Poor old Gordon Brown. He must be wondering today if even his wife and kids love him.
What a week for him! His Chancellor was caught out lying about the speed of economic recovery, less than two days after his Budget. To keep face with his party, he had to do a temporary U turn on MPs second homes, and now, probably the worst moment of his career, the one that even the political commentators didn't see coming, he has suffered his first defeat in a Commons vote.
When Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg called for a motion to offer all Gurkhas equal right of residence in the UK, the Government were expected to win, if only by the skin of their teeth. But lose they did, the motion being carried by 267 votes to 246, with 27 labour rebel backbenchers voting in favour of it, even though Mr Brown tried to do a deal with them. This in effect means that Mr Brown was defeated by his own party!
This was the first time that a government had lost an opposition day debate since Jim Callaghan in January 1978, and fourteen months later he was forced to call an election.
Mr Clegg must have been feeling smug, it was the Lib Dems biggest Commons victory in their twenty one year history.
As soon as the result was announced there were shouts of “resign!”. Perhaps this should have been offered as a motion as well!
This was one battle the Gurkhas weren’t expecting to win, but in the end, justice prevailed.
It’s not cut and dried yet but I’m sure it wouldn’t be presumptious to open the champagne bottle.
Even if Mr Brown reneges on this one, the Gurkhas have kick started the beginning of the end of New Labour, and I for one salute them for that!
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Read All About It
English literature GCSE is not being taken by almost one in four teenage pupils, according to figures published by the Conservative Party.
Why would that be, are they too idle to read, or is it the fact that they cannot read?
Conservative schools spokesman, Michael Gove said, "An understanding and knowledge of English literature is something we would all consider an essential part of education to GCSE level for all pupils. It is therefore shocking that the subject is in decline to the extent that more than one in four pupils does not even sit it at GCSE."
The Government's Schools Minister, Jim Knight countered with, "Michael Gove is talking nonsense. Both the English and English literature GCSEs include Shakespeare and other great works of English literature so it's wrong to say that pupils are not reading the classics.
Last year 96% of pupils sat an exam that included English literature and more young people are achieving the higher grades in English each year."
What Mr Gove is saying is, that pupils should read and understand the complete book, what Mr Knight is saying is, that they just read extracts from the book, and that’s just fine by him!
Which of these right honourable gentlemen would you prefer to oversee your child’s education? You decide!
Why would that be, are they too idle to read, or is it the fact that they cannot read?
Conservative schools spokesman, Michael Gove said, "An understanding and knowledge of English literature is something we would all consider an essential part of education to GCSE level for all pupils. It is therefore shocking that the subject is in decline to the extent that more than one in four pupils does not even sit it at GCSE."
The Government's Schools Minister, Jim Knight countered with, "Michael Gove is talking nonsense. Both the English and English literature GCSEs include Shakespeare and other great works of English literature so it's wrong to say that pupils are not reading the classics.
Last year 96% of pupils sat an exam that included English literature and more young people are achieving the higher grades in English each year."
What Mr Gove is saying is, that pupils should read and understand the complete book, what Mr Knight is saying is, that they just read extracts from the book, and that’s just fine by him!
Which of these right honourable gentlemen would you prefer to oversee your child’s education? You decide!
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Gurkha Justice Rally
It’s Gordon Browns lucky day today. I’m letting him off the hook on his U turn on scrapping MPs second home allowance. They can carry on renting their tacky DVDs and installing their £10,000 kitchens at our expense, for the time being.
Today I’m going to be serious.
When I opened my emails this morning there was one from Miss Joanna Lumley.
She has informed me that Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, has agreed to put a vote to Parliament tomorrow, Wednesday 29th April, calling for a fair deal for Gurkhas. This alone won’t change last weeks ruling but it will show the Government that they need to have a re-think.
To coincide with this vote tomorrow, there is to be a Gurkha Justice rally and protest against the Government's decision, starting at noon in Old Palace Yard, Westminster. Joanna has apologised for the short notice and asked that anyone reading this, and has the time tomorrow, to join her there to show your support.
As a final note, Joanna spoke yesterday to Lieutenant Madan Kumar Gurung, who has been at the forefront of the campaign since it began. He told her that he has no fear for the Gurkhas any more, as he knows the loving hearts of the British people will not let them down.
Prove him right, be there tomorrow!
Today I’m going to be serious.
When I opened my emails this morning there was one from Miss Joanna Lumley.
She has informed me that Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, has agreed to put a vote to Parliament tomorrow, Wednesday 29th April, calling for a fair deal for Gurkhas. This alone won’t change last weeks ruling but it will show the Government that they need to have a re-think.
To coincide with this vote tomorrow, there is to be a Gurkha Justice rally and protest against the Government's decision, starting at noon in Old Palace Yard, Westminster. Joanna has apologised for the short notice and asked that anyone reading this, and has the time tomorrow, to join her there to show your support.
