Budget Hits Local Families

Budget hits local families.

Gordon Henderson has delivered his verdict on Gordon Brown’s Budget which sets out the Government’s plans for taxes and public spending:
· Independent experts have calculated that 3.5 million families will be worse off as a result of the Budget. The headline-grabbing move to cut the basic rate by 2 pence is offset by the abolition of the 10p income tax rate and an increase in National Insurance contributions for many.
· A single person without children earning £16,000, like an NHS maternity care assistant or a police community support officer, will pay more in tax, and not gain from tax credits.
· The Government is considering introducing a raft of new town hall taxes, including bin taxes to collect household rubbish, higher council tax bands, regular council tax revaluations and pressuring pensioners to sign away their homes in return for deferring their council tax bills – a ‘death tax’ in all but name.
· The Budget has hit small businesses. Gordon Brown is raising the tax rate and increasing complex allowances for small firms.
· The NHS was mentioned just once in Gordon Brown’s speech and there was nothing proposed to tackle the £1.3 billion financial crisis in the NHS, with nurses being sacked and operations delayed.
· The Budget fails to increase stamp duty thresholds in line with house price inflation, increasing stamp duty by stealth. The average first time buyer is paying over £1,500 in stamp duty, and more and more homes are being pushed into the punishing 3 per cent band (£7,500 tax on a £250,000 home).


More….

Gordon Henderson said:
“Gordon Brown’s last Budget is a tax con not a tax cut. He gave with one hand and took back with another. Three and a half million families will be worse off.

“In his stealthiest taxes yet, he has paid for his 2p cut in income tax by abolishing the 10p rate, hitting low income earners like junior nurses, and putting National Insurance up for professionals like doctors. There is nothing to tackle the crisis in the NHS.

“Worse, Gordon Brown’s town hall tax report has dropped a tax bombshell on working families and pensioners across Swale – calling for regular council tax revaluation, higher bands, a new bin tax and a new death tax on the elderly. Higher taxes are on the way - engineered by Labour Ministers in Whitehall - without any improvements in local services.”

Notes to Editors

The Budget was announced and published on 21 March.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget/budget_07/bud_bud07_index.cfm

INCOME TAX CON

Independent experts the IFS have calculated that 3.5 million families will be worse off as a result of the Budget.

From April 2008, the 10 pence income tax starting rate will be removed for earned income and National Insurance Contributions will increase as the upper limit for paying the 11 per cent rate will rise by £75 per week to £745 or £38,740 per year.

From April 2009, National Insurance Contributions will increase again as the upper limit for paying the 11 per cent rate will rise to the same level as the top rate income tax threshold. The overall impact of income tax/NIC changes will cost working families over £300 million a year.

BUSINESS TAX CON

Gordon Brown has raised overall taxes on businesses by £1 billion.

Small businesses will be hit the hardest, with a higher rate of corporation tax and more complex reliefs and allowances. As Nick Goulding, Chairman of the Forum of Private Business remarked: “the Chancellor has used smoke and mirrors to disguise the fact that there is nothing in this Budget to support small businesses.”

NEW TOWN HALL TAXES

Gordon Brown’s report on town hall finances, was also published at the same time as the Budget.
http://www.lyonsinquiry.org/

· New home improvement tax: On top of new council tax bands, the report recommends not just a council tax revaluation, but regular revaluations (p.240). The council tax revaluation will mean Gordon Brown’s inspectors, the Valuation Office Agency, will inspect, photograph and catalogue every home, and every sign of a nice neighbourhood. Council tax bills will rise purely for living in a quiet road, being near to a bus stop, or having a parking space. People who rent will be taxed just as much as those who own their home. Inspectors have the right to enter people’s homes, on pain of £500 fines. Unlike at present, council tax will effectively become a home improvement tax.

· New death taxes: Pensioners face the prospect of being pressured to sign away their homes’ equity to local government tax collectors (p.259). Town halls will encourage pensioners to ‘defer’ their local tax bills, and instead pay - with interest - when they their property is sold or on death of the surviving resident spouse. Such a policy though will pressure many pensioners on fixed incomes to sign away their equity if they are struggling with their tax bills. A typical pensioner in England will face a net debt of £64,000 after 20 years.

· New bin taxes: Town halls will charge new bin taxes to collect household rubbish (p.280). Microchips will be installed on compulsory wheelie bin and new municipal bin inspectors will police every bin. The taxes will damage the environment and public health by causing a surge in fly-tipping and backyard burning. Based on Ireland, the charges will be £451 per year to collect 2 bin bags a week.

NHS CUTS

The NHS is in severe financial crisis. Across the country, the NHS is forecasting deficits this year amounting to over £1.3 billion – an even worse position than last year, and the worst in its history (Department of Health, NHS financial performance quarter 3, 20 February 2007).

Almost 20,000 jobs are set to be lost from the NHS this year (Patricia Hewitt, Letter to Andrew Lansley, 25 January 2007). In the last three months of 2006, the NHS was shedding jobs at a rate of over 100 a day (Office of National Statistics, Quarter 4 public sector employment, 14 March 2007).

…..ends…..

Farmers Betrayed

Local farmers betrayed.

LOCAL Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, Gordon Henderson, has used the visit of a senior shadow minister to attack local Member of Parliament, Derek Wyatt, accusing him of betraying local farmers and compromising public food safety.

Gordon’s attack follows news that Mr Wyatt has been pressing the Government to bring in legislation that would make farmers liable for all the costs involved with any slaughter that arises from future outbreaks of animal diseases, such as the foot and mouth crisis that affected Sheppey farmers in 2001 and the more recent case of bird flu which hit the Bernard Matthews factory in Norfolk.

Gordon said;
‘The call by our local MP for farmers to bear the full cost of slaughtering animals caught up in future outbreaks of animal diseases, is not only a betrayal of local farmers, but could seriously compromise public food safety.

