Away, away

We will be on another one of our Grand Tours over the next few days so there will be little or no blogging until we return.

To all readers of The England Project

Hey, merry Christmas.

What is the rebel plan?

This hunting ban delay. I don’t get it. I had convinced myself that the Rebel Alliance were quite capable of playing a good game regarding the ban on fox hunting. I once wrote that the rebels were sophisticated enough (bad word, perhaps knowledgeable or experienced would have been better) to fight for their freedoms within the context of state institutions. It certainly looks like that is being borne out by the rebel injunction which could delay the ban for up to a year but can that really be the game? Is the delay really what they are playing for? The cost of the delay is to give the government an easier time come next years general election, the very time when the alliance could have quite conceivably done some harm to their enemy. There would have certainly been quite a bit of media coverage.

A cynical deal, some say, but in such deals both sides generally gain some advantage and I can’t see the few months of extra hunting as a real benefit.

So it’s something else, but what? The advantage to the government is clear but what of the rebel base, The Countryside Alliance?

Could it be that they are trying to diffuse a potentially nasty situation come the general election? Is this ploy their attempt at controlling the more militant sections of their loose alliance of country folk? Are they trying to avoid exactly the same bottom line situation that the government are, namely lots of nasty goings-on focused on and probably increased by the single event of the general election and all the negative media coverage that could bring to both the alliance and the government?

If this is their gambit and word gets out then this could be a catalyst for even more polarisation in the rebel camp.

1952 Committee: new member

A big welcome to Tim over at Right or Wrong who joins as an honourable member.

By the way, I have moved the list of members from the original blog post to the main page (hat tip to Scott).

Howard's scales

Last night I received an email from Anoneumouse over at The Anglo Saxon Chronicle which included a link to a reply that he has received from the Office of the Leader of the opposition regarding ID cards. You should read it but it basically says Michael Howard is a huge fan of ID cards and he thinks they will help us to exercise the freedom the government wishes us to enjoy. Hey, thanks for that.

Freedom and security are the watchwords of the Tory party, the letter says. But obviously these watchwords come with strings attached because it seems to me that Howard deals with these two principles as if they were two different sides of the same weighing scales. More security, less freedom. Less security, more freedom and ID cards are not the only measure of the man in this respect.

When he took away the private property of our countries sporting pistol shooters we saw his scales in operation again where freedom was the price that thousands had to pay for the security of all (that was effectively the line), though it is clear that in that particular transaction the security received was as ephemeral as many of us expected to be.

When I was being educated (not to a particularly high standard I am sure we can all agree) I managed to grasp a number of subjects only very loosely. There was a lot to do and I preferred some subjects over others. Mathematics, for instance, was a subject for which I received a passing grade through a very shallow understanding of methods, tricks , shortcuts and the like without actually grasping many of the fundamental principles behind the subject. It was a black box subject for me, and so it is with Michael Howard. The subject he has skimmed is freedom. In the old days he would have probably managed a C grade at O level.

Back then his careers advisor would have asked him if he had any interest in woodwork? These days this member of the 1952 Committee would ask pretty much the same question.

How to police the hunts

Some people have raised the question of how the police can actually implement the new law on hunting when (and whenever) it comes into force if fox hunters are determined to ignore it. We now have an answer:

I've asked the Chief Constable recently about how we're going to police this if it does break down - you know, civil disorder, the rest of it - and he said it will be exactly the same as when we dealt with the miners.

My only advice would be to put different tyres on the vans, you know, ones with deeper tread. Oh, and also for the police to train their cavalry to jump ditches and hedges and the like at a full gallop. Otherwise, good plan. Can't fail.

And what were they supposed to do about it?

You can't legislate against this kind of incident. What you can do is legislate to stop the victims from being able to do anything much about it. An England Project white flag award to the first politician or campaigner to bring up this incident as an argument for more useless law.

1952 Committee: New members

Two new members join today.

A warm welcome to Scott at Blithering Bunny and John at The Rottweiler Puppy.

Your biometric membership cards are in the post.

No, that was a joke.

If I were a golfer

I sat there with the samizdata comments window open for quite a while before I decided that there wasn’t really very much I could say that hadn’t already been said. I did wonder at Perry’s reaction to the impending introduction of ID cards and imagined the cries of “overreaction” from around the blogosphere, cries that I have not yet gone looking for. Indeed, the thought had crossed my mind that planning to leave the country does indeed have the hallmarks of overreaction stamped all over it.

But then I caught myself.

How could I possibly know how Perry should have reacted? Sure I can judge what my reaction might be to any situation but I am me and I have a certain amount of insider knowledge. But I don’t know Perry at all, except through some of his writings.

If I were a golfer and golf was my life I’d spend a lot of my time outside playing golf. When I was not outside playing golf I might take to the Internet to read about golf or, perhaps, to choose what new golfing accessories I might buy. I might even buy some. I could imagine being very excited by the idea of these new accessories being delivered. I might even think about them when I was out actually playing golf. If I were a golfer and golf was my life.

Now imagine golf being restricted or banned outright. How would I react? How should I react? What would be overreaction and what would not? If I took myself and my clubs and left the country for one that allowed golf would it be an overreaction or simply a reasonable thing that reasonable people could be expected to do? Frankly I think it would be perfectly reasonable.

