As the results trickle in, Liebour’s election meltdown is reaching epic proportions.

Only 18 councils out of 34 have declared their results so far and Liebour has failed to win control of a council.  They have, in fact, lost control of 4 councils and have made a net loss of 144 councillors.

Every council has gone to the Tories, apart from Bristol which has gone to the Lib Dims.  The English Democrats have got the Mayor of Doncaster and the independent Mayor of Hartlepool (the bloke in the monkey suit) has won a third term.

Meanwhile, another couple of cabinet members have resigned messing up No Mandate Brown’s reshuffling of the deckchairs.  The Liebour cabinet now has seven unelected peers – I always understood there was a rule limiting the number of peers in the cabinet to 3, when did this change?

The way things are going, the only councils left under Liebour control by tomorrow will be the ones who didn’t get a vote yesterday.

Technorati Tags: Election

The first results are in for yesterday’s local elections in England and as expected Liebour has taking a severe battering.

The Conswervatives have gained 18 councillors and retained 2 councils.  The Lib Dims have gained 1 councillor and one council (Bristol) which was previously under no overall control.  Other parties have gained 4 councils, one of which I believe is a UKIP councillor elected in Newcastle-under-Lyme.  Liebour have lost 23 councillors.

The Conswervatives have taken most seats on the new Central Bedfordshire Unitary Authority, Liebour have failed to win a single seat on the council.

Meanwhile, No Mandate Brown is reshuffling the deckchairs in his cabinet. What do you reckon the band will be playing in the cabinet office?

More election results are due in during the day, it’s going to be an interesting few hours.

Technorati Tags: Elections

I got my 100th Twitter follower yesterday – @Mallarybc, an English ex-pat living in France.

I don’t normally plug blogs other than by adding them to the sidebar, especially when they’ve only been set up today, but as she’s my 100th follower I’ll make an exception: Mallary’s blog.

It’s not always possible to blog but I can Tweet almost any time, any place by text message so if you want to keep bang up-to-date, follow @wonkotsane on Twitter.

Technorati Tags: Twitter

David Camoron is making some vague noises about constitutional reform (that us proles aren’t allowed to express an opinion on of course) with a suggestion that he might look at fixed term parliaments.

Whoop-de-fucking-do.  Fixed term parliaments are generally a good idea but is it enough to re-engage a disaffected electorate and restore trust in thieving bastard politicians?  No.

So how about this for a suggestion: directly elected Prime Ministers.

Instead of voting for a candidate and then the leader of the party that had most candidates elected being made Prime Minister and forming a government, why not hold elections for the post of Prime Minister?  It also neatly deals with the problem of a party changing its leader and some other lame duck MP taking over as Prime Minister without a mandate mid-term.

The problem with the electoral system we have in the UK is that the top job in government is reserved for one of only a handful of people.  Republicans complain that a pleb like you and I can never become the most important person in the country but they’re missing the biggest injustice in the power game – the fact that your average voter can never aspire to hold the top job in government because you have to be the leader of the political party with most MPs to get it.

Ideally, the Prime Minister would be an almost presidential figure – leader of the country, not the party – but without the executive powers.  The Queen should, of course, remain as head of state and bills should continue to require royal assent.  The Prime Minister, once elected, should appoint a cabinet based on a system of proportional representation with a minimum number of independent MPs (and by independent I mean not a member of a political party, not just an MP who’s resigned the whip or had the whip taken off them).

What reasonable excuse is there for effectively banning independents or supporters of any of the smaller parties from heading up a government?

And while I’m on my soap box, there should be a basic requirement that a cabinet minister is qualified or at least experienced in the area their ministry covers.  We could then avoid the situation where, for example, we find ourselves in the depths of recession with a marxist lawyer as Chancellor of the Exchequer rather than someone with a qualification in macroeconomics.

Technorati Tags: Fixed Term Parliament, Constitutional Reform, Elections, Democracy, Prime Minister

Michael Martin – aka Gorbals Mick – has finally resigned as Speaker of the British Parliament after being the first Speaker in over 300 years to be forced out of the job by his colleagues.