‘If implemented, such a policy could push small livestock farmers over the brink into bankruptcy. Faced with financial ruin many farmers would quit the industry, which could have serious long term implications for food supply in this country,

‘More worryingly, some farmers might be tempted to simply not report any outbreak that hits them, which could well affect food safety and public health.

‘It simply cannot be right that farmers who are caught up in an epidemic, such as the foot and mouth disaster, often through no fault of their own, should be forced to pay the full cost of slaughtering their herds at the behest of the Government.’

‘There is an argument for sharing the costs, and I know that the Government is in discussions with the livestock industry to work out a suitable scheme. However, as our Shadow Agriculture Minister, Jim Paice, pointed out during his visit this week, the other side of the coin is that the Government has to tighten up border controls to stamp out the importation of diseased food, which is often the cause of outbreaks.

‘In addition the Government must give farmers a greater role in the policy making process. With this in mind, it might have been better if our MP had discussed this matter with the NFU and local farmers, before pressing the Government to penalise farmers in such a draconian way.’
…..ends…..
Enclosed:
Photo from right to left – Jim Paice MP, John Lewis, Gordon Henderson.
Below is a copy of the leading question asked by Derek Wyatt
Derek Wyatt (Sittingbourne & Sheppey, Labour) Hansard source
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2007, Official Report, columns 1320-1W on Bernard Matthews, if he will bring forward amendments to the Animal Health Act 1981 to provide that the food producer is ultimately liable for the costs of any slaughter in the national interest.
Ben Bradshaw (Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Hansard source
The arrangements for animal health and welfare are currently under review.
The Government launched a consultation on 'Responsibility and cost sharing for animal health and welfare: principles' on 11 December 2006, seeking the views of the livestock industry, including businesses upstream and downstream, and consumer organisations.
A UK Responsibility and Cost Sharing Consultative Forum, made up of high-level UK industry representatives, was established in December 2006 to develop structures and mechanisms through which responsibilities and costs could be shared on animal health and welfare. In addition, DEFRA is working with other interested parties and consumers.
The intention is to introduce a Bill to allow the Government to extend coherent cost sharing principles across all animal health and welfare policies. This will provide the responsibility sharing needed to establish a new relationship with the livestock industry and to provide charging powers, such as individual charging or by establishing a levy mechanism for a group of individuals or an entire sector


For more information contact Gordon Henderson on 07866 719923

School Selection is wrong

Once again the Schools selection process has come under criticism as some one who used to be a Tory, no that is not quite right I am still a Tory but not a member of the New Conservatives led by David Cameron, I believe in freedom of choice. Yet in some cases choice for one group of people can mean restrictions for others and I sorry to say education is that case. I went to secondary school in the 1960’s at the time when all these so called Educationalist starting experimenting with our School and children and in most cases these experiments have failed as can be seem by standards of today’s youth. One thing in my day was the only selection was Grammar School, Technical School and Secondary Modern I went to Westlands leaving at 15 years of with a very good basic education suitable for me to cope with adult life. Yet I had no choice in those days if you lived West side of Park Road (this used to be the middle part of the town) you went to Westlands and if you lived East side you went to St John’s (SCC) and every school was expected to produce well educated rounded pupils by the time they left and in most cases they did. At Westlands there were no GCSE or CSE etc when you left you either got manual work, served an apprenticeship or went to colleges to get a GCE, also all secondary school were single sexed.
I may be looking at these events with rose tinted glasses but I honestly can not remember having any of the problems schools have today, It may not be possible to return to those halcyon days, if that what they were but the latest batch of educationalist have travelled all over the World and have said the countries with the highest standards in education and youth behaviour were those who had single sexed schools, made children sit in rows facing the teacher had codes of discipline such as no talking in class, no running in the corridors, no swearing etc strangely enough this reminds me of when I was at school! Why is it that modernisers look on the past with disdain and obliterate everything that is not new? You have to know and learn from the past to know where your future is.

Col Patrick Mercer an honest MP

Can some one please tell me what Colonel Patrick Mercer has done wrong if you do not who he is, he is the Conservative Front Bench MP who was asked to resign for saying that in the Army, people are called Black Bastards, Ginger Bastards, Fat Bastards and so on, he never said he said any of those things. I thought it was rather refreshing that a politician actually told you the truth how it is and not how they want it to be. Patrick Mercer served his country for 20 years prepared to put his life on the line for us, as all service personnel do. How can National politicians judge the environment of the armed services when at best their training is done in the bars of Westminster, there battleground is the debating chamber of Parliament and the only weapon they use is when they are knifing a fellow politician in the back. Our only hope is that at the next election a new batch of MP’s are elected and realise they are elected by the people and do not try to treat the people as serfs like some feudal Baron.
Judge for yourself “Col Patrick Mercer: the full transcript script”

Martin Clarke 118 East Street Sittingbourne



Col Patrick Mercer: the full transcript
Last updated at 00:14am on 9th March 2007
Read a transcript of what Col Patrick Mercer said.
"I came across a lot of ethnic minority soldiers who were idle and useless, but who used racism as cover for their misdemeanours.
"I remember one guy from St Anne's (Nottingham) who was constantly absent and who had a lot of girlfriends. When he came back one day I asked him why, and he would say, 'I was racially abused.' And we'd say: 'No you weren't, you were off with your girlfriends again.'
"I had the good fortune to command a battalion that was racially very mixed. Towards the end, I had five company sergeant majors who were all black. They were without exception UK-born, Nottingham-born men who were English - as English as you and me.
"They prospered inside my regiment, but if you'd said to them, 'Have you ever been called a nigger,' they would have said, 'Yes.' But equally, a chap with red hair, for example, would also get a hard time - a far harder time than a black man, in fact.
"But that's the way it is in the Army. If someone is slow on the assault course, you'd get people shouting: 'Come on you fat bastard, come on you ginger bastard, come on you black bastard.'