What if the thing that was such a big part of my life was something other than golf. What if it was pistol shooting or fox hunting? What if it was something less sporting, perhaps an idea? What if my thing was writing about and criticising a particular religion? What if I lived and breathed a particular political idea, or moralistic point of view and one day that idea or point of view was damaged so badly that I could see no future in it any longer in the country I lived in. What if I had drawn a line in the sand and that line had been crossed? Would it be an overreaction if I chose to make my plans to leave?

No, I don’t think it would be.

New 1952 Committee member

A big welcome to Ian, over at Shades of Grey who has mailed in to join the Committee.

1952 Committee update: Bloggosphere reaches out to mainstream media

I note from Tim Worstall that Stephen Robinson in the Telegraph has decided to vote for someone other than the Tory party:

In selfish terms, I was relieved to see Michael Howard take the easy way out and endorse ID cards, because it freed me of any sense that I should have to vote for his party. No longer will I have to profess enthusiasm about Tory policies, or pretend that I see the green shoots of a Conservative revival.

For the first time I shall vote for the Liberal Democrats, because they do understand that the identity card debate is about the just role of government, and I suspect tens of thousands of instinctive Conservatives will do the same next year.

Tim suggests that:

It sounds like the 1952 Committee might have a new member. John? May I suggest that you drop an email to Mr Robinson and inform him of his opportunity? From past experience he does tend to respond.

I found this interesting opportunity was one that was too good to miss so I have sent the following mail to Mr. Robinson (via the general freedom@telegraph..... email address) on behalf of the Committee just to see what, if anything, happens:

Sir,

I have just read your article "Howard preferred ridicule to being thought soft on terror" at:

URL provided

...and noted that your vote will now be placed with the Liberal Democrats.

I wonder if you might consider joining the rest of us disaffected conservative voters by lending your support in spirit to an initiative we have just started as a group of bloggers called the 1952 Committee.

"The 1952 Committee was created when the Conservative party, under Michael Howard, backed the introduction of ID cards. For some conservative bloggers this was the final straw and many of them started to declare on their blogs that they would not be voting Tory at the next election. I began collecting and listing these declarations under the 1952 Committee heading chosen because it was the year in which Winston Churchill abandoned ID cards in post war Britain."

Though the committee was set up for bloggers, I am sure that members of the mainstream media who are sympathetic would be given a warm welcome.

A summary page can be found here:

http://www.theenglandproject.net/1952committee.html

Faithfully,

Sean Gabb to speak on the Conservative Party

This just made its way to one of my in-boxes:

Mon 15 Feb, 6.45pm.
WHAT'S WRONG WITH BRITISH CONSERVATISM?

While American conservatism is in such apparently rude health,
its English cousin appears terminally ill. The British
Conservative party used to be the biggest political party in the
West, but is now a shadow of its former self - the average age
of its members is 62. What happened to the social base of the
British Conservative party, and what can be done to renew it?
As it moves towards another general election, can the British
Conservative Party learn any lessons from
America - or would it do best to plough its own furrow?

Boris Johnson, MP for Henley and editor of The Spectator; Dr
Irwin Stelzer, Director of Economic Policy Studies, The Hudson
Institute, and editor of Neoconservatism; Paul Whiteley,
Professor of Government at the University of Essex and co-author
of Political Choice in Britain and Citizenship in Britain; Sean
Gabb, Director of Communications at the Libertarian Alliance.
Chair: Samuel Brittan, Financial Times commentator and author of
Against The Flow.

£8, £7 Concs, £6 ICA Members
Cinema 1

James Harkin
Director of Talks
The ICA
The Mall
London SW1Y 5AH
http:www.ica.org.uk

UKIP press release on ID cards

Via UKIP London Assembly blog we see the following UKIP press release on ID cards:

UKIP Challenges Howard on ID cards

The UK Independence Party at the London Assembly today challenged Michael Howard to produce the evidence from police and security chiefs who, he alleges, have told him that ID cards "can and will" help their efforts to protect people against
terrorist acts.

This contradicts the Metropolitan Police statement made to the London Assembly on 8th December. When asked by UKIP London Assembly Leader Damian Hockney: "Is there any evidence that compulsory identity cards would help protect London from a terrorist attack?" the Metropolitan Police representative produced no such evidence.

Damian Hockney said: "Extensive research by UKIP staff has not uncovered any data from anywhere in the world that supports Mr Howard's contention. If Mr Howard has any evidence from police and security chiefs, now must be the time to reveal it. Otherwise his assertion is worthless.

"UKIP is opposed to the introduction of compulsory ID cards as a matter of principle. If Mr Howard cannot produce his evidence he must retract and apologise for misleading the public."
-ends-

Hat tip EUReferendum.

An increasingly difficult job

The wisdom of one sly old fox

The sports of their forefathers
To baser tastes shall yield;
The vices of the town displace
The pleasures of the field

"The league's agenda was always to move on to attack shooting once they had got a ban on hunting, and it is quite clear that the agenda is being adopted by the Parliamentary Labour Party,"

The emergence of the super citizen

On the subject of ID cards we see how it is possible to increase your political power by choosing the right career:

Mr Clarke said: “It is clearly the opinion of the police and all the other security services that this Bill will make the identification of people easier and that is why we support it.”

Democracy is such an ephemeral thing.

The Tory party is leaking

The Tory party is leaking conservatives like there is no tomorrow:

Five officers: Quentin Peck, Dorothy Smith, Mike Burden, John Stanley and William Harrell; were disqualified after their alleged involvement in distributing a video sympathetic to the rival party UKIP.

