June 16, 1858, Washington DC, USA: In a historically famous speech to the house of representatives of the United States, Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln issued a speech in which he declared: “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. These words echo quite seamlessly into the present situation in the United Kingdom.

For the first time in over three centuries, the United Kingdom is facing the possibility of another state succeeding from the British Empire. This time however, it is a founding nation. In 1603, Queen Elizabeth I died, and in turn the Kingdom of Scotland inherited the throne of England. In 2014, the people of Scotland are likely to vote on the possibility of declaring independence from England. Just like the Americans and our fore-bearers the people of Scotland face a fight to gain that independence from the very state it acquired.

Yesterday I read in the Metro some of the neumerous comments about David Cameron and his unity with Ed Miliband over preventing the succession of Scotland from the United Kingdom. Even going so far as to declare it may be unlawfull for a nation to act in a democratic way to decide its own future.

Let us remember that the Conservative party which David Cameron represents was given just 1 seat by the Scottish people. Given then that the people of Scotland clearly do not wish to be represented by the Conservative party and surely not David Cameron is it any wonder that the possibility of succession should rise. Britain has got involved in various wars over the last few decades to bring “democracy” to those countries. With support for Afghanistan and Iraq and more recently the democratic uprising in the Arab world. Why should be be afraid of democracy coming to home. Allow the people to decide what the people want. This is what the parliament is supposed to be there for.

Europe is a great place with many countries working together towards a common good, such as abolishing slavery and bringing justice to war criminals. Even so far as to try and make national governments responsible for the financial crisis that has hit the world so badly. This was incidentally why Britain vetoed since it would have to stand up and deal with the problem instead of hoping it would go away. I have no confidence in David Cameron nor his governments ability to operate a state where the vast majority of people are voting against him. With 83.256% of Scotland voting against the Conservative party, David Cameron really needs to think twice about interfering in affairs of Scotland.

Should independence happen, we expect Scotland would return to the Scandanavian economic area. This is the area which has the worlds top democratic states: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland. Each of these states has vastly a similar population to that of Scotland. The arguments that Scotland could not survive on its own? If Norway, with less people, and not a great deal higher GDP than the estimated Scottish GDP can become the 2011 worlds best democratic state, is it hard to believe that with our slightly higher population and a vastly liberal outlook on life that Scotland could achieve the same?

References
Metro, Wednesday, January 11, 2012
BBC Election 2010

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Scottish National Party Confrence 2011.

This weekend, in Inverness delegates and interested parties of the Scottish National Party has been converging to discuss such things as party conferences discuss.

Independence Referendum

Independence is a core value of the Scottish National Party, what is not yet clear is if it is truly a core value of the Scottish People. The people are generally divided on the subject which will undoubtedly give the party a big headache in years to come. It has been decided that the referendum will be towards the end of the current government session. How they plan to address the risk of a referendum being unpopular is to introduce an additional option in the referendum; more power to Scotland.

Devo Max – Full Financial Stability.

Under the proposals, Scotland would gain complete financial controls over Scotland. From Tax to Grants everything would be controlled from Edinburgh. This is likely to gain popularity amongst those that do not nessesarily wish to see the Great Britain break up. A referendum that offers three options for such an important issue is not such a bad thing. Remember the referendum on the voting system – that did not offer three although by rights it should have, and such a referendum would likely have had a different result set.

This should even satisfy those people in England that feel it is unjustified that Scotland should spend money to give free education to Scotland (we like to have intelligent people). Of course what they do not realise is that it means the funds that would ordinarily end up in English control would cease to be shipped down in bulk to England.

References:
BBC News | Holyrood

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Reporting on Justice lacks in the education to truely reflect upon the Justice

The national press reporting on matters of justice can be misleading.

Fundemental national press should be reporting on what is happening. They should be reporting in such a way that the truth comes out. Instead however many papers are failing to do some basic research into the context of what they have reported.

UK Riots: Looter who pinched too scoops of ice-cream jailed for 16 months. – The Telegraph.

