Didactophobia

Marxist scum play the race card, as usual

2011-08-14T10:27:00.003+01:00

All the usual suspects - the BBC, Guardian, Labour Party are lining up to attack David Starkey for alleged racism. As usual, of course, they are entirely wrong. David Starkey is as racist as he is heterosexual - ie, not at all.

Anyone who works with young offenders in any capacity must have observed a growing respect among the young, white criminal class for black 'gangstas'. Gangstas are seen as cool and trendy and the racist, sexist and violent lyrics of black rappers are lapped up by white youths who, tragically, do not see anyone from their own culture who inspires them. Perhaps therein lies the problem. Young white bastards (using the 'b' word in its correct sense) growing up with no male role model at home; either no father, or an unemployed one, or their mother entertaining a series of unemployable louts; the sort who appear on the Jeremy Kyle show trying to identify which out of several unsavoury individuals is the father, see something different, exotic and glamorous in black culture.

Ironically, there is somewhere in there a rejection of the moral degeneracy which infiltrates so much of our society, including unmarried motherhood: the 'bitches' and 'hoes' who receive no respect in the gangsta culture are, in fact, symbolic of the immoral whores who produce bastards to grow up without fathers; without morality; without standards. In a sense, therefore, the youths are right in rejecting what they are rejecting. Unfortunately, it is so hopelessly inarticulate and buried beneath such a steaming pile of emotional baggage in their lives, that these young people are unable to make the next logical step, which would be to seek integration into civilised, middle class society via conventional things such as marriage and work. They can see what they are fighting against, but cannot see how to make their lives better.

Ali G represented real people: white youths who are searching in black culture for the sense of purpose which their own culture has failed to deliver to them.

So David Starkey is right. White youths have 'become' black. Of course it does not represent all black culture any more than the white youths who go astray represent all white culture. The solution is to have more positive white role models for the white youths to follow.

England is sick

2011-08-13T05:54:00.005+01:00

So says Monika Konczyk who was almost burned to death by rioters. And who could say she is wrong?

A mesly few months in prison is not sufficient for the people who were involved in these riots. Let's be clear: I believe that the army should have been sent on to the streets with a shoot to kill policy. Every serviceman should have been brought back from Afghanistan or any other Godforsaken spot in the world they have been posted to; anyone with moral qualms about euthanising scum should have been allowed leave and the others sent out to do precisely that: euthanise the scum.

Any rioters who do end up in our holiday camp prisons should, in my view, be sent out each day in chain gangs to clean up the mess they have created. Of course, it won't happen. We have had 66 years of socialist governments ever since the vile, anti-Semitic Clement Attlee was elected in 1945. Socialists know that the morally defective scum of society are their core voters although, of course, it doesn't matter whom you vote for, since all of our political parties are contaminated with it. Maggie Thatcher talked tough, but failed to bring back capital punishment; increased spending on social security and she abolished corporal punishment in schools, contributing to the spoilt, selfish generation we now have. David Cameron? If he had gone to a less posh school, he would have been New Labour to the core. To quote Blackadder, he "is as wet as a haddock's bathing costume."

Who said dinosaurs were extinct?

2011-08-11T09:42:00.002+01:00

The Red Kenosaurus is determined to keep the Jurassic era alive. According to Ken Livingstone, government spending cuts are responsible for the riots. So now we know. While Leroy was stealing a plasma TV and Charlene was trying on the designer trainers she had looted, they were only wanting to sell the stuff so that they could pay their university tuition fees. Yeah, right! For one thing, if you have burned down all the shops in your neighbourhood and all of your friends have piles of goods they have looted themselves, then selling stuff becomes a bit difficult. Whom do you sell to? Stick it all on eBay?

Student loans and tuition fees mean that you borrow money when you need it, and pay it back when you can afford it. I must admit, I can't see anything wrong with that principle. Under the Tories, the threshold for repayment has increased, making it easier for people on low incomes. That is absolutely the right priority, in my opinion.

As for cuts, what happened to working for a living and paying your own way? Don't get me wrong, I have claimed social security benefits a long time ago. When I needed them. Since I started working, I haven't claimed a brass farthing, nor expected any. Too many people in this country have a misplaced sense of entitlement, where they expect to receive handouts at others' expense. If I can't afford something, I do without. Unless you are super-rich or a super-scrounger, that is a choice we all make. If you can't afford a Ferrari, you can buy a BMW. If you can't afford that, you can buy a Ford. If you can't afford a car at all, there are buses.

In my opinion, the cuts haven't gone far enough. I shouldn't be paying tax so that Samantha Cameron can claim child benefit. Someone who sweeps the streets shouldn't be paying tax so that teachers can claim tax credits. Apparently, some London authorities have cut spending on youth clubs by 75%. So fucking what? I would cut it by 100%. I have never been to a youth club in my life and I have never considered thieving, looting, rioting and burning to be the only alternatives, funnily enough.

London riots; England burns

2011-08-10T06:29:00.003+01:00

What is to be said? The mindless thuggery and violence which has affected deprived communities in this country for years has now erupted spectacularly into the world's headlines. Normally, as I say, the victims are poor people who are helpless and voiceless. In the leafiest of suburbs, our political class are completely immune. Every political party is led by a millionaire who got where they are because of their parents' wealth and connections. One good consequence of the current situation is that it affects even the country's élite: we really are 'in it together' Mr Cameron.

Who or what is to blame? Forget poverty, at least in a material sense. The people carrying out this violence have Blackberries and the latest designer gear: they are deprived morally and spiritually, not materially. We have whole generations of families living a lifetime on benefits: they are told they are entitled to handouts; entitled to human rights, and no one in authority ever tells them that they have responsibilities to contribute to the society which supports them.

Family breakdown is an issue. What do David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Ed and David Miliband, Harriet Harman, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair have in common? They are all married. They know that a stable family background and parents who work for a living is best for their families, and they are right. What is wrong, is that most of them refuse to advocate it for other people. Not one of them condemns a single mother a brood of bastards by several different fathers. Not one of them is prepared to say that it is not right for a child to grow up without knowing his father (as I did). They support truckloads of benefits for the underclass and hope that the problem will go away. In doing so, they betray the young people that they supposedly care about.

What about religious leaders? The Church of Scotland has been debating whether practising sodomites should be ordained. When did you last hear a Christian leader condemning fornication? Not in this century, I'll bet. Men who should fear only God seem to fear and care only about left-wing politicians and supporting immoral 'equality' laws which discriminate against Christians in our own country. In case you think this is a racist point, it is not. The United Kingdom is consitutionally a Protestant Christian country: remove that, and you break up the UK. Alex Salmond understands that: undoubtedly he believes in 'equality', but he also wants to undermine our country's constitution and destroy our country.

Our police forces have become emasculated. Senior officers are obsessed with 'rights' and 'diversity' and sucking up to left wing politicians, instead of focusing on why we need police: to keep law and order. We don't need a 'police service', because it won't serve. We need a 'police force' because it exists to enforce the law without fear or favour, or it is nothing. We don't need police officers to be mincing social workers: we need them to strike fear into the criminal classes. If I am a victim of crime, I don't want a policeman to hold my hand: I want a ruthless bastard who will sort out the criminal. Vigilantes only exist where official forces have failed: interestingly, we are seeing vigilante groups starting up among ethnic minorities in London to protect their property.

On the international scene, many of our political class have cheered the so-called 'Arab Spring'. Our government has spent hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money interfering in the Libyan Civil War, whilst encouraging armed thugs to riot against their government and condemning those such as Assad who have put down riots with force. Hopefully the current situation will focus their minds and knock sense into them. You either support the integrity of a sovereign state and the duty of a government to maintain law and order, or you don't. You can't pick and choose. However evil Assad or Gadaffi are, the average Syrian or Libyan wants to go about their daily life peacefully and doesn't really care which bunch of shysters are lording it over them. Just like the poor of our inner cities who are having their lives destroyed by thugs.

Socialists disgrace themselves again

2011-01-30T05:14:00.000Z

Once again, socialists show their true colours. It is always ludicrous to describe the likes of the BNP as 'right wing' politically: just as the Nazis began as the National SOCIALIST Workers' Party, this sort of anti-semitic vileness always comes from the political left. You only have to remember the antisemitic campaigns that the L*bour Party waged against Michael Howard when he was Tory leader and the anti-Israel hatred stirred up by lefty politicians in recent years to realise that this kind of vileness is far from unusual in their part of the political spectrum. The worst thing I will say about Aaron Porter is that he is unbelievably naive in having joined the L*bour Party and expecting to receive any sympathy from their hangers-on. Socialism by definition is evil.

Chris Jefferies

2011-01-02T20:00:00.003Z

I hope the man is guilty. Because the police and media between them have destroyed this man's life, apparently without a shred of evidence. I am particularly dismayed by the utterly dishonest gutter journalism which has been used to twist the most mundane of events into 'signs of being a strangler'.

For example, a classic of English literature, the Ballad of Reading Gaol is reduced to a poem about wife-killing in the Daily Mirror.

Not that the Mirror stopped there. Jefferies is apparently 'bizarre' because he once had blue hair (Marge Simpson watch out!) and was described as an odd, lonely young man by people who knew him nearly half a century ago.

The Sun presumably believes that all teachers who follow the National Curriculum by teaching about the Holocaust are obsessed with death, for there is nothing in the article to distinguish Mr Jefferies from thousands of other good teachers.

Even my beloved Daily Mail believes that we need to know Mr Jefferies got his mother to do his washing.

The innuendo which has been published about a man who has been charged with nothing is truly staggering. Society really has not moved very far from the days when we burned witches alive.

Something bad has happened... therefore
Find someone who looks, sounds and behaves a bit oddly*... and
You have a witch. Burn them!

*I used an adverb. I must be a posh weirdo! Burn me!

Party politics at its most sordid...

2010-05-10T23:48:00.002+01:00

That is the quote from Lord Heseltine after the astonishing revelation about the duplicitous behaviour of Nick Clegg in trying to back both horses at once. If this latest scheme comes about, the country will have yet another unelected Prime Minister foisted on it. Clegg, who claimed to have been the 'only candidate offering real change', will have proved himself to be merely a patsy for the Liebour Party to remain in power.

A rainbow coalition would be outrageously unfair to English voters, who voted overwhelmingly for a Conservative Government. Dependent on regional parties, it would mean harsh budgetary cuts for public services in England whilst Scotland, Wales and/or Northern Ireland escaped. No wonder Alex Salmond is rubbing his hands in glee. No one who seriously wants the United Kingdom to survive can support this.

There is no way that there is a majority in this Parliament in favour of PR, including Alternative Vote. FPTP is the least bad system we have; it is the clear preference of virtually all Tory MPs as well as a fair proportion of Labour MPS. If Brown puts forward a Queen's Speech, Tory MPs have to be united in their votes against it and take every opportunity to highlight the utter immorality of this stitch-up of power. We need to force an early General Election, on the current boundaries and without AV, in which Liebour and the Fib Dems would be decimated. After that, a majority Tory Government could introduce equal-sized constituencies at its leisure.

The utter dishonesty of Clegg and his party has to be made crystal-clear to voters. Any attempt at a deal with them by the Conservatives has to be called off - now, and made clear that it will not be on the table next time either. The Fib Dems have shown that they could never make PR work. PR would lead inevitably to coalition and, for PR to be effective, the smaller parties have to be mature and willing to negotiate with whoever the majority party is. The Fib Dems have shown themselves conclusively to be a collection of beardy-weirdies who actually have no interest in gaining power. They get off on being in permanent opposition; moaning about how life is unfair, whilst really being quite relieved not to have the responsibility of making the real-life decisions of which they are incapable. The Orange Bookers should join the Tory Party; left-wingers who are serious politicians should join the Labout Party, and leave the rest exposed as the rump of weirdos and losers that they are.

So this is how Zimbabweans feel

2010-05-08T10:50:00.002+01:00

Doesn't it feel like living in a banana republic? A Prime Minister who was never elected in the first place has now lost an election and... he's still bloody there!

The LibDems hoped to take an historic stride towards PR - well, I think they have royally f*cked up. This, friends is what you would have after every election. A squatter, unelected, in Number 10 while the great and good meet behind closed doors to concoct a compromise deal that no one actually voted for. And, natch, the Lib Dems appointing the new PM.

Well, it sucks. FPTP generally provides a decisive result. The candidate who tops the poll in each seat may not have 50% of the vote, but they are closer to being the popular choice than anyone else. Therefore, why should the candidates who come second and third have any chance of depriving them? Extrapolate that to the national level. I can see the Tories don't have an overall majority, but we are the closest party to it. Where PR breaks down, in my opinion, is that it potentially gives the party which comes third or even fourth more power than the one which comes first, if a coalition chooses to shut out the most popular party. If that's democracy, I'm a banana. Which, appropriately enough, fits the thesis I began with.

VOTE CONSERVATIVE

2010-05-06T06:07:00.003+01:00

So, General Election day is here and I intend to be at the polling station shortly after 7am to be one of the first people to cast a vote.

For the first time in my life, I have some insight into what it must be like to live in a banana republic. How many fake postal votes have ZanuLabour engineered? There have got to be major reforms after this Election. Postal votes have got to be restricted to those who genuinely need them; they should only be available to people whose names appear on the published electoral register (mine doesn't) and they should only be available to people whose names have been on the published register for at least one year. Additionally, there must be prosecutions for any and all breaches of electoral law.

Why vote Conservative? We need a return to honesty. It is time for change. Thatcher and Blair both showed that no leader should go on for more than two terms. Major and Brown both showed that, when a long-serving leader departs, it is not a good idea to have a replacement who is chosen only by the governing party. There is nothing party political in this: the comparison between a successful leader being succeeded by a disastrous one is eerily similar in both cases. However, a tired government cannot enact the changes we need.

The country needs to cut its addiction to taxing and borrowing and spending. Social security beneftis should be sufficient fot those who need them and not handed out to people who don't. I would like to see an axe being taken to family tax credits and child benefit. Why have an army of civil servants taking taxes from people and another army handing back money to people who don't need it? Leaving the money in people's pockets to begin with would cost the government nothing and would save millions in administration. Let the civil servants find jobs where they can actually be productive.