Does Childhood still exist?

For years some mothers have been complaining about paedophiles yet their 12, 13 year old daughters dress and behave like 20 year old and the brag about how their little Charlene is so mature for her age, fathers are the same with their sons encouraging them to drink alcohol at an early age and treat women as some form of sexual object (as long as it was not their daughter) can you then wonder why the UK has the highest illegitimacy number and under age mothers. When I complained I was always told I am old fashioned, children are more mature then they were when I was a teenager and young should be encouraged to experiment with sex and to have many sexual partners. Well it seems other people think like me a recent article appeared on MSM lifestyle entitled “Does Childhood still exist” I quote just a small piece

Parents have a major role to play in achieving this goal, the APA says. It has produced a series of tips to help parents lessen the effects of sexualisation on their kids. They include:

Teach girls to value themselves for who they are, rather than how they look, and teach boys to value girls as friends, sisters, and girlfriends, rather than as sexual objects.
Complain to manufacturers, advertisers, etc when products sexualise girls.
Watch TV with your children, read their magazines, surf their websites, and then ask questions like, "why is there so much pressure on girls to look a certain way?" Asking the right questions and talking to children about the sexualised images they're bombarded with is a vital way of offsetting any damage such images may cause, says Gill Mullinar, co-ordinator of the Sex Education Forum.
If you are interested in child welfare read this article.


Martin Clarke Sittingbourne

Vineyard and drugs

You may be interested in the following letter sent by mysel
Delivered by hand Saturday February 24th 2007.

Saturday, 24 February 2007

To;
Manager Vineyard
Sittingbourne
Part of Barracuda Group

Dear Sir

With reference to our telephone conversation today at 11.20am can I confirm with the statements you made over the telephone

1) My daughter Donna and her husband Scott Lawrie were told to leave your premises on Friday February 23rd after being accused of visiting the Ladies toilets on several occasions to use drugs and dealing drugs under the table they were alleged to be sitting at.
2) The accusation was made by an assistant manager who you named as Lee (you refused his surname).
3) This accusation was made, according to your manager after 3 people informed your manager of the incident.
4) Again according to your telephone conversation your Stewards witnessed this and were present when you asked Donna to leave.

Can I bring to your attention the following facts?

1) This was the first time my daughter has been in the Vineyard
2) She was with her husband and not in a group
3) The pair were not seated at a table they were on stools
4) She visited the toilet once
5) They had spent the early part of the evening having a meal then vacated to another pub and returned to the Vineyard later by themselves.
6) When confronted with the accusation my daughter volunteered to be searched as did her husband and she also pointed out that on leaving the toilets she had no coat or handbag.
7) The member of staff who accused her gave his name as Dominic Oxley not Lee no surname as given by yourself?
8) If my daughter had committed a criminal act, which you allege, why was the Police not called?
9) I believe you have CCTV in the Bar if this is the case you will have video evidence of the incident?
10) Is this the policy of yourself and your company not to inform the Police of criminal activities?
11) The Police have been informed of this incident for further reference.

Myself and my family have been actively involved the Community for over 50 years teaching various forms of Martial Arts, I have been a Borough Councillor, Vice Chairman of the local Conservative Association and a Licensee in access of 10 years so our reputation and good standing in the community is of paramount importance.
I commend any establishment for clamping down on illegal drug use but it must be legally and not on a vigilante basis. Hearsay, which is designed to be malicious and is unsubstantiated must be ignored at all time, I believe you have made a slanderous allegation against my daughter.

I await your written reply before my daughter and myself consider any further options.

Further letter
To:

Samantha Potts
Swale Borough Council
Licensing Office

Thursday, 08 March 2007

Dear Samantha Potts

Attached you will find a letter of complaint I have made to the Barracuda Group with reference to the Vineyard, briefly it makes a false and malicious accusation against my daughter, although the accusation maybe a private matter it does throw up some other matters relevant to the licensing of the premises:

1) As you can see it has been 12 days since my written complaint, to date I have no reply either by letter, e-mail or telephone. The company has shown a cavalier attitude to customer’s complaints, the recent publicity in National newspapers with reference to a hooded top proves that this is the only way to get them to respond to complaint. I believe that the public have a right to complain and be listened to.
2) If my daughter had committed a criminal act, which they allege, why was the Police not called? As a licensee myself I believe it is part of my license to report criminality to the Police.
3) The manager and his staff seem very young and inexperienced, this is obvious by the way they handled my daughters situation and the subsequent follow up. An experienced mature licensee would have approached the whole incident in a more diplomatic way and would not have relied on unsubstantiated accusations, which could have provoked a violent incident. The main manager when he returned my initial call even gave the wrong name to the person who ejected my daughter, so something like checking details of the incident was no considered necessary by the manager.
4) Could the whole incident been a ploy to cover the real activities of drug dealers?

I would like this letter brought before the revue panel on Friday, can I suggest that before any extension is issued they check the Vineyards policy on drugs, they also question the companies staffing policies with regard to age and experience, finally they should have some laid down complaints procedure.

Having used the premises on only one occasion I did find the experience quite enjoyable and believe that the Town needs venues like this but it must have the correct management structure other wise it could just become another place for excessive drinking and late night violence. I am not sure it has that management yet.

Litter Oinks

Yesterday I was walking from my house to my Martial Arts Club, as I crossed the road at South Avenue a women in her late 20’s early 30’s crossed with me when she got halfway across the road she discarded her plastic bottle in the middle of the road, she was the typical chav, dumpy, smoking and wearing a white shell suit. My first reaction was to confront her but I thought no why waste your time trying to educate a moron and get into a argument, this annoyed me all morning when I was walking home at 3pm the male equivalent but slightly younger was crossing towards me he disposed of his bottle in the middle of the road then threw empty fag packet to the floor proceeded to open a new pack whose wrappers he threw into a hedge, all with in a few feet of a waste bin. This time I could not keep quite as he drew near to me I said, “ever thought of using a bin?” he retorted “mind your own business” my reply “ It is my business I am a Council Tax payer and I have to pay for someone to clean your mess up” by the time he was 5 yards away I got the verbal abuse as far as he was concerned he had done nothing wrong, I was pleased he was out of grabbing distance as I am not the most tolerant of people when my parentage is questioned.
Why do I mention this simply these oinks are most probably parents or soon will be can you imagine what heir offspring will be like al I can say GOD help this country because no one else wants to.