The Telegraph have reported this such that it comes across to the general population that some young kid who happened to be in the scene of riots in the UK helped himself to icecream and got sent to prison for over a year.

“Anderson Fernandes, 21, wandered into Patisserie Valerie on Deansgate, Manchester, after finding the door open.” when you read it like that it sure does seem like the judge was extremely harsh in sentancing of this ice cream eating guy.

Charges

What really was the case however? That is what the press has been vague on reporting so lets get this some real context. Lets have a look at the conviction in more detail.

• Plead Guilty: Admission to Burgalary.
• Reported Guilty: Posession of Drugs.
• Plead Guilty: Handeling Stolen Goods.
• Reported Guilty: Posession of Offensive Wepoans.
• Found Guilty of Violent Disorder (2009).
• Guilty of breaching Community Order for above sentance.
• Guilty of Common Assult (2010).
• Guilty of Assult S47 (actual bodily harm) (2010).
• Breached Community Order for above.

So when the news reports that he got sentanced to over a year in prison for stealing ice cream, an alternative way of writing it could be: The defendant who caused actual bodily harm to which he was sentanced to a community order to which he failed to do, in relation to a common assult to which he failed to complete a community order, having failed to complete a community order for violent disorder went on to handel stolen goods, drugs and steal, was sentanced to a prison sentance for failing to be brought to justice for his previous crimes.

Were you one of those people that screemed oh my god thats such a harsh sentance he shouldnt be in prison for just stealing an ice cream? What are you thinking now?

References:

The Sun | The Telegraph | The Judiciary

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David Cameron vows never to use intelligence again.

“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. “- Sun Tzu

David Cameron has suggested that police need to have the power to shut down vital lines of communication such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The power should be used only in the event of a major incident. Naturally he is being vague as to what constitutes a major incident.

These plans are very disturbing, the amount of information which can be gathered through these channels is extensive. For a prime minister to suggest cutting off communications and vital intelligence gathering channels is worrying.

The path he sees before us is a worrying one. It starts with limitation of communication and free speech and ends in 1984.

Social Networking Is actively used for Crime Prevention

What the prime minister needs to realize is that whilst it may be used for organizing criminal activity, it is also a channel that should be used by the intelligence services to protect the civilian population. Arbitrarily terminating freedom of speech is not a course we want to go down. In doing so we would be like North Korea, the Peoples Republic of China, Iran and many other such “fine” countries.

He wants police to have the power to shut down Blackberry Messenger as well, I mean lets face it that cant possibly have any financial impact on the UK Economy. No businesses would ever use Blackberry would they? Why not go so far as to shut down British Telecom too after all phones might be used to communicate bad intentions too!

Police Arrest thug after disgusting mugging published on YouTube.

This is the kind of headline David Cameron wants to stop. The robbing of a youth who had been injured has been caught on video and published on YouTube. This has actually lead to the arrest of those responsible. This is the kind of way that police should be making use of Social Networking not blocking it.

References
PaidContent | Telegraph | Telegraph  (2) | YouTube(disturbing scenes)

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Manchester Riots : Shop A Looter – The Clean up of the City.

Manchester Riots have caused problems for business and people in general. The behaviour of the looters have been completely unacceptable and without any meaning full purpose. They have been seeking things that they want but do not want to pay for it.

Early reports indicated that in Manchester city center in the region of 200 looters were causing trouble on Tuesday. Early on Wednesday whilst we were settling down for a meeting with a client, sky news was revealing that in the region of 113 people from that had already been arrested.

Greater Manchester Police have launched a name and shame type campaign. It is called Shop A Looter. The police is using social networking and old fashioned publishing means to try to identify those whom have been guilty of the riots in Manchester. In the latest figures, Greater Manchester Police has arrested over 200 rioters which will include people arrested under Salford. For just a few days this is an impressively high quantity and David Cameron should take note of this. Greater Manchester Police have done it without having to sell out the police force to the United States.

