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An Open Letter To: The Right Hon. Michael Martin. Now, young man, I had better begin by introducing myself. I am a voter; one of those unfortunate necessities of any so called pseudo-democratic system who, when he complains of the performance of the body over which you preside (which I did)#** can expect neither a display of the common decencies or even some slight show of good manners - if only in the form of an acknowledgement. I have to accept that you are an M.P. and, therefore, I would not expect either a display of the common decencies or a show of good manners. Regrettable, but that’s the way it appears to be. Of course, it may be that your monkeys – and indeed the monkeys of the other recipients: an apology for a Prime Minister (now departed), a minor party leader (now departed) and another party leader much to full of his own importance at the time to notice - did not see fit to let their organ grinders see the communication in question. If such is the case then I apologise for the negative thoughts; the monkeys should be sacked and some reality reintroduced. As a voter I am one of those nuisances who, for 95% of the time are completely ignorable but who suddenly become of considerable interest when elections loom. However, as such, I am entitled to an opinion and, what is more to the point, I am, within the constraints of decency and good manners, entitled to express that opinion – however bluntly – which is what I have set out to do herein. As a youngster, at my mother’s knee, I was taught the excellence of the British political system – the honesty, the decency, the integrity, the impartiality, the fairness, the honour, the sense of duty…… it’s getting a bit boring, this, so I’ll stop…….and that I should honour and respect those who sacrifice a large part of their lives serving their country in the political arena. Some 75 years later I have come to realise just what a load of crap all of that is. You will, in this epistle, I hope, get decency and good manners; even though I will be very blunt. I will endeavour to restrain any particularly virulent and vituperative outbursts no matter how indignant I may, quite justifiably in my opinion, be feeling. However, respect you will not get; that has to be earned and, by golly, at the present time in particular, you, and the motley amateur rabble over which you preside, most assuredly do not earn any! It must be admitted that I am, what is more, the absolute bane of the professional politician - a ‘floating’ voter. I owe no allegiance, or even any loyalty, to any of the morally, intellectually and financially bankrupt Working Men’s Clubs whose members have currently, and very successfully it has to be said, hijacked the political system to their own ends and who, between them, field most of the candidates in an election. Morally, intellectually and financially bankrupt Working Men’s Clubs, what is more, whose members are now adding insult to injury by suggesting that they also be financed by the taxpayer because they are so lacking in popularity, credibility and competence that they cannot finance themselves. I note in passing, in relation to the issue of competence, the number of instances where they have been unable, for whatever reason, even to adhere to their own fund raising rules. And I am supposed to assume that members of these clubs are fit and suitable people to run the country; well, I’m sorry, I don’t buy it. It is a regrettable state of affairs that, in spite of the strictures of that incredibly stupid Mr. Hoon, I frequently find myself unable to exercise my right to vote as my assessment of the rubbish that these clubs have picked to stand for election is such that I wouldn’t be seen dead voting for any of them. To be forced to vote, as that nice Mr. Hoon has suggested, would violate my right to use my brain (which, fortunately for most of the current Members, few voters ever bother to do) to make the choice as to whether or not any of the available options is fit to do the job. Mr. Hoon, in my view, obviously isn’t fit – but then, he’s a barrister*** and you really cannot expect intelligence as well. In the two preceding paragraphs I have nailed my colours to the mast and you, and those over whom you preside, who, collectively, appear to regard yourselves as being infallible, beyond criticism and with a God given right to govern, can now consign this piece of rubbish to the bin. Regrettably, long periods of observation would appear to indicate that this will constitute the majority. The few remaining who bother to read on might discover what the real world really thinks of them but, in its present headlong pursuit of pleasure on the one hand and its instinct for survival on the other, rarely says openly. Since John Reid pointed out, quite correctly but more than a little belatedly, that the Home Office, in common with most government run departments I would suggest, is unfit for purpose, these three words seem to have become established in the language. They have been applied to the United Nations (quite possibly), the WWF (perhaps), Ofsted (quite likely – it’s a govt. dept.!!), this country’s transport infrastructure (there’ll not be many people who travel regularly who will argue against that one) and Mr. Brown as Prime Minister (very definitely; he covets the job far too much to be safe) to name but a few. I would like to add one more to the list and propose that the House of Commons as presently elected, constituted, operated and run is grossly unfit for purpose. The House is just not doing its job in respect of keeping the government to heel, of seeing that what it has decided is, in fact, operating properly and doing something about it when it isn’t, or of putting the people before party when it matters. Of course, these days you are only likely to be selected as a candidate if you are a ‘yes man’ so such a state of affairs becomes