New 1952 Committee member

Tim Worstall has joined the 1952 Committee:

Oh, and add me to the list of course. I’m in the process of registering at present for an absentee ballot...I can’t bring myself to vote for the odious Don Foster but shall find some other non-Tory non-Labour party to vote for, deciding closer to the time when I see what the list of options is like.

By the way, I've decided that Committee headquarters look remarkably like the inside of a rather nice pub. More than one open fire, free cigars and no TV sets.

The guest beer is Shepherd Neame Vintage Christmas Ale.

Here's a report from the Scotsman on last night's shenanigans in the Commons. You know, in the old days abstaining from a vote in most forums meant hhmm, well, you know, I'm not really sure either way. These days I have no idea what it means.

The cutting edge of comedy?

Some people say that if you have been reading a blog for a long time it can seem like you know the person behind the blog in an almost personal fashion. Well, to me it seems very much like I've actually met this particular blogger in the flesh, though I admit that it was dark and things were a little hazy:

Seasoned veterans know what they can get away with, but at this time of year there are always people out on the street who think I love taking to them and that they are really funny, that it’s ok to run down the street carrying a traffic cone and that I should not snarl at them when they argue with me.

The search for comedic excellence is an experimental one. Sometimes it falls flat and sometimes it's so cutting edge that people actually don't get it.

Traffic cone, on the head, with the running and the singing. Oh come on! With the singing! No?

The ultimate, most profound, fundamental civil liberty in the world ever

In a Times article titled ID cards defend the ultimate civil liberty Charles Clarke, our brand new home secretary, gives us a lesson in the most fundamental civil liberty in our society:

I claim that the ID Cards Bill that I am introducing today is a profoundly civil libertarian measure because it promotes the most fundamental civil liberty in our society, which is the right to live free from crime and fear.

This is a whole new level of libertarianism that I was not previously aware of and I thank the man for his insight. Just imagine, a life without fear. How could I have missed that fundamentally ultimate libertarian aim.

Got a vertigo problem? Get an ID card, the ultimate promoter of your right to live free from your terrible affliction. Want to talk to that girl you’ve been too scared to approach? Hey, that’s fear baby and it’s your right to live a life devoid of it. Flash her your ultimate plastic friend! Frightened that your finances continue to spiral out of control? £85 quid for your poverty busting plastic pal and it’s sorted.

Of course, some folk don’t actually subscribe to this no fear brand of civil libertarianism. Libertarians for instance. Fear leads to aspiration. Aspiration leads to action. Action leads to either more fear or less fear depending upon the quality and execution of the plan.

Of course, I’ve ranted.

Clarke was just throwing in a soundbite and he probably was referring to a particular kind of fear, say, terrorism. But honestly, it is hard for us to imagine ID cards as the best tool for that particular job given that it is far easier to imagine the affect that three and a half billion one pound coins could have on a terrorist if used in a more imaginative manner.

I fear that Clarke is guilty of a certain level of woolly thinking on this whole freedom thing so I offer him a little educational material, by way of this short message, which is a great deal deeper than its shallow surface would otherwise suggest:

Clarke. Shut-up. If you want an ID card go right ahead and buy one. I don’t, so piss off.

That, my friends, is my brand of ultimate civil libertarianism.

BBC's award winning service

It's good to see the BBC being recognised again for its award winning service.

I am as a God

To you I have given form. I have given you life and the gift of time. Look towards the heavens and revel in discovery, for this will make you great. Look to the Earth as it offers you its substance. From this you may build great machines and this will make you its master. Dwell upon who you are, who you were and who you may become. From this you will gain wisdom and understanding. Look to me and wonder how it has all come to be this way, for I cannot be forever and there is more to do. Ask yourselves how and why and what and if, and share what you have asked and how you have asked it. Share what you have discovered for there is reason in how it is done. Marvel at it. Destroy it, rebuild it, change it and re-make it for this is my plan.

And then it will be done and I will have fulfilled my bargain and you will have become as a God.

Shoo Minister

Ohh, ho, ho. It seems that Anti fox hunting Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael has penned a letter to the Western Morning News from within his underground bunker somewhere beneath Whitehall. I feel sorry for the rural postman that had to deliver it. It’s not easy having to gallop at full speed through field and village these days, what with the rebel alliance and its sympathisers hiding behind every bush. Even stopping for refreshment in a local pub could end in disaster.

Have you noticed that the government never publishes official figures of the number of dispatch riders (or posties as they like to call them) who never return? It’s because they don’t want to scare you.

Anyhow, somehow (and the postie cannot be found to confirm this) the Minister’s letter has come to the attention of a local rebel printing press called This is Devon, probably based in a large barn and well hidden by stacks of straw bales. The type was set and this excellent rebuttal to the Minister is the result.

I will pick out some juicy bits (which is most of it) to save you having to find the nearest tree (or postie) to which it is pinned:

[The captured government propaganda], seeking to explain and justify the hunting ban, is a catalogue of misinformation, wrong-headed conclusions and downright nonsense.

…

…we have no respect whatsoever for the cynical, spiteful, two-faced, hypocritical manner in which the hunt ban has been introduced, and will now be implemented.

…

Mr Michael's first pious point is to plead for sympathy for the introduction of the legislation insisting: "No one could have tried harder than I did - for three years - to persuade hunt supporters and opponents to find common ground...But the hunters did not want to allow the slightest compromise on their pastime." That is questionable in the extreme. A more accurate assessment would have been to admit that Labour's own backbenchers, sensing an historic victory in the class war against hunting "toffs", could not be persuaded to compromise by ministers who were becoming increasingly anxious about the impact of the ban.