Clean Up of the Riots

It has been pretty calm now and police presence is definitely visible in Manchester. The aftermath has seen many stores with their windows boarded up. Most business are running as normal with little or no down time. The foreseeable future plans should be getting them into some kind of rehabilitation. Parents should be involved in this process: education is the key.

Investigations must take place to find out what the root cause of the riots has been it still remains unclear. Many want to declare martial law and the likes of David Cameron wanting to just lock them up and getting rid of them from the streets wont help find that out. When riots occur its a sign of some kind of social problem that needs to be addressed head on. Getting experts to chat with the people on a one to one to learn of the exact nature of the frustrations will get that moving along.

References
Sky News (via Sun)

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That ‘Special Relationship’ is back this time backed by David Cameron.

Politicians always refer to the United Kingdom’s alliance with the United States, which the population mostly views as a master and slave relationship is back on the tables.

Having a look at the track record of the United States do we really want to be emulating their ways?

With the riots of the last week, can you imagine how scary it would be if on every corner there was a “god given right to own a gun”?

Police have arrested literally hundreds of people how many could they have arrested if they were all armed? How deadly would the conflicts be?

We seriously need to take a step back and consider is the relationship with the United States government really what we want?

American to Take Control of the Police

Due to the prime ministers incapability to think for him self, he is on the brink of signing up an American to take over the operation of the metropolitan police force. If the prime minister is not capable of dealing with the situations he is to face as prime minister, perhaps it is time for him to resign and make way for new fresh leadership. How confident are you in the prime minister? There is a open petition for a call of a vote of no confidence in his leadership. Perhaps you should consider signing it.

The plans of putting an American “supercop” at the head of one of the oldest police departments is ludicrous and reforms of the service going through the parliament may put a block on the idea. Having never worked in the British police he lacks the requirements for the job as well.

Having reviewed his suggestions, putting him in the position would be dangerous as he’d want to arm the entire police force and use deadly force in excess. He wants people to fear the police – well in the case of US police that certainly would be the case – having seen how they act I am definitely more afraid of the US Police than the US Gangsters!

References
Vote of No Confidence | DailyMail

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Anti Western Government uses UK Riots for political propaganda.

The Iranian president has made a statement that is clearly a political propaganda move. He has accused the United Nations, and Human Rights organisations of being silent over the Riots that we have seen in the UK over the last week.

This coming from a man who has little or no respect for either the United Nations, or Human Rights is clearly outrageous.

He went so far as to suggest that an Iranian Human Rights delegation be sent to the United Kingdom to ‘monitor’ the situation. Clearly this is an unacceptable consideration. Until the Iranian government learns to accept the democratic ways, and respect that Human Rights are  of paramount priority over politics, they should be sanctioned away for the good of the human race.

People in the UK need to be patient as the justice system copes with the huge influx of criminals. The courts will have to separate out those who were caught in the middle of the troubles from those that were active. Justice will come in time and those responsible for the atrocious activities.

The Iranian government has suggested that those who have been rioting are peaceful protestors that have been oppressed by the police. What he does not understand is that not every country follows his draconian way of life.

Given that Britain officially supported his opposition it is no surprise he is using the situation to try and gain support from people in Iran.

References
Metro

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£2.5 Million Fine for British Gas’ treatment of customers.

British gas has been fined by the energy industrial regulator, Ofgem over their treatment of customer complaints. It comes as no surprise to me being a long standing complainer towards British Gas over our treatment. After a year of being told we cant leave British Gas in such traditional anti-competitive ways that British Gas trades, Ofgem was bound to get involved sooner or later.

Complaints Procedures

British Gas has in the eyes of the regulator failed to put into effect adequate complaint procedures. This includes the total lack of a complaint procedure for small business. It also includes not reviewing complaints despite customers advising that the complaint had not been resolved.

British Gas has long been in the energy business so you would think they would by now have been able to process customer complaints in a sensible fashion. They have been found guilty as not providing sufficient information on how complaints can be escalated to Ofgem. This too I can completely agree with, our complaint started as a telephone call to say that they were trying to charge us for the previous tenant’s gas bill. They said this had to be paid by us as we had moved into the property. We have been in a bitter fight ever since. They even broke in to force the bill on us by installing a pay as you go meter which we can not exchange untill the bill has been paid off.