It's time to support families. That means supporting marriage. A real family includes a married couple, with or without children. That is why we need a substantial married couple's tax allowance. We also need to end the iniquity of people on benefits being better off if they separate than if they live together. Single parenthood cheats children. Children of married couples tend to be healthier; better behaved; higher achieving; more likely to find jobs when they leave school; more likely to go into higher education and less likely to be involved in crime. All of the above saves the country money in the health service; legal system; social workers etc etc. When the people take up jobs, they pay more tax. It is a win-win situation. I despise left-wing politicians like Gordon Brown; Harriet Harman; Nick Clegg etc etc who are married; ie they see the benefits of marriage for their own families; yet refuse to lift a finger to promote the benefits to poor people.

Reform of the electoral system has to include equal-sized constituencies. End Labour's rotten burghs (Scottish spelling, for my English readers) where two men, a dog, 2000 names harvested from the local cemetery and several thousand fictitious people would elect a monkey in a red rosette. Atheist Nick Clegg says that he wants to end 'safe seats'. Fine. Let's merge Orkney & Shetland with Caithness & Sutherland: two constituencies which elected Liberal MPs even when they only had half a dozen voters across the UK. Let's put the Western Isles into Charlie Kennedy's consituency. Let's get rid of some of the sparsely populated Highland and Borders constituencies which would elect a monkey in a yellow rosette while we are about it.

We need to redefine our relationship with Europe. If only Dave had stuck to his "cast-iron guarantee" to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty: he might have found Angela Merkel more sympathetic than he could have possibly imagined. What a vote-winner this golden opportunity could have been in the final week of the campaign.

However, to quote Shagger Bill himself, "It's the economy, stupid." Labour has once again (as in 1979) left the country broke. Like every Labour government in history, unemployment is higher than when they took office. The next government needs to get Britain working, saving and investing. We need low taxes; incentives for entrepreneurs and an end to political correctness. If you want ethnic minorities to vote for you, show that you are serious about family values; if you want gay people to vote for you, show that you are serious about low taxation. These will be better vote-winners, and better for the economy, than a million policies based around PC nonsense.

Anyway, the polling starts in a few minutes. I'm off to vote Tory.

Direct Party and Representative Voting

2010-05-02T10:13:00.002+01:00

No, I hadn't heard of this until today either.

I think the system has a certain amount to commend it. Each elector would vote for both a local MP and for a party. Basically, it would keep the MP to constituency link, but introduce proportionality by weighting the voting power in Parliament according to the proportion of votes cast for each party.

The problem I have, is that you would still have the problem of any proportional system, that you would almost always have weak coalition government. It would also be possible for the largest single party to be shut out of power by the parties in second and third places. However, I wonder if this can be solved by altering the weightings?

Let us say that the party which finishes first in the popular vote automatically gets to choose the executive. Each party would have an equal chance to achieve this. In Parliament, the Prime Minister and Cabinet would therefore represent the single most popular party, and they would have a collective 5% of the voting power in Parliament in addition to their individual votes as MPs.. They would therefore be more powerful than individual MPs, but would be nowhere near a majority on their own.

The largest party in the popular vote would have 45% of the voting power in Parliament. This would almost certainly include all of the Executive as individual MPs. Assuming the party and Executive are united, they have 50% of the vote and, with the Speaker's casting vote, they can always get their legislation through Parliament. We have strong government. Any division in the largest party could be punished, though, because a single rebel MP would move them below 50%.

The second largest party would have 30% of the voting power in Parliament, and the third largest party would have 15% of the voting power. Combined, they would have equal power to the largest party minus the executive.

The smallest parties (SNP, Plaid Cymru, DUP etc) would have a combined 5% of the voting power in Parliament.

On any 'free' vote, each MP would have equal voting power.

As ye sow, so shall ye reap

2010-04-29T08:10:00.003+01:00

If anyone had any doubts about whether Gordon Brown is a lying, manipulative, nasty piece of work, surely even they will have had their eyes opened by yesterday's events.

If the truth be told, it is not just Brown. ALL of the political elite believe that ordinary, working class people are racist, homophobic, xenophobic and bigoted. They have no interest in what we actually think about anything. However, Brown takes it to a new level. The bitterness with which he spoke about his encounter with Gillian Duffy, describing it as a disaster, probably tells us even more than the insults he used. It revealed that his only concern was about whether the media would 'use the pictures': within seconds of complimenting Mrs Duffy, he had completely forgotten her concerns and his only interest was in the effect it would have on his campaign. All he wants is to cling to the office to which he was never elected until the last possible moment.

It is ironic that lefties accuse David Cameron of believing, because of his background, that he has an entitlement to govern. Only one politician in the last century has bullied his way into office, without any election save the voters of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, in a way that would have shamed a banana republic. Zimbabwe and Iran have had elections for their leaders: corrupt and flawed, maybe, but more claim to legitimacy than Brown's premiership.

Good riddance, Gordon.

Gays under your roof

2010-04-05T11:47:00.002+01:00

As the General Election draws nearer, the Marxist filth get more and more desperate. The vile Daily Mirror, for example, attacks the Tories on the Chris Grayling story.

Now, I am no fan of Chris Grayling. However, he seems to be a decent enough guy and does not deserve the sort of attack which is being made on him. Additionally, the Conservative Party should beware. There will be millions of people up and down the country (I suspect a majority) who believe that what Grayling said represents a sensible compromise. I am one of them.

Of course, people should not be discriminated against in larger establishments. However, if I am letting out a room or two in my home, I should have the right to state whom to admit. Lots of establishments advertise themselves as 'gay-friendly' and I don't propose banning them. Nor should a B&B be vilified if they prefer not to have gays sharing a room. Or indeed any unmarried couple.

To compare this to discrimination on race is disingenuous. If the gay men had booked single rooms at the B&B, they would not have been turned away. Someone with a prejudice against black people would have turned away any black person. It's not the same thing. Discrimination against gays by denying them a double room is merely discriminating against certain behaviour. Again, the issue is not whether you approve or not of such behaviour. The issue is whether a homeowner has the right to demand certain standards of anyone during the time they are under his or her roof. The answer has to be 'yes'.

The Nasty Party - which is it?

2010-03-07T21:37:00.002Z

The question was raised on the TES message board, to which I penned the following reply:

I would propose that the 'nasty party' is the one which has betrayed this country by taking us into a war on the basis of lies; murdered a government scientist who dared to tell the truth; betrayed British soldiers by denying them proper equipment for aforesaid war; increased the gap between rich and poor, despite their avowed intention to reduce poverty; wrecked the one world-class industry that we had left (banking & financial services); borrowed more money in just two financial years than every government combined between 1691 and 1997; introduced 'privacy' and 'human rights' legislation which allows the rich and powerful to gain injunctions at the drop of a credit card to prevent the media reporting true stories about them; released Jon Venables whilst keeping Tony Martin a political prisoner; appointed a psychotic bully to the post of Prime Minister without an election, despite a promise by the previous incumbent to serve a full term; gave away the rebate from the EU which Margaret Thatcher won for us and which will cost us billions as a result; gave away the last remnants of British sovereignty via the Lisbon Treaty, despite the pre-election promise to give us a referendum. Shall I go on...?
As long as New Labour is consigned to the dustbin of history, I'll be happy. Bring on the election!

As I said - he should have been euthanised

2010-03-07T07:23:00.002Z

Now we know, and it is particularly sickening, considering what he was originally convicted of, that the piece of sewage formerly known as Jon Venables was sent back to prison because of child pornography.

Venables is clearly evil. He will never change. At 27, he is no longer a child, nor even a young adult. Why should the legal system protect his identity? Vigilantes only exist where the politicians, police and legal system have failed to do their jobs. Venables deserves no protection.

Phwoar! Look at that for a poll!

2010-03-07T07:14:00.002Z

After a few weeks of quite worrying opinion polls, the latest ICM poll in the News of the World shows a healthy Tory lead of nine points. Whatever the Tories' faults, this country desperately needs a change of Government, so this is very good news. Because of the effects of Irish MPs rarely voting (and Sinn Fein never attending); Welsh and Scottish nationalists and 60 or so (hopefully fewer after the GE) Liberals, on most issues there is never a united opposition to the Government, so even a minority administration would not be anything to fear. Hopefully, though, we will have a sufficient Tory majority.

Capital punishment for Jon Venables? Definitely!

2010-03-06T09:00:00.002Z

So, the piece of sewage formerly known as Jon Venables is back in prison and at risk from other prisoners. A violent criminal and drug user, even discounting his role in one of the most vile crimes ever committed in this country, why should another £250,000 of taxpayers' money be spent on creating a new identity for him? Why should he protected, rather than the people with the misfortune to come into contact with him?

We know that a Labour government will never care about the victims of crime. That is why Tony Martin was held in prison for years as a political prisoner for daring to euthanise a burglar. There was a time when I was opposed to capital punishment. However, I have come round to supporting it. When children like Venables and Robert Thomson commit acts of evil, of course there is usually more than one sad story behind it. However, realistically, Venables could never seriously have been expected ever to live a normal life afterwards. I think it is only common sense to recognise that, for whatever reason, the life of someone like that is pointless. Nothing is done for the victims, whilst criminals are indulged at huge cost to the taxpayer. For a vile and unprovoked act of sheer evil, as theirs was, surely the only sane thing that can happen is to euthanise them. It is not even capital punishment: morally, it is no different to poisoning diseased rats or shooting rabid dogs.

If Venables had been euthanised, he would not have been free to attack anyone else and Jamie Bulger's mother would be able to sleep more easily. Justice would have been served.

Should marriage be recognised in the tax system? YES YES YES!

2010-03-05T18:51:00.001Z

Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman, Alistair Darling, David Miliband - they are all married. They sneer at attempts to 'promote' marriage, yet recognise the benefits of it for their own families.

Why has marriage become 'middle class'? Well, for people on low incomes, there is often a significant financial benefit through the tax and welfare system for people to remain unmarried, especially if they have children. The 'few pounds a week' that the lefties like to sneer at, can be quite important for people in that situation.

I am a teacher and I can speak from first hand, and second and third hand, experience. The better behaved, more contented, successful and healthy children tend to come from parents who are married. The children with ADHD and other behavioural issues; who are poor attenders or who have learning or emotional problems, tend to come from unmarried, usually single, parents. Yes, there are exceptions. However, that is no reason to ignore the overwhelming evidence that marriage tends to be good for the children of the marriage.

Children from broken homes often get far more taxpayers' money spent on them: special needs teachers and auxiliaries; social workers etc etc. It is time that we targeted a tax break that will disproportionately benefit people on modest incomes who struggle against the odds to raise their children decently. Support for marriage is one of the key reasons that I shall vote Conservative, and I am deeply uncomfortable about any attempt to water down the party's commitment to it.

Children from married families tend to cost less in terms of welfare etc than those from broken homes. They are often healthier, and use the NHS less. They get into crime more rarely, therefore saving money in the criminal justice and social work systems. They are more likely to get jobs and contribute to society when they grow up. As a Conservative, I believe there is a clear financial benefit to the country, which ought to be recognised in the form of a significant tax break

EIS having a march round Glasgow on Saturday

2010-03-04T08:23:00.002Z

I'm not a member of EIS and I can think of better ways of spending my Saturday.
Having looked at their web page:

- I agree about the incompetence of government being responsible for the cuts in education. I agree about the obscene amounts of money used to bail out bankers, rather than allowing market forces to have their way.
- I disagree about 'teacher shortages' - we all know that there is a huge surplus of teachers which will exist until the universities stop training too many people.
- I think protesting about cuts is futile. The country is bankrupt thanks to the actions of this Government. Cuts will happen in the next few years no matter who is elected. The only alternative to saying this, is to tell lies or to stick your head in the sand.
- The only meaningful protest is one aimed at the removal of this Government and replacing it with a Conservative administration, which is the only alternative at the General Election. Yes, I know that education is a devolved matter, and the SNP administration at Holyrood is almost as useless as its Labour predecessors, but the budgetary constraints are caused, and imposed, by Labour at Westminster. The rottenest of rotten burghs, Glasgow City Council, is still under single-party control and in Scotland's largest local authority there should therefore be no one else to blame if Labour chooses to reduce the education budget.
- So, what is the political focus of the protest? Is it anti-Labour and pro-Conservative? From the Marxist loonies who run the EIS, that is distinctly unlikely. Much more likely that it is aimed at putting pressure on the SNP with the (in my view, bizarre) aim of shoring up the Labour vote.

Michael Foot

2010-03-04T08:20:00.002Z

Has died at the age of 96. I can't help wondering if a Labour activist somewhere makes sure he still casts a postal vote in the GE. No doubt they justify it in terms of tackling necrophobia on behalf of the deceased community.

Loony students

2010-03-03T07:53:00.002Z

I am currently doing a postgraduate course, and I was intrigued to pick up the leaflet of candidates for the student union elections.

Two have included almost identical statements, which I suspect have been fed to them by the Marxist trade union supporting them. Among the gems are:

- Lobby government to 'bring back grants' and 'cut their own salaries before cutting our courses and staff'. Er, yes. And on Planet Earth people may think it rather more productive to...

- NO TO WAR; NO TO BNP. Er, yes. The BNP is probably the only political party to have been unanimously opposed to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The BNP argues that we should only ever go to war to directly protect British interests. However, let's try another policy...

- '...campaign alongside LGBT and Muslim community' - unless the institution in question is a hotbed of apostasy, I think it is just a tad unlikely that those particular groups would consider that they jointly form a distinct community. In those Islamic countries where homosexuals fear being executed, I suspect that members of the LGBT community would chuckle at the suggestion. Or maybe not. However, let's try...

- 'ensure... remains a Nazi-free zone with tolerance and diversity at its heart.' Absolutely! We need some Lebensraum to celebrate all this tolerance and diversity in. There is no room for, er, anyone who disagrees with us.

Anyhoo, many thanks to the Union of the University of Strathclyde. There are some excellent candidates - Charandeep Singh as VP for Equality & Diversity has some fine ideas and I think he has set his sights too low in running for that post. The others, hopefully, will grow up and vote Tory like the rest of us. Although if they continue to live in the West of Scotland, there is a possibility that they will do neither; the left-wing indoctrination running too deeply.

God save this country!

2010-02-28T11:40:00.004Z

According to the Sunday Times today, Liebour look as though they will win the next General Election. I have posted the following on Conservative Home, with one or two tweaks:

I am utterly depressed at the prospect of this vile and corrupt Government remaining in power. I shall vote Conservative but, frankly, with little conviction.

Cameron - lacks principle, as shown by reneging on his promise of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty; by voting in favour of keeping Section 28, then apologising for the fact it was introduced; by disagreeing with the increase in the top rate of Income Tax, yet insisting that a Conservative government would keep it; by trying to water down and weasel out of the commitment to the Married Couple's tax allowance.