inevitable. Indeed, the whole process has become something of a farce and if this was not so tragic it would be comic. Farce and power are an extremely dangerous combination and our society at the present time is reaping the harvest that this has sown. Let’s look at the evidence. Over the past 60 years or so, which is about the interval over which I have been taking an interest, and ignoring (even if I could remember) which of the working men’s clubs was responsible in any particular case, just what do I find most interestingly stupid? There will be included here some of the topics contained in my last epistle#**. I make no apology for this; they are included in order to present a coherent picture. Unfortunately a complete picture would require several complete books and I’ve neither the time nor the space – so I’ll just do my best! I suppose that, chronologically, the first thing that springs to mind is the “we’re the masters now” episode following the 1945 election. There are various versions of this event ranging from my own memory of what was reported at the time to the attribution to Hartley Shawcross (which comes in various forms) to the entry in Hansard which, as we all know, can be altered retrospectively and is, therefore, no more reliable than any of the others. The differences, however, do not matter as all of the reports have one thing in common – the use of the word ‘masters’. It struck me forcibly at the time, even as young as I was, and ever more forcibly as I have aged, that the word ‘masters’, used in the context that it was used, revealed a state of mind amongst Members then, that is even more deeply entrenched today, that is totally at variance with the concept of democracy to which they all so piously and hypocritically give lip service. Self evidently they appear not even to know the meaning of democracy or, if they do, then they are steadfastly ignoring it even as they continue to use the word. I’ll return to this theme later. However, to continue: we have had nationalisation of the railways, for reasons of political dogma, and then denationalisation of the railways, also for reasons of political dogma. In between those two momentous events we had the castration of the railways, largely for reasons of political incompetence. The result is the almighty mess we have today. I am not going to waste my time elaborating on this as, bearing in mind the caveat that ‘there’s none so blind as those who will not see’, it is there for all to see but the bulk of those toward whom this is directed (Members present and past) will never admit to seeing it!! We have had nationalisation of the coal industry and then denationalisation of the coal industry; result – we now have no coal industry to speak of and are importing the stuff hand over fist even from as far afield as China. We have had nationalisation of the steel industry and then denationalisation of the steel industry; result – we now have no steel industry to speak of and are also importing this hand over fist from China. Our cotton and wool industries have gone – and we import the products of these industries also hand over fist from China. We even import our toys from China - and a right load of dangerous rubbish these have turned out to be! Our production base has gone. We are being led by the nose, by a prime minister who can see no further than short term political gain for himself, into purchasing a vast bulk of our consumer desires, not to mention necessities, from a slave driven, sweat shop economy – from which they can turn off supplies at any time. Production is the basis for wealth creation and we aren’t creating it. The pseudo economic house of cards that we have built, and on which we currently survive, will not stand up to a sharp draught. Oh dear! Northern Rock was a warning of just how flimsy our economic base now is but it will undoubtedly go unheeded. More of this later. We have had nationalisation of the water industry and then denationalisation of the water industry; result – another mess which has still not recovered from decades of mismanagement and under investment; yet another Treasury cock-up. There are also the gas, electricity, and road transport industries to consider - not to mention others that I haven’t recalled yet - but I’m getting tired of repeating the same scenario ad infinitum. Then, just to satisfy one man’s ego – yet again – we went decimal. Did the country want it – did they hell, but what does that matter. Is the nation (as was promised, I seem to remember) any more numerate – don’t make me laugh. Are the units of measure we now use any more convenient – don’t be stupid. Does the public at large know and understand the current units of measure any better than it did the old ones – don’t be ridiculous. All of these exercises in dogmatic insanity had to be paid for, and who paid – well, we all know the answer to that one and it certainly wasn’t those whose half-witted ideas have, over the years, cost us so dear. We have had, over these same years, a constant stream of, frequently useless, legislation on education - with what result? At the present time around 95% of the population is, observably, only semi-literate – and for a major proportion of those that description would rank as a compliment! A similar percentage of the population is, largely, innumerate and were it not for the ubiquitous calculator this would rank as a national disaster. We have a plethora of 2nd & 3rd rate ‘universities’ awash with 2nd. & 3rd rate courses producing unwanted and unneeded 2nd and 3rd rate graduates; graduates who finish up as checkout operators in supermarkets with student debts as long as your arm hanging around their necks. Totally unsuitable school leavers are being conned by your politicians to take up university places for which, in absolute terms, they are quite unqualified. The universities play ball because ‘bums on seats’ means more grants - and money talks. It is small wonder that 