But it gets much worse. Mr Michael goes on to claim public support for the hunt ban alleging that opinion polls "have consistently shown that most people oppose hunting, although the vast majority do not feel strongly either way..." Here Mr Michael is playing fast and loose with the English language. How can anyone who doesn't feel strongly "consistently oppose hunting"? It doesn't make any sense.

…

In another outburst the Minister comes over all wounded, complaining that to suggest the law was based on bigotry and prejudice was "an insult to the integrity of MPs of all political parties." Do us a favour, Mr Michael. MPs only got the opportunity to tackle this issue because your Government and your Prime Minister was up to his neck in rebellious backbenchers furious over the war in Iraq and needed to buy them off. So no lectures on integrity, please.

…

But it's when he gets to the Act itself and the way it will be implemented on the ground that Mr Michael really begins to beggar belief. "The Act," he pompously writes "is simple to understand, obey and enforce." If the minister really believes that, then he must be the only person in Britain who does.

…

One particular phrase exposes Mr Michael's woeful failure to understand the countryside and the effect the hunt ban will have. He says we'll still be at liberty, once the ban is in place, to "shoo" any fox, hare or deer off our land, so long as no dogs are used. What a pathetic Islington drawing-room view of the countryside that conjures up; of landowners shooing away obliging little foxes, to keep the baa lambs and the clucking hens safe from harm. How depressingly that nonsense underscores New Labour's abject ignorance of the countryside.

I love that bit. Shoo. Hehe. Shoo. Nope, I can’t see it myself.

A little while ago I wrote on the subject of farmers not cooperating with state agencies and private enterprise as part of the rebel alliance plan to frustrate the authorities. I said:

So, let’s see if we can spot the first accusation from a government mouthpiece that this kind of behaviour is petty and counter productive. At that point we will know that it is starting to have an affect.

Which brings me to this bit of the remarkable rebel rebuttal:

As he founders on, the Rural Affairs Minister digs himself into an even deeper hole with a truly astonishing attack on the landowning hunt supporters who are fighting back against the hunt ban by refusing the public utilities and the Ministry of Defence access to their land. He says such tactics are "unacceptable." But since when has it been unacceptable, Mr Michael, for a land owner to use his own land as he sees fit? Or is that the next thing New Labour is planning to clamp down on?

Unacceptable; a stronger word than I expected for the first sign that things were biting.

When I was retrieving the This is Devon dispatch from the side of a large old oak I was startled by a youth who jumped out from a nearby bush and pointed a rather large farm implement at me.

”Are you a postie!?”, he demanded.

”No, I’m a friend.”

”Be on your way. You look like city folk to me an’ I ain’t gonna be avin’ any of that I can tell you. Go on, ya big tosser ‘for I stick me fork in you!”

Sticks and stones may break my bones but you’d have to catch a train to London to find the rural affairs minister.

1952 Committee receives letter from Brussels

Ahem. It seems that our '52 press release the other day has fallen foul of some EU regulations. In it we alluded to our made up articles of association which, for some reason allowed us to sell fish.

Gawain from Brussels writes:

My dear I would like to ask what genus of fish can be purchased from the 1952 Committee? It is also important for me to know where it was landed, whether it has been hygienically kept, and whether the trawler that made the catch had regulation net size.

You just wait until he finds out we sell in pounds and ounces.

New 1952 Committee members

Since the last announcement we have had another nine members join the 1952 Committee. A big warm welcome to:

Anoneumouse at The Anglo Saxon Chronicle.
Ken at Militant Moderate.
Paul at Voice of the Future.

Tim at An Englishman's Castle (Hon).
Neil at German for Beginners (Hon).
Lurch at Gun Culture (Hon).
Dominic at Serenade (Hon).
Phil at LimeyPundit (Hon).

Wolfie at Dodgeblogium (Spirit).

I have added a stand alone document for the committee. It can be found here and I have linked my 1952 Committee sidebar image to it.

Also, David at Stupid White Men has become a member.

Class

Have you noticed that class seems to be more on the minds of our politicians these days than on the minds of the people they sometimes represent?

Well David did go. So some of you got your wish fulfilled.

Personally I am sorry. British politics has an ever decreasing number of people from backgrounds like David's and frankly we need more of them.

It is interesting that a majority of you thought he should go, yet on the doorstep there is great support for him in our traditional working class areas. I think there is a class aspect to this. David certainly offended many middle class liberals and I understand why. I am not dismissing such arguments. They are important. But David talked the language of those who live in the high crime areas and they respond to him.

I always figured Blunkett as just some guy, you know, and had no interest whatsoever in his roots. In fact, I think it's completely irrelevant.

Also, class has nothing to do with objections to his policy decisions. For instance, I think that his ASBO initiative has been well received in the increasingly inaccurately described middle classes.

What does make the difference between those that agree with Blunkett's policies and those that do not is an idea. The idea that liberty is something to be valued and protected, and not something that you should be allowed to limit by degrees without very good and abundantly available reason and then only on a very temporary basis and only after that good reason is presented in crystal clear and undeniable terms to the country.

No one has a monopoly on ideas and no one has a monopoly on being a victim of crime and I'm becoming increasingly of the opinion that the true class divide is between the politicians and everyone else.

BASC welcomes the new Home Secretary

From here:

16th December 2004……………………….immediate release.

