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| Mark Steel on the media?s mad... | Rebellion Sucks! | |
| The attacks indured by Muslims in the UK are no laughing matter - and the extent of such violence and intimidation has been highlighted by the conservative journalist Peter Oborne, who links it to sensationalist (and usually false) media reportage of Muslims. The reason the tabloid press is full of made-up stories about the Muslim community? [...] |
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| More McCarthy for your money | Devil's Kitchen | |
| Kezza:"don't ask me what the laws mean, guv: I just vote on whether they should be imposed on you or not. After all, you can hardly expect me to take the time to understand what I'm voting for: I'm a very busy and important woman, you know."You might recall that—a couple of days ago—your humble Devil turned his ire on Kerry McCarthy. The Labour MP for Bristol East wasshowing off her ignorance of VAT law.The Jaffa cake—is it a cake, is it a biscuit—saga is well-known, with its makers desperate to prove it was in fact a biscuit, so that it wouldn't be subject to VAT. (Cakes are, biscuits aren't; don't ask me why).I left a comment at her blog, pointing out that maybe she would like to find out why this was the case.Well, Kerry, you are a member of Parliament and so maybe?just maybe?you ought to go and look it up? Or if you are unable to do it yourself, could you not ask one of the members of staff that you spent £90,611 of our money on last year to do it for you?For the record, I have no idea if the biscuit distinction was in the original EU Directive on VAT or wether it was gold-plating by our government. I suspect it's the former, but why don't you go and find out?DKAs it happens, my hunch was wrong and bothFatBigotandTaxLawyerput me straight in the comments: it is a piece of UK legislation, amending the VAT laws.However, todayKerry is moaning about the fact that she didn't get much of a debate on that post(although it seems that, on some subjects,she's not awfully keen on debate).[Emphasis mine.]I don't think Cameron is quite advocating the Jello Biafra approach, but according to the Mail he's saying "If you're fat or poor, it's probably your own fault". Or the fault of people who decide that Pringles shouldn't have VAT charged on them.(Very disappointed by the response to that post; I thought it would spark quite a debate).Well, I did try, Kerry, but the problem is that I seem to be rather more informed about, and interested in, the provenance of said laws than you are. And it is difficult to have a profitable discussion with someone who is not only ignorant of, but also uninterested in, the basic knowledge required underpinning such a debate.I suggested that you go and equip yourself with said knowledge and what wasyour response?Yes, I'll get my massively overpaid and underworked team of researchers and caseworkers to spend the rest of the week checking obscure bits of tax legislation, with instructions not to stop until they find out exactly which categories Hula Hoops, Wotsits and Quavers fall into. And let's not forget Twiglets.For all those who constantly raise the expenditure on staff and office costs - would you rather I didn't employ anyone, didn't follow up on casework, didn't have anyone answer the phones or open the door to the hundreds of people who contact me asking me for help or advice each year? What point exactly are you making? Or are you just trying to score cheap political points?For Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP, to accuse me of "trying to score cheap political points" is, frankly, a bit rich but, being the mild-mannered and patient chap that I am, I'll let that pass.However, I certainly wasn't going to let her hide behind insinuations about her poor, down-trodden staff (perhaps you should actually insist that employment law applies to those working in Royal Palaces too, Kerry; then your staff wouldn't be so over-worked) and so I have just leftanother comment at her site.Kerry,Several things: first, I appreciate that your staff are probably busy.Second: my point about your expenditure was to highlight the fact that you arejoint 60th, out of 646, for staff costs. That would imply that you either employ a greater number of staff than the norm, or that you pay them more. I imagine that, either way, they could find some time.Thirdly, and most importantly, MPs should notprimarilybe social workers; for that, we employ... well... social workers.You arelegislators: that is your prime function. You are, in fact, one of only 646 people whocanmake law in this country.One might have thought that, as a legislator, it was reasonably important that you understood the laws on which you vote.As such, if there is a piece of law that you don't know about, then I think that I might reasonably expect you to look it up."Yes, I'll get my massively overpaid and underworked team of researchers and caseworkers to spend the rest of the week checking obscure bits of tax legislation, with instructions not to stop until they find out exactly which categories Hula Hoops, Wotsits and Quavers fall into. And let's not forget Twiglets."That was not what I was asking at all. What I was pointing out is that you should understand why there are different categories for VAT: not only because it is one of the government's primary revenue streams withincome projected at over £80 billion this year, but because they also affect your constituents' lives.You might like to start with the1972 European Communities Act, for instance.*And are you aware ofthe EU Commission's recent proposed changes to VAT? These, too, will affect your constituents. True, since VAT is an EU imposed tax, there is little that you can do to change rates or categorisations, but you should know about it nonetheless.To return to my third point, laws are important because they control how people in this country live. And yes, the laws that you vote on are vastly more important than your casework; but the laws that you pass alsoaffectyour constituency casework.Am I scoring political points? Sure, but notpartypolitical points: I am a classical liberal/libertarian and thus have a pretty low opinion of MPs of all stripes.You just offered yourself up as a target by declaring your ignorance.DK* If I, as an interested amateur, can be bothered to look this stuff up, then I think that it is reasonable that you—who are employed full-time, and employ others, to do this work—should also do so.Now, does anyone think that I am being at all unreasonable here? Still, I am thinking of adopting Kerry as my newPollypet; it seems to me that there is a rich seam of potential in her witterings.Anyway, we shall see if Kerry responds. | ||
| David Davis Was Right To Trig... | The Blog of Kev | |
| Most people polled think that David Davis was right to trigger the by-election over the erosion of our freedoms. | ||
| Is Gordon Brown living in the... | Rebellion Sucks! | |