1 in 5 drop out so that not only has the money spent on their incomplete courses been wasted but so has the £800 million, or so, (of our money, again) which has been fruitlessly wasted on trying to reverse the trend. The current popularity of quizzes serves to reveal the quite appalling standard of general knowledge within the population at large. Our education system, at enormous cost and for whatever reason is, observably, just not delivering results. However, it may well be relevant that whereas when I was at school the constant cry was that we were specialising too much and too early and that as a result we were learning more and more about less and less until eventually we would know everything about nothing; we now have a situation where the syllabus is so stretched that pupils are learning less and less about more and more and in many cases have already reached the point where they know nothing about absolutely everything – and firmly believe that they are experts because nobody has ever had the sense to disillusion them. It’s really rather sad. Much of what they don’t know should, in fact, have been learned in the home; unfortunately, and all too frequently, there’s no one there to do the teaching. In this fractured society that you and those over whom you preside have created they are all out at work – for whatever reason, and none of them good enough – knackered when they come home and just not doing the job for which parents were created i.e. raising the next generation. And don’t give me any crap about nurseries and child minders because it just won’t wash. Amongst many other things my mother taught me discipline and she taught me (a boy !!!!) to cook; as did her mother before her. Let’s just digress for a moment. I know that politicians do not like facts; they are inconvenient things that have a life of their own and get in the way. Opinions are so much more malleable and easier to dispose of. However, in the context of the previous paragraph, it is a fact that the primary function of any living organism is to produce offspring that survive to the point of producing offspring themselves. When this is not successfully achieved within a species, for whatever reason, self inflicted or otherwise, then the species becomes extinct. 99% of all of the species that have ever existed on this planet are already extinct and there is nothing in the rule book which makes the human race an exception to the general rule. Within our western (so called) civilisation we have a falling birth rate and reducing fertility. The young are increasingly out of control and ignorant according to both connotations of the word. Advances in science are producing a dangerous dependency on what should only be useful aids. We treat disease to the point of total removal on the one hand and dilute the gene pool with potentially dangerous hereditary defects on the other. It is a nonsense that our laws are becoming so out of step with reality that they are reinforcing these trends and it is fast becoming a legal minefield even to refer to them. This is not only a very dangerous trend – it could very easily be terminal. This obese, drug sodden, pleasure mad, debt ridden society that such political leadership, or total lack of it, has helped to create, is really going nowhere. Now, that was interesting wasn’t it but, back to our main theme. We have had a similar never ending stream of equally useless legislation on the subject of Criminal Justice. I continue to have grave doubts as to whether the ‘intelligence’ of our legislators actually has any comprehension of the concept of Justice; and whilst we are on the subject of comprehension I would raise the same doubts when it comes to the concept of punishment. Justice should be shown to all involved – but rarely is. The system falls over itself to rehabilitate the criminal, with very little success at very considerable expense, (paid for by the victims of course) and shows sod-all consideration for the victim. Punishment, by definition, should punish but if that which is meted out is not regarded as a punishment by the recipient then it doesn’t punish. W.S. Gilbert ranted about this over 100 years ago and still they haven’t learned. We have a continuing never ending stream of useless, incomprehensible, usually unenforced, frequently unenforceable and mostly unwanted legislation the sole purpose of which appears to be to satisfy the politician’s insatiable desire to meddle. The common sense rule that ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ is totally outside their, apparently, very limited comprehension. We have an overloaded statute book, mostly written in gibberish, much of which is at variance with what the population wants – which should strike you as odd in a so called democracy, but I really do not think that you, or those over whom you preside, are bright enough to work that one out. You have somehow got the idea that all you have to do is make a law and that of itself will solve the problem. I’ve news for you – that isn’t the case. The laws you make are, as I have said before, written in gibberish and the people to whom they are meant to apply cannot understand them, do not want them and when ever and wherever possible ignore them; and the consequences of this approach are usually so trivial that it is well worthwhile. The result is that we have become a largely lawless nation. Most of your law is currently ignored by most of the population most of the time, either in ignorance or as often as they think that they can get away with it. I say ‘your’ law because you, and those over whom you preside, are so out of step with the country that it is no longer regarded by the general public as theirs but as an imposition put on by ‘them’. The rot in any society starts at the top and, bearing in mind the glowing example it is set by those ‘at the top’, we now have a society which, as I have said before, is largely defined as being ill