Martin Clarke Sittingbourne
Martinclarke.blogspot.com

Drug Users are complicit

An article appeared in the Daily Telegraph "Our failed drugs policy has to change By Philip Johnston"

My reply was as follows

This article tells us nothing new, it tries to justify drug taking in some form of degree. For years the drug user a have treated as victims and the dealer as the villain, until we realise that the dealer is the users best friend and the user is not a victim but complicit and should be responsible for their action we will achieve nothing, simplistic yes! But nothing else has worked.


30 years ago there was zero tolerance on grugs and we never had the problem what we have today surely we can learn from that. Interestingly enough th SUN had a two page article on the damage the drug trade has on Columbia and how drug users are contributing to not just Mafia style gangs but Terrorist organisations

JACKBOOTS & CRB

In October of last year I wrote a piece about being refused advertising space in a local newspaper because I wanted to advertise my Flats to Let for British Subjects only, I have reproduced below. At the same time I sent a copy to the East Kent Gazette which printed it some 3 months later, I have for over two decades been writing letters to local and national newspapers but this one proved to be the most popular of all. Telephone calls, letters, emails and people stopping me in the street to congratulate me on the letter I felt quite a celebrity and only because I put into words what most people were thinking.
Since that letter I have found out This government has also introduced a law - the empty dwelling management order - that allows homes which have been uninhabited for six months or more to be taken over by the local authority and leased out to someone else. Do I hear the sound of Communist and Fascist Jack Boots, can you hear the Council Officials saying, as they tear down your property door “ I am only obeying orders”
Next I had a telephone call from a Polish Lady who asked to rent a flat I told her I had none and would only rent out to British Subjects, she asked why? Firstly I said that is what I want and secondly I said I required a CRB check, she maintained that she had to have one for her present employer as had permanent residence for three years! So was I wrong only British Subject could get a CRB check the answer is yes I was or was I?
It seems that you can get a CRB if you are permanent resident in the UK but only from the time you were first granted residency so in the case of the Polish lady this would only go back three years, before that you have to go their embassy who will tell you if they are good citizen as the majority of these countries do not have a CRB equivalent there can be no guarantees.
I wonder how many organisations, schools and businesses have people working for them who have an inadequate CRB check, I think you will agree that it brings the whole CRB into question. I will continue to ask for a British Passport and check how long they have lived in this country for safety sake.

Martin Clarke East Street Sittingbourne

To Whom it may concernAs a owner of flats and bedsits I am very particular who I allow to rent my properties so I phrase my adverts in such away that I only get the right tenant. This sometimes takes time but most of my tenants become long-term residentsWith a big shortfall in housing I decided to invest in converting part of my Martial Arts Centre, the centre is a large old church, these flats are now finished so I approached the local newspapers to advertise. Part of my advert was “British Subjects Only” I was told to include this would be illegal as it was considered racist and I was quoted the following from the Race Relations Act.:HousingIt is unlawful for anyone selling, letting or managing property (including business premises) to discriminate in any of the following ways:in the terms on which a person are offered the premisesby refusing to let a person buy the premisesby treating a person differently from others who want to buy or rentby refusing to transfer a lease to someoneby refusing access to any benefits or facilities at the premisesby evicting you or subjecting a person to other disadvantagesMy first question was how am I being racist? A British Subject can be someone of any colour or race!Why would I want to put restrictions on who I want?1) I do not want any criminals in my property someone who has entered this country illegally is a criminal.2) I am looking for tenants who will be long term, these foreign workers, so we are told by the government, will only be here for a short term a transient work force.3) I do not want potential terrorists renting my accommodation, if the government cannot keep a check on people entering this country how can I?4) As by law I have to give them a rental agreement they will have to read English5) But most importantly of all as I have a Martial Arts Club in part of the building, so I have a duty of care if not a legal duty to the children who use the Club. So if I have doubts on anyone I can ask for a Criminal Records Bureaux check to see if they have any criminal records or if they are a threat to the children. How can I make a CRB check on some one who is not a British Subject? Since this government came into power in 1997 immigration has spiralled out of control but more importantly there is no check on the status of people who enter this country legally or illegally so murderers, paedophiles etc are coming into this country in there thousands.Whether it is legal or not I intend to keep on making stringent checks on my tenants, the safety of the children is much more important then some Politically Correct law.I wonder what ever happened to the English’s freedom of speech, association and choice. These are my flats I receive no government aid only hindrance, I should have who I like in my property, if this was a free country I would.

ARE WE TO PAY FOR RUBBISH?

LOCAL Tory spokesman, Gordon Henderson, has hit back at suggestions that Swale Borough Council intends fining people for not using their rubbish bins properly.

Gordon said:
‘I am not a councillor and don’t normally stand up for Swale Borough Council, however, certain mischievous people, for their own political ends, have inferred that Conservative members on the Council want to set up some sort of “dustbin police”. That is nonsense and I would like to make clear the local Conservative policy.’

‘The truth is that it is our Labour Government that is the villain on this occasion. They plan to introduce new rubbish taxes, on top of council tax. Indeed, it was revealed this week that Downing Street is actively considering introducing additional ‘user charges’ for household rubbish collection.

‘I would like to assure local residents that ALL Conservatives in Swale will oppose these charges. There are some who will distort the truth for their own ends, but let me assure you local Tories will do all we can to stop these retrograde charges.’

