Time, Sandwiches, and Sarah Palin

It's been over a month now since I've added some words of wisdom to this blog, partly because of the lack of proper internet facilities in the hospital, but mostly because of the fact that I was too tired to concentrate. However, it has reinforced my belief that time is really what we make of it as individuals – a year ago last night, I celebrated my 60th birthday with my family and some friends; last night, I celebrated again, and reflected on the 365 days that have elapsed in the space of that year – because of my illness and the various treatments I've undergone, the year seems to have passed in a flash. On the other hand, if I'd been in touch with someone of the Brahan Seer's stature on the 4th of November 2009, and he'd have foretold what I was to endure over the future months, I'd probably have felt that every day was a burden, and longer than the day before. Anyway, last night was a cause for real celebration, as I'd promised myself that I was determined to have a few more birthdays annoying my grandchildren with my typical old man's eccentricities.

Back to the seedy world of politics, where we have a Labour MP and former Immigration Minister, Phil Woolas, being thrown out of Parliament and his Party for breaking electoral law by making up damaging allegations about his main General Election opponent. I seem to recall that he was the one who submitted all sorts of claims for expenses, including panty liners, tampons, and nappies although the rules stated that personal items such as toiletries were not allowed, nor were items bought for anyone else, including family members. I also remember reading in a newspaper that “Mr Woolas rose to the rank of Immigration Minister in October 2008”. Well, I think we're all aware of the fact that some objects of a disagreeable nature rise to the top.

Other whingeing MPs are furious that the price of food and drink in the House of Commons has risen after the public subsidy was cut. This, despite the fact that many meals, such as shoulder of lamb at £2.95 and steamed fish with egg noodles at £3.90 are seen by the majority of the public as being cheap. It seems that their biggest beef is to do with a new £15 flat fee for up to 3 courses in the dining room overlooking the Thames. They seem to conveniently forget the fact that they can claim £15 for dinner if the House sits after 7.30pm. Like many thousands of others, I went to work in all sorts of weather for over 30 years with only a packed lunch to keep me going, so I'm sure it could sustain them as well, especially in their comfortable heated rooms and offices. Of course, on second thoughts, that would be rather a daft idea, as it would cost the taxpayer much more – they would each probably have to hire someone to cook eggs, ham etc. for the sandwiches, and possibly a French butler to spread the Danish butter on the Belgian bread.

Across the Pond, and it seems that a certain George W. Bush believes that Sarah Palin spoiled the Republican party's 2008 election campaign. He has criticised John McCain for picking her as his running mate that year, and is of the opinion that she is not qualified for such a post. It's rather difficult for most of us to suss out Ms Palin's aims or objectives – she has been heard to say that she would like limited government. What exactly does she mean by this? Is it some sort of government that will be limited by her own limited abilities? I think it's time for my sleeping draught, or have I taken it already?

Dentists and Frozen Turkeys

It’s been over a month since I’ve scribbled anything here, but it should come as no surprise that I have a look at Westminster for my first item of 2010. It has been revealed that many of the estimated one million illegal immigrants in Britain are actually working in top Government offices – including the headquarters of the UK Border Agency – the body that is supposed to keep them out of the country in the first instance! The organisation is one of 3 Government departments, 54 NHS Trusts, and 34 local authorities who have admitted employing 349 foreign staff that have no right to work here since 2006. On top of that, the expenses scandal is still to the fore, with over 400 MPs having had demands to repay some of their expense claims, ranging from £1000s for flipping houses to a few pounds for things such as garlic slicers. It all leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

Talking of that part of the anatomy, it seems that a new dentist’s surgery is to be built adjacent to the local hospital here. I would have thought that there are plenty of other areas where it could have been built, as the hospital could well do with many more parking spaces, and the ground allocated for the dentist’s new surgery would have been ideal. The architects have tried to pacify us natives by telling us of the lovely view of Broadbay that we’re going to have as we sit there having our treasured molars extracted. Well, that is certainly true if we happen to be sitting whilst facing east – we’ll be able to see a small part of the bay, plus the odd plane landing on, or taking off, from the nearby airport. However, if we are looking north, we find ourselves looking at a housing estate, and what folk are preparing for dinner. A glimpse to the west, another housing estate, and the busiest road leading into the town, which will undoubtedly give us fantastic free views of would-be Formula One Drivers. Now to the south, where all we’re going to have is a bird’s eye view of nurses tending to their patients in a couple of the wards. Fantastic scenery, as the architects have informed us. Of course, we have the consolation of knowing that the Accident and Emergency department is only 40 yards away if the dentist messes up our gums whilst he or she is enjoying the panorama to be seen from his room.

