political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Quote of the Day
"A friend has had to give up running a pub - she said the last straw was being told she had to do a risk assessment on a cheese sandwich"
Sandra Howard, wife of Michael Howard, the former Tory leader, on the menace of bureaucracy.
87 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I actually wouldn't style it the menace of bureaucracy, Iain. I'd call it the menace of the controlling, fascist left. They want to control every aspect of everyone's life - as, obviously, - you know. Whereas bureaucrats just want to go home. (Unless they're lefty bureaucrats, of course.) We have, after all, had bureaucracy for hundreds of years and we have never found ourselves in the surreal position where a pub owner is required to give the risk assessment of a cheese sandwich. This verges on lunacy.
Could Mrs Howard's friend give us the name of the person who required her to do the risk assessment, and does she have an email address for that person?
I would support a party that had a Darwinian policy on these matters. If you are stupid enough to kill yourself eating a cheese sandwich, then you will be no great loss to the species.
Daily Ref: you obviously don't understand, you can't kill YOURSELF on a cheese sandwich, there are some deadly mutant active-killer cheese sandwiches out there, and they are planning to take over the world, and it's only our wonderful Elf and Safety Officers who are saving mankind.
3 people were seriously injured in our local Sainsbury's on Tuesday by a guerrilla band of fromage frais pots.
I feel sorry for Mrs Howard's friend, unlike the f**kwit at a pub called The Bedford Arms in the Chenies/Latimer area of Hertfordshire.
20 of us walkers were looking forward to an afternoon pint when we were told by some dozey blonde ( probably called Maureen)that "we are actually closed" despite the fact that signs were up saying "morning coffee's now being served", people in the garden supping a drink or two.
Of course she may have been correct but good old English lack of common sense & business acumen prevailed and the establishment probably lost £100.00 of takings.
Iain, I think we need more detail on this important story. The cheese sandwich may have been in imminent danger of being forcibly stuffed into a patron's gob, for instance, which would have posed a serious threat to its continued existence. We need more data so that we can assess the worldwide risk to cheese sandwiches.
A friend of mine had an old folks home. She was made to remove the locks from all the rooms one week, then another inspection insisted they were replaced. It went on like that month after month - change all the curtains to the same design throughout etc. She gave up eventually as most have.
It seems that some operators offer better bribes, and big companies have taken over all the homes now.
They keep all the paper work nicely, but there is little caring any more. People die in loneliness and misery because of bureaucracy killing small businesses. Never mind the cheese sandwich.
Family run pubs have far more character than those run by the big boys. But I guess it's easier to get a pay-off on the qt from large companies. Family pubs are not really great at corruption.
That's why they are forced out by cheese sandwich risk assessors. It's to get their filthy mits on pay-offs. Regulation and corruption go hand in hand. It starts at the top in Brussels and it goes all the way down.
And Blair now wants us signed in and unable to escape. He's after big pay-off himself no doubt - fat pension and presidential or other high status employment.
Iain, if you know Mrs Howard, I would like her to ask her friend the name of the officer who asked her to carry out a risk assessment on a cheese sandwich. And the department that individual works for. I can feel an email storm coming on.
When some council git in - I think it was - Nottingham decided that the new area of the city cemetary should have all graves facing East because that's how muslims wanted to be buried, it got some publicity in Britain. But Little Green Footballs picked up the story and the Americans bloggers ran with it over the weekend, and the decision had been reversed by the end of the day on Monday.
Dear tapestry: You obviously have not been paying attention. Blair has been converted to the RC faith. Apparently Cheerie is going bananas as the pontiff has only offered him a deaconship. Bloody come down, from president Blair of UK.
I am appalled by this government's failure to properly implement the EU's Cheese Sandwich Risk Assessment Directive 007/07. I have spent many months in training for this new profession, employment in which was virtually guaranteed to me by a junior Government Minister. I have an official clipboard and tape measure, yet I have now been told I am out of work for the foreseeable future. What compensation does the Government propose to pay me for lost business opportunities? I think it's DISGRACEFUL.
I'd call it the menace of the controlling, fascist left.
I'd call it the madness of the deregulated legal industry, thanks to which we are all obliged to watch TV ads asking Have you choked on a cheese sandwich that wasn't your fault? Would you like us to sue your local pub on a no-win, no-fee basis?.
All very funny but one of the largest producers of Camembert has decided to start pasturising their milk just in case they are sued for the odd upset tummy. How odd that a substance that smells like a tramps sock soaked in stale urine could taste so good.
Tapestry Old peoples homes? Grandmother Hitch is lucky to live in a decent one ((£700 a week)however the owners are considering shutting it down as the weight of more and more regulations means that they are losing money. We could send the old witch to Eton with a week in Barbados at christmas for the same money. This country is doomed.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have banned Asda from advertising Whole-Fat milk during Children's TV. This comes after all those years of public announcements encouraging our kids to drink milk. You could not make it up could you? The fact that any food advertisements have been banned during Children's TV smacks of an interfering Nanny State, but milk? What's next, fruit and veg?
David - The problem is, the military swears allegiance to the Queen, and the Queen is going to do damn all to rock the boat. She shut have shut down Blair's operation eight or nine years ago, but her loyalty isn't to the British people; it's the The Firm.
Last Xmas she even turned her Chrismas Message into a NuLabour commercial for "diversity". And look at Charles and his droll Defender of Faith aspirations. Then look at even further New Left William.
There is a theory about that the Public Sector has a Prescott-inspired corruption agenda to deliberately drive out private business from certain sectors.
Old peoples homes, waste disposal, environmental businesses etc. Things which the public sector sees as its business, and where big payoffs can be extracted.
How else could it be explained that thousands of perfectly good businesses are being driven out by oppressive regulation,and legal assault of one kind or another?
Tapestry - makes sense - in a ghoulish, NuLabour way. I see Prescott's out. Iain didn't want negative comments about Prescott's hospitalisation, so I will not make the very negative comment I would have made had I not known that I would have been abusing Iain's hospitality by so doing.
And less than two weeks until Blair signs our country away to be a province of Brussels.
My heart lifted when I read the news that "a couple had breached Downing St security" but they'd only taken a wrong turn.
Going back to the opening post by 'verity said'. It opened with the tenor that continued through this 'Turnbridge Wells Angry of' thread.
I very much doubt that he or she get a response to the plea that 'Mrs Howard's friend give us the name of the person who required her to do the risk assessment'... for the reason, I suspect, that this is yet another of those 'urban myths' (let's be polite about it).
In this case, the theme of the myth is the widely held delusion of a supposed public sector bureaucracy talking over every very lives. Its similar really to the one about 'political correctness'... about embittered delusions and prejudices masquerading as victimhood and injured justice
Of course, if this apocryphal little piece of tittle tattle from someone who is famous for being married to a failed politician ever happened at all, it is only because the government ordered it, no doubt directly through the Prime Minister from her majesty. What on earth do you people get off on? If batty verity has nothing better to do than send e-mails to people over this sort of nonsense, perhaps she should try to get a job.
Strange that batty Bob Piper capitalises Prime Minister, but not Her Majesty. Perhaps it's just ignorance, though.
The reason America is freer than Britain is, Americans participate. If something displeases them, the elected representatives know about it around 30 seconds later. The British are passive, which is a shame, because dynamic participatory democracy works.
Mr Howard won the election in England. He was successful. Labour failed in England.
Speaking of failed politicians, who are you?
"If batty verity has nothing better to do than send e-mails to people over this sort of nonsense" ...
Batty Verity can bat out a well-constructed, grammatical email (or post)in around two minutes. It doesn't interfere with earning a living.
Ted Harkins, it could be that Sandra Howard made it up, of course. Or that her friend was exaggerating. I don't know.