Cameron - has packed his shadow cabinet with effete ex-public schoolboys.

While Labour was ruining the economy, we needed a hard man like Hague to go for the jugular as Shadow Chancellor.
While Labour was allowing the country to be over-run by uncontrolled immigration, we needed a man of principle like Davis as Shadow Home Secretary to argue our case.
While Labour was betraying centuries of British history by signing the treacherous Lisbon Treaty, we needed a man of intellect and gravitas like Rifkind as Shadow Foreign Secretary.
While Labour was adding scores of billions to the national debt by pouring money into the black hole that is the NHS, we needed a man who knows and understands the problems of the NHS like Fox as Shadow Health Secretary to explain how we would make it more efficient. Instead, we had Dave promising to commit even more billions.

Cameron - by picking the right team, by standing by his principles, and by standing clearly by them, could have won this Election and begun to heal our broken society. Instead, he has failed.

Conservative voters are not interested in how many Tory MPs are gay, bisexual, women, Muslim or from ethnic minorities. We care that they believe in law and order; a strong economy and protecting British sovereignty. Yet Dave has fallen into the trap of trying to appease every minority who would never have voted Tory in a million years, while kicking traditional Tories in the teeth. He has taken his eye off the ball and has focused on minutiae.

It isn't too late. We can still win the next election, by hammering the message of PRINCIPLE.

1. As a PRINCIPLE, no one in the country should pay more than half their income in direct taxes.

2. As a PRINCIPLE, dangerous criminals should be kept off the streets, and no Conservative Home Secretary will ever be over-ruled by a foreign court other than on a law directly relevant to free trade.

3. As a PRINCIPLE, no able-bodied person should be allowed to spend half their adult life on benefits.

4. As a PRINCIPLE, we shall immediately repeal the Human Rights Act and put in its place a Bill of Rights, beginning with the phrase "We, the people..." which shall be adopted after a Referendum. The Bill of Rights will reject any and every area of law in which the UK is subservient to the EU, or would be in the future, save where these relate strictly to the promotion of free trade (which is all we have ever had the chance to vote on) or have been adopted by a British government as the result of a referendum or at least a manifesto commitment in a General Election.

5. As a PRINCIPLE, by the end of five years, the national debt will have been reduced and British people will be contributing a lower share of their earnings in direct taxation.

6. As a PRINCIPLE, a Conservative government will justify taxation not in terms of how tax cuts are funded, but in justifying why tax has to be taken from the taxpayer in the first place.

7. As a PRINCIPLE, the rights of the victims of crime will take precedence over the rights of criminals in every case.

8. As a PRINCIPLE, the balance between birth, death, immigration and emigration rates shall not be permitted to lead to an increase in the UK population beyond 0.1% per year.

Believe me, I still want Cameron to win, but he has to EARN it and FAST.

I'm back (again). A poster on the TES messageboard annoyed me...

2009-12-16T08:10:00.004Z

Below is pretty much what I wrote. A poster had suggested that Tzipi Livni was afraid of prosecution for war crimes; that the Swiss were wrong to ban minarets and that there was a rise of the far right in Britain...

What war crimes would those be? Have you been to Israel, including territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority? I have. It is a very safe, peaceful and pleasant country, although that is not the image presented by the Western media. Gaza is a nightmare, because the people there have chosen to elect terrorists to govern them who are dedicated to the destruction of a legitimate country. The policies of Hamas are much the same as those of Nazi Germany, so dealing with them is not a matter for a gentle chat over coffee and biscuits. It is a brutal business.

Switzerland banning minarets is a matter for the Swiss. They haven't banned Muslims, or mosques, or anything that would approach an abuse of human rights. The Swiss have taken a decision that minarets are oppressive to the majority population, given that the minarets are taller than surrounding buildings and cause noise pollution through the adhan. They mark out a mosque as the most important building in the community and indeed all of the above is the point of building minarets. So, as far as it is any of my business, I think the Swiss are right.

What rise of the far right has there been in the UK? Roughly 1 in every 300 councillors represents the BNP. Two out of over 100 MEPs. Not much of a rise, if that is what you are referring to. The problem in this country is the influence of the far left, as demonstrated by 12 and a half years of Marxist government. Remember the anitsemitic posters Labour produced depicting Michael Howard as a pig? Ken Livingstone chumming up to the antisemitic Hugo Chavez. Terrorist-loving 'preachers' being allowed to enter the UK and stir up hatred at certain mosques. Antisemitic campaigns by Marxist trade unions such as Unite and Unison to boycot Israeli goods. Shall I go on...?

Let us remember that Hitler was leader of the National Socialist Workers' Party. Antisemitism and racial hatred are products of the far left, not anywhere on the right of the political spectrum.

Pakistan Christians die in unrest

2009-08-03T23:23:00.002+01:00

This is the bland headline that the vile, anti-Christian, anti-semitic, anti-British Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation uses to describe the murder of a group of Pakistani Christians who were burned alive by a hate-filled mob of Muslim extremists.

Why do I object to the report?

1. The first word. Why Pakistan rather than Pakistani? Does the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation consider that these people are not 'real' Pakistani citizens for daring to be Christian?

2. The word 'die'. People 'die' in their sleep; people 'die' in accidents. This was no accident. These people were murdered in cold blood, and an honest report would say so.

3. The word 'unrest'. What exactly is that word supposed to mean? There is unrest in every British town centre when the pubs close. It hardly describes the sort of savage lynch-mob who carried out these murders.

4. The word 'militants'. Arthur Scargill was a militant. Whatever else you say about him, he did not burn people alive in their own homes. There is a difference between militancy and terrorism.

I pray for all who are persecuted for following Jesus, wherever they are in the world.

"All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved" (NIV Mark 13:13). Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (NIV, John 18:36). There are times when Christians must endure persecution, because Jesus himself suffered persecution. The rewards we must seek will be delivered in the next world, not this one.

Slash the BBC

2009-08-02T11:18:00.002+01:00

According to the Sunday Times, the Conservatives are planning to freeze the licence fee and sell off Radio 1.

Good start, but does not go far enough. I would like to see the licence fee being slashed from £142.50 to £99, with a pledge to keep it frozen under £100 for the duration of the next Tory government. This would force the BBC to re-evaluate the services it provides; show the Tory commitment to cutting tax and give a small but helpful break to taxpayers.

Anything, like Radio 1, which has a huge audience share means unfair competition for commercial broadcasters. The licence fee should be used to subsidise important, useful but non-profitable programming, eg news services. Anything which has a commercial value should be offered by commercial broadcasters.

So, let's sell off Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 5. They could probably all survive on their own. Radio 3 should be closed: it has been eclipsed by Classic FM, after all, and has no further function. However, the frequencies it uses will bring in millions when they are sold off.

Radio 4 provides the sort of current affairs and light entertainment broadcasting that the licence fee is intended for. It is the only one of the national radio stations that I would keep under BBC control. The World Service is an icon of broadcasting and should be preserved, as should the stations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The 39 English local stations should be sold or scrapped, as they simply provide unfair competition to local commercial stations. Also, scrap the digital stations.

In television, I would keep BBC 1, BBC2 and scrap the rest. When the licence fee was first introduced, there was no choice. Now we have hundreds of competing channels, and there is no need for all of these. Based on the BBC's own figures, the above changes should bring the licence fee down to just over £100. Further changes can be made by restricting the salaries of higher-paid employees, eg Jonathan Ross. If he is worth £6 million a year on the open market, then ITV or another commercial channel will pay him that. The online presence of the BBC should also be reduced. There are some useful online functions, eg education, but the news service, for example, should not be allowed to undermine local newspapers.

Who says Luke Akehurst isn't sharp?

2009-08-02T10:11:00.003+01:00

I have never until today looked at Luke Akehurst's blog. He is a Labour activist from London who, sadly, is currently restricted to a wheelchair.

I must admit, I was intrigued by the link from Iain Dale's Diary to a post by Luke which wonders whether Labour would accept a candidate in a wheelchair.

He is apparently unaware that Anne Begg, a wheelchair-bound MP, has represented Aberdeen South since 1997. She was selected via an all-woman shortlist, but I shan't post any bitchy comment about the quality of people elected under such a system. My own local MP is another of the breed, and the phrase 'waste of space' would not begin to sum her up. I certainly wouldn't rate her alongside Anne Begg, who does seem to be quite a well-regarded constituency MP. I love the ironic (dare I say 'black'?) humour in her slogan 'Standing up for Aberdeen South'.

Pussies

2009-07-31T11:01:00.002+01:00

Nice short title for this post. I haven't posted about Didactofeline for nearly two full years. So what is happening in the pussy world?

Apart from a few little teeth at the front of her lower jaw, Didactofeline has now officially lost all of her teeth. A few months ago, she was miaowing for a few days, until eventually we found a tooth on the floor. As soon as she lost the tooth, she appeared completely recovered, so obviously the poor little thing had had toothache. I don't know why she has lost all of her teeth, as she had lost most of them before she hired us (dogs have owners; cats have staff).

It hasn't dampened her killer instinct, though. Although the Mouse Season does not officially begin until August, Didactofeline has made at least two kills this year. Thankfully she has not attempted to bring either of them indoors. The first was a rat - yes, a rat - which I found dead in the garden a couple of weeks ago. I would say it is easily the biggest thing she has killed. It really is remarkable that a cat with no teeth can be such an efficient killer, but she has a very clever technique involving her claws and either breaking the prey's neck or suffocating it.

This week, a looked out of the conservatory window and saw her playing with her latest kill: a very small baby bird. She was doing her usual, picking it up with her front paws and throwing it into the air. I don't know if she is trying to make it fly again, or if she just likes the adrenalin rush of jumping and catching it.

However, what has been making the news in the west of Scotland recently has been sightings of big cats. This picture was taken by a military policeman near Faslane and this is the story of a big pussy cat apparently attacking a horse in South Ayrshire. Interestingly in the case of the latter story, there was a story about two months ago about a big cat being spotted in the area.

Didactofeline says that the big cats had better keep off her territory.

My namesake

2009-07-31T10:46:00.002+01:00

Not really news for anyone other than me, but a curious affair nonetheless. Someone who shares my real name (ie not Didactophobe) has been posting on Conservative Home and Iain Dale's Diary: I find it quite disconcerting to look at a thread, see my name and know that it is actually someone else writing.

I don't have a particularly common name like John Smith; nor is it one that frequently appears, like Sally Roberts or Tim Montgomerie. But it is there.

Should I 'out' myself by posting a message to my namesake? Nah, that would be silly.

Total Politics Best Blog competition

2009-07-30T22:24:00.002+01:00

I have cast my vote for my ten favourite blogs in the 2009 Total Politics Blog Poll.

I have also emailed Total Politics, requesting that Didactophobia is reclassified as Scottish rather than English in their directory. It's not something that bothers me unduly, but there are occasions where I reflect on parochial matters, therefore best to be accurate.

Anti-semitism in Britain

2009-07-30T06:03:00.002+01:00

The Community Security Trust (CST) has published an Interim Report, showing a large increase in the number of antisemitic attacks this year in Britain.

An unpalatable, but undeniable truth, is that the report shows that approximately 50% of the perpetrators are white and 40% are Arab or Asian. There can be few other crimes where the proportion of Arab/Asian offenders is so high relative to the proportion of white/black offenders, which points very strongly towards possible motivation for these attacks.

We have had twelve years of Liebour sucking up to Muslim voters (and in Scotland, we have the SNP giving hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to Muslim groups), whilst simultaneously making it clear that it is open season on Christians and Jews. Witness Glasgow City Council's recent sponsoring of an event in which cretins are invited to write obscenities in a copy of the Bible.

There is a problem with categorising anything as hate-crime, in that it fails to uphold the principle that we are all equal before the law. Desecration of graves, vandalism and assaults need to be severely punished because of the damage and hurt they cause: we should not be creating 'thought crimes' based on the private motives we impute to some offenders but not others.

I am a teacher, and I have from time to time posted on the message board of the Times Educational Supplement. If you look at some of the opinions expressed by so-called teachers whenever issues like Gaza are discussed, they really are frightening. If it is representative of the teaching profession, there is considerable anti-semitism among those who are paid taxpayers' money to educate our children.

A future Conservative government needs to tackle seriously the problem of anti-semitism, no matter whom it offends. Everyone who is in this country legitimately deserves the full protection of the law and the statistics for crimes against Jews since 1998 show conclusively that people will not be treated equally under a socialist regime.

Peter Harvey, accused of attempted murder

2009-07-12T05:56:00.003+01:00

The whole country has been shocked to read the story of the teacher who has been charged after striking a pupil. There is no way of knowing the rights and wrongs of the case right now, but I have posted the following on the TES message board.

An LEA has a legal duty of care towards its employees. I imagine every local authority nowadays has posters saying something like, "Aggression towards staff will not be tolerated... will be prosecuted" - teachers alone never receive that protection. We are expected to put up with hooligan behaviour that no other employee would be expected to deal with, and teachers alone are blamed as being 'bad' at their job when they are victims of aggression.

A teacher who has had a stroke has a disability which (I haven't checked, but...) I presume is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, which adds extra legal responsibilities to the employer. Any caring employer will seek to protect staff; will try even harder if they know a member of staff has suffered stress and will try yet harder if someone has suffered a stress-related stroke. It is all hearsay at the moment, but reports indicate that the teacher in question suffered appallingly vile abuse about his disability. If it were racial abuse, sexual abuse, etc, I cannot imagine that there would be the same lack of sympathy for this man.

I do hope this is fully investigated, and that the support package the LEA and HT put in place to support Mr Harvey on his return to work is carefully examined. How many teachers have been interviewed by their line manager on their return to work after sickness? I suspect it is a minority, but I bet it is official policy by most local authorities. Some people would see it as oppressive, treating the worker as a skiver: I see it as the employer and HT showing that they give a damn whether the employee comes to work and that they have even the slightest concern for the employee's welfare.

Right now, we have no way of knowing what all the rights and wrongs of the current case are. However, I hope that it will raise awareness of the failings of the educational system (and of society which gives many schools and many teachers an impossible job to do), and that it brings closer the day that a HT and an LEA's Director of Education end up behind bars for failing in their duty of care towards a teacher.

Which British school has produced two Nobel Prize winners?

2009-07-02T17:46:00.003+01:00

Kilmarnock Academy. Now a humble comprehensive in East Ayrshire; the former school of Alexander Fleming and John Boyd Orr. Needless to say, they were both educated at the school when it was selective. In Fleming's day, it was also fee-paying. My grandmother attended Kilmarnock Academy, when it was selective. That meant something. Not that her family was rich (they weren't), but that they believed in doing their best to achieve things. Nor does it mean that it turned out selfish snobs. Its most illustrious former pupils devoted their lives to improving the lot of their fellow man.

