The US government wants a blanket right to tap secretly all international phone calls and e-mails made and received by US citizens. In the UK telecoms providers will have to retain data about telephone calls for one year, in a statutory instrument coming into force on 1 October this year.   more »

We have a situation where the government is issuing [identity] cards to themselves that are more secure than what they are about to issue to the citizens. There is something significantly wrong with the situation.   more »

This disturbing news item from the BBC tells of how DEFRA is cutting back the grant money for the upkeep and restoration of the British Canal system operated by British Waterways. As anyone who lives on or near a canal will know, as the signs all along them proudly state that the restoration and upkeep is funded by European Union grants. The UK government provides funds from the British taxpayer for the running of British Waterways, and its operating costs, but with most of the capital works that it undertakes funded by the UK Lottery, the Heritage Fund, the European Union and private contributors.   more »

The politician was thrilled when fiancée Gabriela agreed to move in to his country cottage in Montgomeryshire, Wales. However......   more »

Meredydd Hughes, ACPO lead on roads policing and Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police said: The law needs to be made much simpler, in that it should be made a simple offence to take illegal drugs and drive on the road. At present we have to test for the impairment of a driver suspected of taking drugs. Impairment and the measurement of impairment is a complicated issue and I believe we need to focus on a simple law because impairment is only one of the measures of your ability to drive and other measures such as attitude, judgement and education need to be taken into account.   more »

Russia has dispatched a submarine to the Arctic Ocean to plant a flag on the seabed of the ocean to claim the North Pole as its territory. Russia plans to plunge to the bottom of the sea in the next few days to take samples it believes will prove the Lomonosov Ridge, which runs under the Arctic Ocean, is an extension of the Siberian continental shelf and therefore Russian territory.   more »

Since the revamp of Technorati several months ago the service has been decidedly dodgy. There are thousands of blogs who can no longer claim their blogs, automatic ping's no longer seem to work, widgets are not recording links, post updates are not working and mass problems are visible on the support forum all complaining about the same things.   more »

Baroness Young, the Environment Agency quango’s chief executive, got a performance related bonus of about £24,000 on top of her £163,000 salary. A further eight executives, including the director of water management, shared in the “performance bonuses” handout last month. Young then went on to warn that water bills will have to rise to cover the costs of increasing Britain’s protection against flooding.   more »

POLICE closed streets near London's Canary Wharf financial district today after an unexploded terror missile was found on a construction site. Bomb disposal experts were called in to make the missile safe after it was unearthed close to the east London complex that houses 80,000 office workers during the working week, police said.   more »

A public service warning! which I feel is important enough to repeat.   more »

In a classic case of Police State reporting, the BBC has produced some wonderful propaganda. Its report states that Chief Constable Tim Brain has said people caught fighting over water supplies or damaging bowsers in flood-hit Gloucestershire will be jailed.   more »

The United States and the European Union have agreed to expand a security program that shares personal data about millions of U.S.-bound airline passengers a year, potentially including information about a person's race, ethnicity, religion and health.   more »

Newcastle City Council has said it accidentally put 54,000 credit- and debit-card details on a computer system that could be accessed externally.details covering transactions between February 2006 and April 2007, covering payments to the council including council tax, business rates, parking fines, and rent payments.   more »

That bowl of Kellogg’s Cornflakes on the breakfast table, or the portion of pasta or corn tortillas, cheese or meat on the table is going to rise in price over the coming months as sure as the sun rises in the East. Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the new world food price shock, conveniently timed to accompany our current world oil price shock.   more »

In the UK the government have issued rules to recruitment agencies that they must collect proof of identity by way of copies of passports and driving licences before the agency can work on your behalf. If ever there was a half baked idea and an invitation to phishers and scam merchants this has got to be it, and something that ID cards will only assist the scammers.   more »

When a serving police officer is willing to say in guarded terms that enough is enough, that our justice system is no longer fit for purpose, then we really do have to listen.   more »

So we can agree that the forthcoming EU treaty is going to be a big serious thing for the future of our countries. And we can also agree that elected politicians hold the power they wield, at least theoretically in trust. So what can a concerned citizen do about the thought that the European political elites have decided both singularly and pluraly to disenfranchise their populations by driving ahead with the Constitution, despite its explicit rejection in referenda? Well this is something. In a novel experience England Expects is going to a joint venture with the proprietor of the Devil's Kitchen. Today they have written to every MP the following letter,   more »

The Department for Transport said the evidence of a parking attendant would be regarded as sufficient and the onus would be on the motorist to prove that he or she was not parked illegally. Millions more motorists could receive parking fines after the Government said that the tickets will no longer have to be fixed to the windscreen.   more »