Of course this is all about the over-supply of graduates with meaningless degrees. These dozy halfwits would previously have been doing something useful like making cars or building houses. Now they are now employed in the regulation industry at great taxpayers expense.
Douglas Adams had it right with his cunning plan for the humane disposal of telephone sanitisers, and it is probably what we should be planning for every elfen safety fascist in the country (and ISO9000 quality manager for that matter).
I can vouch for maneatingcheesesandwich he has a good blog and post a comment on my blog regularly.
I now await all the nasty comments from the hitch, newmania, verity and jus'passin'thru and more vulgar than a vulcans vulva...and of course anonymous...
It would appear that either I am endangering myself, in which case I should become maneatinghamsandwich, or endangering others, in which case I shall retrain to become mostlyharmlesscheesesandwich.
A few years ago, the wise old owls at the Home Office announced a war on bureaucracy. I was duly briefed that, if I had a suggestion as to how to chip away at the great ball of red tape, all I had to do was fill in a form. To obtain a copy of the form, all I had to do was ring the Management Projects office at HQ, so that they could e-mail said form to me. I could then fill in the details of my proposed change and pass the form to my Line Manager (Sergeant) for checking. He/she could then bypass my Second Line Manager (Inspector) and give it straight to the Divisional Commander for signature and submission to HQ. The HQ-based Bureacracy Working Group would then discuss my proposal alongside all other new proposals, before selecting an approved list to be passed to the Force Executive Group who would then compare the perceived pros and cons of said proposal, then submit anything which survived scrutiny along to the Home Office project team. A certain ironic beauty about it all, isn't there?
This was, of course, under the current administration. The War on Paperwork of 1990 was a much different affair, whereby the views of rank-and-file officers weren't even sought (being beneath contempt) and simply resulted in a doubling of the average administrative burden.
Bureaucracy is a glorious thing. Where would be be without it? For so many years, my colleagues and I dealt with Road Traffic Accidents, taking down the necessary particulars (steady on, matron) and sweeping up the debris. It was often observed that, if either driver had been a tad more careful, then both would have been safe. Some pedantic soul then opined that since, by definition, one or more of the parties involved must be at fault, a collision could not be an accident. We therefore attend Road Traffic Collisions. Lucky really, as Road Traffic Unfortunate Incident Brought On By An Unintentional Series Of Events was a bit of a mouthful.
Oh - and I'm sure that Vlad Howard had more than a little to do with the increase in admin during his stint at the Home Office. Perhaps the lovely Sandra should slip him a cheddar doorstep and hope for the best.
maneatingcheessandwich: Glad that you could make an appearance.
Verity: I already have a media career. However, it is based upon my legal achievements and not past conduct. I am sorry that you are a nobody seeking the limelight. Why don't you try achieving something other than being nasty and out of touch?
anonymous 10.36: No problem. Perhaps you can pass on some of your civility to the likes of verity?
Verity If you were to set up abog and post a photo (it doesnt have to be of you) then We would know it was the real verity. It may suprise you to know that I dont go about dressed as Eric Bloodaxe , although I am related to him.
I could slash - oops! - I mean destroy! - as in cutting to pieces - oops! - I mean demolishing! successful legal practitioner and welfare recipient John Hirst's claims and passive aggression, but I'm on Iain's property. So won't.
the hitch: All part of the New Deal organised by the DWP. The IRS are not knocking on my door...
Anonymous: 11.11: Sorry religion is not my cup of tea. Sinner is more Bible talk than anything. I did the crime I served the time and 10 years extra to boot, that's your lot.
I found redemption. The problem is that some people are less forgiving than others and they will never be satisfied. I give up on them as lost causes. That is their problem not mine.
I don't go looking for friends. I already have some very genuine ones who are very supportive of me. I fight for what I believe in. Unlike Tony Blair, who says he believed he did the right thing when he knows he did the wrong thing. The Hitch was right when he said that I am morally superior to Tony Blair. For an ex-con to be that high in standing that beats the serving Prime Minister will do me just fine.
Most of these bureaucrats have no positive aim. They would have succeeded if the area in which they have authority never showed any activity - perfect regulation, as if nothing happens nothing can go wrong. There is no consequence to the bureaucrat.
In this case, if true, the idiot health and safety worker did not suffer for his decidion, the productive economy did.
In my industry there could be a change in regulation that would, statistically, increase overall safety. However on very rare occasions it could cause an accident. The change won't happen, because no bureaucrat will sign that piece of paper - he would not get credit for the accidents that don't happen, and fears blame for those that do. This means that money spent on "safety" is misdirected, and changes that increase safety do not happen.
JHL Glad to read that there is no chance of bumping into you next time I attend mass , unlike Blair.
"Forgive me father for I have killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of men women and children" Of course Blair will never admit to that he truly is beyond redemption. I do hope there is a vengefull God and that he has a special place for the Blairs and Bush's of this world
JHL It isnt for any of us to forgive you , it is for the family of your victim and hopefully God. You seem to have forgiven yourself although I doubt that you understand what forgiveness means . You should have been slotted or at the very least sentenced to a life of basket weaving without the chance of parole. This is how most people view you. I dont get a jolly from insulting you online , sat behind my keyboard and online alias (as you know I am not hard to find) But, we all wish that you would just eff off.
How many people know that the short form of birth certificate (without parents' names) has been declared as good as illegal when it comes to meeting the statutory requirement of establishing ID when applying for a job?
A job candidate applied for a position with my company on Friday and I had to tell him that as he does not have a passport, equivalent travel documents or the long form of birth certificate (he has the short form), he is unemployable until he buys a long form certificate.
Why do you want to know who my parents are, he asked?
I've no interest in who they are, I told him, I won't even look at who they are, but Mr Blair and co, in their wisdom, have made it a finable offence for me to employ anyone without seeing and copying the ID the government requires them to present, I said.
So, let me get this straight, the candidate said, you don't want or need my parents' names, nor does the government, but if I don't verify who my parents are I'm unemployable?
Yep, I said - a bl**dy disgrace, isn't it? Would you like to call your nulab MP to complain from here?
Little Black Sambo - There ought to have been a military coup around five years ago. It ought to have been building up since seven years ago. But the military should have got the lay of the land of Tony Blair's insane mind five years ago.
But they swear allegiance to the Queen. The Queen's on the side of New Labour because she thinks they'll leave her alone.
She doesn't care about Britain. What the hell! She has the Commonwealth! Sell the whole shebang - castles, palaces, whatever, up to DisneyWorld, transfer her £800m plus the proceeds and live in somewhere with horse jumping.
Blair doesn't seem to understand why no one is interested in his Final World Farewell Legacy Tour. Why is no one turning up to look at Tony?
"Of course, if this apocryphal little piece of tittle tattle from someone who is famous for being married to a failed politician ever happened at all, it is"
says Bob Piper. Claiming Michael Howard is a failed politician. And what has the Mr Bob Piper ever achieved?
That cheese sandwich explains why Europe is unsustainable.
In rough terms over the past 30 years, real labour costs have risen by 70% in Europe, and employment has grown by around a tenth. By contrast American wages have risen by a quarter and jobs have grown by 70%. The European Union has followed a specific path. Is it sustainable?
Unfortunately not. Thanks to Europe's labour-market rigidities, there has been a clear trend of rising unemployment in each successive cycle. The pressure of having to raise ever more taxes to support pensions and the unemployed will make Europe still less competitive and entrepreneurial.
You may mock, but police are becoming increasingly concerned at the rise in food crime injuries.
Chief Supt Plod, ACPO spokesman on public order, was recently quoted as saying: "Since the bans on guns, knives and other dangerous items came into effect, nasty little villains ... er, sorry ... marginalised citizens of otherwise admirable qualities ... have been turning to other weapons. In particular the increase in foodstuff related assaults is most conceerning.
