The twelve parts of the UK

Honestly, it makes me mad. Furious in fact. Is there no one in our political elite that will refer to England as an actual country or even a single entity? Do they not realise what kind of seeds they are sowing?

I think a period of reflection is in order. I have always considered myself a British nationalist but I am finding it increasingly difficult to affiliate myself with a concept that seems to take so much without giving back anything in the form of recognition for the country that I owe so much to. It's a difficult decision because I make enemies hard. Once set upon a route that I believe is justifiable there is no going back, no reconciliation and it has always proven to end in sadness and bitterness.

I have had a drink and tomorrow is another day but I have to say now, the clear morning head has never made a difference in the past.

First piece up at Anthem4England

For those who are interested here is my first piece for the folks at Anthem4England.

Anthem4England now open

It's been in construction for a while (and still is) but without further delay or procrastination here is the new Anthem4England web resource which includes a blog for your reading pleasure.

Well, who's stupid now?

What western English speaking country has the following percentage breakdown of opinion on the way that the origin and development of life should be taught in school?

• 44% said creationism should be included
• 41% intelligent design
• 69% wanted evolution as part of the science curriculum

Click here to find out.

Oh no. They lied to me. Me of all people.

It just goes to show that politicians are not the only accomplished liars in the world:

George Galloway has said he was promised he could use Celebrity Big Brother show as a "soapbox" for his political views.

He had been surprised when he emerged from the house to discover his political statements had been blanked out with the sound of "birdsong".

Haha! No really, Haha!

Louder and louder

The Social Affairs Unit reports upon the importance of the unfair devolution settlement in Britain citing it as possibly the key issue of the next general election

The West Lothian Question is in part a dummy run for the next election. The very real possibility that Labour may only hold onto power because of Scottish votes is one that has not yet received sufficiently public attention.

Not through want of trying I can tell you that. It will be interesting to see how the BBC copes with ignoring the issue during the next election if it does play a key part as many of us expect.

The one after the previous one

Guido and the Monkey are to put up another podcast tonight over at Guido and the Monkey. I didn't hear the first one that attracted so much attention in the blogosphere but I intend to catch this one. As far as I'm concerned MP's are fair game. They've had their chance and blown it on more occasions that I can be bothered to remember. Give it to them Guido and Monkey boy. Give it to them.

The new class divide

Ahhh, the privileged few get another opportunity to improve their lot.

The Union Flag in Brown's back yard

Too sweet not to mention:

“I don’t care what Brown says, it is an English flag and I would refuse point blank to put one in my garden — it wouldn’t be long before someone put my windows in.”

Via doctorvee.

There are no brakes on this train

Gareth has a little roundup of some press coverage on the issue of the devolution settlement in the Union. It does seem that the issue that some bloggers have been saying will not go away and will be a major issue of our times are not as crazy or as dangerous to the Union as some might think.

The longer I have been involved in this movement the more English separatist chatter I have heard.

It is a situation that was completely predictable.

People who are not offered equality and who do not feel empowered or listened to in any meaningful way will always tend to loose faith in whatever system they think is failing them. I've always said that the greatest threat to the Union comes not from their ranks but from the ranks of those that refuse to accept that something needs to be done and that something must put the nation of England on the same footing as all the other Union nations.

Gareth is quite right when he says:

We been predicting and warning of this for ages of course, but our leaders failed to listen. The massed ranks of Parliament are always the last to notice the public mood. Well, they're listening now. We've passed being ignored, passed being labelled extremists, passed being labelled dangerous.

We are rapidly getting to the point (and it is astonishing to me how quickly this is happening) where the accelerating gravy train of English nationalism (or British equalitarianism) will become too much for some politicians to resist and too loud for the others to ignore.

That will be the BBC singularity. A point where the issue is so acute that not even the BBC can ignore it.

From then on it will only be a matter of time.

Regional government in East Anglia

Vote, vote, vote.