I suppose that we should all sympathize with the couple from Sutherland in the north of Scotland who have been kept apart by the weather for the past 14 days. Kay Ure had left her lighthouse keeper’s cottage in the remote part of the Scottish Highlands to go on a shopping trip to Inverness. However, with the turkey safely in the bag, thick snow and blocked roads have made it impossible for her to return to the cottage and to her, no doubt, starving husband, John. We can only hope that he will soon have two birds in the hand, one frozen, and one of the rather more cuddly type.

MPs, Cats, and Spiders

It’s good to be back in cyberspace after an absence of 8 weeks, due to my computer contracting some kind of virus which sadly turned out to be terminal. Fortunately, it wasn’t transmitted to the person sitting in front of the screen, so I’ve survived, and as you can see, I have set up another machine that will have to put up with my rantings for the foreseeable future.

Quite a lot has been happening over those weeks – the expenses row in Westminster surfaced again, MPs are to be banned from employing their close relatives to type out their missives and fetch their favourite biscuits, and the leader of the BNP was allowed to appear on Question Time. Shock and horror was expressed by the newspapers, trying to outdo each other in condemning John “Nick” Griffin, the BNP leader. Now, I’m certainly opposed to what that party stands for, but the scenes outside the BBC on the night in question were deplorable. We had the usual sort of mob, baying for blood, all with their own hidden, and sometimes weird, agendas. Some of those are members of the mainstream parties, whose leaders are allowed on most platforms, although their conduct leaves a lot to be desired at times. Britain, as far as I’m aware, is still supposed to be a democracy, so we should all have the right to express our opinions.

After the hype over the past couple of days over the 10 new nuclear stations that the Government says we need, there is widespread speculation as to how many of them will ever actually get off the ground. It seems that the Government is forcing potential nuclear investors, such as Centrica, EDF, EON, Scottish Power etc to take on full exposure to the risks of construction. Ongoing prices will be so volatile that they could easily cripple any of those large utility companies financially. Some of those companies are in debt anyway, and having to sell off assets such as their electricity networks to pay it off. Other governments across the world are also sanctioning new stations, and offering good subsidies, so it would seem likely that companies would prefer to do business with them, rather than with Britain.

On a lighter note, I’ve been fascinated for some time by some of the weird laws that exist in countries world wide, but it was only recently that I realized that our own country passes hundreds, nay, thousands of regulations and edicts each year, some of which are just about impossible to understand, even after having had a dictionary for breakfast. I might just mention a few of them here in the months ahead.

ASBOs (Anti-social Behavior Orders) were supposed to cure all ills in neighbourhoods, but some of them are completely absurd. Take the car thief from Manchester who received an ASBO forbidding him to walk or cycle anywhere in the city unless accompanied by his sister or mother. It did not ban him from stealing or driving cars. The poor guy – as he was banned from walking or cycling, it’s only logical that he should go out and nick the nearest available car. Then there was the woman from Kilbride who was given an ASBO denying her the right to answer the door in her underwear. It was okay, presumably, to strip everything off, and answer it in her birthday dress.

I mentioned at the beginning that my computer had been down for a while, so to pass some of the time, I enrolled in fiddle classes. It’s probably not a very bright idea at my age, but it has had a nice side effect. The classes are fine, but a lot of practice is needed at home as well. This has resulted in a lot of moaning and screeching sounds being heard in the vicinity of my humble abode, and cats of every make and model, that used to stare malevolently at me as I did my bit to save the birds, are to be seen no more. They have all fled; had enough, it seems. Likewise, my spider friends prefer to stay in their nooks and crannies, instead of taking their usual evening constitutional. The moral here seems to be simple – for those of you who are scared of the little creatures, get down to your local music shop, and invest in a fiddle.