"With this in mind ACPO is demanding that the Government immediately introduces legislation outlawing the possession or sale of solid comestibles within two miles of any licenced premisis where alcohol might be served.
"The Association is also calling on the government to act against websites that promote so-called martial arts such as Kung Pasty and Butty Do. Strong and resolute action is needed to curb this growing menace to society".
ps my word verification was "sokem" - do I get a prize or something?
Piper - You are becoming a bitter old man, Hoist up your incontinence pants and dawdle off into the sunset . Its kinder that way , you can play little Scargilll`s with your cadaverous friends all day , until Nursery comes that is …..
This cheese sandwich is like a madelaine ... . A wiff of the cheap detergent odour of bureaucracy and it all comes flooding back to me …………………..
Through the round wondow
Val Temple’s amusing confections named Robin Tarts and Miss Piggy cakes . Councillors of Weymouth felt that the vendor was implying the presence of real Robin meat and Miss Piggy Cake was woefully lacking in Pork although it did sport an amusing sugar pig . Mrs V was , of course, purveying a Muppet themed novelty snack adding , she hoped, a little levity to the culinary experience.. She should have known better. Ivan Hancock Dorset County Council’s trading Standards a Officer has made even more of a twerp of himself by defending his prescription the basis that ..oh god life’s too short….. Life on Mars was generally agreed to be good quality toffee but not for some . For the self flagellating Chris Keates ( Gen Sec of a Teaching Union ) the use of such terms as “ Fairy Boy” was tantamount to a homophobic pogrom complete with burning torches and pitchforks. Torbay Councillor Colin Carwood has required the removal of Torbay’s delightfully optimistic Palm trees because ..wait for it ..” What if one for those leaves caught a child in the eye” . Quite seriously he said “ it’s a bit like keeping tigers lovely to watch but you wouldn’t want them prowling the street “. .Logicians will spot the error here .. It is not like keeping Tigers . I `m on a roll now. Look out ……. Safety rules for children` playgrounds send them to building sites looking for risks , children’s books are produced about super heroes saving the world from climate change. Girl Guides are offered advice on safe sex, Talking on a hands free mobile in a car is an offence , why ? Christmas is renamed winter party while sharia law ,forced marriage and honour killing are ignored because if misguided cultural relativism a closely related condition to victimisis. Muslim extremists are given the same airtime as elected politicians in a free democracy And the Christmas message on Channel 4 was to be delivered from behind a Burqa. Poppy day is not yet banned but it is ignored in London and the bloody Conservative Party commissioned list of British great omitting Churchill School sport has fallen into dilapidation because someone might lose ,or more to the point hurt themselves. Then the working classes are hounded about their obese children. Gay rights trump all other cards be it the prudent placement of adoptive children or religious belief. Books are forced on schools including such edifying titles as “ The sissy Duckling and Daddy’s new Roomate “. Newcastle City Coucil banned staff from saying pet and hinny , Blackpool taxi drivers were prevented from flaunting the cross of St. George . Boys clubs are closed for not allowing girls in and is the nadir the removal of a novelty picture of a monkey from a Barnsley Council Art Gallery on the grounds that it was “ Offensive and demeaning to animals “? Finally Kirklees Council staff were prevented from using the term “Politically Correct “.
The micro managing of risk and thought and every choice in of our lives are all related . We should all be looking out as the fascist state creeps up on us like Catholic Priest on a Choirboy !!!
"Small business sinks under weight of bureaucracy" or "why did no one act to save us from this terror" - you take your hysterical tabloid headline of choice especially if you're in the comfortable realm of perpetual opposition.
Can't have been much of a business if a two minute form filling exercise brought it to its knees though. Just the sort of person you might expect Sandra to be hanging out with though - she seems strangely attracted to dismal failures...
Can't have been much of a business if a two minute form filling exercise brought it to its knees
Anon , are you aware of the amount of form filling the average small to medium sized buisiness is obliged to put up with now ? This government hates SME`s , the heart of the economy in the long term. Big business is quite happy with the exclusion of competitors .Labour Party members almost always work for the parasitical public sector and know nothing about it. If they work at all that is .
The position of "Government in waiting " is that way I would put it . It is going to be virtually impossible for the Labour party to gain an overall majority. The Scottish Stalin is likely to go donw is the most pitiful fag end in political history .In England the Labour Party are finished after their lies on taxes. Probably forever
Bureaucracy is just the tool used to cloud the view. ‘slowly slowly catchee monkey’ is the governments chosen method to oppress.
Dark days are indeed ahead, but we all have a part to play. Every time we allow the media to vilify an individual for an opinion expressed (right or wrong), every time we allow the media to condemn an individual for a genuine mistake, we play into the hands of the pack mentality.
The media should be our tool, not the governments. The media should not be instigating ’witch hunts’ & we should not be following.
"I might not like what you have to say, but I will fight to the death to defend your right to say it" -Voltaire
"Labour Party members almost always work for the parasitical public sector " Any evidence? All the ones I know except one work for private companies many of which are small.
And many more SMEs went bust under Mrs T than under Mr B. See www.lotsofstats.org.uk for details
Verity (1.07AM) - please lay off the Queen - she is, most people would agree, an outstanding monarch who has never put a constitutional foot wrong throughout her reign, and she has had to deal with some pretty strange people along the way. No one can really know her mind, but I rather doubt that she is a Blairite. To say she doesn't care' is, I think, an undeserved slur which sould be withdrawn.
I rather support your coment about the Prince of Wales, though: time will tell.
The Armed Forces' oath of alleigance to the Queen is largely symbolic in these days of constitutional monarchy. So I think your coup thesis, although lighthearted, is doomed. Which is probably a Good Thing!
Shock !!! I did not see Verty`s remarks about our wonderful Queen. Yes Verity , leave that paragon of human virtue alone . She has nothing to fear from either Party and in any case cares only got her people and this dear land .
I would not have suspected you of such querulous republicanism. ,Retract your remarks immediately .in fact " Orf with her head "
"... the nadir [is] the removal of a novelty picture of a monkey from a Barnsley Council Art Gallery on the grounds that it was “ Offensive and demeaning to animals “
And you are who? These mates of yours who are all SMEs? Would they have Government contracts? lots and lots of government lolly comming in Perhaps? I sense that you are a NULAB parasite who has done well out of the NULAB system? Hmmm, if the best excuse you can come up with is that the Tories were horrid as well, then I feel sorry for you because you obviously cannot help yourself!
PS I would love to know who you are and what you do.
I have a certain sympathy for Verity's viewpoint. With the exception of the monarch herself (whose only personal indignity under New Labour appears to have been losing the royal yacht), New Labour have ripped our constitution to shreds. So where's the advantage of the monarch. Based on the last ten years, if I had to choose between monarchical system under New Labour or a free democratic republic, I'd opt for the latter.
The Queen's never put a foot wrong because she's never done anything.
From being a staunch royalist all my life, from a staunch royalist family, I came to earth with a dull thud during the Queen's last Christmas message in which she gave a 10-minute commercial for "diversity" and multiculturalism.
I wonder who put her up to that? The Queen knows that Cherie and Tony don't like royalty and she wasn't going to rock her own boat.
It was this ridiculous "message" that spurred me to thinking, "What has the Queen ever actually done?" Answer: Not much. Other than very carefully and studiously protect her own position. This is what prompted the weird silence and non-appearance when Diana died.
But it was that so-called Christmas Message that did for me. She wasn't talking to us. She was delivering a commercial and I felt a sudden clink of cold ice rattling round my perception.
Colin wrote: "I think your coup thesis, although lighthearted, is doomed. Which is probably a Good Thing!"
You misunderstood me. I wrote that there would not be a coup.
Anonymous 1:59 -I have been thinking about this since the last Christmas message, and the Queen has signed everything that was put in front of her. She has signed the shredding of our ancient constitutional rights. She has signed the car wreck of the House of Lords. She has signed away double indemnity. And much, much more over this tragic 10 years.
