling identical goods in in the systems for the two markets would have created havoc and great expense. For the first time ever since Britain joined the EU a British Government has made a sensible decision and repealed its regulations. Let's hope that 2010 brings more quiet success stories as this.