Via England Expects.

No mandate

Do you want to know more?

Could it be the biggest failure in political judgement of our generation?

Minette Marrin writes:

Scottishness is a nail-biting problem for Brown. Generally speaking most people in England quite like the Scots, even though they seem to hate us. Surveys show we find their accents suggest intelligence and reliability. Politically speaking, however, this easy affection is disappearing fast, as Brown is well aware. Devolution in Scotland and Wales — fought for and introduced by new Labour — has much undermined our common sense of Britishness and fostered instead a new and rather irritable sense of Englishness in the South. Meanwhile Scots feel more Scottish and less British than at any time since 1707, according to some surveys, led astray, possibly, by films such as Braveheart.

I've said it before and I see no reason why I should not say it again; the great threat to the Union is the lack of political representation for England as a nation. As Minette's headline says, England is waking up to the patriot game and the cause is New Labour's unequal British devolution.

I just wonder if it does all go pair shaped for the Union who the chattering classes of the future will blame. I suspect there will be a great deal of harping about how the English caused it and how selfish they were to think of themselves over and above the Union but living, as we do now, in such interesting times it seems pretty obvious where the blame should lie. At the feet of those who thought it at all possible to devolve power to both Scotland and Wales thinking that the English wouldn't notice their unequal treatment or would swallow the regionalisation of their country as a placebo alternative.

How far are you willing to go in your support of the project?

I can’t find the post now but some time back I wrote that regardless of any outcome of a referendum on the EU constitution we would find the thing implemented piecemeal anyhow. It comes as no surprise to me, or probably to anyone else, that this seems to be exactly what is happening:

Far more outrageous would to push ahead with the implementation of the contents of the constitution without popular consent.

Yet this is precisely what you are doing. Look at the number of policies and institutions envisaged by the constitution that have been, or are being, enacted regardless: the European External Action Service, the European Human Rights Agency, the European Defence Agency, the European Space Programme, the European External Borders Agency, a justicable Charter of Fundamental Rights.

In light of this here is a question to those that support closer political and legislative union within the EU:

Do you still lend your support to the project knowing that this is the way it is operating?

The question requires a moderate amount of thought and self reflection to answer because in that answer lies the very essence of where one actually stands politically, democratically and, frankly, personally.

Tally ho here we go

And so it begins:

Ministers complain that the upper chamber is exceeding its powers by daring to oppose what was a specific election manifesto commitment and which the government, as a result, is mandated to introduce.

Like I said, any growing reaction against such social control must come from the commons. The Lords, if one is to judge the use of the parliament act by precedent, must be as ineffective from the point of view of the lover of liberty as the ban of fox hunting must surely be from the point of view of the fox.

The Lords now claim a strengthened legitimacy since the house was reformed by New Labour and opposition parties are even suggesting that manifesto pledges are also fair game for the reformed Lords.

None of this matters in the end game. The Lords and it's legitimacy has not changed for the better since the parliament act was used to force through the ban on hunting with hounds. There can be no hushed tones, looks of surprise and expressions of indignant outrage when the government again uses the act for what can only be reasonably judged as more important issues.

B-17 Flying Fortress

Photograph taken on Sunday of one of the engines on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, a heavy bomber that was in service between 1937-1960.

It just ain't what it used to be

Over at Samizdata Guy Herbert quotes Lord Rees-Mogg in the Times:

In Parliament, particularly in the House of Lords, there is a growing reaction against such social control [as identity cards]. Most of us think policemen should not be turned into busybodies, warning people not even to discuss adoption by homosexual couples; arresting them for any trivial offence; threatening smokers and publicans; and galloping after fox-hunters. We resent this on behalf of the public, but we also resent it on behalf of the police.

In the history of Britain there have been many periods when liberty was threatened. The immediate threat is a government with a lust for control, with little respect for liberty or for the House of Commons, but enjoying the opportunity of using new technologies for social control. The British are certainly less free than we were in 1997 or 2001. The fightback will be laborious and difficult, but there is a new mood.