We are completely dependent on the Queen to protect our rights against an overly ambitious prime minister.
She has failed us.
It is from observing the Queen that I have concluded that a Republic would better serve the British people.
Agreed. Labour (as always) have played fast and loose with our constitution in a way the Tories never could (because we have a left of centre "establishment" in this country the origins of which date back to at least the inter way years). And the monarchy has swallowed it to the point of irrelevance.
And many more SMEs went bust under Mrs T than under Mr B. See www.lotsofstats.org.uk for details
These stats are a joke and an old saw. Firstly obviously the country was still in a disastrous state following the capitulation of the Labour Party to the unions and the economy had to go through painful reorganisation in order to recover. More importantly the “ Small business” figures ., in the Brown years have been bumped up almost entirely by businesses who were employees but due to the onerous employment legislation and taxation were obliged to set up as companies and work on a contract basis , for example as Bona Fide Sub Contractors or as Consultants in the services sector , no doubt we have all come across them. This suits big companies as they avoid responsibility and it allows for greater flexibility. It is a parlous state of affairs for the “Small business “ ho ho which has little or nothing to do with the sort if small business this country used to have . They are now obliged to live from contract to contract while they are taxed for the cast iron Public sector sinecures and ongoing Premium Pensions. There are also a large number of start ups in computer related enterprise where you need no Capital and these come and go to no great purpose having no value . Above all there has been an extraordinary period of growth driven by the initially low tax regime we had , now gone and the explosion of the Asian and US economies with their low tax models . Our growth has been significantly lower than anyone else in the Anglosphere, international markets are now terrified of the swollen public sector and it looks as if the Supply side damage is really starting into bite .
If anyone in the Labour Party had ever had to out on a suit and deliver something to a customer they would not keep parroting this vacuous nonsense. As for this mysterious cache of small businessmen that vote Labour or are Labour Party members. I must have coincidentally missed them in twenty years of dealing with small business.Anon is obviously a youthful Labour Party drone who has access to the Party line but no other experience. My guess is that he has not started work at all and has little intention of doing so.We shall be paying for him one way or another , of that there can be little doubt. That is why the Labour Party has disappeared completely in the South.
As The New Statesman was saying the other day the contituency is the "Tradiional " support and the Public sector professionals .It is also among heavily subsidised industries in the North and those on benefits . Why would anyone lese vote Labour. I thmk its 65% of those in Newcastle are working for the government and god knows what the proportion of Glaswegians is on support of one sort or another. A few Graduate Guardianistas are just icing. State dependence is the Labour cake
The last couple of posts hit the nail on the head, so to speak. I used to be an ardent royalist but it has to be said again that the Queen is or should be the last and best defence against the destruction of our way of life and our liberty and in that regard she has not only failed but it seems she didnt even try! So now we are looking at the end of our way of life. I feel a dull ache of something lost never to be regained. Roll on the Republic.
Newmania's analysis is spot on. Having worked in commercial law I confirm the legal,regulatory and tax burden placed on small businesses is so immense you'd almost have to be ignorant of that burden or mad to want to form your own business.
English democrat - Sadly, this is my conclusion. She has failed us while she looked after the interests of her own family and her own position.
And if Blair has the towering impertinence, and he will, to sign this new EU "treaty" which, as Angela Merkel admitted in a leaked note, is the old EU "Constitution" rejigged with, in her words, "some presentational changes", the Queen will sign away our country and the rights of its 60m owners.
Such is the inexplicable affection in which she is held that it will be impossible to get rid of her, although possibly, if the republican meme grows, at least we'll get a republic instead of King Charles III. They are a greedy, self-serving family.
Rubbish , the Libertarian fringe have always disliked the Royal family who are living symbols of continuity and the repository of the settled communal realtions free markets disrupt. Can`t say I am greatly enamoured of the Queen wittering on about muliticulturalism but the institution has survived vastly worse folly and will continue through the glorious reign of Charles the Organic.
I agree with you Verity about the EU Treaty , it is quite horifying how our elected leaders conspire to hoodwink their own people.
The Queen is justifiably frightened. Monarchy is not in favour with the cultural Marxists, and the Bildeburg set. If Cherie Blair had her way, the Queen would be in the Tower of London.
If the Queen cannot go multicultural, then who can? She didn't push for the immigration floodgates to be opened, but she has to adapt to the new situation, and make sure she is Queen to all, not just to Verity and her friends.
Quite so Tapestry .It as astonishing thing though that both in Europe , on immigration and , for example , on Capital punishment , the poltical class arrogantly take it upon themselves to ignore the clear wishes of their masters . Us
re the vile, foul,malevolent Blair, we have to learn another lesson. Limit the number of terms the head of government can serve to two. Blair was like a snowball, accreting more and more mass as he rolled along. This can't be allowed to happen again.
There should also be a minimum percentage of voters voting to validate an election.
The ambulance chasing legal game which part of this risk assessment nonsense could be stopped by legislation, except that we have given away ultimate control of our legal system to the European Court of Human Rights. Of course, the EU is planning a more complete take-over of our legal system with the new not-a-constitution.
On a very unsurprising note, a friend of mine who is a BTEC lecturer in 'Tourism and Leisure' has just resigned because she refused to bow to the pressure placed upon her by her superiors to 'pass' all the disinterested morons she 'teaches'. Her bosses were worried that by applying even a scintilla of academic rigor, and failing people, the college's pass average would fall.
She says 90% of the class don;t want to be there, and only come because if they don't they would lose £30 a week in government money, and probably be locked up by the social workers in No.10.
ananymous, are you aware that Lord Rannoch has proposed a BIll to make a cost benefit analysis of our membership of the EU. It is moving well in the Lords, and will soon be sponsored in the Commons by Austin Mitchell, the Beast of Bolsover. Will MP's break ranks and support on a cross party basis?
87 comments:
I actually wouldn't style it the menace of bureaucracy, Iain. I'd call it the menace of the controlling, fascist left. They want to control every aspect of everyone's life - as, obviously, - you know. Whereas bureaucrats just want to go home. (Unless they're lefty bureaucrats, of course.) We have, after all, had bureaucracy for hundreds of years and we have never found ourselves in the surreal position where a pub owner is required to give the risk assessment of a cheese sandwich. This verges on lunacy.
Could Mrs Howard's friend give us the name of the person who required her to do the risk assessment, and does she have an email address for that person?
I would support a party that had a Darwinian policy on these matters. If you are stupid enough to kill yourself eating a cheese sandwich, then you will be no great loss to the species.
Daily Ref: you obviously don't understand, you can't kill YOURSELF on a cheese sandwich, there are some deadly mutant active-killer cheese sandwiches out there, and they are planning to take over the world, and it's only our wonderful Elf and Safety Officers who are saving mankind.
3 people were seriously injured in our local Sainsbury's on Tuesday by a guerrilla band of fromage frais pots.
Sorry Judith, I was unaware of cheese sandwiches actively seeking human prey. Thanks for the warning.
I feel sorry for Mrs Howard's friend, unlike the f**kwit at a pub called The Bedford Arms in the Chenies/Latimer area of Hertfordshire.
20 of us walkers were looking forward to an afternoon pint when we were told by some dozey blonde ( probably called Maureen)that "we are actually closed" despite the fact that signs were up saying "morning coffee's now being served", people in the garden supping a drink or two.
Of course she may have been correct but good old English lack of common sense & business acumen prevailed and the establishment probably lost £100.00 of takings.
Serves them right.
Iain, I think we need more detail on this important story. The cheese sandwich may have been in imminent danger of being forcibly stuffed into a patron's gob, for instance, which would have posed a serious threat to its continued existence. We need more data so that we can assess the worldwide risk to cheese sandwiches.