mannered, ill tempered, ill disciplined and mostly illiterate. Altogether a glowing tribute to those who have formed and defined it ! To continue: we have a prison service in chaos. The prisons are full to overflowing and we can’t build new ones fast enough. This is without all of those law breakers who are not being caught, not being pursued, unjustly (perhaps) getting alternative sentences, being let out too soon to murder again and all of those who break laws which are just not being enforced because there just aren’t the resources, or even the interest, to do so. Perhaps the problem is not so much with the prison service and number of prison places but rather with an unwanted, unworkable and inherently useless set of laws. Crime is such that at all times we have to be careful where we go, what we do and what we say. Jacqui Smith, the latest in a long line of incompetents, in my opinion, to inhabit the previously unfit but now reduced and still unfit Home Office and who have so ineptly produced this situation, has announced that she doesn’t feel safe walking in Hackney. She is Home Secretary for God’s sake so what is she doing about it, and when. I have read her Action Plan for Tackling Violence 2008 -11 and whereas it is a glowing testimony to the way in which we diligently collect, record and regurgitate statistics I see absolutely no evidence of anything concrete that will work. Words, words, words and yet more words. The answer to my question then, on the face of it, is nothing because she hasn’t a clue; so why doesn’t she find someone who has and then clear off ? We have a health service which, you may possibly have noticed is also in chaos. It has spent decades staggering from one catastrophe to the next. Badly organised, its operating parameters never ever precisely defined, ineptly run – usually by accountants, most of whom couldn’t successfully run a wheelbarrow – and with its funding at the mercy of a useless treasury. Currently it is dentistry, or lack of it, that is getting most of the headlines but it was the chewing gum all over the lower edges and rear of the bumper/hand rails in the lifts that really got to me when my wife was recently in hospital for a heart operation. This cannot be blamed on juveniles as there is a ‘no child visitors’ policy on the wards that these lifts serve. It is adults – and I use the word very loosely. I can only say that I have nothing but contempt for those cretins who left it there (a product of our current education/parenting system). However, any competently run cleaning system, properly overseen by a competent management, ultimately appointed by government which should be overseen by MPs (and that’s a laugh a minute) would have found and removed it. I reported this, but in the several days that I continued to visit it was still not removed. In the light of the infections continually appearing these days Hospitals are supposed to be clean…………..The ‘buck’ stops, eventually, on the floor of the House, but there they all appear to be far too busy feathering their own nests and / or with their own pet schemes that they wish to foist upon us (at our expense), to ensure that what they have already created is delivering. I am not interested in the stock answer which is to announce how much more (of our) money that they have thrown at it. I am only interested in the observable, practical result – which is usually sod–all. These comments in no way reflect on the medical staff. The service in this respect was top notch. Then we have the M.O.D. Oh my God! Another outfit once run by that nice Mr. Goon –sorry – Hoon. You know, the same one that wants to put us all into an electoral straight jacket. Sorry, back to the point: the atrocities committed by this outfit, over the years, against the people for whom it is responsible would fill a book and I’m not even going to start to list them; just the last straw will do – I quote: Captain James Philippson, 29, was the first soldier to be killed in battle after UK forces moved into the Taliban stronghold of Helmand Province in 2006. Your lot are supposed to keep the government under some sort of control – what the hell were they doing allowing themselves to be conned into sending our armed forces into two simultaneous wars under-trained, under-equipped, against the wishes of the nation and in defiance of reason? One is compelled to the view that they must have lost the power of reason. I have to confess that I’ve lost track of how we got ourselves involved in Afghanistan in the first place, other than Bush’s poodle at No 10 doing as he was told, and I really haven’t the patience to investigate further. However, it is worth recording that we have been fighting in Afghanistan on and off since ¢ 1837 and we’ve never really licked them yet. There’s no evidence that we are going to do any better this time. The score, so far, I believe, is 1 – 0 to the Afghans (with a couple of negotiated settlements) and this little lot could easily make it 2 – 0. The might of the USSR couldn’t bring it off either. And they, too, have had several attempts. Whilst on this subject it would be pertinent to mention that I have, of course, written to you before** on thesubject of that classic piece of imbecile gibberish that constituted the permission of the House (the infamous division 118) to go to war with Iraq. I have no evidence that you actually read this missive; however, I could send you a copy, if asked, so I am not going to repeat myself here. The 412 members who voted for it are all as obviously completely illiterate as the troop of chimpanzees who must have typed up the original. I do have an idea that might well contribute to a solution to these two problems that, although it might raise a few eyebrows at the time, would undoubtedly focus the minds of those involved and produce many long lasting benefits. What I would strongly suggest is that the entire House be dumped into Afghanistan with all Members being