It has been revealed that:-

· Under the clandestine plans for new bin taxes, hidden microchips will be used to weigh the contents of each household’s rubbish bin and then allow the town hall to levy a weekly or monthly bill based on its weight. Locks would have to be installed on every bin, and wheelie bins would be compulsory. We will oppose this measure.

· New municipal ‘bin inspectors’ would be employed to police the system, fining those who do not use their wheelie bins or who leave rubbish bags outside the bin. We will oppose this measure.

· The Keep Britain Tidy Campaign has warned that rubbish taxes would cause a surge in fly-tipping, with families being hit the hardest. Such taxes are also expected to cause a surge in ‘backyard burning’; in the Republic of Ireland where such controversial taxes have already been introduced, one in ten households now burn their rubbish in their back garden to avoid paying, filling the air with toxic chemicals.

Gordon went on to say:
‘There is already massive public resentment at the way working families and pensioners are being punished by punitive levels of council tax – thanks to the Labour Government. Now every household in Swale faces the prospect of new rubbish taxes on top. I fear poorest families will be hit the hardest. If it happens we cannot blame our Conservative councillors, because, despite what you have heard from our political opponents, they oppose these charges.

‘Such bin taxes threaten to damage the local environment by causing a surge in fly-tipping and backyard burning in local neighbourhoods. No-one believes that Gordon Brown would cut council taxes if top-up charges were introduced. This threatens to become yet another Labour stealth tax.’


Notes to Editors

NEW LOCAL TAXES ON THE WAY

Documents being drawn up by 10 Downing Street have revealed plans to levy new rubbish taxes on homes of up to £120 a year (Daily Telegraph, 11 February 2007).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/10/nrubbish10.xml

BIN TAXES WILL HARM THE ENVIRONMENT

More flytipping: The Keep Britain Tidy Campaign has warned, “the so-called, ‘pay as you throw’ scheme – which involves placing micro chips in bins to assess the amount of rubbish each home creates – may result in people simply dumping their garbage illegally in a bid to avoid paying up… It is a real challenge for a large family to keep their rubbish down to a minimum – especially if they are given poor recycling facilities and only have their bin collected once a fortnight. Faced with a fine, some are bound to take the easy option and simply fly-tip their rubbish” (Encams press release, 5 October 2006).
http://www.encams.org/home/newsdetail.asp?nw=153

Backyard burning: The Republic of Ireland has already introduced bin taxes, which have caused a surge in illegal burning of household waste, which releases toxic chemicals and dioxins into the atmosphere. One in ten adults now admit to burning household waste; 80 per cent of local authorities in the Republic identify ‘backyard burning’ as a significant and growing issue (Republic of Ireland Environmental Protection Agency Press Release, 23 October 2006)
http://www.epa.ie/NewsCentre/PressReleaseArchive/2006/MainBody,10974,en.html

BIN SPY TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION

Examples of the bin tax technology, including the microchips in wheelie bins, can be found at:
http://www.pmgroup.plc.uk/Documents/BINWEIGH.pdf

The documents explain:

“Data Capture: An electronic identification tag, containing a unique code, is mounted under the lip of each bin. Antennas situated on the lifter comb interrogate the tags during the emptying cycle. Bins are identified and weighed automatically during the normal emptying cycle without adding to cycle times. Data, concerning the identity and weight of the contents of each lifted bin, is recorded on the vehicle system and transferred securely to the base computer system either directly or through telephone links.

“ID Tags: A data tag incorporates a very small microchip and antenna coil. Tags are available in Read Only and
Read/Write versions. They do not require batteries, relying merely on the energy field generated by the antenna fitted to each lift mechanism. Data is read when the antenna is within range of the tag, and is transferred by radio frequency (RF) to the truck antenna. During the manufacturing process the tag is inserted into a ‘nest’ under the lip of the bin. The tag is resistant to UV, wide temperature ranges, shock and vibrations and most chemicals. Tags can be retrofitted to most existing wheeled bin types.”

“Before PM BinWeigh™ can be used, the binchips need to be linked with the householder’s address. Then an account can be correctly set up for each individual bin. This is done by scanning the chip, which has a unique RFID code and then scanning the bar code relating to an address that is attached to the wheeled bin container. These two pieces of information are then electronically tied together and the account can be successfully set up.

“Pay-by-Weight: By using our approved for trade weighing system, precise weight data means customer utility invoices can be raised to suit the operators charging policy. It allows daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly invoices to be raised as and when required. Alternatively, if preferred, the information gathered can be transferred into a separate invoicing program.”

ENDS

Is Labour like Nazi Germany?

Dear Editor

Most small local papers try to keep their focus on local issues unless a national event happens in their area but sometimes an issue is so big it transcends this ideology. I refer to the recent “GAY ADOPTION” the Labour party are besotted with the idea of making Homosexuals a superior being but this issue is not just about “GAY RIGHTS” it actually attacks religious beliefs on conscience, Catholics especially are being told a Government (MAN) what they should believe in, how long will catholic doctors be told that it is their legal duty to perform an abortion even though it is against what they believe and it could stretch to other religions beliefs. Will it soon be a legal requirement to have no religion to become a politician? Rocco Butiglione was vetoed as Italian European commissioner by a militant alliance of gay activist and pro abortionist and why because he held mainstream Christian views, how long will be before you are not allowed to read books which don’t promote homosexuality as the norm? How long before school are closed because they promote marriage as the norm? Far fetched it is happening already in Sweden Lutheran Pastor Akor Green was imprisoned for a month because he proclaimed that Homosexuality according to the Bible was wrong.
This Labour Government has opened up a can of worms which goes to the very soul of our right to free speech and our right to worship in freedom, Christians and Christianity is under attack the forces of evil are hard at work and do not think it will just stop at the Catholic Church all religions will soon come under this governments heel. We head fast to a regime like Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.