This is good news because Gorbals is, to be brutally honest, a tosser.  Even better news is that he will also be applying for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds, one of the ways of resigning as an MP.

It’s not actually possible to resign as an MP so those MPs that no longer want to be MPs have to apply for a job as an agent of the Crown which means that legally they can no longer be an MP.  So MPs apply for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Manor of Northstead.

Anyway, archaic political lesson over, back to Gorbals.

Whilst it is a good thing that Gorbals has been forced out of office and is resigning as an MP, it is important that he isn’t made a scapegoat for the whole House of Commons over their expenses fraud.  The other corrupt MPs mustn’t be let off the hook – they must be forced to resign, by-elections have to be held and criminal investigations and prosecutions must take place.  Preferably, a general election should be called because the electorate has no confidence in the entire British government.

And someone really should tell George Galloway that Gorbals Mick, with his salary of £144,520 and the title of “Highest Commoner in the Land”, isn’t working class.  Yes, he was born to a working class family in some sink hole in Glasgow but that was a long time ago.  Alan Sugar was born to a working class family, he talks with a working class accent and he’s woth £830m – is he still working class?  Mohamed Al-Fayed was born to a working class family in Egypt and he’s now worth £900m and owns Harrods – is he still working class?

Gorbals is part of the establishment, part of the ruling class and an extremely wealthy man (probably a millionaire by now).  Working class he is not.

Let’s just hope that the next speaker is someone with the balls to stand up to the whip and carry out the job with the impartiality that Gorbals lacked.  And with a bit of luck, the next speaker won’t be an English hating ignorant jock.

Technorati Tags: Gorbals Mick, Michael Martin, Speaker, Resignation

We decided to go for lunch today at my sister’s pub, the Plume of Feathers at Harley (website, map).

The mushrooms with beef tomato and brie was fabulous, the garlic bread was THE best garlic bread on the face of the planet, the burger was … epic … and the chips weren’t cut, they were hewn from giant potatoes.

As anyone who has met me in person will no doubt have gathered, I like my food and this was one of the best meals I’ve had for as long as I can remember.

The picture quality doesn’t do it justice but you can at least get an idea of the size of the burger – this is on a large dinner plate, at least 12″ in diameter.

Technorati Tags: Plume of Feathers, Food

A couple of months back a civil servant lost his job for releasing information on MPs expenses. He narrowly escaped a prosecution and during the police investigation, Damian Green MPs office was raided by police.

A few days ago, the Telegraph started publishing leaked details of MPs fraudulent expenses and the Speaker, Michael Martin, has called in the police to investigate the leak but not to investigate his thieving bastard colleagues.

All of which makes John Hemming MP, Austin Mitchell MP and Peter Bottomley MP hypocritical bastards for tabling a motion condemning the Jersey Police Force for arresting Jersey Senator Stuart Syvret and searching his home without a warrant.

People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

The Jersey Attorney General has ruled that the raid and arrest were legal under Jersey law. What business is it of these three MPs, none of which are Privy Councillors, what goes on in Jersey? They should be concentrating their attentions a bit closer to home.

Technorati Tags: Hypocrites, Jersey, Police, MPs

Harriet Harperson’s announcement the other day of a new Equality Bill that would legalise discrimination against men and force companies to publish reports on their gender pay gap gave me a great excuse to indulge in some devilment.

First their was my enquiry to the Ministry for Equality, so far unacknowledged, asking if they will be producing a report on themselves and if the new bill also applies to Scotland.  Then there’s the Freedom of Information request, also unacknowledged as yet, asking for details of their workforce gender balance and what plans they have for a Minister for Men.  Then there was the letter I had published in the Shropshire Star and now there’s a petition on the El Gordo’s petition website calling on him to create a Minister for Men and balance the gender bias in the Ministry for Equality.

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to create a Minister for Men and balance the gender bias in the Ministry for Equality.

The Ministry for Equality has a Minister for Women (Harriet Harman) but no Minister for Men.

There are three Ministers for Equality, all of which are women.