given rifle apiece (and some ammunition, of course) and then left to get on with it. A dose of reality might very well do them some good. A lot of them would probably not return but unlike Captain Philippson, and again in the words of W.S.Gilbert, ‘they’d none of them be missed, they’d none of them be missed’. Then, of course, we have the F.S.A. who, along with that same equally useless Treasury, completely cocked-up the Northern Rock debacle. Where do they find this rubbish and why don’t they sack it when it cocks-up so thoroughly. We can probably all guess the answers to that one. I see, as I write this, that we, the nation, whether we want too or not, are going to be saddled with this particular cock-up for years to come with a bit more unworkable nationalisation. The treasury is very good at not spending money on necessities. It is very good at spending money on politically motivated causes and dogma – particularly when it’s other peoples’ money. It is particularly useless at funding pensions for our senior citizens – but we’ll return to that later - and it has always been particularly useless at the clever bit, which is creating wealth, and we will, no doubt, be treated to another convincing demonstration of this as the Northern Rock saga progresses. Gilbert and Sullivan are long gone but comic operas are still being written in abundance if you know where to look. The words, actions and any legislation to do with the Health and Safety Executive would be a good place to start. Just mentioning the HSE in any conversation guarantees a laugh – deservedly. I’ll say no more; I really haven’t the space – and I shall die of laughing before I can get anything else done. Then there’s the C.S.A. Oh dear. Incompetently legislated for, incompetently set up, incompetently mandated and incompetently run. Just how many of these incompetents have been sacked? I’ll have a guess - say, none; oh well, c’est la vie. It is so incompetently set up that last year the Court of Appeal ruled that it (the CSA) does not owe a duty of care to the children and parents on whose behalf it collects maintenance. Bully for them, but then, they can only apply the law that has been created and, let’s face, it we really cannot possibly have a situation where a government department actually takes responsibility for something, can we? That really would be creating a dangerous precedent. "The failings of the CSA are legendary and it is astonishing therefore that the Government has thus far been silent on its plans to recompense those failed by it. "For the last fourteen years, thousands of children have been badly let down by the CSA. The Government have insisted that enforcement of claims for maintenance be processed through the CSA and have utterly failed to address the real hardship and distress caused by its manifest failures." As the recently published Child Maintenance Bill passes through Parliament over the next few weeks, Resolution is calling on MPs to ensure that the new bill sets out clearly the rights to redress for those failed to date and for any errors in the future. "The Government aims to create a new child maintenance agency divorced from the mistakes of the past. For this to work – the legacy of the past two schemes must be dealt with. Otherwise the new system will be crippled even before it has begun", said Kim Fellowes. And if you believe that the present generation of politicians is even remotely capable of legislating to achieve this then you must be completely off your head. It’s sad but no one in, employed by or even remotely connected to government seems to have any duty of care any more. It’s just something else that they inflict on the rest of us but not themselves. No one in government actually accepts any responsibility for anything – it’s only words – and, as usual, we pay. And do they care? Of course not, they’re to busy inflicting their latest nightmare scheme on the rest of us – just like this one. Please note, the population at large have noted this and the same attitude is spreading through society like wildfire even as we speak. It used to be said that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’. Now, the ‘piper’, having stolen nearly 50% of our earnings in ‘payment’, ‘calls the tune’ as well. Much of the ‘payment’, of course, is being squandered - on wars that those who are doing the paying do not want, on ‘aid’ (much of it wantonly wasted) that most of those who are doing the paying do not want to give, on useless and unnecessary bureaucracy that those doing the paying could well do without and where those involved in the bureaucracy could very usefully be re-employed in creating, rather than wasting, wealth. It goes on a never ending stream of mostly useless, unenforceable, illiterate, repetitious and unwanted legislation, shot full of holes before the ink is dry, which all too frequently creates more problems than it solves. More often than not, in my view, because those doing the enacting just haven’t got the will or the brains to figure out the consequences before they rush in. If they were doing the paying instead of stealing the money from the rest of us then they would be a lot more circumspect. It would be a whole lot better if, in the exercise of their hobby, they had to raise the money, to finance their harebrained schemes, in the market place. If the idea works out then the taxpayer takes over and foots the bill but not otherwise. By golly that would slow them down a bit, wouldn’t it? Our taxation system is presently a glowing tribute to the wanton bloody minded stupidity of all of those who have ever sailed in her ! Mark you, I suppose that in one respect it is a very clever system – although devious might be a better word. It does divide and rule. It divides one tax payer from the next and it divides up the taxes until there are so many - all made as needlessly complex as possible – so that all those poor sods on which they are inflicted can