I know where I am going with this: it is probably obvious to you, dear reader. I shan't subject you to a rant about dumbing-down, effects of socialism, etc etc. I don't really need to, do I?

Johnnie Walker

2009-07-02T17:18:00.004+01:00

Have you ever tasted Johnnie Walker whisky? I haven't and certainly won't now.

What do I have in common with the eponymous founder? John Walker died in Kilmarnock just months before one of my gggg grandfathers, William Cairns. They are buried in the same place, St Andrew's churchyard: John, as a successful grocer, in a more elaborate grave than my gggg grandfather's unmarked one. Still six feet under, and still just as dead, though.

I like to think that John Walker will be spinning in that grave, though. Forwhy? The despicable decision by the current owners, Diageo, to close the plant in Kilmarnock and throw nearly 900 people out of work. The Kilmarnock plant is just hundreds of yards from where Walker had his grocer's shop nearly 200 years ago, and Johnnie Walker has been by far the largest employer in the area for years. Kilmarnock was a massive success story of the industrial revolution: engineering, textiles, carpet manufacturing as well as whisky blending, employing many thousands of people and exporting across the world. Now that will shortly all have gone.

Now, Kilmarnock is finished. Huge unemployment, dependent on Government handouts. Predictably, Broon doesn't get it. Apparently, the Government is going to throw money at the problem, as per usual. Now, economics is not my strong point, but I can just about work out that:

Government spending has to be paid for, somewhere down the line, by private profit.
If you try to replace private sector jobs with public sector ones, you have to (a) forego the profit and tax that the private companies used to produce as well as (b) out of declining revenue, you have to find more money to pay for your subsidies. This means that you end up taxing more or you borrow more, which increases your debt, leading to, er, taxing more at some point in the future.

Socialism did not make Kilmarnock successful. It was not socialists who built the historic Kilmarnock to Troon railway line; BMK carpets; Johnnie Walker whisky; Glenfield Kennedy and dozens of other textile and engineering companies. Capitalism made Kilmarnock successful and it is ever since the town began electing socialist MPs (Labour since 1929) that the town has declined.

Not in my name, Dave. Stop apologising

2009-07-02T16:28:00.004+01:00

Interesting report in the Daily Mail about David Cameron's latest 'apology'.

So far, Dave has apologised to the ANC because they used to be called 'terrorists'. Well, boo-bloody-hoo! How would Dave describe the sort of scum who would put hanging tyres around the necks of poor black people who dared to oppose them? All with the support of Saint Nelson's vile wife. 'Terrorist' is, if anything, too mild a word to describe such vermin.

He has apologised to Scotland for the Poll Tax.

Well, I am a Scotsman, and need no apology for that. Forcing bone idle people to get off their fat backsides and contribute to local services is not, in principle, a dreadful thing. It could have been made fairer, of course, by broader bands based on ability to pay. Take that to its conclusion and it is not a million miles from, er, the SNP's beloved local income tax. It's great listening to the Tartan Marxists using much the same arguments to support their flagship policy as the wicked Tories used 20 years ago in favour of the iniquitous Poll Tax. Of course, both are crap policies and the Council Tax is as good as we will get in the foreseeable future. But as a matter of principle, hmmm...

Now Dave apologises for Section 28. Well, as a teacher, let me set things straight:

1. I supported Section 28 (Section 2a according to the ludicrous Scottish Parliament)

2. Section 28 did not prevent teachers and schools treating homosexuality and homosexuals fairly

3. I have had homosexual students and colleagues, none of whom would feel that I was in any way 'homophobic'

4. Section 28 was introduced at a particular moment in history, to prevent Marxist extremists taking over loony left local authorities and then abusing their powers.
That was morally, ethically, legally and politically the right course of action

5. The notion that Section 28 was homophobic is a downright lie, peddled by loony left extremists for their own motives

6. Section 28 does not need apologised for

I think, actually, that politicians should be very, very cautious about apologising for any event which preceded their term of office. A couple of years ago, we had loonies falling over themselves to apologise for the slave trade. Do I feel guilty about the slave trade, or the fact that British people made fortunes on the back of other people's misery? Not in the least. Cerebrally challenged people, please note: I have not said that I support the slave trade. However, I have no control over events which happened centuries ago. Because, where do you stop? Do you condemn people living in Africa today, whose ancestors sold their fellow tribesmen into slavery? Undoubtedly they did, but it is not the fault of anyone alive today.

If you want to feel guilty about slavery, look at the labels of consumer good in your house. How many are made in China? Every time you buy something made in China, you are supporting a totalitarian state which puts its own citizens in concentration camps; censors their access to foreign media; brutally suppresses any opposition; condemns hundreds of millions to live in dire poverty to produce goods which they couldn't afford themselves so that fat, lazy westerners like me don't need to bother paying a fair price for the things we buy.

If you supported the ANC because you thought it was bad for black Africans to be oppressed, what are you doing for the Chinese who are treated even worse?

If you feel you need to feel guilty about slavery of 200 years ago, what the hell are you going to do about slavery in our own century, which you could do something about?

If you think that homosexuals are discriminated against here, what do you say to thousands of Chinese in concentration camps?

As Dave has discovered, it is easier to 'apologise' for something that never had anything to do with you than to address real issues and our real responsibilities. Feeble leadership, Dave. Zero per cent on this one.

I am a retarded homophobe

2009-05-14T22:00:00.003+01:00

At least, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering thinks I am, and is paid taxpayers' money to say so.

I am in an unusual position when talking about adoption. I have been there. When my mother remarried, she and her second husband adopted me. Legally, I have nothing to do with my natural father, and I did not meet him until I was 38 years old. As an adopted child, your rights have not advanced much from the days of the Victorian workhouse - you don't have any. Legally, you are expected to be grateful that your adoptive parents want to have you and there is no way of setting aside the adoption and having your own family legally recognised.

Actually, I think that stinks. I am certain that there are many, many cases of successful adoption, but I am equally certain that there are many, many cases of unsuccessful ones. Article 8 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is interesting: it asserts that a child has a right to an identity, and obliges the state to restore such rights if they are illegally deprived of them. That word 'illegally' is the problem. It permits the State to give social workers the right to think they know best. Better than the child, or their natural family.

I believe very strongly that a child should never be deprived of their identity. Whether your father is a saint or a serial killer; a philanthropist or a paedophile; a hobo or a homo: they are always going to be your parent and at least part of who you are depends on who they are. Fact.

I also believe very strongly that, where a child is looked after by people other than their birth parents, it is best that this happens with a married couple. All the evidence ever published has indicated that this is the best upbringing for a child. I have no doubt that there are homosexuals who would love and care for a child; just as there are bank robbers, rapists and paedophiles who would look after them. Where do you draw the line, though?

Clearly, there have to be safeguards. In 2006, two gay men from Yorkshire were imprisoned for abusing children who had been fostered by them. The indication was that social workers were slow to react, because they wanted to promote gay fostering and therefore ignored warnings. I do not have the slightest doubt that this is the greatest danger. Stupid, lazy, ignorant social workers would rather expose children to abuse than risk being accused of homophobia.

Children deserve better.

Vote - or abstain?

2009-05-12T07:27:00.003+01:00

For the first time in my life, I am considering not voting at the next General Election. If I do vote, I shall vote Conservative. However, it depends very much on the actions of David Cameron in cleaning up his own party.

We've known for a long time that the present sordid Government has done immense damage to this country and should demit office as soon as possible. They deserved it to happen as a result of lying about wars and destroying our economy: that it is now reduced to claims about tampons, toilet seats and jars of jellied eels perhaps sums up better the despicable, sewer level that politics has reached.

However, it is important that the Tories show they are better than this. Cameron has to sack a lot of people. It will take courage, but it will pay dividends electorally, as well as showing that he really does believe in improving politics. The appropriately-named Hogg, claiming for his housekeeper, even if he didn't actually claim for the moat cleaning. Moat cleaning? What planet do these people live on?

John Gummer claimed for a mole man; Alan Duncan claimed thousands for gardening; Michael Ancram claimed to have the boiler on his swimming pool serviced.

Most of the people being fingered by the Telegraph are has-beens or nonentities. Michael Gove, Chris Grayling and Alan Duncan would be sad losses from the Shadow Cabinet, but it has to happen. Maude, Gummer, Hogg and James Gray would be no loss at all to Parliament, in my humble opinion. I want to see Cameron withdrawing the party whip from them and preventing them standing at the next election.

Weasel words about the system being defective are not enough. If people do not instinctively know what is an appropriate use of taxpayers' money, then their lack of judgement should be sufficient to prevent them being selected as candidates. The 'defective system' requires that MPs seek 'best value' for the taxpayer and that claims should not be excessive or 'luxurious', whilst being necessarily incurred in the course of their duties. Even if those were the only rules, a very basic level of common sense would tell our MPs that hiring gardeners, housekeepers and mole men, let alone ordering horse manure, or fixing their swimming pool should be excluded.

Two MPs have, I think, been unfairly caught up in this. David Willetts hired an electrician for £100 - I don't have a problem with that. If 25 light bulbs had blown, there was obviously a problem with his electrics and he had to get it seen to. Oliver Letwin had a leaking pipe which needed fixed. The fact that it ran underneath his tennis courts is irrelevant - he got the pipe fixed.

I want to see Cameron ending Parliamentary careers before I cast my vote again.

Moooove along now

2009-04-18T11:42:00.002+01:00

Hampshire County Council has come up with an interestingidea to deter anti-social behaviour. A herd of cows are being allowed to graze on playing fields which had been plagued by hooligans and had been used as a campsite for travellers. They fertilise the fields and they have successfully cut down on anti-social activities. Excellent! Personally, I would like to see the police releasing packs of Rottweilers to savage young thugs, but if the cows act as a deterrent, more power to them!

Get a life (and a job), pet

2009-04-17T21:27:00.003+01:00

I have been reading about Nicola Fisher today, who is pursuing a complaint against a police officer for alleged violence.

Ms Fisher ludicrously compares the 'assault' to being attacked by the Taliban.

Watch the footage. She can be heard swearing at the officer before and after he first struck her. She disobeyed several instructions to 'keep back'. Was the officer's use of force unreasonable? Maybe. However, this young man was facing a baying mob of foul-mouthed, violent, unemployable scum. I frankly don't care that he lashed out. I don't care that he hit someone who was swearing, causing a disturbance and refusing to follow simple and clear instructions. Why should a single moment of police time be wasted pursuing complaints by any of these protestors?

Ms Fisher admits in today's Daily Express that she has convictions for shoplifting and drug possession, as well as having had a drugs problem. Rather than pursuing spurious complaints, shouldn't she be trying to do something worthwhile with her own life? Like getting a job? I do hope the story in the Evening Standard is not true, where it alleges that she has been seeking £50,000 for her story.

Who is really being intolerant here?

2009-04-16T10:43:00.004+01:00

A Conservative councillor in Derbyshire has been suspended because of alleged anti-gay comments.

Read carefully what he says, though. He is not objecting to gay people having equal rights; nor about the need to respect others. He is objecting to being pressured to embrace an agenda which goes against his religious beliefs. If the man's name had been Mohammed al Clarq rather than Patrick Clark, I wonder if his religious beliefs would have attracted more sympathy? If something goes against one's religious beliefs, sometimes one has to bite one's tongue and accept it. However, no one should be forced to pretend that they actively support anything which they consider to be immoral. That is a step too far.

Mr Clark's comments were not anti gay. They were pro individual freedom. The Conservative Party and the gay rights movement both used to believe in that, too.

Who needs rules?

2009-04-15T17:58:00.004+01:00

Four years ago, the then Scottish Conservatives leader David McLetchie resigned after a dispute about taxi fares. Over a period of 5 years, he had claimed an average of less than one taxi fare a week to the law firm where he both worked as a partner and carried on political business. Total of less than £900.

Compare this with the shenanigans at Westminster. Harry Cohen, a London MP, claiming £310,000 in housing allowances and Jacqui Smith, in charge of the English legal system, claiming expenses to stay with her sister, not to mention the porn film scandal. And the latest events, surrounding the alleged smear campaign.

The Government is promising 'new rules' and 'new guidelines' on MPs expenses and on the behaviour of advisers. In doing so, they completely miss the point. The point is, that moral people (in my humble opinion) do not need rules to tell them that if they live and work in the same city, they should pay their mortgage out of their salary and the most they should ever claim is the travel between two workplaces (which ironically was the undoing of David McLetchie).

Surely, moral people do not need to be told not to charge barbecues, porn films or bath plugs to their expense accounts. Moral people do not need to be told not to tell lies about others' alleged sexual preferences. If a moral person lives in London and works between two London bases, the most they would dream of claiming for is an Oyster card.

It is not the system, nor the rules nor the guidelines which need changed. It is the people. The sooner there is a General Election and we get shot of this shower, the better.

What kind of country is this?

2009-04-01T07:50:00.002+01:00

I could barely believe what I was reading on Conservative Home, so I followed the link to the original story in the Yorkshire Post.

A pregnant woman screaming for help at the window of a burning house: neighbours equipped with a ladder and hose wanted to rescue her. And jobsworth PC PCs refused to allow them to rescue her because of 'health and safety'. If it had involved plunging into a burning building, you could understand it. But look at the house in the picture. It is a simple two-up, two-down. Michelle Colley was at the upstairs window - would it really have been an unacceptable risk for someone to go up a ladder, smash the window and pull her out? I don't think so. In fact, in days gone by, the police officers would have had the balls to do it themselves. Interesting, isn't it, that they take responsibility for health and safety of people on the ground who are at no risk, therefore making their own job easier, rather than taking responsibility for the poor sod who is screaming for help?

If neighbours had wanted a limp-wristed social worker to mince along and refuse to help, no doubt they would have sent for one. Presumably, they phoned the emergency services in the mistaken belief that the officers would give a damn. If no one had bothered calling the police, Michelle Colley and the baby she was expecting would almost certainly be alive today.

I warned you about Obama, didn't I?

2009-04-01T07:35:00.002+01:00

Interesting that his approval ratings have plummeted since his inauguration and he is now below where Dubya was at the same stage of his first term. Let's hope and pray that the Republicans get their act together and boot his ass out of the White House in 2012. A socialist President who bankrupts America is bad for the whole world, after all.