A friend of mine had an old folks home. She was made to remove the locks from all the rooms one week, then another inspection insisted they were replaced. It went on like that month after month - change all the curtains to the same design throughout etc. She gave up eventually as most have.
It seems that some operators offer better bribes, and big companies have taken over all the homes now.
They keep all the paper work nicely, but there is little caring any more. People die in loneliness and misery because of bureaucracy killing small businesses. Never mind the cheese sandwich.
Family run pubs have far more character than those run by the big boys. But I guess it's easier to get a pay-off on the qt from large companies. Family pubs are not really great at corruption.
That's why they are forced out by cheese sandwich risk assessors. It's to get their filthy mits on pay-offs. Regulation and corruption go hand in hand. It starts at the top in Brussels and it goes all the way down.
And Blair now wants us signed in and unable to escape. He's after big pay-off himself no doubt - fat pension and presidential or other high status employment.
Iain, if you know Mrs Howard, I would like her to ask her friend the name of the officer who asked her to carry out a risk assessment on a cheese sandwich. And the department that individual works for. I can feel an email storm coming on.
When some council git in - I think it was - Nottingham decided that the new area of the city cemetary should have all graves facing East because that's how muslims wanted to be buried, it got some publicity in Britain. But Little Green Footballs picked up the story and the Americans bloggers ran with it over the weekend, and the decision had been reversed by the end of the day on Monday.
Dear tapestry: You obviously have not been paying attention. Blair has been converted to the RC faith. Apparently Cheerie is going bananas as the pontiff has only offered him a deaconship. Bloody come down, from president Blair of UK.
I am appalled by this government's failure to properly implement the EU's Cheese Sandwich Risk Assessment Directive 007/07. I have spent many months in training for this new profession, employment in which was virtually guaranteed to me by a junior Government Minister. I have an official clipboard and tape measure, yet I have now been told I am out of work for the foreseeable future. What compensation does the Government propose to pay me for lost business opportunities? I think it's DISGRACEFUL.
Verity spake:
I'd call it the menace of the controlling, fascist left.
I'd call it the madness of the deregulated legal industry, thanks to which we are all obliged to watch TV ads asking Have you choked on a cheese sandwich that wasn't your fault? Would you like us to sue your local pub on a no-win, no-fee basis?.
All very funny but one of the largest producers of Camembert has decided to start pasturising their milk just in case they are sued for the odd upset tummy.
How odd that a substance that smells like a tramps sock soaked in stale urine could taste so good.
didnt monty python do a cheese sketch
sums up nulab they will recycle anything.
Military coup now. Where is our Pinochet?
Tapestry
Old peoples homes?
Grandmother Hitch is lucky to live in a decent one ((£700 a week)however the owners are considering shutting it down as the weight of more and more regulations means that they are losing money.
We could send the old witch to Eton with a week in Barbados at christmas for the same money.
This country is doomed.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have banned Asda from advertising Whole-Fat milk during Children's TV. This comes after all those years of public announcements encouraging our kids to drink milk. You could not make it up could you? The fact that any food advertisements have been banned during Children's TV smacks of an interfering Nanny State, but milk? What's next, fruit and veg?
David - The problem is, the military swears allegiance to the Queen, and the Queen is going to do damn all to rock the boat. She shut have shut down Blair's operation eight or nine years ago, but her loyalty isn't to the British people; it's the The Firm.
Last Xmas she even turned her Chrismas Message into a NuLabour commercial for "diversity". And look at Charles and his droll Defender of Faith aspirations. Then look at even further New Left William.
I'm afraid we're stuffed for a military coup.
There is a theory about that the Public Sector has a Prescott-inspired corruption agenda to deliberately drive out private business from certain sectors.
Old peoples homes, waste disposal, environmental businesses etc. Things which the public sector sees as its business, and where big payoffs can be extracted.
How else could it be explained that thousands of perfectly good businesses are being driven out by oppressive regulation,and legal assault of one kind or another?
Tapestry - makes sense - in a ghoulish, NuLabour way. I see Prescott's out. Iain didn't want negative comments about Prescott's hospitalisation, so I will not make the very negative comment I would have made had I not known that I would have been abusing Iain's hospitality by so doing.
And less than two weeks until Blair signs our country away to be a province of Brussels.
My heart lifted when I read the news that "a couple had breached Downing St security" but they'd only taken a wrong turn.
Going back to the opening post by 'verity said'. It opened with the tenor that continued through this 'Turnbridge Wells Angry of' thread.
I very much doubt that he or she get a response to the plea that 'Mrs Howard's friend give us the name of the person who required her to do the risk assessment'... for the reason, I suspect, that this is yet another of those 'urban myths' (let's be polite about it).
In this case, the theme of the myth is the widely held delusion of a supposed public sector bureaucracy talking over every very lives. Its similar really to the one about 'political correctness'... about embittered delusions and prejudices masquerading as victimhood and injured justice
Of course, if this apocryphal little piece of tittle tattle from someone who is famous for being married to a failed politician ever happened at all, it is only because the government ordered it, no doubt directly through the Prime Minister from her majesty. What on earth do you people get off on? If batty verity has nothing better to do than send e-mails to people over this sort of nonsense, perhaps she should try to get a job.
I would like to nominate Bob Piper for a "risk assessment."
Why?
Because, every time I see his picture next to one of his idiotic postings, I want to throw up.
For god's sake Bob. Are you not familiar with concepts like "humour" or "irony" ? What a terrifying lot you Labour control freaks really are.
Strange that batty Bob Piper capitalises Prime Minister, but not Her Majesty. Perhaps it's just ignorance, though.
The reason America is freer than Britain is, Americans participate. If something displeases them, the elected representatives know about it around 30 seconds later. The British are passive, which is a shame, because dynamic participatory democracy works.
Mr Howard won the election in England. He was successful. Labour failed in England.
Speaking of failed politicians, who are you?
"If batty verity has nothing better to do than send e-mails to people over this sort of nonsense" ...
Batty Verity can bat out a well-constructed, grammatical email (or post)in around two minutes. It doesn't interfere with earning a living.
Ted Harkins, it could be that Sandra Howard made it up, of course. Or that her friend was exaggerating. I don't know.
Not strictly on-topic, Iain, but there is a police blogger called "Man Eating Cheese Sandwich" who runs a highly readable blog at:
http://maneatingcheesesandwich.blogspot.com/
I'll bet he can tell some stories about the growth of bureaucracy...
Of course this is all about the over-supply of graduates with meaningless degrees. These dozy halfwits would previously have been doing something useful like making cars or building houses. Now they are now employed in the regulation industry at great taxpayers expense.
Douglas Adams had it right with his cunning plan for the humane disposal of telephone sanitisers, and it is probably what we should be planning for every elfen safety fascist in the country (and ISO9000 quality manager for that matter).
I can vouch for maneatingcheesesandwich he has a good blog and post a comment on my blog regularly.
I now await all the nasty comments from the hitch, newmania, verity and jus'passin'thru and more vulgar than a vulcans vulva...and of course anonymous...
Well, I've known some pub cheese sandwiches to be pretty lethal. Let's hope "Councillor" Piper avails himself of one or two.
to do a risk assessment on a cheese sandwich"
Obviously if they are using Limburger cheese adequate ventilation is essential
jailhouselawyer:
I'm the "anonymous" who suggested people should have a look at "maneatingcheesesandwich.blogspot.com"
I also read your blog on a regular basis and find it very interesting.
Not all anonymous bloggers are bad...some of us are just a bit shy...
anonymous: It is the bad ones that I refer to and not the shy ones.
It would appear that either I am endangering myself, in which case I should become maneatinghamsandwich, or endangering others, in which case I shall retrain to become mostlyharmlesscheesesandwich.