neither keep track of nor understand any of them. Whoever came up with the phrase ‘tax doesn’t have to be taxing’ is obviously illiterate (along with the majority) and totally ga ga to boot!! The only people more stupid are the lunatics who decided to pay for and use this advert. (with our money of course) but then, they will be accountants so it’s really only to be expected. The next time you find an intelligent accountant do let me know and I’ll hang the flags out. A totally inept treasury in conjunction with an endless succession of useless chancellors have overloaded the fuel tax beyond the point of lunacy and the House, once again not doing its job in respect of keeping the government to heel, has allowed this. This, in particular, has a catastrophic effect on the economy but then, who cares. The people, dumb as they are, will pay. The V.A.T. system is so designed as to ensure that the maximum number of people are wasting their valuable time in frustrating and unproductive paper work to the detriment of the economy as a whole. The current direct taxation system is so designed that virtually no one understands it – even those administering it. It is observable that any three of them given the same figures to work on will come up with three different, frequently wildly different, answers. This, of course, is the idea. As long as we can’t understand it the treasury can carry on stealing as much as it thinks it needs – and it does! Whatever happened to the KISS *principle? Our current system of taxation is nothing more than legalised theft, not so much to pay for what the country needs as to satisfy the infantile whims of those ‘in charge’ and the dogma of the working mens’ clubs that put them there. Our Pension system is no better. From the point of view of sound financial management – a favourite theme of a recent chancellor who, in reality, I suspect is still running the show – our Old Age Pension has been a financial joke since it first started. It was not politically expedient to ground it in proper funding at its inception and it has never been politically expedient to rectify this situation and give it proper funding at any time since. This, and this alone, is the root cause of the pension mess in which, as a country, we now find ourselves. Since, to be fair, in the final analysis the treasury does, when the chips are down, have to give way to its political masters we are left, once again, with the total ineptitude of greedy, selfish career politicians putting short term personal kudos before the long term betterment of the country. Nothing much changes, does it? Currently, we are in the situation where you and the motley band of amateurs over whom you preside - without a relevant qualification between the lot of you as far as I can make out (I do not believe there exists a degree in ‘Government’) and whose only claim to fame for the most part is the ability to impress the hierarchy of whichever one of the aforementioned working mens’ clubs they have made the vehicle for their ambitions - are currently involved in selling us all out to ‘Europe’. This, of course, primarily means the Germans and the French. Why, oh why, I wonder, did we bother with Trafalgar and Waterloo or the two 20th century European Wars? They won’t, it goes without saying, ask the people what they want. Firstly they haven’t got the guts because they know that the answer will go against them; and secondly they don’t want to know the answer as this would undoubtedly spoil their childish predilection for having their own way all the time. This, I gather, is what you and that lot call Democracy. The other name for it, of course, is moral cowardice. I hear that David Milliband wants to spread democracy. This is a very noble desire for a foreign secretary but why doesn’t he start here, at home. I am reminded of the time when Mahatma Ghandi was asked, in an interview, what he thought of western civilisation and replied that he thought it would be a very good idea! We haven’t improved much there yet either. The lunatics in Brussels, both the commission and the MEPs., (mostly drawn from the national MP failure market) have even less of an idea as to what Democracy actually is and an almost infinite capacity for ignoring it. When the EU falls apart, as it inevitably will, and the next war in Europe is upon us – and make no mistake, human nature, of which you all apparently have a zero level of understanding, being what it is, it will surely come - just how do we cope. We cannot feed ourselves in spite of politicians’ promises in the wake of the 1939-45 unpleasantness that this would never happen again. (So much for the lies that politicians put into their promises). We cannot fuel ourselves – most of our natural resources we have squandered, sold off, run down or shut up and destroyed. The population, as I have already said, is largely an undisciplined rabble containing, as a result of your (and their) immigration debacle, over many whose allegiance would, at the very least, be very questionable in such a situation. I wonder whose fault that is !! One of the very few advantages of the present system is that we do tend to get all of the lunatics in one place where we can keep an eye on them; unfortunately we do not bother to keep them under control - with the sort of results I have outlined above. Let’s consider the presently current activities of two members of the governmental lunatic fringe. Neither are Members of the House but, let’s face it, your lot are supposed to be in charge !! 