Are you a hater? Go directly to jail. Do not collect your Giro.

2009-04-01T06:52:00.003+01:00

Report a burglary, theft or breach of the peace and the police couldn't give a damn. Tell them the burglar, thief or yob called you 'a bad word' and hordes of police, social workers, transphobia awareness counsellors and a bunch of other loonies will be round to offer their support.

When I was at primary school, the teacher would warn the naughty boy who called you a naughty word. When I was at secondary school, the teacher would still warn them, but would probably also tell you to grow up and stop cliping. [For English readers, 'to clipe' means 'to tell tales'.] Nowadays, grown adults are encouraged to run to the nearest police-person or Labour appointed outreach worker. That is if you can spot the difference these days between a policeman and a Labour-appointed social worker. On second thoughts, I am being silly here. The social worker is more likely to prosecute someone. Not a real criminal, obviously.

The ultimate (I think, although no doubt it will be surpassed before the end of the week) is this story, in which a Conservative councillor was questioned about whether he was 'homophobic' or had said something hateful. So bloody what if he was or had????

Anyway, someone had expressed confusion about whether to press button A or button B to say they were 'male' or 'female' in a survey. Presumably, this was a grown adult and they had completed surveys or questionnaires before, without running to the police about it. However, this was their chance to have 15 minutes of fame and to embarrass a Tory councillor. The councillor in question, Jonathan Yardley, answered light-heartedly that they 'could press both buttons'. Apparently, there were so few crimes in Wolverhampton that day, that this counted as a potential 'hate crime' and police wasted two hours of their time and your money questioning him about it.

What was Mr Yardley supposed to say? I love this quote, "Unbeknown to him there was a man dressed as a woman in the audience whose male partner had raised the question."
That makes it a nice, everyday situation, doesn't it? If it was 'a man dressed as a woman', then they were a man. Simple, isn't it?

Presumably, the man/woman/thing has been in a situation of having to use a public toilet. As we all have, yes? Presumably, in that situation, he/she/it has not run to the police to complain that the toilets are only marked 'male' and 'female'. They have used whichever toilet they have felt most comfortable with. And the world has not stopped rotating on its axis as a result of this dilemma.

In the two hours that the police questioned Mr Yardley, 685 people on an average day will have died worldwide due to a lack of clean water or adequate sanitation. Which issue is more worthy of our attention? I think it's a no-brainer: unfortunately, much of public policy these days is created by people with no brains.

I'm glad I am not a parent...

2009-03-31T08:06:00.002+01:00

... and I understand why these parents are angry.

Why should a local authority, which had millions of pounds invested in failed Icelandic banks, feel that it is an appropriate use of taxpayers' money to encourage underage sex is anyone's guess. There is no surprise that the local health board supports the scheme. The health service up and down the country long ago passed entirely into the hands of Labour-supporting and Labour-appointed penpushers, who neither know nor care about the needs or wishes of patients or medical staff. 'Cos the pen-pushers know best, innit?

Anyhoo, both North Ayrshire Council and NHS Ayrshire & Arran are busily promoting child abuse by handing out free condoms to underage children. As we all know, this sort of obscenity invariably leads to more underage sex, more sexually transmitted diseases, more unwanted pregnancies and more unwanted babies being murdered in abortion clinics. At more expense to the taxpayer, naturally.

Suspected chocolate dealer

2009-03-30T07:35:00.003+01:00

Readers furth of Scotland may be unaware of the actions of the so-called Scottish Parliament. However, one piece of legislation which is getting on my tits is the restriction of what can and cannot be sold in schools.

When I was at school, I used to buy crisps as a play-piece. Not any more. From August, it will be a criminal offence for any secondary school to permit the sale of certain foods. You may think this is a good idea - undoubtedly, hash cookies and magic mushrooms will be on the list. Actually, they are not. They may be banned by other legislation, but not by this one. Here is a copy of what I wrote on the TES Scotland Opinion forum:

The latest propaganda, which does get on my wick, so I'll get it off my chest here, is 'health promotion'. The Stalinist morons of the so-called Scottish Parliament, who legalised the sodomy of schoolgirls and legalised the promotion of sodomy in schools, have decided that the greatest threat facing children today is... FOOD. Innocent children, who would previously have enjoyed a packet of crisps with their lunch, are now being forced out of schools at lunchtimes to get a deep-fried Mars bar and a can of Red Bull from the chip shop because schools are being told that they must not sell anything so wicked as a packet of crisps.

Never mind that kids are coming in to secondary schools unable to read and write, being raised in homes where chips & curry sauce is the staple food, are introduced to illegal drugs and are expected to produce offspring by the age of 14 so that the 'family' can continue enjoying truckloads of welfare benefits until the latest meal ticket turns 18. No, the socialist loonies of the nanny state are more concerned that it should be a criminal offence for a teacher to give a child a chocolate.

Rant over.

Actions of a madman

2009-03-30T06:23:00.002+01:00

No one expects Jacqui Smith to resign over her husband's behaviour. To do so, would require morals and a sense of responsibility and Labour's politicians are bereft of those.

Anyway, there are bigger issues than Mr Timney w*nking away taxpayers' money. In particular, I refer to the truly astonishing story in the Daily Mail today that the "one-eyed Scottish idiot" plans to borrow £350bn over the next two years. To put this into context, this is more than all governments between 1691 and 1997. Defeating Napoleon, the Kaiser and Hitler; creating free education for all; conquering the greatest empire the world has known and setting up the NHS combined cost less than this clown plans to waste in the next two years. Sorry, I withdraw the word clown. Clowns make people laugh: Broon drives them to despair.

I concur with Man in a Shed when he calls for Broon and his cronies to be prosecuted after the next Election. He has wilfully destroyed not only the legacy that Ken Clarke left him, but the legacy of centuries of British history. To bankrupt the country in order for socialist politicians to keep their snouts in the trough to the very last moment is, in my opinion, an act of treason. Bliar should have hanged, and should still be hanged, as a traitor who betrayed this country by leading it into war in Iraq on the basis of lies and Broon should join him. At the very least, the pair should be imprisoned for a very, very long time, along with each and every one of their cronies who have colluded in this Government's lies and corruption over the last twelve years.

Setanta Sports

2009-03-29T07:52:00.003+01:00

I was interested in watching the Holland v Scotland game last night, but discovered that it was only broadcast on Setanta. I don't have a problem with them broadcasting SPL games - they pay handsomely for the right and people who want to watch a match can actually go to the game. However, for an international match played hundreds of miles away, it really is betraying the fans for the SFA not to sell the rights to a more accessible channel.

Maybe I am a stereotypical mean Scotsman, but having paid a licence fee and Sky subscription, I absolutely refuse to pay extra to watch Setanta.

Anyhoo, by the sounds of things, the Scotland team was rank rotten. Looking at the starting line up, it is no surprise. Only one of them plays for a Premiership team - Darren Fletcher of Man Utd. Although why 95 year old Graham Alexander of Burnley got a game ahead of £8 million Alan Hutton of Spurs is anyone's guess.

Ally MacLeod was not a huge success as Scotland manager. There is no arguing with that. However, for the only time ever, MacLeod got people believing that Scotland could actually win something. He made Scotland interesting. Under George Burley, it is just depressing.

I'm back to blog

2009-03-29T07:50:00.002+01:00

Well over two months since my last post, and that ain't good enough. Maybe not as bad as the Scotland team last night, but still not good enough.

My post on Conservative home. I quite like it.

2009-01-06T08:54:00.001Z

Israel is a legitimate country, created by God and legally instituted by the United Nations. The reason that a Palestinian state does not exist is that Arab states hate Israel more than they care about their fellow Arabs: that is why they have spent 60 years seeking to destroy Israel rather than accepting the many olive branches which Israel has offered and which would have led to the creation of a separate Palestinian state.

As Conservatives, our position has to be clear. Israel is a democratic nation, our ally facing poisonous and implacable enemies. Her interests are our interests, and we should be 100% supportive. The aims of Hamas and their pals in Iran are identical to those of Nazi Germany: it is despicable that anti-semitism in this country has increased so much in the last twelve years that most people are too ignorant, blinkered or downright stupid to recognise this simple fact.

Our country has spent years engaged in a war in Iraq based on lies, billions of pounds and thousands of lives wasted, which has brought about the execution of the only man who could keep the place in order and a massive increase in the influence of our real enemy, Iran. My personal view is that Blair and his cronies should be hanged as traitors, because no group of people has ever done as much as they have to endanger the security of our country.

Is it tragic that Palestinian children are being killed? Of course it is. However, one of the difficulties in fighting terrorists is that terrorists ARE civilians, and as we know from recent attacks on British soldiers they DO use children actively as well as providing cover for their murderous plans. If Hamas were men, they would fight like men. Instead, they cower behind women and children, and use them as human shields as they launch their murderous attacks on Israel.

Joke: How many Palestinians does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: None. They would rather sit in the dark and blame Israel.

Living Reality in Sderot

2009-01-03T08:25:00.001Z

Israelis in the town of Sderot have suffered murderous, unprovoked attacks for years.

If this were a town near me, I would not be condemning the Government for retaliating against the terrorists: I would question why they are being so restrained.

The pro-terrorism rallies start again

2009-01-03T03:41:00.003Z

Once again we have a combination of attention-seeking celebrities, neo Nazis, really stupid people and downright traitors out in the streets demanding that one of our allies should not protect herself from one of her, and our, enemies.

The ironic thing is, of course, that if these clowns were actually to get the sort of country they apparently want, no one would ever have the freedom to hold these sorts of protests again. Are there public protests in Riyadh or Tehran against their own governments or their allies? Why do you think there aren't?

Israel unilaterally gave land to the Palestinians. In return, Israelis have been subjected to bombardment from Hamas rockets. Why should Israel not respond with whatever force it takes to smash the terrorists? If members of Hamas were white, then they would be condemned as fascist, terrorist thugs. Firstly because Hamas are Asian, and secondly because they are Muslims, too many people disconnect their brains and fail to see the terrorist scum for what they are.

Apparently Alexei Sayle wants 'Jewish voices to be heard'. This would presumably be the same Alexei Sayle who describes himself as an atheist and a Marxist who 'rolls his eyes' when people 'go on about' religion.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T00:03:00.002Z

Happy New Year from Didactophobe to the entire Blogosphere, even the lefties. Special greetings to my new 'reciprocal links' buddy Liberty, Mine.

Thank God for these men of God

2008-12-28T18:25:00.002Z

It is not often that the title of this post can be applied to bishops of the Church of England. Usually, they hit the headlines for woolly minded theology which leads to them doubting some fundamental tenet of faith.

Not today, however. If the Bishop of Manchester had been asked for a definition of socialism, he could not have put it better than this:

They [Her Majesty's Government] believe that ‘money can answer all of the problems and has encouraged greed and a love of money that the Bible says is the root of all evil. It is morally corrupt because it encourages people to get into a lifestyle of believing they can always get what they want’.

Socialists love poor people. As Silvio Berlusconi apparently said, that is why socialist governments create more of them. Christians also love the poor. However, anyone who claims to be a 'Christian socialist' must be very careful indeed. Christ says that it is my duty to love my neighbour and my duty to help the poor. Socialists tell me that it is someone else's responsibility.

Socialists say that we should have faith in the state to know best, rather than faith in God. We should trust social workers to look after children, rather than parents. We should trust the state to spend our hard-earned taxes better than we could. All problems can be solved better by throwing taxpayers' money at them rather than through faith and prayer.

All of these ideas are deeply unChristian. Yes, we need social welfare; yes, we need social workers to look out for abused children; yes, governments need to raise taxes. However, as Margaret Thatcher said, the bottom line has to be the individual. It is the individual which is at the heart of the state and the individual who must face the King on Judgement Day.

The present Government has wasted billions on the New Deal, which has left more young people unemployed than when it began. It has wasted billions fighting a war in Iraq which was based on lies, has destabilised the region and has led to Christians in the Middle East being persecuted and an increase in the power of the Muslim extremists who used to be as much Saddam Hussein's enemies as they are ours. The Government has wasted billions on the National Health Service: at least, according to the exponential rise in people claiming disability benefits, which costs even more billions. Why does spending money on the NHS make people sicker? Because the scroungers know a gravy train when they see it. The Government has fiddled figures to claim it has raised children out of poverty, whilst doing damn all for those at the very bottom of the heap.

My thoughts and prayers are with all those who are unemployed or soon to become so. I look forward, however, to 100+ Labour MPs joining them in the dole queue whenever Bottler Brown plucks up the courage to call a General Election. I shall have somewhat less sympathy for them.

Nazi scum attack Israeli embassy

2008-12-28T18:17:00.002Z

That is the sorry news to report today.

The thoughts and prayers of every decent human being will be with the Israelis as they are once again called on to defend the Holy Land from attack. The Israeli government is not blameless; its armed forces are not blameless, but they are infinitely preferable to those of any of the countries which surround the Holy Land.

Anyone in London who wants to bleat about it should buy a one-way ticket to the fascist, terror state of their choice:- Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, take your pick. Good riddance to them.

Israel 208 Hamas 1

2008-12-27T19:20:00.002Z

Convincing victory today for the defenders of the Holy Land, dispatching more than 200 terrorists to hell.

Predictable bias from the Marxist media though, in referring to 'co-ordinated Israeli attacks on Hamas police compounds'. At least they haven't been accused of destroying a Red Cross depot or destroying a hospital for blind, one-legged orphans.

Would the Marxists prefer unco-ordinated, random attacks against civilians? Let's leave that to the Palestinians, shall we? That's more their strategy. 'Hamas police compounds' sounds very respectable. If it were "al-Qa'eda police compounds" or "IRA police compounds" or "UVF police compounds" or "ETA police compounds", even the lefties would find it harder to spin. Hamas is as much a bunch of murderous, drug-dealing, terrorist thugs as any of the above. If their police are involved in terrorism, then Israel is right to sort them out.

The reason that civilians/children going home from school/refugee camps etc are sometimes in the firing line is that Hamas do not have the balls to fight like men. They are scum who are happy to hide behind women and children and put their women and children into danger.

I love this line: "On Friday, about a dozen rockets and mortar bombs were fired from Gaza". Who fired the rockets and mortar bombs? Oh yes, the scum that Israel is now punishing. The Met might be happy to murder Brazilian electricians in London and then lie through their teeth, but even they would struggle to suppress the truth if they were behind rocket and mortar bomb attacks.

The disturbing story of Damian Green

2008-11-29T18:04:00.006Z

If an Opposition politician had been arrested and detained by police under 'anti terrorism' laws in Zimbabwe, the condemnation would rightly have been vocal and immediate.