The appointment of the Right Honourable Charles Clarke MP as Home Secretary has been welcomed by the UK’s biggest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) which will be writing to him to arrange a meeting on the review of firearms law.

Mr Clarke has previously served as a Home Office minister with responsibility for firearms law and has gained a reputation for being an approachable individual with a pragmatic view of shooting sports.

When commenting on firearms laws as Minister of State at the Home Office, Mr Clarke said “We are also aware that many people enjoy properly conducted shooting sports and we celebrate their competitive success. We have sought to strike a balance and to target our controls fairly and proportionately – our primary concern is to protect public safety.”

John Swift, BASC chief executive said “We welcome Mr Clarke to his new role and look forward to working with him on issues such as the current Home Office review of firearms law. His pragmatic reputation is well deserved. We share his aim of protecting public safety and will work towards developing his support for properly conducted, safe and legal shooting sports. We will be writing to Mr Clarke to arrange a meeting at his earliest convenience.”

I wasn't aware of Mr. Clarke's reputation with respect to the shooting sports. I wonder what his actual track record is?

Rebalancing the constitution

Being, as I am, inclined to lift things directly from the blog of the Campaign for an English Parliament I bring you the following:

Paul Linford has had an article published in the Newcastle Journal and the Lincoln Echo calling for an English Parliament.

As I wrote in the aftermath of the "no" vote, the idea of an English Parliament ought now to be given serious consideration as a means of addressing the imbalances in the constitution.

London would remain the centre of UK Government, in control of foreign policy, defence, homeland security, and overall taxation and spending - with a new centre of English governance in control of everything else.

The exact location - Manchester, York, Birmingham, even Derby - would not matter, so long as it was anywhere north of Watford Gap.

It would not merely help to re-balance the constitution - but more importantly in the longer-term, to rebalance the economy too.

Moon missile - the real story

Don't be fooled. This is all part of Frank's plan to nuke the moon. I'm sure of it.

Wassup Robert?

Things looking bleak? Farms failing? Economy sliding down the bog? Wassup Robert, losing too many needed people?:

HARARE (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe's government has said it will unconditionally welcome back all Zimbabweans who fled to Britain claiming political persecution by his ruling party, a state-owned daily is reporting.

Sheesh, keep spelling losing wrong. No need to email in again, dear spelling corrector. I have changed the post.

Joe Haldeman's The Forever War

I’ve just finished reading The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, a book first published way back in the last century (1974 I think) but re-released under the FS Masterworks series.

Now, many people compare this book with Heinlein’s Starship Troopers and I would say that there are a great many similarities but it does differ, I think, in one very striking respect.

The Forever War charts the life and times of William Mandella (I thought it was Mandalla but amazon says no), a soldier in the war against an alien race, over a period of many centuries.

The method employed to visit other worlds means that he and his fellow soldiers age only a few months and years while planet bound individuals age centuries and it is the ever changing face of Earth and human culture that Mandella sees when he returns to Earth or other human settlements that is the soul of this book. That and his relationship with another character but hey, relationships happen all the time, so it is the former that makes it extra special.

I won’t go into detail so you’ll have to read it to find out what I mean but if you are a SciFi fan, I can thoroughly recommend it. I zipped through it faster than any other book I have read.

Underpaid, oversexed, and living in my house

This just in from Mrs. England Project who has, for some time, strongly suspected that the government has been deliberately keeping some of her money without good reason. She wrote to them saying as much. They wrote back saying please take some time out and work for us on a temporary and unpaid basis. We need someone to update our records and we think it would be spiffing if you could be that person:

I have just received two tax returns for the years to April 2003 and April 2004 - as a result of me trying to claim a tax rebate I'm sure. I only earned about £not muchk each year and they owe me about £100 and for my trouble I now have to sift through piles of paperwork for them!!!!

Of course, this shared opinion is an overreaction to a necessary evil, but honestly, the good lady has other things to attend to. Most of them will come to mind quite soon I am sure.

The case of the missing conviction

Neil Herron joins Prisoner JW7874 in pointing out that demands for payment via fines without first achieving a conviction are not compatible with the Bill of Rights 1689 which states:

That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void.

Now, I don't seriously expect these objections to go very far but, frankly, I can't put my finger on why. As Mr. Herron points out:

As stated in the ‘Metric Martyrs’ Judgment in the Supreme Court of Judicature, Queen’s Bench Division (18th February 2002) by Lord Justice Laws and Justice Crane (I will paraphrase, but have included a full copy of the Judgment with the relevant sections 62 and 63 highlighted):

62 “We should recognise a hierarchy of Acts of Parliament: as it were ‘ordinary’ statutes and ‘constitutional’ statutes. The special status of constitutional statutes follows the special status of constitutional rights. Examples are Magna Carta, Bill of Rights 1689, The Act of Union, the Reform Acts etc.”

63. “Ordinary statutes may be impliedly repealed. Constitutional statutes may not…”

As you are no doubt aware, Sunderland City Council went to quite considerable lengths to achieve the Metric Martyrs Judgment and the precedent set by Lord Justice Laws is clear and unambiguous.

Mr. Herron should know, because he was there when the judgement was made.

PRESS RELEASE - New members of the 1952 Committee

Immediate release.

Two new conservative leaning bloggers have joined The 1952 Committee. A great big look, see what you've gone and done now Michael welcome to Giles at JacobsRoom and Drake at The Edge of England's Sword (Hon).