My question is what does our Local MP Derek Wyatt have to say and what does any potential MP have say regardless of Political persuasion come to that let even ask our local councillors there opinion.



Martin Clarke Sittingbourne

Martinclarke.blogspot.com

Labour Enthusiasm fo Homosexuals

Below is a snippet from the Spectator February 7th go to www.spectator.co.uk if you want to read the full version
The Spectator's Notes
Charles Moore
Will we look back on the last quarter of the 20th century as the only time since the Reformation when Roman Catholics have really been tolerated in Britain? During the long period in which Cardinal Basil Hume was Archbishop of Westminster, the Catholic Church came out of the ghetto. The row about gay adoption shows that this process is now going into reverse. The New Labour enthusiasm for homosexuality is so great that anyone who does not share it is to be prevented by law from full participation in the life of society.

IS THERE CLIMATE CHANGE?

As someone who believes that “CLIMATE CHANGE” has become an excuse to TAX the people and give more power and control to the executive (Government) I am always interested in hearing opinions from the fringe as the Government, EU, United Nations, Green Lobby are absolutely convinced that “CLIMATE CHANGE” is down to the Human Race. I included a couple of little snippet from the EUROPEAN JOURNAL:

Several years ago I was privileged to meet Bjorn Lomborg, who came to the world's attention as "The Sceptical Environmentalist"(www.lomborg.com). Starting out as a green, he set out to debunk the work of climate change sceptics -- and managed to convince himself that he'd been wrong, and that they were right. The key insight I took away from that meeting was this: it is estimated that if Kyoto were fully implemented (clearly it won't be), then the impact on average global temperatures in a century's time would be a mere 0.2°C -- almost too small to measure.


Is climate change happening? The world has got somewhat warmer in recent decades, though it is still cooler than it was in 1200 AD, in the Mediaeval Warm Period. It is not clear whether the warming is a long-term trend, or is in some respects cyclical, influenced by solar changes. Forty years ago, scientists were predicting an imminent ice-age.


If you want to read the complete article go to http://rogerhelmer.com/ejclimatechange.asp

EURO on the ru

An occasional Euro-briefing from Daniel Hannan

A distinct case of the wobbles

Enjoy your moment, all you apostles of the euro: this is as good as it’s doing to get. The accession of Slovenia last month brought membership of the single currency to 13, and I’m willing to bet that that’s as high as it’ll ever go.

A survey in the Financial Times this week showed that, throughout the euro-zone, large majorites hanker after their old currencies. The nostalgia is keenest at the Union’s core: nearly two thirds of Germans oppose the euro. The FT made no attempt to disguise its contempt for the doltishness of the common man. Its report began: “The euro-zone economy may be growing robustly, but its citizens appear not to expect significant financial gains as a result. They give scant credit to the eight-year-old euro for improving their national performances, an FT/Harris poll shows…”

But it’s not just the polls. Millions are simply opting out. A chunk of Bavaria is issuing its own money, while shops from Italy to the Netherlands have started to accept their former currencies, to the delight of their customers. Suddenly, the question is not who will be the next to join, but who will be the first to leave. In anticipation of a collapse, Germans are being advised to hang on to euro notes beginning with serial number “X” (which, apparently, indicates that they’re issued in Germany) and to ditch those beginning with “S” (issued in Italy).

Amazing how quickly something can go from being inevitable to being unthinkable. Eight years ago, most commentators assumed that the three recalcitrants – Britain, Sweden and Denmark – would have to join sooner or later. But guess which of the then 15 EU states have since enjoyed the highest growth rates? That’s right: Britain, Sweden and Denmark. As the Americans say, go figure.



If you know anyone else who would like to receive these mailings, please send their email address to dhannan@europarl.eu.int If you no longer wish to receive them, please reply using the word "unsubscribe" in your title. For details of meetings at which Daniel Hannan will be speaking please see his website - www.hannan.co.uk - click News, then Forthcoming
Daniel writes a regular column for the internet newspaper The First Post, entitled Ici Londres. You can find a version of this article online at http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=1&su

BLOODY REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND

Will there be a Bloody Revolution in England

This to some maybe a stupid a provocative question but I fear for the future of my grand children WHY because we Englishman and I do not mean just the Anglo Saxon tribe but those people of different coloured skin who also consider England to be their home land are becoming nothing but serf to the political classes. Can you wonder why people do not want to Vote when our Government and Parliament never listen to what the people want, we are considered to ignorant and stupid to understand what is good for us, an MP know longer represents the views of his or her constituents on being voted in they become God like figures and their heaven is Parliament and it little village. The recent Gay Adoption was further proof that they no longer listen go down to any pub, café and street corner and the majority will tell you their disgust at the fact this law is to be passed, the government now consider themselves more then Human Beings they have taken on the mantle of God despising 2000 years of Christianity.
Law and Order is on the verge of collapse as is our Health Service, there are now law and regulations of where you can walk to what rubbish you put in your bin every aspect of Englishman life is becoming under the control of Government and I say Englishman for it seems the flow of legal and illegal immigrants are a law unto themselves.

What can be done? Make voting compulsory? Introduce Proportional representation, do away with all the top bureaucrats and make their positions political one so if they do not do the job they will go in 5 years?

The problem is not just the British Parliament but the even worse dictatorship of the European Union most probably the most corrupt organisation in the World hiding under the disguise of a Democratic Institution. A proposed European Constitution was soundly rejected by the people of France and Holland but NO the EU President has decided that NO actually means the people of the EU do not understand and once again only the Politicians know what is for the best and they will do anything to get their own even if means cheating an example of this was at a recent EU Parliament Monthly Voting session acting President Antonios Traketellis called for a vote on an amendment he supported after studying the 600 hands raised he declared the amendment approved when some MEP’s challenged his decision and asked for an electronic vote they found the amendment had been rejected by a massive 502 votes by all counts this is a common occurrence.