| Let them waste less food and go without rights, says Brown. What century is this man living in? He’s flying off to a G8 summit in Japan, but he can’t help lecturing us about the food we throw away before stuffing his face with a six course meal. He’s denied all along that his police state “anti-terror” measures [...] |
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| British Medical Association r... | Rebellion Sucks! | |
| The BMA opposed the creation of the NHS sixty years ago, but are today strongly defending it from damaging “reforms”. From the FT: The NHS in England should abandon choice, competition and other market-like mechanisms in favour of integrated care, making it more like Scotland?s health service, the British Medical Association said on Monday. The call came as [...] |
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| Argos distribution workers wi... | Rebellion Sucks! | |
| From Unite: Argos distribution workers have overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay. 67% of those who took part in the ballot voted for strike action. The turn out was over 75%. Unite, the UK?s biggest union, is warning the Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and one of the country?s biggest [...] |
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| Happy Birthday Captain Ram Ba... | Gallimaufry & Chips | |
| Today marks the 69th birthday of Captain Ram Bahadur Limbu VC who was awarded it following an action on 21 November 1965 as a 26 year old Lance-Corporal of 2 Bn, 10th Princess Mary's Own Ghurka Rifles in Sarawak during the Indonesian Confrontation.Lance-Corporal Limbu and two other Ghurkas were in the van of a sixteen strong patrol. Despite extremely difficult terrain and vegetation, they made their way up to a machine gun post on the crest of a hill. When they got within ten yards it opened fire. Limbu then ran forward alone killing a sentry with a grenade. The entrenched thirty man Indonesian platoon opened fire, seriously wounding both his comrades. Disregarding his personal safety, Limbu left cover four times despite heavy automatic fire and mortaring, to report the situation to his platoon commander, to carry the two wounded to safety, recover the Bren and then proceed to account for several more enemy soldiers.Truly heroic.Here's the London Gazette of 21 April 1966. | ||
| Recession | Sinclair's Musings | |
| There is plenty to discuss about the possibility, raised by the British Chambers of Commerce, that we are heading for recession. Regardless of whether we pass the two quarters of negative growth test it is clear we're facing a nasty downturn.Many of the problems that social conservatives such as Theodore Dalrymple have been drawing attention to for some time are going to become a lot more critical. This, from the best essay written in my lifetime that I've ever read, makes that point:"Ultimately, the moral cowardice of the intellectual and political elites is responsible for the continuing social disaster that has overtaken Britain, a disaster whose full social and economic consequences have yet to be seen. A sharp economic downturn would expose how far the policies of successive governments, all in the direction of libertinism, have atomized British society, so that all social solidarity within families and communities, so protective in times of hardship, has been destroyed. The elites cannot even acknowledge what has happened, however obvious it is, for to do so would be to admit their past responsibility for it, and that would make them feel bad. Better that millions should live in wretchedness and squalor than that they should feel bad about themselves?another aspect of the frivolity of evil. Moreover, if members of the elite acknowledged the social disaster brought about by their ideological libertinism, they might feel called upon to place restraints upon their own behavior, for you cannot long demand of others what you balk at doing yourself."Strong families and strong communities are most important in hard times. They provide resilience and hold people together. With good times coming to an end we'll see how we can hope when they are so thoroughly atrophied. | ||
| A threat to the Falklands ? | Man in the Shed | |
| As Mrs Kitchener is losing support in Argentina its time for the old solution of using patriotism to bolster support (sound familiar). Argentina is threatening military expansionism again.Will Labour be the party to see the loss of British Territory to military aggression ?They should send further forces South, and they shoudl never have scrapped the Sea Harriers. The defence of the Falklands now obviously rests on one airbase with four Tornado ADVs. If that doesn't worry you a lot then your not really thinking it through.Argentina has been getting progressively more aggressive over the last few years. We ignored the warnings once before, and its cost hundred of young men their lives. I'd like to believe our foreign office and the MOD learnt its lessons, but with Gordon Brown and Des Browne in charge you can't have much confidence. | ||
| Burn Up | Sinclair's Musings | |
| This feels like some kind of horrible joke:"Burn Up is a nail-biting two-part thriller for BBC Two from the pen of multi-award-winning writer Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty). It's a powerful story of love, commitment and divided loyalty? a thriller in which the stakes couldn't be higher.[...]This topical thriller sees oil executives, environmental activists and politicians collide in the battle between economic success and ecological responsibility.[...]Neve Campbell plays his colleague Holly, whose covert collaboration with environmentalists puts her in great jeopardy, and Bradley Whitford plays Tom's best friend Mack, a charismatic yet unscrupulous oil industry lobbyist.Burn Up follows the trio's lives and loves as they hurtle towards a global climate change summit."Somehow, I think a fair portrayal of the global debate over climate change policy is a bit unlikely. Will the debate over what to do be cast as anything other than a black and white moral issue largely ignoring the human cost of pushing up the price of energy? Will the programme reflect the fact that 'green' campaigners are far better resourced than sceptics? Will anyone opposing climate change alarmism have any motive that isn't purely mercenary?After Live Earth and the planned Planet Relief no one can seriously argue that, on this issue at least, the BBC's political approach is anything but that of a left-wing pressure group. One funded, at vast expense, by the taxpayer. Update: Here's the trailer from, I think, Canada (looking less classy than the one the BBC ran before Newsnight): Apparently, they can't find a network interested in the States. Given how desperately bad it looks that's hardly a surprise. The BBC wouldn't let some minor issue like quality get in the way of their crusade though, would they? | ||
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