We have also received a number of emails in support from conservative minded people who do not write for a weblog. Unfortunately, and at this time, we feel we cannot offer associate membership to the committee for non-sitting members as our articles of association* do not allow it. However, we would like to thank you for your kind support in these troubling times.

ENDS

If you have any queries regarding the 1952 Committee or would like further information on a news item please contact the Committee Press Office via the Internet using the email address at the top and to the left of this page.

* Although the articles do allow us to sell fish for some reason.

They've vanished him!

Or perhaps that's too reactionary. Stephen Pollard's blog has vanished. Wiped clean. Erased. Vanished!

He's either been nailed by Mad Dog or is experiencing blogging difficulties.

Anyone hear him on Radio 5 live this morning? I reached journeys end before they got to his spot.

He has returned.

Also, some people seem to be giving him a hard time for talking about and plugging his book. Bad show if you ask me. The man wrote a frigging book and it looks like one that is turning out to be quite well thumbed. Writing a book is hard work and, frankly, if I had ever managed to complete one rather than falling after a few pages of tat, you'd never hear the end of it.

Sheesh, some people never stop talking about their jobs, or the product of their jobs, and Stephen has every right to do the same with his book.

Cripes! Mad Dog has quit:

David Blunkett has quit as home secretary after an e-mail emerged showing a visa application for his ex-lover's nanny had been fast tracked.

Mr Blunkett said he had done nothing wrong because the visa had been processed by the "system".

But he said questions about his integrity had been damaging the government.

From the hunters mouth

By the way, lots of new stuff posted over at Liberty and Livelihood recently.

Guido on Howard's dream

Guido Fawkes on the loss of Tory identity:

Howard gave a speech in the City in February about his "British Dream", it was trailed as his libertarian vision. When he said "the people should be big and the state should be small.... " and to follow the British "...dream wherever it takes you." He apparently meant you had to take your ID card with you. When he said his vision "means government should let people grow and be wary of taking control away from people..." he meant so long as they had a compulsory state enforced ID card recording their biometric details on a central state register.

Apparently at a recent speech at the Policy Exchange Mr. Howard looked unwell and other Tories were looking old and weary. Interestingly enough me and my family look pretty much the same after a good old fashioned argument, though I suspect the Italian blood that courses through our veins at such times makes for a far greater spectacle of righteous enthusiasm than any Tory cross table verbalisation ever could.

Sometimes we have to stop for espresso and Panettone mid flow just to keep from fainting.

The nothing party

The unrecognisable Tory party are backing ID cards. They are dead.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W. H. Auden

I'm going to try and keep track of previously pro-Tory bloggers who have decided not to vote Tory because of their support for ID cards (see the end of this post). If you are one or know of any please email me (email in CONTACT box on top left of page). Because any such list demands a name I'm calling it The 1952 Committee. I believe that this was the year in which the Churchill government ended post war ID cards (name subject to change if I got the year wrong).

Honorary positions are available to historically pro-Tory bloggers who had already made their minds up to not vote Tory because of other issues but who could not again support the party on the basis of their stance on ID cards. For example, a tougher line on EUrope by the Tories would not be enough to make up for their support of ID cards.

Ahem, (Spirit) is for bloggers who, if they did everything necessary to enable them to vote, would turn up at a polling station just so they could decide not to vote Tory. I know, I know, but we like to be inclusive.

Also, comments open for the second time only on The England Project. Because we care.

Received this mail from David at The Cabarfeidh Pages which shows the depth of feeling over this and other Tory failures:

Member of the Scottish Conservatives Executive Council here in Moray, former Treasurer until last month (quit as I'm now doing teacher training). Had enough. Howard has ignored what I and many others have told him. If he won't listen to the paid up members and office bearers? Twit.

I'm attending my last AGM on Thursday and quitting thereafter. Can't force myself to vote LibDem but if I don't vote then Labour will stay in change this country for the worst.

For this I served 23 years and ended up 80% disabled thanks to the IRA?

From guest blogger Steve Bowbrick over at Honourable Fiend:

Did Michael Howard really just throw away the opportunity to create a robust, distinctive, small 'l' liberal, modern, pro-liberty, anti-Big Government, anti-waste policy on ID cards and, instead, opt to meekly shadow Blunkett, Blair et al through the next decade of epic waste, technological dead-ends and constitutional vandalism on the road to universal, compulsory biometric ID? Looks like it. Did he, while he was at it, open a giant rift in his shadow cabinet and produce the kind of tension that can only lead to the next leadership challenge? Maybe.

Andrew is:

...sick of this. Howard is a serial headline-hunter. He manages the party on a day to day basis, with no discernable long-term strategy, and a distinct lack of common principles. I personally can't stomach that any longer.

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The 1952 Committee members list can be found here.

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Images are always fun.

If you want to link them to something you might want to consider this.

The fifty seven thousand

It's good to see that the unfair ban on the sport of pistol shooting is back in the news:

To add to the concerns of the London bid team, another bit of lobbying has begun which could influence IOC members when they vote next July. This will highlight the way in which the Government have treated the Olympic sport of pistol shooting. The Sportsman's Association have written to the director general of the IOC, explaining how British pistol shooters (unless living in Northern Ireland) are severely discriminated against if they wish to compete in the pistol-shooting events in the Olympic Games.

Joe Kelly, chairman of the Sportsman's Association, in his letter asks the IOC "to use what influence they can to persuade the British government to amend the two Firearms (Amendment) Acts, 1997, so that at least the British and county pistol squads, and all shooters aspiring to such positions, may prepare themselves properly for competitions such as the Olympic Games".