It's well known that organizations with nefarious and often criminal goals support and distribute malware and spyware that allows them to snoop on and/or manipulate people's computers. However, what is less well-known is that some of the people behind spyware are ostensibly the "good guys"—law enforcement officers who install the software on suspects' computers to assist them with their investigations.   more »

When the people of Britain pay their taxes, they expect basic services in return. A well funded and managed NHS, a Police force that polices rather than politics, and the right equipment for our servicemen and women when they are asked to put their lives on the line. What does this Government do. Wastes it all on IT, useless IT projects that no one wants.   more »

Here we go again, a new home secretary, a new request for 90 days detention without charge. It has only been 14 days since the current 28 day detention was debated in parliament, with warnings that it should be seen as an 'exceptional power'.   more »

In true socialist style Gordon Brown has announced plans to "pay tribute to the people who represent the very best of Britain" every 24 July and to encourage more public service and social action. Is he planning to initiate a soviet style order for the people.   more »

Dan Hardie has suggested petitioning members of parliament on the matter of Iraqis who have worked for the British forces in Southern Iraq who now fine themselves in increasing danger. It seems that, now they’ve done their bit, they’re on their own, thanks. We’re turning them away and they have to make for the borders in the hope of reaching safety in neighbouring countries. Here’s some guidelines and pointers for writing to your MP.   more »

Gavin George, a representative of a Flood protection product company, being interviewed live on Sky TV News, lamenting the fact that Government had not taken up his product range and saying that the emergency services were relegated to using sandbags.

"basically sandbags are only good for stopping bullets, not floods...."...   more »

A cross-party group of MPs is calling on Gordon Brown to renegotiate urgently the wording of the new European Union treaty because they say it risks relegating national parliaments to mere satellites of Brussels. The demand came as EU foreign ministers, including David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, prepared to meet in Brussels today to launch the formal Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) that over the next few months will decide the precise treaty language.   more »

Does the Environment Agency and the Housing minister understand where flooding comes from? This statement today from Housing Minister Yvette Cooper sums it up:   more »

Ben Bradshaw MP is the new minister of state in charge of the NHS IT programme His role as minister of state for health services was announced by the Department of Health (DoH) on 20 July 2007. It sees him take over responsibility for Connecting for Health and the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) from Lord Philip Hunt, who moved to the Ministry of Justice in June.   more »

When the rains came, and England, already under pressure for its very survival (or is that abolished), was swamped with not just water, but the stinking filth rising up from the decade of underinvestment in our sewerage systems and backhanded planning and building on flood planes and lowland areas. The lies that have eminated from the Prime Minister who said that we could not forsee this kind of weather and from the Department of the Envionment.   more »

One thing that is clear from the Cash for honours affair is that those who suspect wrong doing are not happy. Guido has set up an online pledge to see how many people he can get together to back a private prosecution. I have signed it, see here.   more »

Just as Gordon Brown needs to lie to the people of Britain to bring about the final handover of sovereignty to Brussels in the creation of the European Empire, so too do the leaders of the 3 countries discussing in secret the North American Union (the Western Empire). Following on from a previous article by Kevin Parkinson, he writes again this time joining up the dots and giving time-scales for the new Union. Why is this important to us in the UK. Put simply, it mirrors what we are facing with the creation of the European Empire, the lack of......   more »

THE Australian Federal Police have admitted that crucial evidence against Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef - that his mobile phone SIM card was found at the scene of a British car bombing - is wrong. The SIM card, the smart card in mobile phones, was found in the possession of one of Dr Haneef's cousins, Sabeel Ahmed, in Liverpool, hundreds of kilometres away from the failed Glasgow bombing. No official attempt has been made to correct the public record   more »

The number plates of 100,000 vehicles travelling into south Wales across the Severn bridges have been scanned by police to catch criminals. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) was used in Operation Utah Wales and West on Thursday. Is this how we want to be policed?   more »

The poltical organisation known as the ACPO has been spinning its yarns again. In a press release Ian Johnston, ACPO lead on Crime and Chief Constable of British Transport Police, said: “ACPO welcomes the news that crime trends remain stable over the last year." But this comment sums up the level of their spin....   more »

This has to be the best argument I have yet seen against ID cards.....boiled down to its bearest bones....   more »

Despite assurances from the Government when the London congestion charging scheme was set up, that the data would NEVER be used for any other purpose than to process congestion charges, Police are to be given live access to London's congestion charge cameras - allowing them to track all vehicles entering and leaving the zone. We said back in January that no matter what they tell you now, it will be used for something different tomorrow, and so it is proving to be...   more »