1. Professor Julian Le Grand, chairman of Health England, a government health adviser,said more people might stop smoking if they had to "opt in" by applying for an annual permit and paying a £10 fee. Is this apparent idiot really serious ? I use the word apparent because I actually cannot make up my mind whether or not he is pulling our legs. In spite of every effort by the police the country is awash with illegal drugs and their usage has become a commonplace. According to snippets that keep leaking out from time to time the House is well stocked with Members who, despite their illegality, have tried drugs - and for all I know are still on them. Perhaps random drug tests should be introduced into parliament. The results could be very enlightening. The underage are smoking and drinking virtually at will and have little or no difficulty in obtaining supplies. All of these in spite of occasional intense police activity and a positive plethora of laws to stop them. He hasn’t a cat in hell’s chance of achieving anything with this gormless idea and is an idiot even to think of it. If he’s being paid to think up imbecile notions such as this he should be sacked. What worries me is that at a time when smoking is slowly dying a death, for very sensible reasons, that government interference will once again increase its popularity precisely because of such meddling interference. Politicians, of course, way off the scale on the most potent drug of the lot – power - cannot ever keep their noses out and are certainly not bright enough to work out the likely consequences for themselves. You, and those over whom you preside, are having a colossal amount of fun, drunk with power, indulging your hobby and wasting your lives and my money, with your snouts firmly embedded in the trough, drafting and passing into law a load of irrelevant crap (with rare exceptions) that few want and even fewer observe when it is avoidable and/or they can get away with it. Wives (including yours according to reports) and families appear to be troughing it with equal gusto. The House and its members are steadily and, I suggest, quite deservedly sliding further and further into the mire of disrepute. They are, in fact, becoming ever more irrelevant to the activities of the day to day lives of the majority in this country as the rubbish that they enact increasingly diverges from what the people actually want and we have more and more outsiders who do not really care anyway. One of the major consequences, of course, is our continuing slide into being yet another ‘police state’. Much of this crap serves little purpose except to alienate the police from the people they are supposed to serve – which is probably why we actually see them so rarely; well, that and all of the useless red-tape, of course. What with cameras, ‘bugs’, ’phone tapping and ever more intrusive forms we are now number 4 in the world for the level of snooping that is in place. We only have Russia, China, and Malaysia ahead of us – what a glowing tribute to those who govern us – they must be so proud. Why did we ever bother keeping Hitler out ? At least his autobahns worked! That brings us very nicely to the subject of roads. Our motorways, built at colossal expense, are, at peak times, fast degenerating into giant car parks. The physical state of our road network in general is a national disgrace. Our roads are covered with paint, in assorted colours, most of which is ignored by motorists whenever they think they can get away with it. In my local town there are double yellow lines on the road outside of the council offices and main police station next door. Invariably some or most of these lines, near to traffic lights and a sharp bend are covered by parked cars! And does anyone take any notice – do they hell!! They are probably mostly unmarked police or councillors cars anyway which would account for a lot. There’s more traffic driving up and down the adjacent pedestrian precinct than there was before it was pedestrianised – and the drivers think they have a right-of-way. The plethora of road signs has got to the point that the brain is suffering from information overload almost before the car starts moving. I see we now have available a vehicle which will automatically, and at high speed, scan over 20,000 miles of road for defects in a year. No doubt, very soon and at enormous expense (paid for by us) every council in the country will have one. I’ve news for you, it’s not finding the bloody defects that’s the problem it’s getting somebody up off his/her fat idle arse and out to do the repair; properly, thoroughly and in a workmanlike manner (that’ll be the day in this country now). Security in government departments, both local and central has become a joke. Data leaks out faster than it goes in; and that’s when the computer systems they have installed at great expense (paid for by us) actually work properly or at all. Does anybody actually care any more – do they hell. The cock-ups have been so many that the words ‘we must make sure that this never happens again’ have gone into the language. We are all being exhorted to protect our data, to make sure that our identities cannot be compromised or stolen and to keep all of our possession safe whilst at the same time our financial institutions, our local authorities and most of our central government departments are distributing this information around the planet just as fast as they can get their hands on it and rid of it. If, as they all so glibly say, they take all of this data loss seriously we are only left with two possible reasons for why it keeps happening – crass incompetence or corruption. How about they too all get off their fat arses, get their snouts out of the trough, ascertain which of these it is and make sure that such things don’t happen in the first place - let alone again? Now that would be a novelty!! I’ll ask again, without any fear of getting an intelligent answer – how many of the responsible incompetents have been sacked? Now don’t give me all that gobbledegook about many of these topics being the province of local government. I have two answers to that: firstly local government is peopled by exactly the same rubbish as there is in central government, most of them belonging to the same working men’s clubs and most of them aspiring to make the transition ‘upwards’ in due time. Secondly, ultimately