MPs, Expenses, and Elephants

I mentioned Willie Roe on 6^th May, in connection with contracts that his consultancy firm, Rocket Science, had been awarded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the quango of which he is chairman. He is to step down from the company following an investigation into contracts worth £150,000 that it won from the development agency. The audit found that William Roe’s company did not benefit from his HIE position, but he said he was quitting Edinburgh-based Rocket Science to prevent any “perception of a conflict of interests”. He said: “I asked myself if there could be an even higher standard of separation of functions that would prevent any possible perception of a conflict of interest arising in the future. As a result, I decided on May 21 that, irrespective of the outcome of the HIE review, I would completely separate my public service functions from my private business interests.” Does this mean that he loses out on money from his private interests? Of course not! However, he would have lost quite a bit over the next 3 years if he had resigned from his cushy chairman’s post. Should he still be in that post? Just ask the bosses of many small firms who were not even allowed to apply for those contracts, and the answer will be readily apparent.

As the fuss over MPs’ expenses has fizzled out, at least for the moment, we should look at the body that allowed those outrageous claims to be rubber stamped. The Fees Office has for years been the custodian of “The System”, which originally stated that expenses could only be allowed if they were absolutely unavoidable for an MP to do his or her job. Actually, The Additional Costs Allowance, which seems to be at the root of all the trouble, was introduced in 1971 during Edward Heat’s days. (I wonder if he was one of the first to claim, maybe for a conductor’s baton, or gold plated taps for his yacht). At that time, it was capped at a few hundred pounds, but was raised to many thousands of pounds under the leadership of Tony Blair, the supreme conman. With that carrot being dangled in front of them, is it any wonder that many stood for Parliament who do not care a hoot for their constituents, but only for their reinforced pockets?

I would think that the main aim of most MPs, once elected, is to make sure that they are elected again, given the amount of money that they receive for doing practically nothing. Hence, although most of his MPs would like to see Gordon Brown step down as Prime Minister, they decided on Monday night to give him another chance. Not out of any love for the PM, but because they thought that having another unelected leader of Government would lead to an imminent General Election, when a lot of them would lose their seats. Actually, even with a later Election, a lot of them will lose their seats, as the British public has been roused from their customary apathy by the stream of revelations in the past few weeks.

Given the dire state of the economy in most countries at the present time, it seems preposterous for a football club to be dishing out around £138 million for two football players. The club will recoup the money, of course, some of it from sponsorship, but also from fans who will be shelling out more than half their weekly wages on admittance to games, and on related items, thus leaving them and their families in even more poverty. I’ve also read that over £1.4 billion is spent each year on pet food – four times the amount spent on baby food. A world gone mad, with its priorities all mixed up.

On a happier note, being one of those folk suffering from a nervous disposition, I was very relieved to hear that an elephant is the only mammal that cannot jump. I’ll feel so much safer when I’m on my next annual trip to Africa.

Willie Roe – Will He Go?

After the fuss over the past couple of weeks concerning MPs’ expenses, second houses etc, I thought that things had cooled down somewhat. Not a chance! Quangos have always been rather dodgy in my opinion, and the latest story concerning one of them has only added to my misgivings. It was revealed last weekend that Highlands and Islands Enterprise is to carry out an internal audit of contracts worth almost £100,000 that were awarded to a consultancy firm run by the agency’s chairman. The investigation will examine 15 contracts awarded to Edinburgh-based Rocket Science, which is run by William Roe, who is also the chairman of HIE.

The announcement of the audit, which will be overseen by Audit Scotland, comes a month after Mr Roe’s company repaid HIE an £8,000 consultancy fee following an allegation that Rocket Science plagiarised information from two academic studies. The audit will establish whether there was any further plagiarism in another 14 contracts – worth a combined £95,494 – that were awarded to Rocket Science between 2005 and this year. The decision to investigate was revealed in a letter from Audit Scotland to Highlands and Islands MSP Mary Scanlon, who has lobbied for an audit. Last night, Mrs Scanlon said she was pleased the audit would be carried out but called on Audit Scotland to carry out a further inquiry into the number of contracts awarded to Rocket Science that did not go through a tendering process.

Maybe, just maybe, the fellow has been above board in his dealings, although his surname DOES sound a bit fishy. 