So will a new Government make any difference well I hope so but its seems David Cameron enjoys the favour of the Political elite maybe he should try to gain the favour of the people first and become a leader rather then another Dictator like the one we have at present.

So will there be Bloody Revolution If Parliament continues to ignore the Public Will, then the only other alternative is revolution and all the disasters that entails.


Martin Clarke

Are convicted prisoners being housed in Sittingbourne Police Station?

You read things in National Newspapers and the events seem some what distant but it seems a National Problem is on our door step.

Chief Superintendent Alasdair Hope
Mid Kent Area Commander
Police Station
Central Avenue
Sittingbourne
Kent
ME10 4NR 30th January 2007

Dear Alasdair
I have heard reports that Sittingbourne Police Station is currently being used to house convicted prisoners who would normally be found places within the prison system, but for whom no places are available because of the serious problem of overcrowding facing the Prison Service.

If these reports are true, I am concerned that police officers who would otherwise be patrolling the streets of Sittingbourne and Sheppey, are being detailed to guard those prisoners.

I would be grateful for answers to the following questions:-

1) Are convicted prisoners being housed in Sittingbourne Police Station?

2) If yes, how many police officers are needed to guard those prisoners?

3) Is the use of police officers as prison guards having any impact on your ability to properly police Sittingbourne and Sheppey?

4) What is the cost of housing prisoners and who meets that cost?

5) Has the Prison Service, or the Home Office given an indication of how long this situation might last?

Yours sincerely
Gordon
GORDON HENDERSON

BANK CHARGES UNLAWFUL

This was emailed to me recently

Bank charges are unlawful. Take them on and get your money back. Help spread the word. Please forward to anyone who may be interested.

The campaign to reclaim unlawful bank charges is the biggest consumer revolution for years. Anyone who's had a penalty charge/fine from a UK bank in the last six years should get their cash back. Tens of thousands already have, many in the £1000s. Yet it's in danger of being hijacked by commercial claim handling vultures, who are dominating Google with ‘no-win, no-fee’ ads. It's hoped this e-mail will help combat that, spreading the word that you should....
...Never pay any company to reclaim bank charges!
Everything needed, including template letters to send to the banks, is available free, without registration, at www.MoneySavingExpert.com/bankcharges. Plus further support can be found at penaltycharges and consumeractiongroup.
Please forward this to everyone in the UK you think will be interested.
These details are provided for information only

Modern Education can learn from Kano

Although there are many categories or education, Jigoro continues, they can
be divided roughly into two main groups: general education and specialized education. Both are important for the further advance­ment of the society, but general education is the more important of the two.”
Why is that, sir?” asked the reporter.
“General education has two objectives: to educate the vast majority of the general public arid to provide a basis from which students can go on to specialized education. Specialized education is concentrated on a rela­tively small group, and no matter how many technical advances are made, if the public at large is allowed to remain in a weak intellectual, moral, and physical state, specialized education will be of little benefit to the society as a whole.”
The reporter nodded thoughtfully.
“In addition,” said Jigoro, “the ability to absorb specialized insiruc­(ion must he cultivated over the course of one’s general education.”
If general Education is raised to a high enough level, then the achievements of those receiving specialized education should increase proportionally, shouldn’t they?” asked the reporter.
“That is so Jigoro replied. “On the other hand, if the level of genera! education is too low, specialised education is unlikely to hear much fruit, Furthermore, a basic moral education usually unfolds during the period of one’s general education. An important part of this, however, is the education that a child receives at home during the years before for­mal schooling begins. This period largely defines the child’s future direc­tion in life.”
“Thus the proverb: What a three-year-old child has learned stays with him for a hundred years,” said the reporter.
“That’s correct,” said Jigoro. “The moral education that a child receives during the primary education period has a strong bearing on the child’s conduct for the rest of his life.”

(The Father of Judo-Biography of Jigaro Kano by Brian Watson)


The above excerpt is very relevant to today, when the Labour Government want to produce an elite group of children, they should take note of Jigaro Kano who not only founded Judo he also played an important educational role in transforming Japan into a modern nation. To summarise he said “ If general education is raised to a high enough level, then the achievements of those receiving specialized education should increase proportionally but if general education is to low specialised education will not bear much fruit” this man made these comments over 100 years ago.
This labour government continually come with new ideas but never put their brain in gear before they announce them. I agree with elitism as long as it is based on a ability rather then knowing the right people but before we have an educational elite we need the whole populace well educated, since Tony Blair’s government has been in power the standard of education has nose dived mainly because of their interference. I left school in 1965 at 15 years and 3 months from a secondary modern school and I and my classmates came out with a better basic education then any 16 or 17 year old does today. This government with its lefty free thinking educationalist should keep out of education and let the parents and teachers get on with job only that way will we see some improvement.

TAX INSPECTORS TO GET £2000

I have attached a letter from Gordon Henderson, which sits pretty well with the announcement in the Press that the Government is thinking of revaluing our property on an Annual Basis so our Council Tax can be assessed regularly. This is just another way of cutting back on Council Grants with the excuse “The property value has increased so therefore you can charge more Council Tax” and another absurd idea is where they will pay Tax Inspectors a £2000 bonus to catch Tax Dodgers (I thought that what they were paid for any way) all this will do is for them to pick on the small businesses and self employed. This government is content on destroying this country.



PRESS RELEASE
Date: 6th January 2007
Release date: Immediate
Subject: Scrapping Swale Borough Council could add £345 to our council tax bills

Council tax will rise under the Labour Government’s plans for major town hall restructuring, Gordon Henderson warned today.

Ministers in Whitehall are planning to pass a new law to give themselves unprecedented new powers to scrap either district or county councils. The Government will be able to force changes on local communities, including creating new councils that completely disregard existing shire boundaries. In our case, the Government’s preference will probably be to make Kent a unitary authority and abolish Swale Borough Council.