One would like to hope but no one can take any great solace from the Lord, or indeed any Lord. The proposition that social control is on the rise and that freedom in many respects is in decline (and by freedom I do not mean the spin doctors definition of freedom from the fear of crime or some such) is, to my mind, true. However, and it is a big however, relying on the House of Lords to do anything about it is like trying to build a bridge from the charcoal of a bridge that was burnt down in haste for less important matters.

The glee on the faces of ministers, MPs, and their supporters in the general public must have been something to behold when the Labour government pushed through the bill to ban fox hunting using the parliament act. I wonder how many of them now are hoping that the House of Lords will gallop to their rescue?

And let us not forget those in opposition to that law were not insignificant in number. If half a million marched through London one can only gawp at the true number that must have been against the ban it in principle, dwarfed only by the number that couldn’t care either way or who thought the whole thing was a waste of time and their tax payer’s money.

The argument that it is right and proper that in a democracy the will of the commons must be obeyed for something like fox hunting must also be true for all other items passed from the commons to the Lords that are of at least the same importance to the nation as removing one method of pest control from a list of methods used to control that pest. A Labour mandate for a resolution of the issue either way is not an argument that can bolster either side.

What proposed legislature does Lord Rees-Mog think falls below the radar of that particular precedent?

Any growing reaction against such social control must come from the commons. The Lords, if one is to judge the use of the parliament act by precedent, must be as ineffective from the point of view of the lover of liberty as the ban of fox hunting must surely be from the point of view of the fox.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Britishness

This is just great. It comes from the yellow swordfish

:

Persecuting Gordon, fun for all

The Birdman writes to Gordon Brown:

Not-so-Dear Gordon Brown,

Do you seriously think we English are stupid?
.....

It's coming in thick and fast

This post from Albion's Seedlings is a cracker. There's a new sport in town and it's called ridiculing Gordon and, though I prefer more challenging sports, it does seem to be very popular. They quote the Guardian:

In an impassioned speech, he [Gordon Brown] made the case for recapturing the union flag as a 'British symbol of unity, tolerance and inclusion'. But despite his best intentions, it is not supranational identities which Britons want to cling to, rather, the more particular identities of Wales, Scotland and, increasingly, England.

and then pass comment:

Calling for Labour Party to feel pride in a British patriotism and patriotic purpose Brown conveniently overlooks the fact that his Labour Party have done more than any other organisation to destroy the concept of Britain.

When you're right you're right.

Today is the day for running out of metaphors. Just go and read it all.

This just in..Flag Hags have a point..Nice people really

Well, well, well. Who would have thought things would kick off so soon? I was expecting it to take another term of government at least before the English democratic deficit reached the stage that it seems to have reached now as reported by the Scotsman. How soon can we expect the likes of the BBC to break ranks with silent MSM in England on this issue? As soon, I suppose, as they start looking at the issue as it really is; a democratic injustice instead of a right wing nationalistic movement by a bunch of flag hags.

The walls are coming down, the peasants are revolting, the cracks are widening, the English are waking up and we are firmly at the yawning stage. Next comes the rubbing of the eyes, the first cup of coffee and the dump that will visit a whole heap of shite on the Labour government's devolution toilet.

Pass the tissue. It’s going to get messy.

Euroject fighter engine exhausts

Taken on yet another trip to the RAF museum in Hendon, London. Sooner or later the boy is going to get fed up with going. On that day we can all take a rest.

Labour has taken England out of Britain

Here is a great post on Gordon Brown's Britishness by Chad.

Itchy and scratchy never ends well

How can Gordon Brown hope to cultivate a sense of Britishness when there is so much disenfranchisement in the Union? One has to wonder about his motives and motivation for this initiative as it cannot have escaped his notice that the current devolution settlement can do nothing but entrench the opinions of any of the English who have taken it upon themselves to learn about their current unequal place in Britain.