It is terrifying to think that we in Britain now live in a state where that can happen. One could focus on the stinking hypocrisy of the one-eyed bogey miner repeatedly brandishing leaked stories in Opposition, then having his opponents thrown into jail as Prime Minister. However, the vile individual currently occupying 10 Downing Street has sunk so low that it would be irrelevant. The distinguished people who have previously occupied the job of Speaker of the House of Commons would have refused the police permission to search an MP's office for such a trivial matter. However, Gorbals Mick is distinguished by nothing but the partisanship of Glasgow Labour politics.

Civil servants have to follow the rules while discharging their duties. Leaking documents carries the risk of dismissal and, sometimes, prosecution. That cannot be avoided. However, in a free society, ordinary MPs and the media must not be restricted like this. This vile Government has bankrupted our beloved country and will do anything to cling to power.

Is Barack Obama Satan, prophesied in Luke 10:18?

2008-11-12T07:20:00.002Z

This certainly makes you wonder.

Stalinist plan to force good health - or else

2008-11-12T01:52:00.003Z

I am a child abuser. Yes, I have to admit it. Last weekend on a school outing (I am being very cagey here, you understand, no details), I shared out crisps and Kitkats to the children.

That is highly illegal, according to the Scottish Parliament's healthy eating diktat. Yes, the loony-left MSPs who repealed Clause 2a, making it legal for schools to promote buggery, have made it illegal to give a child a Kitkat.

On a serious note, many schools stand to lose thousands of pounds by having to get rid of tuck shops and vending machines. Money they badly need in order to fund extra curricular activities to promote, er, good health. What it means, is that kids will bring junk food in from outside school. And will miss out on health-promoting opportunities. Well done the Stalinists!

Gobble Gobble Gobble

2008-11-09T07:39:00.004Z

If you haven't seen Quantum of Solace yet, my advice is: Don't bother. It is a prize turkey.

After Greene (the villain) had been abandoned in the desert (apparently the end of the film), the action switched to Russia (which hadn't featured before in the film, as far as I could see) and I must admit that my only reaction was a despairing "Oh God, there's more". By that point, I just wanted to get home. I did not want to try and engage with yet another scene. I know that we were supposed to make links with Casino Royale, and see the action as continuous from there. However, to be frank, the villains were not exactly Blofeld or Jaws.

Watching the film last night at the Odeon in Kilmarnock, Mrs Didactophobe turned to me at one point and asked "What is the story?" before descending into giggles. The truth is, the film appeared to have no story.

A good Bond film has certain features: humour (sexist or not); Bond flirting with Moneypenny; Q and his gadgets; an evil villain and his plan to take over the world; a simple storyline and a pretty girl that Bond shags at the end of the film.

This one had none of these. Apart from the relentless plugs for Ford cars which made it seem like an overlong commercial at times, it had violence from beginning to end, very well acted and very dramatic. The trouble was, it left us wondering what the point of it all was. What it did give me a notion for, was to watch some of the old Bond movies again.

My last word on the Presidential election

2008-11-05T19:57:00.001Z

Have lost my link for this picture, but I love it.

The stupid have spoken

2008-11-05T04:41:00.003Z

Such is the way of democracy. Millions of brain donors have elected Osama as President Elect of the United States. A sad day for the United States and for the world.

We can only hope and pray that the harm which Osama wreaks over the next four years is not completely cataclysmic, and look forward to PALIN IN 2012.

Off to bed - calling it for B. Hussein Osama

2008-11-05T00:23:00.003Z

Unfortunately. Although the exit polls right now look as though it will not be a complete wipe-out for McCain, it still does not look like it will be sufficient.

One of my favourite political quotes is, "If you have not been a socialist by the age of 20, you don't have a heart; If you are still one by the age of 30, you don't have a brain". I think it makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, however, elections are decided by an awful lot of brainless people.

Voters in the United States may be making a howling mistake. I pray that the entire world will not come to regret it.

Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen.

Well done, Camden Conservatives!

2008-11-03T06:52:00.002Z

Cranmer reports on a motion by Camden Conservatives to uphold the religious traditions of the country. Among other things, the motion says:

This Council also believes that the renaming of Christmas as a “Winter Festival” or any other non-religious nomenclature is part of the systematic erosion of Christianity in modern life, which itself is the cause of the loss of our sense of national identity and cohesion.

Well said, indeed. When I was young (not really so long ago), renaming Christmas as Winterval or assuming that non-Christians would be offended by it would have been considered to be absolutely barking mad. As indeed it is. However, we live in a country which has largely gone mad, so it is nice to see any organisation which has retained some marbles.

Unlike the nutjobs of the National Secular Society, which pompously describes itself as the leading British pressure group speaking out for the rights of atheists, agnostics and all other non-believers.

Since the 'leading British pressure group' has roughly the same number of members (and possibly fewer) as the Zoroastrian faith in this country, there appears to be no great demand for their services.

As always, the notion of 'multifaith' celebrations is a euphemism for 'no faith at all' - the agenda of the atheists is to undermine all faith, using Christianity as a convenient target to simultaneously undermine believers of all other faiths.

I'll be praying for McCain and Palin to win...

2008-11-02T14:44:00.003Z

As I have posted before, I am underwhelmed by the Republican nominee to be President of the United States. To compare either ticket to Ronald Reagan/George Bush snr or Bill Clinton/Al Gore demonstrates the paucity of talented people putting themselves forward for high office these days.

However, on one side we have a ticket which is committed to tax cuts and to keeping the free world safe. On the other side, we have a ticket which is committed to tax rises, because that is what socialists do. This will wreck any chance of the US economy recovering, which will have a major knock-on effect for the UK. Fact.

The next point is even more dangerous. Obama is naive, as you would expect of a jumped-up social worker. He proposes to negotiate directly with the hideously evil regime of Iran, without preconditions. That is a recipe for disaster.

Obama claims not to be a Muslim, yet many Muslims will consider him to be an apostate: as such, in an Islamic country he could be sentenced to death. He was enrolled as a Muslim at school in Indonesia and, as such, will be regarded by millions of Muslims worldwide as a Muslim. That will have serious implications for the Middle East (I shall not bother attaching the words 'peace process', for there is none), in which more than three quarters of people in Israel casting absentee ballots have backed McCain. The overwhelming factor is that McCain is perceived as being better placed to handle the Iranian problem.

Sarah Palin is a Christian woman, who is likely to become the first female President of the world's largest Christian country. I pray for her success, because in these trying times Americans and the world need God's blessing and to keep faith in our Saviour.

Here I stand, I can do no other

2008-11-02T13:04:00.003Z

No, I am not comparing myself to Martin Luther. Despite my dramatics, I was never in danger of being burned alive as a heretic. However, it is an introduction to what I said to students on Friday.

As you probably know, it was Wear it Pink day, to raise money for the Breast Cancer Campaign. Lots of my students (who were looking very pink) asked me why I was not wearing pink.

My answer was:

I will tell you why I am not wearing pink today. By the end of it, some of you will hate me. It would be less controversial if I informed you that I was a paedophile or a bank robber.

I do not approve of cancer research, for the following reasons:

1. Cancer research charities support and fund research on animals. I consider this immoral and unjustified.

2. They use emotional blackmail to justify this. They will ask, "Would you rather an animal died, or Mrs Didactophobe?" The answer, of course, is that I would prefer an animal to die. However, I would also prefer someone else's wife to die than Mrs Didactophobe. This is not a reason to carry out vivisection on other people's wives; nor is it a reason to kill animals. So I say, "Keep the emotional blackmail. It is not logical. I don't buy it."

3. When we get to the level of emotional blackmail, we are turning cancer research into a superstition: putting a pound in a bucket so that your mum won't get cancer is no different to medieval peasants keeping in with the local witch to avoid their crops being blighted.

4. Cancer research charities are huge, moneyspinning operations. Annually, they rake in hundreds of millions of pounds. We still don't have a cure.

5. Cancer is an illness of wealthy societies. It tends to kill you once you have had quite a decent innings, and have survived a myriad of things which kill people in poorer countries. When there is an exception, it is usually because people have made themselves unhealthy, eg through smoking, drinking or drug taking.

6. The single biggest killer of people from ill health worldwide is a lack of clean water. It is not as sexy as finding a cure for cancer, but I have a monthly standing order for Water Aid, which seeks to help people in poor countries to overcome this problem. Put the hundreds of millions (and indeed billions worldwide) which are spent on cancer research into providing clean water, and we can save millions of lives. Guaranteed. Not just if the witch doesn't hex us.

There. Hate me or not? I am not trying to persuade anyone, but sometimes people need to hear the other side of a story, not just emotional hysteria.

I happen to think there are better things you can do with your pound.

The Famine Song

2008-11-02T08:03:00.007Z

I have been a football fan for more than a quarter of a century. A long time. In that time, I have heard fans abuse players for (allegedly or in fact) being: cheats, illegitimate, ugly, too fat, too thin, too tall, too short, too rich, bald, hairy, homosexual, paedophiles, mentally disabled, physically disabled, rapists, thieves, terrorists, gangsters, junkies, traitors, or living up to racial stereotypes.

All have taken place without the offenders being arrested and without football or other authorities saying or doing anything about it. Fact. On other occasions, there have been arrests, condemnation etc for some of the above. Fact.

My favourite goal celebration of all time was that of Robbie Fowler pretending to snort the byline after scoring against Everton in 1999. I thought it was hilarious. A young man who had been subjected to the filthiest abuse and insults by foul-mouthed morons without anything being done to protect him chose to celebrate a goal by making a joke of what the morons were accusing him of. Suddenly he was treated as though he had been the perpetrator of the abuse. If he had been discovered to be planning a trip to Disneyland with Gary Glitter, Fowler would not have been treated with any less of a witch hunt. He was hit with a suspension and fine, whilst the hooligans escaped scot-free.

So, let us get to the latest controversy sweeping Scottish football. As always, it involves the Old Firm. Back in May, I made clear my feelings about Rangers. I would not change a single word of what I wrote. One thing I will say in defence of Rangers fans, however, is that they tend to be reasonable in accepting that you support another team (especially if it is not Celtic). On the other hand, Celtic fans who hear you criticise them are liable to immediately allocate you a place in their pantheon of demons, somewhere between Satan and the Rev Ian Paisley.

In recent times, Rangers fans have been developing songs which are more foul, depraved, racist and, to be downright honest and reasonable, which is not recommended in the west of Scotland, often more humorous than ever before.

"Nakamura ate my dog" alleges that Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura shares a taste that 8% or so of his compatriots do indeed admit to. Accusing him of actually abducting poor old Fido is, of course, quite unfair and untrue.

"Big Jock knew" alleges that former Rangers fan and Celtic manager Jock Stein knew and covered up the sexual assaults on Celtic youth players in the 1960s and 70s by James Torbett, the then coach of Celtic Boys' Club. Stein, in fact, sacked Torbett when he discovered the offences although he did nothing to have him prosecuted. In those days, to be fair, child abuse received much less attention than now. Sacking someone and considering the matter to be concluded is probably as much as most employers would have done.

However, The Famine Song really takes the biscuit for controversy. The lyrics urge descendants of the Potato Famine to 'go home'. After pressure from the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh, Rangers fans who sing the offending ditty are liable to be arrested.

My humble opinion is, however, that it is the least offensive of the above songs despite having received the greatest attention, for reasons which I shall explain. As they say on Dragon's Den, let me tell you where I'm at:

Some of my ancestors arrived in Ayrshire around the time of the potato famines. Some of them were from Ireland; others were from the Highlands (whose famine doesn't get the same attention for some reason). However, that was a long time and several generations ago. Where I grew up in the west of Scotland, for better or worse, is where I am from.

I think the Famine Song is directed against people who refuse to put the past behind them and who pretend to be something they aren't, so I am personally not offended by it. I think it is bizarre for Scottish-born Celtic fans to wave the flag of the Irish Republic (which didn't exist at the time) and spout their support for the IRA. I am no racist, but I don't have a problem with suggesting to people who prefer a foreign country over their own that they should go and live in the place they have such fondness for. If they love this country and want to be here, then that is fine.

One of my earliest memories of football is of being bewildered as a young boy when I heard Celtic fans singing pro-IRA songs and waving Irish flags. Most of us who have Irish ancestors are fully integrated into Scottish and British society: for those who refuse to let go, I am not convinced that they should not be invited to 'go' to where they consider to be 'home'.

A current controversy is that James McCarthy of Hamilton and Aiden McGeady of Celtic allegedly deserve the disapprobation of Scottish fans for treacherously choosing to represent the Republic of Ireland rather than Scotland, where they were born. I happen to think that young players like McCarthy and McGeady should want to play for their own country, which in their case is Scotland. I never had a problem with guys like Owen Coyle and Tommy Coyne choosing to play for Ireland later in their careers when it was obvious that Scotland weren't going to pick them, but young lads should be knuckling down and showing that they are good enough to play for their own country. Scottish fans rightly feel betrayed by them.

What is an emergency condom?

2008-10-21T06:29:00.002+01:00

Seriously. What is an emergency condom? And why should Scouts visit sexual health clinics rather than building campfires and woggling their woggles?

According to the Daily Mail, however, Scouting ain't what it used to be. I blame the lunacy which permitted girls to join the Boy Scouts (as they used to be known) on the grounds that it would be discriminatory not to. Now, instead of the wholesome activities Scouting used to be about, some boys and girls are apparently seeing it as an opportunity to do some shagging. We live in a country which has gone mad. Seriously mad.

McCain is the problem

2008-10-07T06:42:00.004+01:00

When Mrs Didactophobe sees John McCain on TV, she asks 'Is he really the best the Republicans have got?' And it is understandable. More and more, he looks like a feeble old man completely out of his depth in the Presidential race. Like Bob Dole, he didn't have the ability to get on the ticket when he was younger, but is bizarrely entrusted with it whilst in his dotage. At least in the case of Dole, he ran for President while Clinton was unbeatable so there was no harm done. McCain, however, has ruined the Republicans' chances against the eminently beatable Osama bin Biden.

Contrast that with Mike Huckabee, who now has his own show on Fox News. Relatively young at 52, an excellent communicator, with executive experience as Governor of Arkansas (sounds like a certain other President, actually), if he had hooked up with Sexy Sarah as the Republican ticket, the Lefties would now be quaking in their sandals.