There is a clear gender bias in the Ministry for Equality which needs addressing to prevent discrimination against men within the Ministry and in society as a whole.

Appointing a Minister for Men and male Ministers for Equality will set a good example to companies who will be forced to report on similar examples of gender bias in their own organisations as a result of the Ministry for Equality’s new Equality Bill.

It’ll be interesting to see how they try and explain the lack of a Minister for Men when there is a Minister for Women as something that makes us all equal.  But the only way to make them reply is to get more than 500 signatures so get signing and pass it on!

Technorati Tags: Petitions, Ministry of Equality, Harriet Harperson

From today family court hearings will be open to the public and journalists, even if children are involved.

Journalists and members of the public will be able to sit in on divorce and custody hearings, getting to hear details of financial settlements, affairs, marital breakdown and parents’ relationships with their children.  Hearings will only be held in private if a judge can be convinced that holding them in public will prejudice the case.
The reason given for opening up the hearings is that it will make the family court process more open and result in less mistakes.  From my own first hand experience trying to get my step children protected from their violent alcoholic father for a couple of years, what causes a lot of the “mistakes” is the guidelines that are handed down to judges taking away their discretion and forcing them to make bad decisions.

The British government makes every effort to keep every element of the personal and professional lives secret but when it comes to us plebs, every element of our lives has to be laid open to scrutiny by everyone and anyone at any time.

Technorati Tags: Family Courts

A petition worth signing: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to resign.

There are many reasons why we might want Brown to resign, but rather than having lots of narrow petitions on this topic (most of which have been rejected), I wanted one for all of us.

Click on the boot to sign the petition …
Hat-tip: Daily Referendum

Technorati Tags: Petition

Bob Quick, the Met Police’s chief anti-terrorism officer, has resigned after his latest act of stupidity.

A long-planned anti-terrorism raid had to be brought forward, putting unprepared officers at risk, because the muppet walked up Downing Street with briefing papers for the raid clearly on show for photographers.

Quick was the senior officer who authorised the raid on Damian Green MP’s office in parliament and then complained that the Tories had mobilised the gutter press against him in a witch hunt.

There’s no doubt that Quick had been a competent copper for the first 30 years of his career but his recent promotion was obviously one too far.

Technorati Tags: Bob Quick

The Environment Agency plans to force water companies to spend money on installing water meters in every home in England and Wales to try and force people to use less water.

Their crackpot team of fake scientists have a bullshit theory that global warming will result in up to 80% less water in rivers by 2050 and the planet is going to be simultaneously engulfed by rising sea levels and turned into a vast desert by global warming.

Instead of forcing water companies to spend millions on useless water meters, make them spend the money on repairing leaks. Severn Trent loses over half a million litres of water a year through leaky pipes alone and that’s only one water company. There’s not much point putting a water meter in every home to try and force people to use less if you’re going to allow the water companies to piss millions of gallons into the street.

Technorati Tags: Water Meters

The Home secretary, Jacqui Smith, has been caught claiming expenses for her husbands porn.

She says that she accidently claimed for her Sky TV bill – complete with porn – along with her internet connection.

Her husband, Richard Timney, has apologised for embarassing his wife.  I can’t blame the poor bloke to be honest, imagine being married to that sour faced fascist bitch?

I wonder what mucky films they watch in the Timney-Smith household.  Debbie Draper Does Dallas?  Alice Alistair in Underpants?  Suggestions in the comments …

Technorati Tags: Jacqui Smith, Porn, Expenses

Lib Dem MP, Evan Harris, has introduced a private members bill to alter the succession to the Crown and to lift the ban on heirs to the throne marrying catholics.

Aside from the fact that there are far more important things to worry about, is it really a constructive use of very expensive parliamentary time to debate a law that won’t realistically prevent discrimination against any living person?

The first female heir to the throne who has been bumped down the list who would make any significant gain is Princess Anne at number 10, behind Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, Princess Euginie, Prince Edward, Prince James and Princess Louise.  If the laws of succession were changed and she was bumped up the list, she would end up in 4th.  The chances of Princess Anne, who is already 59 years old, becoming Queen is pretty slim.  Princess Beatrice and Princess Euginie would drop down a place and Princess Louise would stay in 9th.