A few years ago, the wise old owls at the Home Office announced a war on bureaucracy. I was duly briefed that, if I had a suggestion as to how to chip away at the great ball of red tape, all I had to do was fill in a form. To obtain a copy of the form, all I had to do was ring the Management Projects office at HQ, so that they could e-mail said form to me. I could then fill in the details of my proposed change and pass the form to my Line Manager (Sergeant) for checking. He/she could then bypass my Second Line Manager (Inspector) and give it straight to the Divisional Commander for signature and submission to HQ. The HQ-based Bureacracy Working Group would then discuss my proposal alongside all other new proposals, before selecting an approved list to be passed to the Force Executive Group who would then compare the perceived pros and cons of said proposal, then submit anything which survived scrutiny along to the Home Office project team. A certain ironic beauty about it all, isn't there?
This was, of course, under the current administration. The War on Paperwork of 1990 was a much different affair, whereby the views of rank-and-file officers weren't even sought (being beneath contempt) and simply resulted in a doubling of the average administrative burden.
Bureaucracy is a glorious thing. Where would be be without it? For so many years, my colleagues and I dealt with Road Traffic Accidents, taking down the necessary particulars (steady on, matron) and sweeping up the debris. It was often observed that, if either driver had been a tad more careful, then both would have been safe. Some pedantic soul then opined that since, by definition, one or more of the parties involved must be at fault, a collision could not be an accident. We therefore attend Road Traffic Collisions. Lucky really, as Road Traffic Unfortunate Incident Brought On By An Unintentional Series Of Events was a bit of a mouthful.
Anonymous 10:13 ... and some us are axe "manslaughterers" trying to build a media career on the killing of an old lady.
jailhouselawyer:
thank you
When I'm ready to stick some sort of name on my opinions, I'll be back in touch.
I think that most people on this blog know your history. The fairer ones are more interested in your future...
Oh - and I'm sure that Vlad Howard had more than a little to do with the increase in admin during his stint at the Home Office. Perhaps the lovely Sandra should slip him a cheddar doorstep and hope for the best.
Iain - regarding the 10:43 post under my name, it is obviously not from me but an angry imposter. One of two candidates.
maneatingcheessandwich: Glad that you could make an appearance.
Verity: I already have a media career. However, it is based upon my legal achievements and not past conduct. I am sorry that you are a nobody seeking the limelight. Why don't you try achieving something other than being nasty and out of touch?
anonymous 10.36: No problem. Perhaps you can pass on some of your civility to the likes of verity?
Verity
If you were to set up abog and post a photo (it doesnt have to be of you) then We would know it was the real verity.
It may suprise you to know that I dont go about dressed as Eric Bloodaxe , although I am related to him.
JHL
Do you declare the earnings from this "media career" of yours to the dole office?
jailhouselawyer:
I'm not religious but I can't help feeling that if you were prepared to take on the mantle of:
"a sinner seeking redemption"
more than:
"an ex-con fighting the system"
you might find you have more friends around here than you could imagine.
What do you have to lose?
I could slash - oops! - I mean destroy! - as in cutting to pieces - oops! - I mean demolishing! successful legal practitioner and welfare recipient John Hirst's claims and passive aggression, but I'm on Iain's property. So won't.
the hitch: All part of the New Deal organised by the DWP. The IRS are not knocking on my door...
Anonymous: 11.11: Sorry religion is not my cup of tea. Sinner is more Bible talk than anything. I did the crime I served the time and 10 years extra to boot, that's your lot.
I found redemption. The problem is that some people are less forgiving than others and they will never be satisfied. I give up on them as lost causes. That is their problem not mine.
I don't go looking for friends. I already have some very genuine ones who are very supportive of me. I fight for what I believe in. Unlike Tony Blair, who says he believed he did the right thing when he knows he did the wrong thing. The Hitch was right when he said that I am morally superior to Tony Blair. For an ex-con to be that high in standing that beats the serving Prime Minister will do me just fine.
Most of these bureaucrats have no positive aim. They would have succeeded if the area in which they have authority never showed any activity - perfect regulation, as if nothing happens nothing can go wrong. There is no consequence to the bureaucrat.
In this case, if true, the idiot health and safety worker did not suffer for his decidion, the productive economy did.
In my industry there could be a change in regulation that would, statistically, increase overall safety. However on very rare occasions it could cause an accident. The change won't happen, because no bureaucrat will sign that piece of paper - he would not get credit for the accidents that don't happen, and fears blame for those that do. This means that money spent on "safety" is misdirected, and changes that increase safety do not happen.
JHL
Glad to read that there is no chance of bumping into you next time I attend mass , unlike Blair.
"Forgive me father for I have killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of men women and children"
Of course Blair will never admit to that he truly is beyond redemption.
I do hope there is a vengefull God and that he has a special place for the Blairs and Bush's of this world
Verity said, "I'm afraid we're stuffed for a military coup."
Does that mean you're afraid there will be one or your're afraid there won't be one?
JHL
It isnt for any of us to forgive you , it is for the family of your victim and hopefully God.
You seem to have forgiven yourself although I doubt that you understand what forgiveness means .
You should have been slotted or at the very least sentenced to a life of basket weaving without the chance of parole.
This is how most people view you.
I dont get a jolly from insulting you online , sat behind my keyboard and online alias (as you know I am not hard to find)
But, we all wish that you would just eff off.
How many people know that the short form of birth certificate (without parents' names) has been declared as good as illegal when it comes to meeting the statutory requirement of establishing ID when applying for a job?
A job candidate applied for a position with my company on Friday and I had to tell him that as he does not have a passport, equivalent travel documents or the long form of birth certificate (he has the short form), he is unemployable until he buys a long form certificate.
Why do you want to know who my parents are, he asked?
I've no interest in who they are, I told him, I won't even look at who they are, but Mr Blair and co, in their wisdom, have made it a finable offence for me to employ anyone without seeing and copying the ID the government requires them to present, I said.
So, let me get this straight, the candidate said, you don't want or need my parents' names, nor does the government, but if I don't verify who my parents are I'm unemployable?
Yep, I said - a bl**dy disgrace, isn't it? Would you like to call your nulab MP to complain from here?
Little Black Sambo - There ought to have been a military coup around five years ago. It ought to have been building up since seven years ago. But the military should have got the lay of the land of Tony Blair's insane mind five years ago.
But they swear allegiance to the Queen. The Queen's on the side of New Labour because she thinks they'll leave her alone.
She doesn't care about Britain. What the hell! She has the Commonwealth! Sell the whole shebang - castles, palaces, whatever, up to DisneyWorld, transfer her £800m plus the proceeds and live in somewhere with horse jumping.
Blair doesn't seem to understand why no one is interested in his Final World Farewell Legacy Tour. Why is no one turning up to look at Tony?
This is an opportunity for a final Blackadder.
Oh, God! It could be hysterical!
Actually, the average pub cheese sandwich needs not only a H&S risk assessment but a security scan for polonium.
Pub food need a skull-and-crossbones system - five on a sandwich and you know it's probably not the healthy option.
Btw this is not a sneer at Sandra H, who is a classy lady and would get my vote any day, were she to stand.
"Of course, if this apocryphal little piece of tittle tattle from someone who is famous for being married to a failed politician ever happened at all, it is"
says Bob Piper. Claiming Michael Howard is a failed politician. And what has the Mr Bob Piper ever achieved?
Jeremy Jacobs - Howard won England for the Conservatives.
Bob Piper can pipe it up his arse.
That cheese sandwich explains why Europe is unsustainable.
In rough terms over the past 30 years, real labour costs have risen by 70% in Europe, and employment has grown by around a tenth. By contrast American wages have risen by a quarter and jobs have grown by 70%. The European Union has followed a specific path. Is it sustainable?