Whilst the lies and deceit continue across the 27 members states of the EU, with the ultimate goal of the European Empire, the same process is happening across North America, with secret talks and agreements between the US, Canada and Mexico, to form a new North American Empire. The similarities are striking, the deceit, the lies, the silence from opposition politicians, the deafening silence of the MSM, both Press and TV, and the secrecy with which these agreements are being formulated in closed governmental sessions.   more »

Gordon Brown pledged yesterday to join the European Empire, and promised to keep up the lies and deceit to the people of Britain, and keep the decision firmly within Westminster. Mr Brown, who was in Berlin yesterday for dinner with Chancellor Angela Merkel.....   more »

Gordon Brown is in Northern Ireland playing host to the British-Irish Council summit today. The council brings together eight governments representing Westminster (the United Kingdom government), Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. England is officially excluded.   more »

Just as Uncle Sam is busy shredding the constitution, so too is John Bull over here in the UK. But there is little concern being registered in the mainstream media, which subtly reinforce casual disregard for our laws. Dr David Kelly was found dead on Harrowdown Hill four years ago. This is made prominent by the recent "abdication" of Mr Anthony Blair, and the publication of the diaries of his aide, Mr Alastair Campbell, seemingly transcribed and selected by the author himself. The death is spoken of as 'suicide' by almost all servants of the fourth estate. That the inquest was adjourned and never completed is not...more   more »

It seems to be a quiet news day today, but that is no excuse for the kind of scaremongering that is appearing in the Telegraph this morning. While Ben Leapman writes of 4000 trained terrorists in the UK, the ACPO calls for indefinite detention. Are they linked. Is the ACPO playing politics again.   more »

There have been two speeches this week from UK ministers which Gordon Brown has distanced himself from. The first from Douglas Alexander and the second from Lord Mark Malloch Brown. It is inconceivable that either speech was given without the blessing of Gordon Brown so where is the method in the madness behind these speeches.   more »

There is much speculation at the moment as to when and how the ‘mistake’ was made when the BBC showed in a press conference the Queen ‘going off in huff’, and whether or not it was a deliberate attempt by someone within the BBC to discredit Her Majesty as part of the wider agenda of separation that is currently going on between Government and Crown.   more »

We have long called for legislation that would give powers to the information commissioner to force companies to inform customers when security and data breaches occur which involve personal data. At a conference in London yesterday on “Big Brother Britain”, the main credit checking company Experian has flatly rejected the idea of automatically informing the UK public when their ID details may have been hijacked.   more »

the unelected North-East Assembly is set to be scrapped and its powers returned to local authorities. I am assuming that if true this will also sound the death-knell for other similar bodies across England. The rationale appears to be that Gordon Brown is putting new forms of regional accountability in place through the new regional ministers, proposed regional "Question Times" and regional select committees. But wait....the Regional Assemblies are and always have been expendable. They have been part of the 10year NuLab smoke and mirrors pre-Europe give-away, more of the trickery and deceit that we have seen so blatantly coming out of Brussels.   more »

A 'horrifying' number numbers of banks, shops and Government departments are said to be fuelling a £1.7billion a year crime racket by failing to protect people's privacy. They have been caught dumping customers' details in public waste bins or leaving personal information for all to see online.Why is the Information Commissioners Office doing so little about it. Where are the fines, where are the court cases.   more »

The European Information Society Group (Eurim) will formally launch the exercise on 18 July 2007, with a call for evidence and plans to hold three hearings in October and November, after the publication of the next round of Comprehensive Spending Reviews. Margaret Moran MP, the chair of the organisation, told GC News the inquiry is aimed at raising awareness of Transformational Government among MPs and influencing future policy.   more »

Senior European Union officials confirmed yesterday that Britain's "red line" opt-out from the European Charter of Fundamental Rights is not worth the paper it is written on. Margot Wallström, the European Commission Vice-President, insisted that the charter will apply to huge swathes of British law, the 75 per cent or more that is derived from EU legislation. "There is 30 years of EU jurisprudence to say there can be no two-tier system of European rights."   more »

The European Commission has now published its final version of a document titled: COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION, Reforming Europe for the 21st Century. ‘Opinion of the European Commission, pursuant to Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union, on the Conference of representatives of the governments of the Member States convened to revise the Treaties’ You can link to the 8 page document here   more »

This Empire must be stopped. The arrogance before the Treaty is signed is overwhelming, God Help us if it ever gets through. Today in the EU parliament in Strasbourg, Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the EU commission spoke to the Leinen report on the intergovernmental conference. The naked arrogance of this extract from her speech tells its own story. Note the comment: "But I do not think we should allow that":   more »

