Foreign Affairs

Britain must distance itself from George W. Bush. Of course the United States is a country with which we must have the best possible relationship but we should take the posture of 'critical friend' and a man like George W.,and those who back him, have been a disaster for the United States and the world.

I don't believe we can discharge the critical friend all the while we delude ourselves with a so called 'special relationship' derived from the imperatives of the early days of World War II. The reality is that the USA did not enter either WW I or WW II until their own self interest came under threat and I have absolutely no problem with that. Whatever special relationship emerged from those events was dealt a massive blow when the USA cut off their financial lifeline to us in 1946. We have only just finished paying back the money we owed the USA as a consequence of their support for Britain in WW II. It was dealt a second massive blow when the USA (rightly) refused to support us in the Suez adventure. It was dealt a third massive blow when Harold Wilson (rightly) refused to get involved in Vietnam.

We would be better able to work with the US if we buried the 'special relationship'

Civil Liberties

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he wants to remove the bit of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) that prevents demonstrations within a kilometre of Parliament Square. Perhaps he is not such a denyer of basic rights that our ancestors fought and died for after all. WRONG. The Government dredged up an Act from 1839 to try and prevent the peace march on 8th October 2007. This Act is even more draconian in preventing peaceful protest than the bit of SOCPA that he proposes to withdraw. Happily, at the very last minute, they backed off and the march went ahead.

Don't think Brown & Co won't try again. If you put together all the bits of personal intrusion introduced in the last decade and planned for the future it is hardly an exaggeration to say that so called 'free' Britain has a capacity for monitoring its' citizens similar to that of any totalitarian state you care to think of.

Civil Liberties

Did you know that your local Council, along with some 700 other public bodies in the UK can now access your mobile and land line telephone records which all service providers are now obliged to keep? Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat spokesman on home affairs said that this further extension to spy on our private lives was done "with no meaningful public or parliamentary debate". The Government claims full consultation had taken place. The key word is ' meaningful'. The measure, slipped through in the summer by the personal decree of the Home Secretary, was not debated with anyone who might oppose it.

Retirement Pensions

On 27th October 2007 the Financial Times showed that retired people whose pensions fall between about £8000 and £32000 per annum will be worse off under Alistair Darlings proposals on Tax & National Insurance. No prizes for guessing where most peoples pensions probably fall. By contrast if your pension is above about £ 80000 p.a. you will be £ 800 better off. Boy that's a true Labour Government for you.

Democracy?

Did you know that between 1881 and 1975 the 'Guillotine' was used 80 times to curtail debate in the British Parliament. Between 1997 and 2003 it was used 216 times. Contempt for democracy or what?