As a final note, Joanna spoke yesterday to Lieutenant Madan Kumar Gurung, who has been at the forefront of the campaign since it began. He told her that he has no fear for the Gurkhas any more, as he knows the loving hearts of the British people will not let them down.
Prove him right, be there tomorrow!
Monday, 27 April 2009
We Know What You’re Doing!
There is a dearth of news in the UK today, I mean news that I find a tad incongruous, so come with me to Switzerland.
This must be the ultimate case of big brother or is that grand frère or perhaps even große bruder is watching you.
It appears that a Swiss woman was sacked from her job at Nationale Suisse after claiming that she couldn’t use a computer, and had to lie in a darkened room because she was suffering from a migraine. Whilst she was at home, suffering, the company noticed that she was using Facebook. This apparently destroyed their faith in her, so they had no alternative but to sack her.
How did they notice?
Well the lady claims that the company had created a Facebook account using a fictitious name, then the lady, for some reason only known to herself, became ‘friends’ with Mr, or was it Miss X. The company was then able to track her Facebook activities.
After she was fired, the ‘friend’ disappeared from her Facebook. Some friend that was!
So take that as a warning. The next time you shop on-line for a plasma screen TV, make sure that it’s not bigger than your gaffer’s, he may just think that he is overpaying you!
This must be the ultimate case of big brother or is that grand frère or perhaps even große bruder is watching you.
It appears that a Swiss woman was sacked from her job at Nationale Suisse after claiming that she couldn’t use a computer, and had to lie in a darkened room because she was suffering from a migraine. Whilst she was at home, suffering, the company noticed that she was using Facebook. This apparently destroyed their faith in her, so they had no alternative but to sack her.
How did they notice?
Well the lady claims that the company had created a Facebook account using a fictitious name, then the lady, for some reason only known to herself, became ‘friends’ with Mr, or was it Miss X. The company was then able to track her Facebook activities.
After she was fired, the ‘friend’ disappeared from her Facebook. Some friend that was!
So take that as a warning. The next time you shop on-line for a plasma screen TV, make sure that it’s not bigger than your gaffer’s, he may just think that he is overpaying you!
Sunday, 26 April 2009
What's in a Name?
It’s Tory Spring Conference time down in sleepy Cheltenham. The Conservative education spokesman, Michael Gove, has come up with a cunning plan, he wants to create primary academies.
I think that what he means is, he wants primary schools to become autonomous by taken them away from council control and letting them set their own curriculum and hours of attendance.
It’s not for me to say whether this is a good or a bad thing, what I’m objecting to is the way politicians are hijacking the language to suit their own means. If there is an obscure meaning to a word settled right at the bottom of an entry in the OED you can bet your life that they will use it for their own ends.
I mean, academy, that’s never a primary school. An academy is a seat of higher learning, a place where they read Plato and Socrates, not 'Jane and John' first reader books! Academia is a university or a group of students from a university, not a collection of Portakabins on a council estate. An academic is a researcher or even a professor at a university, not Miss Smith who teaches finger painting.
A failing secondary school in my area was re-branded an academy a couple of years ago. It’s still a failing secondary school!
A newly built secondary school in my area is called So and So Campus (the name has been changed to protect the innocent). Campus sounds as cool as academy, but did the person who christened it know that a campus is the word for the grounds and buildings of a university, and not a level of education?
So get wise all of you politicians, Shakespeare’s Juliet was lying when she said, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”
I think that what he means is, he wants primary schools to become autonomous by taken them away from council control and letting them set their own curriculum and hours of attendance.
It’s not for me to say whether this is a good or a bad thing, what I’m objecting to is the way politicians are hijacking the language to suit their own means. If there is an obscure meaning to a word settled right at the bottom of an entry in the OED you can bet your life that they will use it for their own ends.
I mean, academy, that’s never a primary school. An academy is a seat of higher learning, a place where they read Plato and Socrates, not 'Jane and John' first reader books! Academia is a university or a group of students from a university, not a collection of Portakabins on a council estate. An academic is a researcher or even a professor at a university, not Miss Smith who teaches finger painting.
A failing secondary school in my area was re-branded an academy a couple of years ago. It’s still a failing secondary school!
A newly built secondary school in my area is called So and So Campus (the name has been changed to protect the innocent). Campus sounds as cool as academy, but did the person who christened it know that a campus is the word for the grounds and buildings of a university, and not a level of education?
So get wise all of you politicians, Shakespeare’s Juliet was lying when she said, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Saturday, 25 April 2009
The Forgotten Army
Is the British Government deliberately courting controversy? Do they know that they have lost the next election, even though it is months before the nomination papers are submitted?
Yesterday they were proved to be inept, or should that be lying, with their calculations on the speed of the economic recovery, and then another bombshell!