Yes, you read it right, the EU President considers the EU to be an Empire. He said Empires were usually made with force with a centre imposing diktat, what he didn’t say was this one was made with trickery and lies imposing diktat. It may be an empire made without force, but in no way has it been made with the consent of the people. If Barroso’s empire is to last but a year, it must have the people behind it. Free national referendum’s are the only way that will happen.   more »

When the bungled attempt on Saturday 30th June to attack Glasgow airport unfolded, the stories of bravery, heroism and quick police action were quite rightly all over the press, telling of the miracle that no-one was hurt or injured. We have seen quite deserved stories of mutual back patting from within the Police force, but what has not been all over the press is how the police treated the passengers of the aircraft that had either just landed or were waiting to take off. Like cattle.   more »

Gordon Brown is as about as weak as national leaders come when it boils down to Europe. He may be a big fish in the UK, “a towering figure” as Jack Straw once described him as, but when it comes to Europe, he is but a minnow, kowtowing to any European leader who confronts him. He seemed decidedly tamed and cowed by finding himself inside the elite club of European government leaders.   more »

It is truly astonishing that Mr Brown should begin his premiership with LIES, while promising to be "open" with the British people, with a deceit so shameless as to make Blair look like an honest man. Mr Brown insisted the "constitutional" treaty has been rejected. THAT IS A LIE. Even THE EU says it is a LIE.   more »

The British Government fails to use the Interpol database of terror suspects and fails to check people on the way into the UK. Interpol said that the Terror Watch database has details of individuals on stop lists and over 9 million stolen passports, and is accessed extensively (in the hundreds of thousands per year) by other member states, Switzerland and even the Caribbean states, but Britain had only accessed it 50 times in the past year. Britain's Home Office said that it was 'too complicated'.   more »

Job AD spotted on Jobsite yesterday. We assume that it is for ANTI terrorist work.....although it is for a prestigious multimillion pound consultancy firm so who knows.....   more »

Obviously taking their lead from Al Gore (the III of course), drugs were the order of the day at the Live Earth concert in Sydney. POLICE have charged 19 people with drug offences during an operation at the Live Earth concert in Sydney.   more »

The prime minister's attempt to wrap himself in the Union flag backfired last night after it emerged he had wrongly claimed to have torn up rules limiting its use. There was no such rule and public offices could already fly the Union flag all year.   more »

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, has told manufacturers to maintain normal production rates, despite an official price freeze on basic goods. Speaking to supporters at a rally in Harare on Friday, Mugabe warned that the government would seize firms that stopped producing maize meal, sugar, salt, bread, beef and fuel.   more »

Glasgow councillors armed with bolt cutters joined a protest against ID cards at the weekend. The demonstration, organised by No2ID, was held outside Glasgow’s new interview centre on West Regent Street, where first-time passport applicants will now have to attend compulsory meetings to gather data.   more »

A man has been arrested after defying the ban on smoking on public places. Police were called to the pub when Mr Whisker refused to stub out his cigarette. He was escorted out and given an £80 fine for being drunk and disorderly.   more »

Nurses in Wales are to receive their full annual pay increase, ahead of their colleagues in England. The unstaged pay increase of 2.5%, backdated to 1 April, was announced by health minister Edwina Hart, who said they "deserved their pay in full".   more »

Nich Starling. Aka The Norfolk Blogger. A teacher and former councillor, has become the latest victim of banking fraud. Try as he may, he cannot get his bank to respond, answer calls or help in any way, and the only contact he has had with them has proven to be lies from the Bank. Is Lloyds TSB really on a suicide mission to prove just how much it doesn’t care about its customers.   more »

Jim Murphy, the new Europe Minster, made his first appearance at the European Scrutiny Committee yesterday. The general consensus that it wasn't too impressive. He was asked over 10 times by MPs to give a straight answer “yes or no” to the question but he failed to do so.   more »

SPEECH DELIVERED BY PREMIER BENITO MUSSOLINI Rome, Italy, February 23, 1941 "We are not like the English. We boast that we are not like them.......   more »

John Prescott has landed a job in Europe to keep him busy during his final years as an MP, it was revealed. The former deputy prime minister, who bowed out alongside Tony Blair last week, will be a British representative on the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe. The Prime Minister indicated that he was still living at Admiralty House while he searched for a new home in London, while Tony Blair is still living at Chequers.   more »

The first 31,365 TV licence payers every year pay for nothing else than 11 BBC executives salaries. The next 132,841 licence payers pay for Jonathon Ross who is on £18m a year.   more »