Andy Burnham on BBC Questiontime " Freedom is not absolute "( hat tip to Dizzy).
I am appalled. This man is a servant of the Crown and a minister in our Government, yet believes that any freedoms we have are at the whim of the party in power ( and particularly the Labour Party).
It's a theme I have visited before but we should all remember that Freedom consists in Service.
So Shakespeare proposed in the Tempest, perhaps his greatest play. I know the headmaster will disagree, but hey... he's only an English Professor.
* Quote from Mel Gibson in Braveheart which finishes "... but they will never take our Freedom!!!"
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2009
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Andrew Marr and Jackboots
I watched the AM interview with the person who is supposed to be the British Home Secretary.
I simply do not believe what she said, and I suspect a good many others won't either.
Never mind that Marr the lickspittle talked over Carole Vorderman when she was talking about Greengate.
Nevermind that he let Smith repeat blatant lies.
What got me more than anything was what I can only describe as her utter incompetence.
Do you honestly believe that she has NOT been trying to get to the bottom of what is going on with Greengate? If not, why not?She actually said she couldn't comment on it as it was an operational Police matter. She hadn't had a briefing - but then showed the lie by saying there would be other matters to come out. Whether that itself is true or not is open to debate - it's a typical Liebore water-muddying excercise.
This person is supposed to be in charge of the Police, the Prison Service, the Security Services, Immigration and many more matters directly linked to our everyday lives.
If ever anything or anyone was unfit for purpose, it is she.
Fraser Nelson in todays NOW has a powerful piece, part of which is in Coffee House
Nelson says "In my News of the World column today, I say the Green arrest is an allegory for what has happened to Britain. It’s not just the police, but the local authorities which use anti-terror power to spy on the people they’re supposed to serve – always seeking ways to justify their salary and staff levels. "
The one plus to all this is that maybe - just maybe - this may be the match that lights the fuse for an early election.
Even ZanuLiebore Parliamentarian time-servers might hesitate before voting down a no confidence motion if it was about Greengate and Parliamentary Democracy.
I simply do not believe what she said, and I suspect a good many others won't either.
Never mind that Marr the lickspittle talked over Carole Vorderman when she was talking about Greengate.
Nevermind that he let Smith repeat blatant lies.
What got me more than anything was what I can only describe as her utter incompetence.
Do you honestly believe that she has NOT been trying to get to the bottom of what is going on with Greengate? If not, why not?She actually said she couldn't comment on it as it was an operational Police matter. She hadn't had a briefing - but then showed the lie by saying there would be other matters to come out. Whether that itself is true or not is open to debate - it's a typical Liebore water-muddying excercise.
This person is supposed to be in charge of the Police, the Prison Service, the Security Services, Immigration and many more matters directly linked to our everyday lives.
If ever anything or anyone was unfit for purpose, it is she.
Fraser Nelson in todays NOW has a powerful piece, part of which is in Coffee House
Nelson says "In my News of the World column today, I say the Green arrest is an allegory for what has happened to Britain. It’s not just the police, but the local authorities which use anti-terror power to spy on the people they’re supposed to serve – always seeking ways to justify their salary and staff levels. "
The one plus to all this is that maybe - just maybe - this may be the match that lights the fuse for an early election.
Even ZanuLiebore Parliamentarian time-servers might hesitate before voting down a no confidence motion if it was about Greengate and Parliamentary Democracy.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Cassius writes..and so does Matthew Parris
Cassius Writes has this piece.
Matthew Parris writes this.
What they say is absolutely correct. All those of us who have moaned intermittently about the freedoms we have lost have been sleepwalking to a totalitarian state.
When I started this blog I indicated that many of the things that Blair and Brown were then doing mirrored rather too closely for comfort those acts which defined Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. These included suborning the legislature, the police, the legal profession and many other seemingly unconnected areas of our lives.
The effect was two fold. Firstly, more and more power became dependant on the office of Prime Minister and Chancellor - though now Brown is PM, I suspect the latter is being downgraded again.
Secondly, the ability and will of people to resist has been sapped and debased, as NuLabour has created literally hundreds of new offences for which you can be arrested and detained. David Davis gave us all a wake up call when he resigned, but, until now, we have all rather shrugged this off as a stunt. We forget that orders in council ( ie made and enforced by Prime Ministerial fiat) outnumber laws made in Parliament by more than 100 to 1.
It's not a stunt any more. It's deadly serious. Brown and Government members have NOT sought to uphold Parliamentary supremacy, something they are bound to do as sitting MPs.
If there is not an immediate and full enquiry, AND the perpetrators of Green's arrest made to apologise to Parliament, then I'm afraid we can kiss goodbye to British Democracy forever.
Brown is cynically waiting to see how much he can get away with.
I mentioned that just before I left Romania a Professor of History was saying Cromwell was one of our greatest Britons.
I had not intended to repeat other things he mentioned, but I think they have become rather too relevant for comfort.
During Ceausescu's time, any dissent was immediately suppressed. After he was removed, in the forests in the North, dozens of mass graves were found. It's estimated that more than 10,000 political opponents disappeared - it always happens when power devolves to one man, and there are no effective checks and balances.
In 1985 the Professor's brother, by no means an active opponent of the regime, was listening to a radio broadcast and took exception to what was being said.
So he went out into the street and started shouting about it. No one looked out when within a couple of minutes a car drew up and he was bundled into it.
He was never seen again.
In 1995, his widow and the Professor tried to find out what had happened. They were told no records of such things had ever been kept. A squad was sent to deal with it.
And, chillingly, they did.
Matthew Parris writes this.
What they say is absolutely correct. All those of us who have moaned intermittently about the freedoms we have lost have been sleepwalking to a totalitarian state.
When I started this blog I indicated that many of the things that Blair and Brown were then doing mirrored rather too closely for comfort those acts which defined Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. These included suborning the legislature, the police, the legal profession and many other seemingly unconnected areas of our lives.
The effect was two fold. Firstly, more and more power became dependant on the office of Prime Minister and Chancellor - though now Brown is PM, I suspect the latter is being downgraded again.
Secondly, the ability and will of people to resist has been sapped and debased, as NuLabour has created literally hundreds of new offences for which you can be arrested and detained. David Davis gave us all a wake up call when he resigned, but, until now, we have all rather shrugged this off as a stunt. We forget that orders in council ( ie made and enforced by Prime Ministerial fiat) outnumber laws made in Parliament by more than 100 to 1.
It's not a stunt any more. It's deadly serious. Brown and Government members have NOT sought to uphold Parliamentary supremacy, something they are bound to do as sitting MPs.
If there is not an immediate and full enquiry, AND the perpetrators of Green's arrest made to apologise to Parliament, then I'm afraid we can kiss goodbye to British Democracy forever.
Brown is cynically waiting to see how much he can get away with.
I mentioned that just before I left Romania a Professor of History was saying Cromwell was one of our greatest Britons.
I had not intended to repeat other things he mentioned, but I think they have become rather too relevant for comfort.
During Ceausescu's time, any dissent was immediately suppressed. After he was removed, in the forests in the North, dozens of mass graves were found. It's estimated that more than 10,000 political opponents disappeared - it always happens when power devolves to one man, and there are no effective checks and balances.
In 1985 the Professor's brother, by no means an active opponent of the regime, was listening to a radio broadcast and took exception to what was being said.
So he went out into the street and started shouting about it. No one looked out when within a couple of minutes a car drew up and he was bundled into it.
He was never seen again.
In 1995, his widow and the Professor tried to find out what had happened. They were told no records of such things had ever been kept. A squad was sent to deal with it.
And, chillingly, they did.
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