Britain's Politicians' Expenses

A list of the allowances and expenses claimed in 2007-8 details for the first time how much each MP was reimbursed for family travel costs, amounting to £385,242 for wives,  and £75,819 for children. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, was the second highest claimant for family travel, charging £5,283 for 30 journeys made by his wife Margaret and £4,391 for the couple's two children, a total of £9,674. Current parliamentary rules state that MPs may claim for up to 30 journeys made by their spouse or civil partner and each child under the age of 18 between London and their constituency. The allowance is taxable, but there is no set limit on how much can be claimed for each journey. Taxpayer-funded trips for the wives of MPs have proved hugely controversial in the past. Michael Martin, the Speaker, came under fire earlier this year when it was revealed that his wife Mary accompanied him on visits to such exotic destinations as Hawaii, the Bahamas, New York and Rome, even though she has no official role.

 

 After months of refusals, the House of Commons has published detailed expenses claims for members including Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Tony Blair. More than 400 pages of Commons documents released on Friday disclosed that Mr Brown claimed £9,000 to have his kitchen refurbished in 2005. In common with other senior ministers, Mr Brown claimed public money for a second home even though he is provided with a grace-and-favour home in Downing Street. When he was Chancellor, Mr Brown also made claims including £372 on subscription fees for satellite television; £723 for “cleaning services”; £650 on food; and £1,396 for painting and decorating. Mr Brown also claimed £15 for lightbulbs. With hindsight, perhaps he should have had more installed, as he looks very much like a man who is floundering about in the dark.

 

Tony Blair, who stepped down as an MP last year, claimed £11,200 for a new kitchen in his constituency home in Sedgefield. For the same house, he spent £516 on new dishwasher and £50 on servicing an Aga. The list goes on…and on… but I’m sure you get the gist. Taxpayers should not be made to pay for Gordon Brown’s Sky TV subscription or Tony Blair’s £10,000 kitchen. Given the economic climate and the fact that everyone’s feeling poorer, it’s high time MPs reined in the amounts they claim for.  It is costly for taxpayers and harmful to the standing of Parliament for them to use expenses to live this kind of high life.

The Commons authorities have been working flat out to prepare around a million receipts filed by MPs for publication, after losing a long-running freedom of information battle to keep them secret. The process is due to cost taxpayers around £2million. The documents have now started circulating to MPs for them to check and make representations on which parts should be deleted for security and other reasons. They are expected to prove damaging to many MPs when they are published this autumn. However, it seems that somebody with access to them is willing to part with them for a couple of hundred thousand pounds.

 

A senior Labour MP, Sir Stuart Bell, has revealed a parliamentary committee is investigating how the expense accounts of the politicians were on offer for up to £300,000. He is quoted as saying, “It’s probably a breach of the Official Secrets Act. It may be a theft, but we will get to the bottom of it. In the public interest, by the way.”   Right, Sir Stuart – we believe you!

Britain and Christian Values

 

The case concerning a community nurse, Caroline Petrie, who was suspended for offering to pray for one of her patients is bad enough, but it is only the tip of the iceberg, as far as this country of ours is concerned. She is one of thousands of Christian workers and those of other faiths for whom prayer is a normal daily part of their lives.  It is no surprise, of course, that The National Secular Society backed the suspension of Mrs Petrie. The group, which represents the interests of atheists, agnostics and other non-religious groups, said it was inappropriate for health workers to 'evangelise'. 

 

Britain, as a nation, has lost its sense of Christian values, morals, and ethics over the past few decades. We only have to look at the increase in abortions, murders, and other violent and drug/drink related crimes to realise that we have fallen a long way from the standards of a century ago.

 

People are elected to our Parliament, often ones with limited intellect, but who have the ability to deliver glib speeches when appealing to the electorate for votes. The public’s apathy at General Elections is partly to blame for allowing some of those unsuitable individuals into the Commons.  In the Lords last week, we were reminded again of how low Britain has sunk, with the Sunday Times newspaper revealing that four peers from the governing Labour Party, including two former ministers, had agreed to help undercover reporters posing as business lobbyists to obtain amendments for between £24,000 and £120,000 a year. One of them was even recorded, claiming that it was okay to do such deals in certain circumstances.

 

Only a couple of days after those revelations, I watched a senior citizen on TV, explaining that she could only afford to boil her kettle once a day, and that she used candles at night instead of electricity. She, and thousands like her, receive less per week than our MPs claim in expenses for one day. In fact, I wonder how many of those MPs, of all parties, are content with owning or renting just the one house. Not too many, I suspect. Maybe our leaders should heed the words in Proverbs Ch. 22 v 2 – "The rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all.”

 

I have deliberately used the name “Britain” above without the “Great”, as we have lost the right to use that as a descriptive adjective nowadays.