Shooting is a major sport worldwide and the French have already made the treatment of shooting sports by our Government as an issue to lobby behind the scenes against London. The International Shooting Sport Federation are an influential governing body and will not be keeping silent either. The sport is second only to athletics in terms of numbers of countries affiliated and at the Sydney Olympics shooting had the third-highest numbers of countries competing.

During the Commonwealth Games two years ago in Manchester, a military operation was mounted to guard the competitors' pistols on their journey from the airport to the competition venue at Bisley in Surrey. As Joe Kelly points out in his letter to the IOC, if the UK wishes to host the Olympics in London in 2012, the Government will have to again introduce these special arrangements, which, he says, were a costly farce.

In the aftermath of the Dunblane tragedy and the knee-jerk response to ban all handguns, no consideration was given to the plea of the legitimate shooting sports that competition shooting should be able to continue. Despite the ban, there are more illegal weapons on the streets than ever and the only people being punished are our talented athletes, who have to keep their pistols abroad and travel to Switzerland to train. This is an expensive undertaking and means that the opportunity to compete internationally is denied to many.

Both the current Labour government and the conservative party are fully to blame for the current ban on the sport of pistol shooting in this country and it is not something that many of us can easily forgive them for.

When it suits the suits, they argue that one should not overreact and legislate on the basis of isolated incidents. Bad law is often the result. Yet, when it comes to the private ownership of firearms for sport, they seem to lack the moral stature to stick to their guns.

The unfairness of the legislation is made worse by the almost immediate increase in the criminal use of firearms that came after the ban.

Of course, the argument goes that the intention of the ban was to prevent another Dunblane from ever happening again and its success can be measured by the fact that no such event has reoccurred.

Obviously, to believe that you would also have to believe that the ban on legal sporting use of handguns has acted as a significant barrier to anyone wanting to get hold of such a gun. No sensible person would or could actually believe that. One just needs to recall any number of recent uses of illegally obtained and held handguns to see through that one.

But the real truth is that the ban and the argument for it is only acceptable because those affected were a minority of about fifty seven thousand law abiding individuals.

Politically it was nothing but a numbers game. Had there been 15 million sporting shooters the suits would have been dazzling in their defence of a perfectly reasonable and safe pastime.

And they want us to re-engage with them. On what passing, temporary and politically convenient principle would they like us to do that?

EDM 228 - The abolition of regional chambers

An excellent Early Day Motion (EDM 228). These are basically short written statements made by one Member of Parliament or more which can be signed by other MPs as a show of support for the cause highlighted by the EDM:

ABOLITION OF REGIONAL CHAMBERS 30.11.04

Spelman/Caroline

That this House notes the overwhelming and decisive rejection of elected regional assemblies in the North East referendum by 78 per cent. to 22 per cent. and widespread public opposition to regional government in England, to higher taxes and to more politicians; notes that the transfer of powers to regional chambers was predicated on the ultimate establishment of elected regional assemblies; asserts that there is now a clear democratic deficit, as the regional chambers have no accountability, no mandate and no legitimacy; and calls on the Government to end its stealth regionalisation and for the regional chambers to be abolished, and for the powers that have been seized by the chambers to be returned to England's boroughs, counties and cities.

Via Neil Herron.

I have used the excellent faxyourmp.com to ask my MP to add his signature to the EDM. Why not try this at home?

A day in modern Britain

So, myself and the good lady have just this second got home from a rather fine showing of the young lads school nativity play. Most enjoyable.

At the end of the performance the head mistress stood up and addressed the crowd. ”I notice that some parents have been using video equipment and digital cameras. To comply with child safety regulations I would ask you to visit the office before leaving to leave your details. Thank you.”

Needless to say I did not comply, but I was somewhat disappointed to note that many, if not all, other parents did.

You may think less of me for not complying, after all what harm can it do and I would agree that, on the face of it, not very much. However, as another example of step by step state intervention in the day to day living of the average family I chose not to because if people do not refuse to comply with such things there is little or nothing preventing the ratchet from once again locking into another tooth of the gears of government intervention.

I am guilty of nothing and would, had I been accosted by someone for my refusal, have most definitely kicked up more of a stink than they could have possibly enjoyed.

First European weblog awards

More weblog awards. This time they're the First European Weblog Awards which does have a Best UK blog category if you are interested in nominating someone.

Please, theenglandproject.net does not recognise the legitimacy of Europe as a land mass* or as a political idea; do not nominate me. Not even for a joke as I will request withdrawal from the whole shooting match. Also I am tired of the bleating**. Oh so very tired.

Via What you can get away with.

* Not necessarily true.

** The characteristic cry of a goat or sheep.

Who and how many is not the issue

Some of you may be beginning to notice postings on other blogs about this issue of how homeowners can treat or should be able to treat burglars. Things like how this is only on the agenda because a rich white man was killed during a break-in or how the current calls by some for a change or clarification of the law should be addressed by mentioning the fact (not withstanding any increase in hot burglaries) that burglaries are actually dropping.

I think that this reveals some negative prejudice in these commentators. Firstly, it reveals their belief that those bringing up the issue are overly concerned with the makeup of the victim without providing anything but very loose and highly improbably circumstantial evidence.

Secondly it implies that the rights of victims and of burglars should in some way be dependent upon the number of burglaries that are committed each year.