Unfortunately not. Thanks to Europe's labour-market rigidities, there has been a clear trend of rising unemployment in each successive cycle. The pressure of having to raise ever more taxes to support pensions and the unemployed will make Europe still less competitive and entrepreneurial.
Hard cheese.
You may mock, but police are becoming increasingly concerned at the rise in food crime injuries.
Chief Supt Plod, ACPO spokesman on public order, was recently quoted as saying: "Since the bans on guns, knives and other dangerous items came into effect, nasty little villains ... er, sorry ... marginalised citizens of otherwise admirable qualities ... have been turning to other weapons. In particular the increase in foodstuff related assaults is most conceerning.
"With this in mind ACPO is demanding that the Government immediately introduces legislation outlawing the possession or sale of solid comestibles within two miles of any licenced premisis where alcohol might be served.
"The Association is also calling on the government to act against websites that promote so-called martial arts such as Kung Pasty and Butty Do. Strong and resolute action is needed to curb this growing menace to society".
ps my word verification was "sokem" - do I get a prize or something?
Piper - You are becoming a bitter old man, Hoist up your incontinence pants and dawdle off into the sunset . Its kinder that way , you can play little Scargilll`s with your cadaverous friends all day , until Nursery comes that is …..
This cheese sandwich is like a madelaine ...
. A wiff of the cheap detergent odour of bureaucracy and it all comes flooding back to me …………………..
Through the round wondow
Val Temple’s amusing confections named Robin Tarts and Miss Piggy cakes . Councillors of Weymouth felt that the vendor was implying the presence of real Robin meat and Miss Piggy Cake was woefully lacking in Pork although it did sport an amusing sugar pig . Mrs V was , of course, purveying a Muppet themed novelty snack adding , she hoped, a little levity to the culinary experience.. She should have known better. Ivan Hancock Dorset County Council’s trading Standards a Officer has made even more of a twerp of himself by defending his prescription the basis that ..oh god life’s too short…..
Life on Mars was generally agreed to be good quality toffee but not for some . For the self flagellating Chris Keates ( Gen Sec of a Teaching Union ) the use of such terms as “ Fairy Boy” was tantamount to a homophobic pogrom complete with burning torches and pitchforks.
Torbay Councillor Colin Carwood has required the removal of Torbay’s delightfully optimistic Palm trees because ..wait for it ..” What if one for those leaves caught a child in the eye” . Quite seriously he said “ it’s a bit like keeping tigers lovely to watch but you wouldn’t want them prowling the street “. .Logicians will spot the error here .. It is not like keeping Tigers .
I `m on a roll now. Look out ……. Safety rules for children` playgrounds send them to building sites looking for risks , children’s books are produced about super heroes saving the world from climate change. Girl Guides are offered advice on safe sex, Talking on a hands free mobile in a car is an offence , why ? Christmas is renamed winter party while sharia law ,forced marriage and honour killing are ignored because if misguided cultural relativism a closely related condition to victimisis. Muslim extremists are given the same airtime as elected politicians in a free democracy And the Christmas message on Channel 4 was to be delivered from behind a Burqa. Poppy day is not yet banned but it is ignored in London and the bloody Conservative Party commissioned list of British great omitting Churchill
School sport has fallen into dilapidation because someone might lose ,or more to the point hurt themselves. Then the working classes are hounded about their obese children. Gay rights trump all other cards be it the prudent placement of adoptive children or religious belief. Books are forced on schools including such edifying titles as “ The sissy Duckling and Daddy’s new Roomate “.
Newcastle City Coucil banned staff from saying pet and hinny , Blackpool taxi drivers were prevented from flaunting the cross of St. George . Boys clubs are closed for not allowing girls in and is the nadir the removal of a novelty picture of a monkey from a Barnsley Council Art Gallery on the grounds that it was “ Offensive and demeaning to animals “? Finally Kirklees Council staff were prevented from using the term “Politically Correct “.
The micro managing of risk and thought and every choice in of our lives are all related . We should all be looking out as the fascist state creeps up on us like Catholic Priest on a Choirboy !!!
"Small business sinks under weight of bureaucracy" or "why did no one act to save us from this terror" - you take your hysterical tabloid headline of choice especially if you're in the comfortable realm of perpetual opposition.
Can't have been much of a business if a two minute form filling exercise brought it to its knees though. Just the sort of person you might expect Sandra to be hanging out with though - she seems strangely attracted to dismal failures...
Can't have been much of a business if a two minute form filling exercise brought it to its knees
Anon , are you aware of the amount of form filling the average small to medium sized buisiness is obliged to put up with now ? This government hates SME`s , the heart of the economy in the long term. Big business is quite happy with the exclusion of competitors .Labour Party members almost always work for the parasitical public sector and know nothing about it. If they work at all that is .
The position of "Government in waiting " is that way I would put it . It is going to be virtually impossible for the Labour party to gain an overall majority. The Scottish Stalin is likely to go donw is the most pitiful fag end in political history .In England the Labour Party are finished after their lies on taxes. Probably forever
Good
Bureaucracy is just the tool used to cloud the view. ‘slowly slowly catchee monkey’ is the governments chosen method to oppress.
Dark days are indeed ahead, but we all have a part to play. Every time we allow the media to vilify an individual for an opinion expressed (right or wrong), every time we allow the media to condemn an individual for a genuine mistake, we play into the hands of the pack mentality.
The media should be our tool, not the governments. The media should not be instigating ’witch hunts’ & we should not be following.
"I might not like what you have to say, but I will fight to the death to defend your right to say it" -Voltaire
"Labour Party members almost always work for the parasitical public sector " Any evidence? All the ones I know except one work for private companies many of which are small.
And many more SMEs went bust under Mrs T than under Mr B. See www.lotsofstats.org.uk for details
Verity (1.07AM) - please lay off the Queen - she is, most people would agree, an outstanding monarch who has never put a constitutional foot wrong throughout her reign, and she has had to deal with some pretty strange people along the way. No one can really know her mind, but I rather doubt that she is a Blairite. To say she doesn't care' is, I think, an undeserved slur which sould be withdrawn.
I rather support your coment about the Prince of Wales, though: time will tell.
The Armed Forces' oath of alleigance to the Queen is largely symbolic in these days of constitutional monarchy. So I think your coup thesis, although lighthearted, is doomed. Which is probably a Good Thing!
Shock !!! I did not see Verty`s remarks about our wonderful Queen.
Yes Verity , leave that paragon of human virtue alone . She has nothing to fear from either Party and in any case cares only got her people and this dear land .
I would not have suspected you of such querulous republicanism. ,Retract your remarks immediately .in fact
" Orf with her head "
"... the nadir [is] the removal of a novelty picture of a monkey from a Barnsley Council Art Gallery on the grounds that it was “ Offensive and demeaning to animals “
Now that really is rude to Hartlepudlians.
This 'jailhouse lawyer' should be red carded and shown the door. Does he have some saving grace which escapes me?
Dear Annon 11.08,
And you are who? These mates of yours who are all SMEs? Would they have Government contracts? lots and lots of government lolly comming in Perhaps? I sense that you are a NULAB parasite who has done well out of the NULAB system?
Hmmm, if the best excuse you can come up with is that the Tories were horrid as well, then I feel sorry for you because you obviously cannot help yourself!
PS I would love to know who you are and what you do.
I have a certain sympathy for Verity's viewpoint. With the exception of the monarch herself (whose only personal indignity under New Labour appears to have been losing the royal yacht), New Labour have ripped our constitution to shreds. So where's the advantage of the monarch. Based on the last ten years, if I had to choose between monarchical system under New Labour or a free democratic republic, I'd opt for the latter.
The Queen's never put a foot wrong because she's never done anything.
From being a staunch royalist all my life, from a staunch royalist family, I came to earth with a dull thud during the Queen's last Christmas message in which she gave a 10-minute commercial for "diversity" and multiculturalism.