They let down, snubbed, call it what you will, the Gurkhas, or to be precise, the entire British armed forces.
The message that the Home Office sent out was, ‘Thanks for serving the Country pal, but now that you have been demobbed, you’re on your own.’
How can a person, for all intents and purposes, be treated as if he were British for fifteen years, and then overnight, as soon as he has been served his demob papers, become an alien?
The Government’s argument is that, if we let the ex-Gurkhas stay in the country, by the time they are joined here by their families, Britain’s population will swell by 100,000.
So what? If the Gurkhas weren’t available to fight for us in the Pacific in WWII, leaving the Allied troops to concentrate on Europe, our population may well have swelled by 82,000,000, all of them German.
The Government’s cop out is that a Gurkha who was demobbed before 1997 can stay if he can meet one of the following criteria:
This really means, if you are a Gurkha officer, you are more than welcome to stay, if you are one of the other ranks, tough!
As the plaque on the Gurkha Memorial says:
Perhaps there should have been a final line that reads, “But only when it suits us”?
On behalf of British people everywhere, I apologise to the entire Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal for the treachery of the Government of Great Britain.
Yesterday they were proved to be inept, or should that be lying, with their calculations on the speed of the economic recovery, and then another bombshell!
They let down, snubbed, call it what you will, the Gurkhas, or to be precise, the entire British armed forces.
The message that the Home Office sent out was, ‘Thanks for serving the Country pal, but now that you have been demobbed, you’re on your own.’
How can a person, for all intents and purposes, be treated as if he were British for fifteen years, and then overnight, as soon as he has been served his demob papers, become an alien?
The Government’s argument is that, if we let the ex-Gurkhas stay in the country, by the time they are joined here by their families, Britain’s population will swell by 100,000.
So what? If the Gurkhas weren’t available to fight for us in the Pacific in WWII, leaving the Allied troops to concentrate on Europe, our population may well have swelled by 82,000,000, all of them German.
The Government’s cop out is that a Gurkha who was demobbed before 1997 can stay if he can meet one of the following criteria:
- Three years continuous residence in the UK during or after service
- Close family in the UK
- A bravery award of level one to three
- Service of 20 years or more in the Gurkha brigade
- Chronic or long-term medical condition caused or aggravated by service
This really means, if you are a Gurkha officer, you are more than welcome to stay, if you are one of the other ranks, tough!
As the plaque on the Gurkha Memorial says:
THE GURKHA
SOLDIER
Bravest of the brave,
most generous of the generous,
never had country
more faithful friends
than you.
Perhaps there should have been a final line that reads, “But only when it suits us”?
On behalf of British people everywhere, I apologise to the entire Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal for the treachery of the Government of Great Britain.
Friday, 24 April 2009
Make This A Land Fit For Real Heroes!
Today, Gurkhas and ex-Gurkhas who retired before 1997, those Nepalese soldiers that are everything a super-hero should be, courageous, brave, loyal and law abiding, will find out if the Government are going to grant them the right to settle in the UK.
How much discussion and paper shuffling in Whitehall did it need to come to a decision? This was a no-brainer, surely. Even the High Court told the Home Secretary in September last year that the immigration laws denying them the right to settle were unlawful.
This regiment has fought for Kings and Queens and Country for nearly two hundred years. 45,000 of them have died over those years. They have picked up every bravery award going, from the Victoria Cross, down.
Even though the British Government has defecated on them from a great height, not only by denying the right to settle in the UK, but by awarding them less than half of a British regular army soldier’s pension when they retire, back in Nepal they are still clamouring to join this noble regiment.
How do they feel when they see the Government welcome immigrants, from countries that these men have fought and died against, with open arms, people that have contributed absolutely nothing to this country, people that are only here to take advantage of our lax benefits system, when the Gurkhas are denied the same right.
Jaqui Smith, take a leaf out of the Gurkhas book and be loyal too.
All they asking for is your signature on that piece of paper!
How much discussion and paper shuffling in Whitehall did it need to come to a decision? This was a no-brainer, surely. Even the High Court told the Home Secretary in September last year that the immigration laws denying them the right to settle were unlawful.
This regiment has fought for Kings and Queens and Country for nearly two hundred years. 45,000 of them have died over those years. They have picked up every bravery award going, from the Victoria Cross, down.
Even though the British Government has defecated on them from a great height, not only by denying the right to settle in the UK, but by awarding them less than half of a British regular army soldier’s pension when they retire, back in Nepal they are still clamouring to join this noble regiment.
How do they feel when they see the Government welcome immigrants, from countries that these men have fought and died against, with open arms, people that have contributed absolutely nothing to this country, people that are only here to take advantage of our lax benefits system, when the Gurkhas are denied the same right.
Jaqui Smith, take a leaf out of the Gurkhas book and be loyal too.
All they asking for is your signature on that piece of paper!
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