Yet research by Cambridge University has estimated that the reorganisation costs of converting two-tier councils to unitary councils could be in the region of £121 per head, and “there is every prospect that on-going costs would in fact be increased”. Such a bill would be equivalent to £345 per council tax-paying household. Police authorities across England are already facing extra costs for their now-cancelled plans to restructure.

Northern Ireland is being used as a testing ground for the drastic council restructuring. Plans there to reduce the number of councils from 26 council to just 7, are to cost £143 million. Identifiable localities like North Down will become part of anonymous ‘East Local Government District’.

Conservatives are warning that the real agenda of the Government is to undermine local identities – replacing well-understood, historic boroughs and counties with ‘sub-regional’ unitary hybrids that have little popular support. In turn, more power will be transferred to the unelected regional assemblies, based on the EU / Government Office of the Region boundaries.

Gordon Henderson said:
‘Yet another restructuring of local government will do nothing to improve local services and could make town halls more distant from local people. I am very concerned that working families and pensioners, already suffering from punishing council tax hikes, could see their bills rise by up to £345, with little likelihood of any long-term savings.

‘Just as with the cancelled police force reorganisation, Labour’s real agenda is regionalisation by stealth. If England’s boroughs and counties are wiped off the map and replaced with ‘sub-regional’ hybrids, it will weaken local identities and create a vacuum in which the unelected regional assemblies will suck up yet more power. If the Government really wanted to save money, it should start by scrapping John Prescott’s tiers of regional bureaucrats.

‘I believe that all Kent’s borough councils are opposed to these plans, I just hope that the Government listens to our local representatives and doesn’t simply ride roughshod over their views.’

Notes to Editors

NEW GOVERNMENT POWERS TO SCRAP COUNTIES AND BOROUGHS

The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill, which will shortly be debated in Parliament, gives unprecedented power to the Government to scrap traditional councils and impose unitary councils, including those that cross county boundaries. The power is given to the Secretary of State to do so “where he believes it would be in the interests of effective and convenient local government”.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmbills/016/en/07016x--.htm#index_link_6

In October 2006, the Government invited councils across England’s shires to make bids for unitary status by January 2007 - in other words, bidding to abolishing either the district/borough or county councils.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1504067

COST OF LOCAL GOVERMENT RESTRUCTURING

During the last local government reorganisation, Humberside County Council (John Prescott’s local council) spent £53 million in one-off reorganisation administrative costs in 1998 (Hansard, 18 November 1998, col. 658W). Using Humberside as a benchmark figure, abolishing the remaining 34 county councils could cost up to £1.8 billion in 1998 figures – equivalent to £2.2 billion today.

New research by Cambridge University has highlighted the costs of local government restructuring. Emeritus Professor Michael Chisholm has warned:

· “There is no reason to suppose that the conversion of districts to unitary status would be particularly relevant in raising the performance of councils in the discharge of their current district functions” (p.21).

· Reorganisation costs will be in the range of £121 per head (p.24).

· “In financial terms, however, the evidence shows that it is unrealistic to suppose that the creation of a single unitary council in an otherwise two-tier county area would generate financial savings, and that there is every prospect that on-going costs would in fact be increased... [there is] every reason to suppose that on-going costs would be increased, thereby providing no return on the cost of the change” (p.26-27).

Emeritus Professor Michael Chisholm, Cambridge University, Critique of the INLOGOV Document: An Independent Review of the Case for Unitary Status, September 2006.
http://www.lga.gov.uk/ccn/research/inlogov_critique.pdf

Conservatives have estimated that £121 per capita is the equivalent of £345 per council tax-paying household (methodology: the English population is 50.4 million, whilst there are 22.1 million homes on the council tax valuation list; 20 per cent of homes pay no council tax since they are on 100% council tax benefit).

NORTHERN IRELAND – TESTING GROUND FOR ENGLAND

As a testing ground for the forthcoming English council tax revaluation, Labour Ministers are already rolling out a revaluation in Northern Ireland in April, with a revised system of local taxation – a house price tax. From April 2007, the average tax rate will be 0.633%, applied to the home’s value to calculate the yearly bill.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm060725/text/60725w2066.htm#06072811000633

In addition to the house price tax, the Government are merging the councils across Northern Ireland, into anonymous, arbitrary hybrids: entitled the Belfast Local Government District, Inner East Local Government District, Inner East Local Government District, Inner East Local Government District, Inner East Local Government District, Inner East Local Government District and the North East Local Government District. The only political party to support these proposals in Northern Ireland is Sinn Fein.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6122938.stm

The Government admitted last week that the cost is likely to be as much as £143 million – equivalent to £204 per household (there are 700,000 households in Northern Ireland) – but would be higher once those on benefits are excluded and the burden is placed on rate-paying households. The cost in England would be higher, since NI councils provider fewer services (many are provided by quangos).

“Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what the total estimated one-off restructuring costs are for the local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland; what (a) central and (b) regional funding the Government is providing to local councils to assist with the costs of the local government reorganisation; if the Government will publish the business case for local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland.

David Cairns: Initial research by consultants to inform decisions in relation to the Review of Public Administration in Northern Ireland, which included the reform of local government, indicated that the costs associated with the reorganisation of local government would range between £47 million and £143 million.

At this stage no additional funding has been provided by central government to local councils to assist with the costs of the local government organisation. I am, however, working closely with local government as Chair of the Local Government Taskforce, to develop a more detailed estimate of the costs associated with implementation of the Review of Public Administration’s decisions in relation to local government. The business case being developed will be used by Government to inform decisions on any funding to be provided to local government to assist with implementation. Consideration will be given to the publication of the business case at a later date.”

Hansard, 4 December 2006, col. 95W.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm061204/text/61204w0020.htm#0612051000384

ENDS

True Value

A PERSONS TRUE VALUE IS DETERMINED BY HOW MUCH THEY CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY DURING THEIR LIVES.

Jigaro Kano Founder of Judo