So, there’s little point changing the laws of succession for females when nobody will benefit.  But what of the other “discrimination” – that of banning Catholics or spouses of Catholics from the throne?

Well, the ban on catholics sitting on the throne is there for a very good reason.  The monarch owes their alliegence only to their country and their subjects, not to the Pope.  The monarch is also Supreme Governor of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith.  How can a catholic become king or queen and take the oath to defend the established church if they belong to a different church?

A BBC poll apparently showed that 89% of people thought women should have equal rights of succession but how many of those people realised that it wouldn’t make any difference to anyone currently alive and that it would have the net effect of pushing two women further back down the line?  The poll also apparently showed that 81% of people thought that the ban on marrying catholics should be lifted but how many of them realised that it would mean the king or queen would no longer be head of the Anglican Church?
We are in the midst of a recession, we are worst placed of any developed nation to ride out the storm, unemployment has reached 2 million and banks and big businesses are collapsing left right and centre.  How can any MP think that such a pointless and futile exercise is important?

Technorati Tags: Royal Family, Succession, Catholics

Spotted in Tesco the other day …

Sadly, this was the only shelf with anything on it marked as English.  Plenty of Scottish products side-by-side with “British” alternatives but Mrs Sane wouldn’t let me take any more pictures.

Technorati Tags: Tesco

When the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) invaded Gaza, there were countless reports of human rights abuses and what could only be described as cold-blooded murder perpetrated by the IDF.

Of course, the appeasers defended Israeli terrorism as they always do, claiming that Israel was acting in self-defence and that the Palestinians were lying about the attrocities carried out by the IDF.  Regular readers of this blog will no doubt recall the many comments from appeasers (mostly Americans and Tories) trying to defend Israeli terrorism.  But now we have it from the horse mouth that the IDF murdered Palestinian civillians and committed acts of terrorism.

An Israeli military college has published Israeli soldiers’ accounts of the invasion in which they describe the murder of civillians and how “the climate in general [was that] lives of Palestinians are much, much less important than the lives of our soldiers”.  Soldiers also said that Rabbi’s gave out pamphlets talking about the invasion in religious terms, giving them the feeling that it was a religious war.

The final Israeli death count came to 13, three of which were civillians and 2 were soldiers that blew themselves up loading their gun.  The Palestinian death count was about 1,300 of which 440 were children and 110 were women.

So, Israeli soldiers are admitting to murder and terrorism.  How are the appeasers going to spin this in Israel’s favour?

Technorati Tags: Israel, Palestine, Terrorism

Had a leaflet this morning from a fake charity called Europe Family Link asking for clothes.

This is an unusual one because it’s linked to a real charity but EFL isn’t a charity despite the leaflet implying that it is.

Northamptonshire Trading Standards complained last year about the leaflet to the Advertising Standards Agency. The ASA upheld the complaint and told EFL to remove the phrases “Europe Family Links is a UK registered non-profit organisation” and “Charity begins at home” and the reference to their Companies House registration number from their leaflet but they’re still there.

I’ve reported it to Trading Standards this morning but there will unfortunately be people taken in by the fake charity leaflet. If you have clothes to donate to charity, either take them to a proper charity shop or check if your council gives clothes put out with your recycling to charity.

Technorati Tags: Fake Charity, Europe Family Link

I’m sure the global warming propagandists will love to learn that I got a dose of heat stroke on Sunday.  Yes, heat stroke in England in March.

I spent most of Sunday in the garden putting up a fence around the patio to stop the hound of the wonkovilles from getting into the garden, had nothing to eat and only a small bottle of coke to drink.  All was fine until I came in from the sun and sat down with a bottle of Stella to watch England demolish France.  My head felt like it was on fire and I spent 20 minutes with my head under a cold shower before it started to subside.

Anyway, to cut a short story even shorter, I’ve had a migraine for 3 days and had to take two days off work.  Which everyone thought was most amusing.  Bastards!

Technorati Tags: Heat Stroke