To talk of Britishness in the current climate carries with it a little risk as it only serves to confirm that the democratic deficit being faced in England is considered by Brown as unimportant or of little consequence.

The risk will increase with each and every awakening to the unfairness faced by every student, child, pensioner … everyone that calls England home.

Brown is a man that is ignoring an itch because it is not his own. Sooner or later the scratching in the audience will demand his attention and, if he doesn’t give it, the audience will turn to someone else who will. That is where a real danger to society and Britishness lies. How can a big man asking big questions be ignorant of that?

Who and where is this man?

Click the image to find out more.

Word of the day

Incredible - So implausible as to elicit disbelief.

Example.

How Channel 4 took an entertainment masterpiece and turned it into slurry

Watching the final back to back episodes of LOST on channel 4 last night was an exercise in frustration. Indeed that has been the way of it for the whole series and I wish I hadn't started.

The problem, frankly, was a simple one and had nothing to do with the series itself but one that lay very much at the doorstep of the channel 4 offices. The adverts. Oh sweet Lord the adverts. So fast and furious they came that even the dog could not hide his frustration.

So, that's it for that particular series on 4. I shall be watching the next series on DVD.

And to think I never knew......

Apparently New Labour are a party of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

PC Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Issue: Author writes about damage caused by some aspects of political correctness.

Politically correct truth: Author delusional. Stands as a prophet for other delusionals. Author hyperventilating fantasist.

Factually correct truth: Author truthful. Debate encouraged.

Quite

Tom Utley in the Telegraph:

The Chancellor has had a very long wait for the keys to Number 10. It will serve him right if he takes possession of them at the very moment when the economy that he has abused for so long begins to collapse.

The truth about talent

...the truth about talent is this – talent is a set of skills you develop over time through desire.

People disagree and the old nature vs. nurture argument rears its ugly head. They say “surely you aren’t denying that gift and natural ability exist?” I do believe in gift ... But the gift of natural ability, without the awareness of it, or without passion attached to it, is either an unknown or unfulfilled potential. Even when natural ability is discovered and nurtured, it is only good for one thing – altering the trajectory of your learning curve.

From The Myth of Telent by Craig M Tanner.

Drunk, vain and lazy

Wow, what a microcosm of the failings and self indulgent desires of the arse end of society our Parliamentary establishment is. The latest double tap comes in the guise of boozer Charles Kennedy MP and the Big Brother celebrity housemate George Galloway MP.

All coming on the same day that the FaxYourMP guys wrote to ask me if my MP had bothered to answer the last fax I sent him. Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen.

Fruity

Here is a still life I took while playing about with the flash commander mode on my Nikon D70 and my spanking new remote flash.

Copyright image

Please note that this has been submitted to my agency and is under strict copyright.

Late seasonal photographs

Here are a couple of still life shots I took for the Christmas season. Both were taken on red card using a tripod and nothing but candle light.

Copyright image

Copyright image

Please note that these have been submitted to my agency and are under strict copyright.

Got milk?

Peter Black AM highlights devolution at work.

Peter Briffa's podcast

From that Peter Briffa podcast:

Interviewer: Very next day, London blown up. What did you think of that?

Peter Briffa: I was against it.

Snigger.

Now is not the time

Tom Griffin comments upon an article in the Independent that sets out what Gordon Brown's agenda will be if he succeeds Tony Blair as Prime Minister. High up on this agenda is a written constitution. I've always been a fan of written constitutions but I have to say that this does worry me greatly. Here is a man that speaks of England as a collection of regions and he is a member of a party that is not popular in England but that clings to power in part because of the support they receive from non-English MPs.

Now there's no way that such a constitution will be written by Brown himself and it is unlikely that it would be written by any politician as we think of them but that does not fill me with any great confidence.

England is currently experiencing a period of severe disadvantage within the Union and it would be foolish to create a written constitution at a time like this.