Now New York Times columnist Frank Rich has proposed a tactical withdrawal for McCain. Flip the ticket and allow Sarah Palin to take on Osama. I suspect it is probably too late to matter, but maybe that is what they should have done immediately post-Convention. Seeing Sarah standing beside McCain immediately made him look desperately old and feeble.

OK, so Palin has made some mistakes. However, we should not make the mistake of presuming that elections are decided by people who know what they are doing. Democracy dictates that any election rests on the votes of millions of really stupid and frighteningly uninformed people. No candidates have ever been more experienced or better informed than George Bush snr in 1992 or Al Gore in 2000. They lost.

Son, you are no Michael Heseltine

2008-09-25T01:52:00.002+01:00

I fell about laughing when I read that Miliband had adjusted his speech to the Liebour Conference because he did not want to be compared to Michael Heseltine.

Heseltine, one recalls, was a phenomenally charismatic politician who, love him or hate him, was capable of some tremendous speeches which captivated and inspired his audience at conferences. Miliband... er, just isn't.

Sarah Palin: Iran Wants A Second Holocaust

2008-09-19T22:27:00.001+01:00

The Church of England makes itself look ridiculous again

2008-09-15T21:07:00.002+01:00

One of my favourite blogs, Archbishop Cranmer, leads today on this peculiar apology addressed to a dead man by a Church of England clergyman.

Why Charles Darwin needs an apology about the reaction of the Church of England in the 1860s is anyone's guess. It is the sort of article which makes the CofE sound ludicrous and irrelevant.

Here is my take on the creation/evolution issue, as posted on Cranmer's blog:

Darwin himself was a theist and was troubled by the implications which his work held for traditional beliefs. The modern Church of England goes much farther than Darwin ever did, in ditching faith in God and embracing faith in science.

To my mind, theistic evolution provides the best explanation for our existence on this planet. God created this universe, knowing that in about 9 billion years Planet Earth would form and about 6 billion years after that human life would have evolved and Didactophobe would be born. To my mind, that illustrates the power of God far more powerfully than the idea of God magically creating everything in six days of 24 hours.

However it all happened, however, the critical fact is that nothing could exist without God. I would certainly not mock someone who took Genesis literally: I do despair over a so-called Christian church and so-called Christian clergy who are determined to undermine and ridicule everything which is dear to the Christian faith.

The speed camera called me a poof

2008-09-15T20:49:00.003+01:00

You would not think that the above title would be a valid defence in a court of law. However, Perth & Kinross Council apparently believes it might be. There can be no other explanation for the report in today's Scottish Daily Mail (p.17) that it squandered our hard-earned taxes investigating whether a new 40mph speed limit would discriminate against gay people, as well as religious minorities and others.

I had never heard of Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs) until today. Apprently, however, local authorities are commissioning hundreds of these things at huge expense to the taxpayer. Each EQIA investigates whether council policies discriminate against every minority you can think of (except perhaps white, male, heterosexual, Christian, Tory-voting taxpayers who are fair game) and lots that you simply couldn't make up.

In North Ayrshire, for example, an EQIA blamed truancy rates among gipsy children on inadequate sex education. The mind boggles!

There is too much focus on 'equality' nowadays. Sensible legislation to protect people has been overtaken by an army of idiot busybodies employed to waste everyone's time and money. Whether the conclusions are to do with lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders or fornicating gipsy children, they always seem to have something to do with sex. Perhaps the equality officials are not daft, after all. Maybe they are just monstrous perverts who know an easy way to indulge their voyeurism.

Internet censorship - acceptable or no?

2008-09-13T17:01:00.003+01:00

The computer game Muslim Massacre appears to have been removed by its website host following worldwide condemnation.

Right or wrong? I don't accept for a second the notion that it glorifies the killing of Muslims - it is only a game, after all. There are plenty of examples around of real-life Muslims who glorify violence against non-Muslims without loony lefties condemning them.

Unquestionably, it is tasteless. Should it be banned, though? On balance, I think it should. A computer game which glamourises killing the members of any group in society is wrong.

Well said, Mr Lavrov

2008-09-13T11:42:00.002+01:00

It is widely reported today, although apparently denied by the man himself, that the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov swore repeatedly at David Miliband, who apparently is our foreign secretary.

I suppose it is understandable that a man who has spent decades in the diplomatic service does not want to be lectured at by someone who looks like a particularly nauseating 14 year old. Maybe not so accurate, though, to suggest that Miliband knows nothing about Russia's history. His father, after all, was a Marxist academic who appears to have been unimpressed by the country which he had slimed into and which saved his life from the Nazis. According to this article, Miliband's grandfather was a traitor who fought for the Soviets against Poland. If only he had emigrated to his beloved Russia, we wouldn't have his descendants inflicted on us now!

Biden Gaffe: Asks a Gentleman in a Wheelchair to Stand Up

2008-09-12T03:31:00.001+01:00

The VPILF?

2008-09-06T10:31:00.001+01:00

I don't usually like this sort of video, but I chuckled at this one. Still don't know what VPILF stands for, though.

If they are truly religious, why are they in jail?

2008-09-06T10:18:00.004+01:00

That is my reaction to this story in The Sun.

£25,000 of taxpayers' money being squandered on keeping Muslim criminals' dinner warm during Ramadan: inmates include convicted terrorists and the vile Abu Hamza.

I am a simple soul, but to my mind there are two possibilities:

1. Islam is a religion of peace, therefore these criminals are not true Muslims and there is no need to protect their rights to worship.

2. Islam is not a religion of peace, these criminals are true Muslims and there is a need to actively restrict Muslims' right to worship.

For the life of me, I really cannot see an alternative to the above. Either way, this is a monstrous kick in the teeth to elderly people who could use some of the money to heat their homes and to the victims and their families of these criminals.

Sarah Palin's VP Nomination Speech

2008-09-04T06:03:00.001+01:00

A loving mother and wife; a beautiful and loyal family; a husband who has not been unfaithful to her; appealing to normal, decent people who love their country - no wonder the Democrats hate and fear Sarah Palin.

Not in my name, folks

2008-09-02T22:02:00.005+01:00

As a Christian, I absolutely dissociate myself from the spineless apology by so-called Christians to Muslims in Oxford.

Dr Taj Hargey sounds like a complete balloon, complaining about 'self-appointed' Christians praying for Muslims. They are not self-appointed: praying for one's enemies and witnessing to the Gospel are duties imposed on every Christian by Christ himself.

Hargey whinges about Christians daring to issue a 'call to prayer'; about calling Islam an 'ideology' and about witnessing to the work of God in bringing people to faith in Jesus. According to John 14:6, Jesus made clear that salvation is available only through him. Witnessing to this truth is what Christians do.

As I posted in December last year, there is no middle way between Christian and Muslim belief. As I wrote then, The Muslim belief in the divine revelation to Muhammad, like the Christian belief in Jesus as the son of God, leaves no middle way. It is either true or it isn't. Either the man in question was whom he claimed to be, or not. If he was not, then he was a fraud and you are logically obliged to recognise this.

It is often stated that Jesus is a Muslim prophet. In my humble opinion, this is not true. The story of the Muslim prophet Isa shares certain similarities with that of Jesus, but differs in the most crucial aspects: Muslims deny the crucifixion, resurrection and divinity of Christ. Their Isa is a fictitious false prophet, and not the Jesus of the Gospels.

Individuals should love and not hate or fear each other, of course. But there can be no reconciliation of the theology. You can deny Jesus, or Muhammad, or both. To regard each of them as equally valid is to fail to understand either.

The politics of the sewer

2008-09-02T21:47:00.002+01:00

Having propounded lies about Sarah Palin's fifth child really being that of her daughter, lefties are rejoicing at the announcement that Palin's eldest daughter is actually pregnant. How absolutely despicable that these people are prepared to humiliate a young girl, having failed to trap her mother with their lies.

As Didactophobe has posted before, normal women are likely to warm to Sarah Palin: stories which attack her as a mother will win her far more votes of sympathy than the votes they will cost her. It is incredible how much she has achieved whilst simultaneously being a mother of five, including a disabled infant. Man-hating, bra-burning, feminist lesbians will always vote Democrat: normal American women will vote GOP.

Calling all those lefties who hate anyone who dares to be white, Protestant, conservative and Christian...

2008-09-02T06:57:00.003+01:00

THIS is what real discrimination and a real hate crime look like.

Three teenage girls murdered by being buried alive for daring to wish to choose whom they should marry, along with two of their relatives who dared to try and save them. All done with the consent of Pakistani politicians and currently no one is facing prosecution.

I have little time for the BNP, but compare the hysteria with which the lefties react to the BNP with their silence over this event. As far as I know, the BNP does not support anything more extreme than certain preachers at the Regent's Park Mosque have said themselves, ie that Muslims should live in a Muslim country. I have certainly never heard Nick Griffin call for anyone to be buried alive.

Time to prosecute incitement to murder

2008-09-01T05:18:00.002+01:00

Arguably the most important mosque in the country, Regent's Park in London, has been exposed by the Sunday Telegraph as harbouring preachers who are actively promoting murder to children.

Homosexuals should be murdered, according to these nutters, along with adulterers and Muslims who convert to other faiths. Other twisted preaching includes the instruction for Muslims to hate people of other faiths; regard Christian worship as vile; for Muslim women not to travel without a Muslim guardian, and to cover themselves up in public; Muslims should not take British citizenship and Jews are described as evil.

One absolute gem is from a preacher called Um Saleem, who claimed that Muslims should migrate to a Muslim country! So why are you still here, pet?

I am not too bothered about the statistic which some bloggers on CentreRight are getting into a tizzy about, that 71% of young Muslim men believe homosexuality should be illegal. Whether you agree with it or not, there is nothing in that statistic to suggest that the men concerned do not respect the legal system of this country or are not simply exercising their democratic right to express an opinion.

What is being preached at the Regent's Park mosque appears to go well beyond acceptable free speech. It is religious and racial hatred, incitement to hatred and incitement to murder. The fact that 'fundamentalist DVDs' were still on sale at its bookshop after its director general had planned to have them removed suggests that its leadership, bankrolled by the Saudis, has no intention of challenging this evil.

It is crucial for the safety of this country that these preachers of hate are prosecuted: if they do not have British citizenship, then repatriate them to their own countries before they can spread their cancer any further.

OK, it didn't last

2008-08-31T21:09:00.003+01:00

Killie drop down to second following the Old Filth derby. We're still in one of the Champions League slots and roughly ten places higher than the Moaning Minnies would have had us.

Sexy Sarah or Hatchet Hillary?

2008-08-31T17:17:00.002+01:00

Back in January, I got a prediction spectacularly wrong. I reckoned that Hillary would become President, although I preferred Obama.

Sarah Palin has changed all that. If I were American, I would be backing the GOP in November. Sarah makes John McCain look even more like a feeble old man, but she exposes very clearly Obama as an empty windbag, long on rhetoric and short on achievement. Ironic, indeed, that Obama's own running mate infamously destroyed his own chances in a previous election by copying a speech from the windbag-to-beat-all-windbags, Neil Kinnock.

Sarah Palin is being criticised for having been mayor of a town of 9000 people, a mere 9000 more than Obama and Biden combined have ever held executive responsibility for. She has gone from there to being a state governor with astronomical approval ratings. No governor has foreign policy experience - their job is to run their state. What they need when they ascend to the highest offices is to manage information from the most knowledgeable and talented advisers, make the right decisions and get the job done. As a state governor, Palin has precisely that experience. Obama and Biden have none. Alaska may be a small state in population, but is a massive state in terms of land area and resources and at a time of a global energy crisis the US may well be grateful for a Vice President who has hands on experience of the issues involved.

Sarah Palin is now likely to become America's first female President. McCain will almost certainly not be running for a second term. Palin will not appeal to the gruesome, pro-abortionist, anti-Christian, bra burning, man hating loonies who lined up behind Hillary, but will come across as a normal woman who appeals to other normal women. This is what feminism should be about - not a wealthy, well-connected woman using her position to take over her husband's old job, but an ordinary woman with drive and talent who achieves as a result of her own efforts.

Tell all the Old Firm you know, we're top of the league and you're no'!

2008-08-31T09:59:00.003+01:00

I don't often post about football on this Blog, partly because I largely lost interest in it a few years ago. Up until 2004, I always had a season ticket for Rugby Park, but in that final season I found that I really wasn't enjoying it. The golden era of Bobby Williamson's team which won the Scottish Cup and was then supplemented by guys like Ian Durrant, Ally McCoist, Andy McLaren, Christophe Cocard and Freddie Dindeleux had come to an end. In its place was niggardly (although largely essential) cost-cutting and Jim Jefferies' miserable features bemoaning everything that was wrong.

For the first time in years, Killie has an exciting team. Not the first time we have had a decent team: JJ is not a bad manager, after all. But the first time that we have a team that really gets people talking. During the summer, some Moaning Minnies (including me)questioned whether the club should be spending good money on the pre-season tour of Italy. We came back with Manuel Pascali, signed from Parma for what seems like the bargain fee of the decade. He is from the very best tradition of Italian hard men, who make Vinny Jones or Roy Keane look like pussies, whilst having the most immaculate technical ability when they are on the ball. With Pascali patrolling the midfield, we have stopped conceding goals (five clean sheets in a row) and Mehdi Taouil is finding the space and freedom to strut his stuff.

Simon Ford, who was as useful as a chocolate teapot last season, has rediscovered his confidence and form ever since he won his first caps for Jamaica in the summer. It seems that that was all he needed to give himself a shake. The list goes on and on because, for the first time in years, it is all a brilliant team effort.

Forza Killie!

So much for freedom of speech

2008-08-20T18:50:00.002+01:00

Random House has cowardly 'postponed' the release of a novel concerning Muhammad's relationship with his child bride Aisha. In a country whose Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, that is truly frightening.

The novel is not strictly accurate, of course. The author, Sherry Jones, has used poetic licence (as she is entitled to), and had Muhammad consummating the marriage when Aisha was 14. According to the Hadith of Bukhari (generally considered to be second only to the Qur'an as an Islamic scripture), Aisha was in fact six years old when Muhammad married her and nine years old when she was raped (I'm afraid there is no other word for it) by him.

Western civilisation is under attack like never before. Not from Muslims or any external enemy, but from the enemy within: the liberal lefties who hate Christianity and everything else that has made our civilisation great. Having the right to offend each other is one of the basic human rights that distinguishes our traditions from those of totalitarian tyrannies and, once compromised, we have taken a fatal step towards tyranny.

Public sector strike in Scotland

2008-08-20T08:17:00.002+01:00

According to the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation, 200,000 members of the GMB, Unite and Unison unions are expected to strike today, causing disruption to people across Scotland.