Ofgem Getting Tough

Ofgem has revealed that it will be getting tough on the industry ahead of reforms. This particular fine will have little real impact on British Gas however. They will make that in less than 48 hours of trading. It likely means that bills from British Gas are likely to increase to compensate for the fine. If Ofgem really wants to get tough on the industry, this needs to be reflected in fines and actions taken against energy companies. Fines should be so severe that companies are afraid to ignore complaints. A 30% of the annual revenue fine would make a noticeable dent in their pockets and should make them thing twice.

They are also investigaing a number of companies over their mis-selling of products to consumers.

References
BBCNews

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Lib Dems, Tories and Labour unite in government. British government has declared war.

Recently I mentioned that Rupert Murdoch was a somewhat hated person. It seems that that much has been confirmed. In a very rare occasion, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats and even Labour have came to an agreement.

The unification of the three parties in a vote in the House of Commons against him could be a symbol that change is starting to come to parliament. Then again, Ed Miliband was quoted as saying “There are times when the house of Commons has got to rise to the occasion and speak for the public“.  If this comes as a new revelation to him then that is very worrying, what does he think the house of commons should be doing during the rest of the week?

It is equally worrying that the unification of the parties in question took a personal attack in the form of the phone hacking before it got any weight. Gordon Brown being the latest victim, does this mean he still has some weight in parliament (of the political kind of weight that is).

MPs Inquiry

MPs have already questioned senior police into allegations they have been bribed by the News of the World and Rupert Murdoch may be next to face them on Tuesday next week.

One bad door closes, a new one opens.

News International has announced that they will move most of the staff that lost their jobs due to the shutting down of the News of the World shall find employment within the company. The News of the World is no more, so one horrible news paper is gone, but rumours have it that the Sun will launch on Sunday instead so not a great loss for the corporate giant.

References

Metro

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Human Rights must come first: European Courts rule UK has violated Human Rights in Iraq

Treatment of Iraq Citizens Not acceptable.

Human Rights has been violated by the British [and American] forces whilst in Iraq. The conclusion was not particularly hard to reach for the European Court of Human Rights I am sure. Many people have already been critical over US and UK actions in Iraq particularly the treatment of the locals.

House of Lords Overturned

Four years ago, the undemocratically elected house of lords of the United Kingdom ruled there was no breach. It will doubtless come as a rather disappointing ruling then that the European Court of Human Rights with supremacy over the House of Lords, and now the Supreme Court of Britain has ruled against them. It will come however as  a relief for minority groups worldwide. Governments will do what they want, but justice still will rule above even the Governments.

Violations of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention of Human Rights

Article 2 which provides a basic human right to life has been violated by British forces on many occasions by killing of civilians in a combat zone. The right is also backed up by the Geneva convention. Under the Geneva convention military personnel are expected to protect the life of innocents during combat operations.

Article 3 provides for the prevention of inhuman and degrading treatment. The sixth man represented by the cases at the European Court was murdered after being thrown into a river despite not being able to swim. British forces thus must have failed to save him in violation of articles 2 and 3. His body was found to have 93 injuries which are reportedly due to beatings by military personnel.

Criticism of Human Rights

As usual, when these kind of rulings come out, the trolls tend to appear again and get critical of the European Union, and of the Court of Human Rights, The Military, the Government, anyone that’s against them and anyone they just generally don’t like. Lets ask them, if you do not like the Human Rights and Europe, why not get rid of it then we can lead you into nice shiny new “work camps”?

The conservative party has been critical of Europe, yet they have taken no steps to dissolve our relationship with Europe. They take the normal step of accepting the courts rulings instead of standing up and being a big man – taking responsibility for the acts they do. When will the leadership of Britain stand up and decide: Now is the time to prove myself in the Eyes of my people? Let us stand for what is just.

References:

European Court | Independant

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