I wonder who put her up to that? The Queen knows that Cherie and Tony don't like royalty and she wasn't going to rock her own boat.
It was this ridiculous "message" that spurred me to thinking, "What has the Queen ever actually done?" Answer: Not much. Other than very carefully and studiously protect her own position. This is what prompted the weird silence and non-appearance when Diana died.
But it was that so-called Christmas Message that did for me. She wasn't talking to us. She was delivering a commercial and I felt a sudden clink of cold ice rattling round my perception.
Colin wrote: "I think your coup thesis, although lighthearted, is doomed. Which is probably a Good Thing!"
You misunderstood me. I wrote that there would not be a coup.
Yes Verity. It is a bit like cold ice when you realise that something you thought stood for something has in reality stood for very little but itself.
Anonymous 1:59 -I have been thinking about this since the last Christmas message, and the Queen has signed everything that was put in front of her. She has signed the shredding of our ancient constitutional rights. She has signed the car wreck of the House of Lords. She has signed away double indemnity. And much, much more over this tragic 10 years.
We are completely dependent on the Queen to protect our rights against an overly ambitious prime minister.
She has failed us.
It is from observing the Queen that I have concluded that a Republic would better serve the British people.
Verity
Agreed. Labour (as always) have played fast and loose with our constitution in a way the Tories never could (because we have a left of centre "establishment" in this country the origins of which date back to at least the inter way years). And the monarchy has swallowed it to the point of irrelevance.
And many more SMEs went bust under Mrs T than under Mr B. See www.lotsofstats.org.uk for details
These stats are a joke and an old saw. Firstly obviously the country was still in a disastrous state following the capitulation of the Labour Party to the unions and the economy had to go through painful reorganisation in order to recover. More importantly the “ Small business” figures ., in the Brown years have been bumped up almost entirely by businesses who were employees but due to the onerous employment legislation and taxation were obliged to set up as companies and work on a contract basis , for example as Bona Fide Sub Contractors or as Consultants in the services sector , no doubt we have all come across them. This suits big companies as they avoid responsibility and it allows for greater flexibility. It is a parlous state of affairs for the “Small business “ ho ho which has little or nothing to do with the sort if small business this country used to have . They are now obliged to live from contract to contract while they are taxed for the cast iron Public sector sinecures and ongoing Premium Pensions. There are also a large number of start ups in computer related enterprise where you need no Capital and these come and go to no great purpose having no value . Above all there has been an extraordinary period of growth driven by the initially low tax regime we had , now gone and the explosion of the Asian and US economies with their low tax models . Our growth has been significantly lower than anyone else in the Anglosphere, international markets are now terrified of the swollen public sector and it looks as if the Supply side damage is really starting into bite .
If anyone in the Labour Party had ever had to out on a suit and deliver something to a customer they would not keep parroting this vacuous nonsense.
As for this mysterious cache of small businessmen that vote Labour or are Labour Party members. I must have coincidentally missed them in twenty years of dealing with small business.Anon is obviously a youthful Labour Party drone who has access to the Party line but no other experience. My guess is that he has not started work at all and has little intention of doing so.We shall be paying for him one way or another , of that there can be little doubt. That is why the Labour Party has disappeared completely in the South.
As The New Statesman was saying the other day the contituency is the "Tradiional " support and the Public sector professionals .It is also among heavily subsidised industries in the North and those on benefits . Why would anyone lese vote Labour. I thmk its 65% of those in Newcastle are working for the government and god knows what the proportion of Glaswegians is on support of one sort or another. A few Graduate Guardianistas are just icing. State dependence is the Labour cake
The last couple of posts hit the nail on the head, so to speak. I used to be an ardent royalist but it has to be said again that the Queen is or should be the last and best defence against the destruction of our way of life and our liberty and in that regard she has not only failed but it seems she didnt even try! So now we are looking at the end of our way of life. I feel a dull ache of something lost never to be regained. Roll on the Republic.
Risk assesments and the whole health & safety lark could just be replaced with a simple Darwin Awards style system.
Kill yourself in a stupid way - say by Cheese sandwich - and people will mock you.
No huge payout for stupidity, instead let us mock the retards who are unable to use common sense.
Oh and sacking the health & safety nazis will save the taxpayers a few quid as well.
Newmania's analysis is spot on. Having worked in commercial law I confirm the legal,regulatory and tax burden placed on small businesses is so immense you'd almost have to be ignorant of that burden or mad to want to form your own business.
English democrat - Sadly, this is my conclusion. She has failed us while she looked after the interests of her own family and her own position.
And if Blair has the towering impertinence, and he will, to sign this new EU "treaty" which, as Angela Merkel admitted in a leaked note, is the old EU "Constitution" rejigged with, in her words, "some presentational changes", the Queen will sign away our country and the rights of its 60m owners.
Such is the inexplicable affection in which she is held that it will be impossible to get rid of her, although possibly, if the republican meme grows, at least we'll get a republic instead of King Charles III. They are a greedy, self-serving family.
Rubbish , the Libertarian fringe have always disliked the Royal family who are living symbols of continuity and the repository of the settled communal realtions free markets disrupt. Can`t say I am greatly enamoured of the Queen wittering on about muliticulturalism but the institution has survived vastly worse folly and will continue through the glorious reign of Charles the Organic.
I agree with you Verity about the EU Treaty , it is quite horifying how our elected leaders conspire to hoodwink their own people.
The Queen is justifiably frightened. Monarchy is not in favour with the cultural Marxists, and the Bildeburg set. If Cherie Blair had her way, the Queen would be in the Tower of London.
If the Queen cannot go multicultural, then who can? She didn't push for the immigration floodgates to be opened, but she has to adapt to the new situation, and make sure she is Queen to all, not just to Verity and her friends.
Quite so Tapestry .It as astonishing thing though that both in Europe , on immigration and , for example , on Capital punishment , the poltical class arrogantly take it upon themselves to ignore the clear wishes of their masters . Us
Sorry, but the 20 minute New Labour commercial for 'diversity' that the Queen parrotted was my road to Damascus.
Think back. What has she done that was not self-serving? Name one thing she has done for the British people.
As I said above, she's never put a foot wrong because she's never done anything.
She is a prism though which the people see the living connection to the land and to eachother.
President Blair verity ? Shame on you.
re the vile, foul,malevolent Blair, we have to learn another lesson. Limit the number of terms the head of government can serve to two. Blair was like a snowball, accreting more and more mass as he rolled along. This can't be allowed to happen again.
There should also be a minimum percentage of voters voting to validate an election.
She refused to call Blair, Tony. It's 'Prime Minister' and Mrs Blair.At least we have someone to put the peasants in their places.
Tapestry - OK. She gets top marks for that.
The ambulance chasing legal game which part of this risk assessment nonsense could be stopped by legislation, except that we have given away ultimate control of our legal system to the European Court of Human Rights. Of course, the EU is planning a more complete take-over of our legal system with the new not-a-constitution.
On a very unsurprising note, a friend of mine who is a BTEC lecturer in 'Tourism and Leisure' has just resigned because she refused to bow to the pressure placed upon her by her superiors to 'pass' all the disinterested morons she 'teaches'. Her bosses were worried that by applying even a scintilla of academic rigor, and failing people, the college's pass average would fall.
She says 90% of the class don;t want to be there, and only come because if they don't they would lose £30 a week in government money, and probably be locked up by the social workers in No.10.
Borissimo.
ananymous, are you aware that Lord Rannoch has proposed a BIll to make a cost benefit analysis of our membership of the EU. It is moving well in the Lords, and will soon be sponsored in the Commons by Austin Mitchell, the Beast of Bolsover. Will MP's break ranks and support on a cross party basis?
What's the SP on this effort, Iain?
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