your lot is in charge, theoretically, so do something! It was Democritus who observed in the 5thc. B.C., when real democracy did actually exist in the world, that “Men remember one’s mistakes rather than one’s successes. This is just. For as those who return a deposit do not deserve praise, whereas those who do not do so deserve blame and punishment. So it is with the official: he was elected not to make mistakes but to do things well”. Unfortunately those in government do make mistakes; far too many mistakes and at our expense – not theirs; and they rarely do things well but are very quick to pat themselves on the back when they do, for doing no more than they should do, as a matter of course, all of the time. You, those over whom you preside and their immediate and not so immediate predecessors have created a fractured society; a society with no cohesion, no direction and no mission; a society that has lost its identity and its collective will; a society hell bent on pleasure and self gratification (who does that remind you of ?); a society, as with many before it who followed an almost exactly congruent path, apparently determined on its own destruction. Ever increasingly, those with talent are deserting the ship. More than one in ten highly skilled workers now leaves to work abroad, a new study has shown. There are now 1.1million Britons with higher-education qualifications overseas, a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said recently. The brain drain here is far higher than in other OECD states, such as Germany and the US, with some 10.3 per cent of skilled workers emigrating. You, and your assembled multitude, should all be very proud of yourselves as you lie and cheat to deny and evade any responsibility. I, at my age, have probably not got that much longer to live and in many ways I’m glad. My blood pressure won’t stand much more of the wanton bloody minded stupidity that I see around me. We, as of now, actually live in an Oligarchy, not a Democracy, but such is the power that successive Prime Ministers have weaselled away for themselves, where parliaments have been negligent in their duties to the nation, that we are fast becoming the autocracy to which Democritus referred when he observed that “Poverty under democracy is as much to be preferred to so-called prosperity under an autocracy, as is freedom to slavery”. Our ‘freedom’ is going down the pan at an ever increasing rate of knots accelerated, as it is, by the hysterical paranoia being whipped up, deliberately I suspect, by such nut cases as Bush and his Gestapo, Blair and Brown, for reasons that have nothing to do with the freedom of the people and an awful lot to do with concentrating even more power at the centre. As far as Bush, the instigator of this paranoia is concerned, one look into those little piggy eyes is enough to convince me of the total void that exists behind them. I, frankly, would not want to contaminate myself by touching the so called American way of life with a barge pole. It is fast getting to the point where, in places, it makes Adolph Hitler look, to me, like a rank amateur. It is all very reminiscent of Senator McCarthy and his ‘communists under the bed’ (and everywhere else) scenarios - and where did that get us? It really is about time we stopped wasting time and money interfering in the governance of other countries and took the opportunity to swill down our own incredibly filthy back yards. Much of the crime, so loosely labelled ‘terrorism’ ºº for primarily political purposes, would disappear if only politicians could learn to mind their own business and keep their long, dirty and incredibly stupid noses out of other peoples. This bureaucratic nightmare of an endless succession of cock-ups, one succeeding another in a remorseless never ending stream involving one useless government department after another, seems now to have been going on for ever. The tragedy is that in this letter, long though it is, I have only scratched the surface of the total ineptitude, arrogance, ignorance, stupidity (frequently wanton), childishness, hysteria, paranoia, hypocrisy and many other like talents too numerous to mention which seem to me to be the stock in trade of those who purport to govern us. There was a time when politicians (except for prime ministers!) would, when tripped up or even suspected of any form of impropriety, resign decently and gracefully and, oddly enough, gain back a little respect and credibility for so doing. Not now; now, like you, they hang on like grim death – what an advertisement. In terms of value for money, a favourite political phrase, what value we, the taxpayers, get for the money we pay in terms of honesty, integrity and competence in government, at all levels, makes Peter Rachman now look rather like a philanthropist. The conclusion, rightly or wrongly, to which I am inexorably driven, even allowing for the political naivety, the intellectual torpor, the electoral apathy, the selfish, self centred, pleasure seeking ethos of the greater part of the population and even being reluctantly compelled to admit that in these circumstances we basically get the sort of crap government that we so richly deserve, is that the legislature of this country is currently out of control; is morally, ethically and intellectually bankrupt; is not doing its job as in a democratic society it should and has been for some indeterminate time and is indeed, at this time, totally unfit for purpose. And, I must confess, this realisation makes me very sad.
References:- # My e-mail 30th May 2006 * The KISS principle translates to – ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid’ ** www.madharryslament.bravehost.com/whom_concern/speaker_1.html *** www.madharryslament.bravehost.com/being_served/barristers.html ºº www.madharryslament.bravehost.com/random_pieces/terrorism_a_definition.html All E. & O. E
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