I don’t recognise either of these two points as significantly legitimate with respect to what the correct legislation should be. Poor black victim, rich white victim, one hot burglary a year, five million hot burglaries a year.

The legitimacy of a homeowner’s method and intensity of resistance or retaliation is not and should not be dependent on those issues.

Custom file not found

I have created and installed a custom file not found page on theenglandproject.net. Anyone requesting a resource that does not exist will be presented with this topical message: English Parliament not found.

No cause is worth its salt unless it has its own custom 404 message.

Home defence and security

Here's a little more from Sir John Stevens on self defence in the home:

"The bottom line is that everyone from the public to the politicians are behind it, apart from one or two lawyers."

Sir John also backed people's right to arm themselves at home in order to defend themselves.

"People do have baseball bats to defend themselves, after all they are in their homes and it is not an offensive weapon. I draw the line at firearms but people are entitled to be in possession of such things in their own homes.

Also, don't miss this Mark Steyn article in the Telegraph in which he suggests that the increased security used generally in our homes simply helps to encourage determined burglars to go for the easy option ie the front door when someone is there to answer it.

An Englishman's home is not his castle, but his dungeon and ever more so - window bars, window locks, dead bolts, laser security, and no doubt biometric recognition garage doors, once the Blunkett national ID card goes into circulation.

All this high-tech protection, urged on the householder by Pc Plod, may make your home more secure, but it makes you less so. From the burglar's point of view, the more advanced and impregnable the alarm systems become, the more it makes sense just to knock on the door and stab whoever answers.

An interesting point of view and one that I think has some merit.

The Prime Ministers Official Spokesman says that we are all a little confused. We have been granted by the government all the rights that we need and just need a little clarification on the whole burglar thing. Part of that clarification is to tell us that we should not 'actively retaliate' against a home intruder.

No advice was offered as to why 'active retaliation' was a bad thing.

Sir John Stevens has given his support to the Tories for their plan on the issue of home defence. Some critics of the plan suggest:

...it could create a "have a go" culture among some householders.

No news yet on what the negative aspects of have a go culture might be.

Never forget that the primary reason for the unreasonable farce we find ourselves in is the desire, which is irresistible for some, to protect the burglar from the home owner.

When will this stop being news

Security papers 'found in street'. Again.

A mini crime spree

Via Mugged by reality, via Blognorregis we have this story in the Jerusalem Post:

Two intoxicated female British tourists who were sexually assaulted by their Jerusalem Arab taxi driver fended him off with blows which left him hospitalized, police said Tuesday.

The incident, which took place late Sunday night, began after the two tourists, who are in their 20's, were picked up by the driver from the city's popular Underground Disco and asked to be driven to the youth hostel in the Jerusalem community of Shoresh.

On the way, the driver pulled over on a darkened patch of the road, and started to commit an indecent sexual act on one of the tourists, police said.

The two fought back, beating the driver and even damaging his cab.

The surprised driver – who was so badly beaten that he required medical treatment at Jerusalem's Hadassah University Hospital at Ein Kerem – was placed under arrest.

He was later released on bail.

The two tourists involved in the incident were questioned by police, and are still in Israel, police said.

I can't help but wonder how this incident would have been dealt with over here in the UK. Being so distant and, of course, not having all the facts it would be easy for me to judge harshly but I gotta say it looks like a mini crime spree. Sexual assault, grievous bodily harm (or perhaps actual bodily harm), criminal damage and, perhaps, something to do with being drunk for good measure. Lots of arrestable offences, all in such an enclosed area. Bargain.

Historical vandalism

Via Guido at dodgeblogium we see that vandals have wrecked a memorial commemorating the local Fartown and Birkby servicemen who fell during the Great War.

The people who did this then added further disgrace by scrawling Die 4 no reason, long live Hittler on what was left of the monument.

I find it hard to understand how anyone could do something like this, but then again things go on every day that I find impossible to fathom and vandalism in general goes on all over the country, every day of the week. But this particular brand of vandalism goes far deeper than most for me.

It is historical vandalism that belittles the sacrifice made by so many of our men and boys. It reaches far back and wrenches at some of the very things that define our nation's place in the modern world. I don't for one minute think that the people who did this actually understand the meaning of the local monument, which is just one of thousands that stand in the villages, towns and cities of the United Kingdom, blessed and at the same time burdened with the names of the men who once lived in those communities.

They don't understand because if they did they would not have shown such disregard and disrespect. How could they?

So why don't they understand? Why can't they empathise with what the memorial stands for? Not for war, but for sacrifice.

Because these individuals have no reference within themselves, no check or failsafe that would or could have stopped them in their tracks for even contemplating such a disregarding act.

The toppling of that statue, that bronze copy of a first world war soldier, was to them a symbol of their 'struggle', their beliefs and their desires. Them, them, them. These are the very people who are completely lacking in the exact qualities represented by that statue.

It has been toppled, vandalised, and daubed with insulting remarks and it still contains in each name engraved onto its surface, more value than is contained within the hearts of the thugs that tried so hard to destroy it.

The eye of the storm

This notion that ID cards have the support of the vast majority of the public makes me feel blessed. Blessed that I somehow keep managing to bump into people who, through some extraordinary twist of fate, are at odds with the vast majority. Lady luck must see me as her very own for the same thing has happened with fox hunting, smoking and sporting pistol shooting. My little area of suburbia must be, by some extraordinary quirk of fate, saturated with sinister globalist illuminati hell bent on living their lives in what can only be horrifically described as a rationally individualist manner.

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