David Prentis, General Secretary of Unison, is quoted as saying that members feel they have no choice, and indeed they don't. But perhaps he does.

The Liebour Party right now is massively dependent on unions for support, more than it has been for years and years. Except, where the donations used to come from a wide range of unions, it is now only a small number of super-unions keeping the show on the road. Including, er, Unison.

On 31 March this year, when Unison donated £427,635 of its members' money to Liebour, did Mr Prentis not consider whether this was an appropriate use of cash? Rather than play games with members' jobs, why did Unison not simply tell Gordon Brown that the life support machine was about to be disconnected? The one-eyed bogey miner would have had no option but to crawl to the unions for support.

Ditto, Unite's donation of £875,844 on 28 March, and the GMB's donation of £356,997 on 19 March.

Yes, I voted for myself

2008-08-13T21:26:00.003+01:00

Time is running out to submit votes for the Top Ten Political Blogs of 2008-09.

Blogs have to be part of the Blog Directory at Total Politics.

You need to send your votes to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com and the closing date is this Friday. To help you out, my top ten are:

1. Didactophobia
2. Frank Chalk
3. Man in a Shed
4. Conservative Home
5. Iain Dale's Diary
6. Archbishop Cranmer
7. Guido Fawkes
8. Dizzy Thinks
9. Nadine Dorries
10. Scottish Tory Boy

There we are. At least two who are Scottish (although the Total Politics index thinks I am English); two teachers, one woman, one gay: don't say I am not inclusive. No socialists, though. That would be a step too far.

The Glorious Twelfth

2008-08-12T15:57:00.002+01:00

Didactofeline has noticed that it is the start of the Mouse Season. She actually cheated and killed her first mouse of the year a couple of days ago. It was at precisely this time last year that she went on a killing spree, so it must be something to do with the hunting season.

Jimmy's makes an horrendous blunder

2008-08-12T08:06:00.003+01:00

Didactodaddy suffered a stroke recently. This is his third stroke: luckily, it took place in the city centre of Leeds and he was rushed very quickly to Leeds General Infirmary, which probably saved his life.

However, since this stroke, his health has definitely deteriorated. His vascular dementia has become worse and on occasion he has disappeared and been rescued by police. Which brings us to this story.

He was recently admitted to St James's Hospital in Leeds, having been picked up by police (literally) after suffering a fall. He was given a CAT scan and was to be kept in for observation. Didactophobe was not able to get there due to work commitments, but Mrs Didactophobe went along to the hospital just in time to see him discharging himself. Yes, a man with dementia; in hospital with a head injury; who has not yet received the results of his CAT scan, was being allowed to discharge himself.

Mrs Didactophobe (who is a qualified nurse) pointed out to the member of staff discharging him that he had not even been asked to sign any forms. This led to a scene worthy of Carry on Nurse, in which staff hunted around for the correct forms, but could not find any.

Didactodaddy then set off from the hospital, with Mrs Didactophobe trailing behind him. He can be belligerent (he has dementia, after all) and Mrs Didactophobe was unable to stop him. He refused to get into her car and wandered off. Many areas around Jimmy's are not exactly the most salubrious parts of Leeds, and she became terrified for her safety. She eventually had to leave him when he wandered into a working men's club and borrowed money for drink. She had to return to her hotel for her own safety.

Didactodaddy did not return home the following morning. By that time Didactophobe was in Leeds, having driven through the night. He reported his father missing to the police and drove round Leeds searching for him. Didactophobe phoned Jimmy's to enquire as to why they had allowed a man with dementia to discharge himself. To say the answers were unsatisfactory would be an understatement.

Thankfully, Didactodaddy has now turned up. It looks as though he spent the night in the graveyard opposite St James's (an extremely scary place in broad daylight, let alone at night) and, fortuitously, has not appeared to come to any harm. I am not in favour of the compensation culture, but if anything had happened to him, the shit would have hit the fan big-time in that hospital.

Scargill is (partly) right for once

2008-08-12T07:49:00.003+01:00

Arthur Scargill (I didn't know he was still alive - did you?) is getting some coverage, with his support for clean-coal technology. Although there are obviously some technical problems with it, if these can be ironed out then using Britain's vast coal reserves would make a great deal of sense. The coal industry was destroyed to the chagrin of the political Left by the boneheaded attitudes of union leaders who used their power to try and bully governments into submission. It worked with Ted Heath: we all know what happened with Maggie. We have since gone through 20 years or so in which the Left have, rightly, said very little about the coal industry, because they recognised the environmental harm from burning fossil fuels. Now things have perhaps gone full circle and coal, provided that the technology works, can be presented as a 'green' fuel and, moreover, a fuel which Britain has abundant supplies of.

Anything that reduces our dependence on unstable regimes makes our country's energy supply more secure: anything that reduces our dependence on carbon-rich fuel imported across thousands of miles is good news for the environment.

I think he is wrong to oppose nuclear power, however. It avoids the carbon emissions of other types of power supply, and it can be delivered relatively quickly. It is clear that we have to act fast, otherwise within a few years Britain is going to have a major energy crisis. It is not an either/or situation: we need clean coal and nuclear and renewables. We must massively reduce, and eliminate where possible, our dependence on brutal and unstable regimes in Asia and the Middle East. The less we rely on their fuel, the less influence that bad guys such as Putin and Ahmadinejad will have, which is a good thing.

This is one reason why a windfall tax on energy companies would be unbelievably stupid. The fact is, we rely on these companies to invest in the future energy supplies of this country. If they are not allowed to make profits, they will have neither money nor any incentive to make such investment.

Inflatable church

2008-08-12T07:44:00.002+01:00

I love the idea of the blow-up church which has been introduced in Italy. Italian churches struggle to attract worshippers at the height of summer while people flock to the beaches, so the inflatable church will follow them to the beach. I'm all for making worship more accessible to people, so completely support this idea.

For some reason, blow-up mosque doesn't have quite the same ring to it...

Fred Phelps, YOU are the one in danger of hell

2008-08-09T16:23:00.002+01:00

Approaching his 80th birthday, Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas continues his vile, utterly unchristian rants. His church (which is not recognised by any mainstream denomination) suffered a fire last week, which he blames on American judges, whom he claims are going to hell (along with virtually everyone who is not a member of WBC).

This Blog has highlighted occasions where extreme Muslims have used children to promote their propaganda. It condemns with equal strength so-called Christians who cause children to sin by inciting hatred.

Phelps risibly claims that 'there is no free speech in America'. The fact that Phelps is not behind bars demonstrates conclusively that there is. He and his congregation (the great majority of whom are his own extended family) push any tolerance of free speech to the utmost limit.

Remember Tory sleaze?

2008-08-05T16:37:00.003+01:00

Or what Liebour and their supporters in the media used to portray as 'sleaze'. Usually consisted of a white, Tory, male heterosexual politician shagging his secretary. Committing the cardinal sins (in socialist eyes) of being white, male, Tory and heterosexual. The rest was just soft porn for the gutter media.

Never, never, never was there systematic corruption in Government: certainly nothing on the scale we have seen from Liebour. Certainly not millions of pounds of taxpayers' money being stolen to pay for party political broadcasts masquerading as documentaries. This is utterly vile, if it proves to be true. And if it does, the government ministers who approved it should refund every last penny to the taxpayer out of their own pockets.

Barry George - an innocent (and free) man

2008-08-01T16:27:00.005+01:00

Mrs Didactophobe and I are absolutely delighted with the news that Barry George has been acquitted of the Jill Dando murder. It was patently obvious that the 'evidence' against him was flimsy in the extreme and, when even that was discredited, there was only one possible verdict. Because a celebrity had been killed, the police were under pressure from the tabloids to get a result. When the suspect can be stereotyped as 'mad' (Daily Mirror); a 'beast' (Daily Mail) and 'tried to kill Di too' (The Sun), the chance of a fair trial plunges to somewhere sub-zero. Even Nick Ross, who believed George to be guilty, admitted to 'surprise' at George's conviction.

Barry George will undoubtedly be entitled to compensation: I wonder if he will be pursuing further damages through the libel courts.

Where is Patagonia?

2008-08-01T11:35:00.003+01:00

Somewhere in South America. Beyond that, I don't know and you don't know. And if you do happen to know, don't bother telling me because I am not interested. And you need to get a life.

It is, however, important to Dr Aribert Heim, a 94 year old Nazi war criminal responsible for hundreds of murders in the Mauthausen concentration camp. There is no doubt that Heim's crimes were unspeakably evil. However, they were more than sixty years ago and he is now a man of very considerable age. I am not convinced that bringing such an elderly man to trial over crimes which happened so long ago would be at all fair or just. He has spent most of his life exiled from his native land and unable to touch the $1.8 million he has in a German bank account. Nor can his family claim the money until he is dead.

I am inclined to say that he should be allowed to stay where he is, and the money in the bank should instead be forfeit and distributed to Holocaust-related charities. That would be justice.

We need proper punishments - urgently

2008-08-01T11:21:00.003+01:00

This is the story that caught my eye this morning. Three vile thugs who tortured and murdered a teenager with learning difficulties in a completely unprovoked attack getting off with 'slap on the wrist' punishments. The piece of filth which slit Laura Milne's throat, Stuart Jack, received the toughest punishment and will serve 18 years in prison. I am not sure even that is an adequate punishment for such a vile offence. His two co-accused, Debbie Buchan and Leigh MacKinnon, have been sentenced to a mere nine years each. With time off for 'good behaviour', that scum could be out in just six years. Six years for torture and murder! Buchan is quoted in today's Scottish Daily Mail, p.25, as having recorded a video in which she boasted of having really enjoyed stomping her head to ****. Why should that creature ever be allowed to walk the streets again? The legal system has failed yet another victim.

It was God wot won it

2008-07-27T01:14:00.002+01:00

At least, that is the gist of this post by Cranmer on the Glasgow East by-election.

There is much to be said for this. John Mason, the successful candidate, was the only candidate to identify themselves as a practising Christian. Opposed to the Fertilisation & Embryology Bill. Cranmer is right to point out that New Labour is keen to suck up to every minority apart from those who profess the Christian faith.

Even more significant on the moral front is the exposing of Labour's 'dirty little secret' in Glasgow East. Broon is fond of quoting statistics to claim that Labour has been active in tackling poverty, yet the state of so many in the east end of Glasgow demonstrates how utterly bogus this is. Labour has represented at least parts of that constituency continuously for well over 80 years, yet it is still one of the most deprived parts of the western world.

A year ago, I questioned what the point of the Labour Party was. A Tory voting great aunt of mine had witnessed at first hand the poverty of Springburn in the 1920s, where she started her working life. She left school shortly before her 14th birthday, but was no fool. She could see that Labour was, as it still is, owned, bought and paid for by powerful unions. Its only purpose was and is to look after these interest groups and to hell with everyone else. Voters in places like Glasgow East were and are taken for granted: their votes electing people who aspire (like Margaret Curran) to live elsewhere. At least, hopefully, until now. I hope and pray that John Mason will be an effective constituency MP, who will indeed promote aspiration among his constituents. This should not necessarily, however, involve the aspiration to move elsewhere. It must include the aspiration to improve their community as it is. To make life safer, healthier and generally better for those who can never afford to move out or do not wish to move out, as well as for those who do.

Back in December, I pointed out a great great great aunt of mine who remained on the electoral register for Bridgeton years after she had emigrated to New Zealand. I have no way of knowing the reason for this, nor whether the Labour MP of the time benefited. Where she lived in Bridgeton is now part of the Glasgow East constituency: no one lives there now, because the land has never been redeveloped after the slum clearances. The derelict land speaks volumes for the failure of socialism and the failure of the Labour Party. If Labour does not stand for improving the lot of the poor, it stands for nothing. Perhaps the kindest thing to do would be for its creditors to call in the party's astronomical debts and wind the whole thing up.

Good old Mirror!

2008-07-26T23:51:00.002+01:00

Great to see the Sunday Mirror playing its part in tackling crime, by tracking down David Cameron's stolen bicycle. It is a bit of a double whammy for the Mirror, considering that they had a photographer on hand to snap David Cameron as soon as he realised the bike was missing on Wednesday.

A more cynical blogger than me would be tempted to juxtaposition some facts here:

1. Old bicycles like Cameron's are rarely targets for thieves.

2. Stolen bicycles are almost never recovered.

3. A Labour-supporting tabloid had a photographer on the spot.

4. Its sister paper recovered the bike.

That cynical blogger would question whether the whole thing was a stunt, and whether the bike was ever stolen at all. Luckily, I am no cynic.

Catastrophe for Labour: Tory vote holds up well

2008-07-25T02:43:00.006+01:00

It's official, then. John Mason has won the Glasgow East by-election for the SNP: the only candidate to actually live in the constituency, who seems a thoroughly decent man and will be an excellent MP.

Commiserations to the Lib Dem candidate, Ian Robertson. I know him through my day job and have a huge amount of respect for him. His vote was horrendously squeezed and confirms two things: (1) the Lib Dems are no more than a receptacle for protest votes, and the support they do have is as soft as butter and is liable to switch to a more likely candidate and (2) more fundamentally, the Lib Dems are imploding in Scotland. No longer part of the Scottish Government; leaderless, a national leader who has made zero impact; lingering resentment against the last national leader for the way in which his own predecessor was treated. The SNP are hoovering up all the protest votes which the Lib Dems used to have.

Congratulations to Davena Rankin, the Conservative candidate. From a very low position, the Tory vote held up well, falling by just 0.6%, and moving the party from fourth place to third. Davena Rankin was an excellent candidate, who will make an excellent MP in the future. She is still young, and is highly likely to be selected for a winnable seat in due course. The Conservative vote in Scotland is rising and we can realistically challenge both Labour and the Lib Dems in several constituencies next time.

As for Margaret Curran, the Labour candidate, I lost all sympathy for her when we had the debacle of her 'slip of the tongue' concerning where she lives. Risibly, an unnamed aide was quoted as explaining that Ms Curran was speaking 'without notes': it would seem bizarre that an elected MSP could apparently require a prepared script in order to communicate correctly which constituency she lives in.

SNP win Glasgow East

2008-07-25T00:57:00.002+01:00

The result has not been declared yet, but I switched on my television about 10 minutes ago to see a very happy looking John Mason, the SNP candidate, at the count surrounded by very happy looking SNP activists and some very glum looking Labour people. The Blogosphere was buzzing before I went to bed about a rumour that the SNP had won, and it is looking increasingly likely.