Kent Police superintendent arrested over theft not charged

A senior Kent Police officer who was suspended from duty after she was arrested on suspicion of theft will not face criminal charges.

Supt Rachel Adams, who was area commander of Medway police, was arrested on 27 August in Kings Hill near Mereworth.

Kent Police said the Crown Prosecution Service had decided not to charge her. A spokeswoman for the force said she remained suspended from duty pending a decision over disciplinary proceedings.

Source: BBC News

After a brief Google her name comes up on a FIO request re Common Purpose, surprise surprise, it would appear that Superintendent Adams is a Common Purpose graduate

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/public_benefit_of_paymentsdonati

ONE RULE FOR THEM, ANOTHER ONE FOR US                      

TIME TO END PUBLIC FINANCING OF COMMON PURPOSE, THE NEW BOYS NETWORK

Child sex abuse still happening in Rochdale claims health worker

Girls are still being abused in Rochdale despite nine men being convicted of running a child sex ring in the town, a health worker has said.

Sara Rowbotham, from the Rochdale Crisis Intervention Team, is tasked with identifying young people vulnerable to child sex exploitation.

She told an inquiry that agencies had treated the victims "appallingly".

The team co-ordinator also told the Home Affairs Select Committee the abuse had started in 2004 and not 2007.
'Still sexual exploitation'
Rochdale Crisis Intervention Team identifies young people thought to be some of society's most vulnerable and helps with their sexual health.

"In Rochdale, there is still sexual exploitation," Ms Rowbotham said.

"We are attending strategy meetings where these concerns have been raised."

Children involved are about 14 or 15 years old, she said.

Sara Rowbotham

Speaking of the victims of the convicted men, Ms Rowbotham told the committee: "These vulnerable people did not have a voice and they were treated appallingly by protective agencies."

She said she had made 103 referrals of "incredibly vulnerable" cases to police and social services between 2005 and 2011 and there had been only nine convictions in May that she was aware of.

The ex-chief executive of Rochdale Council, which was criticised for staff "deficiencies" in a report by the town's safeguarding children board, told the hearing he knew nothing of the abuse until the men's arrests in 2010.

Roger Ellis told the committee as chief executive he had "felt a deep sense of responsibility" and was "embarrassed at the authority's failings", but not personally.

The council was criticised in the report for failing to help the victims,

"I don't feel any personal culpability based on the information that was available to me," he said.

Mr Ellis, who was chief executive for 12 years, said "clearly information was withheld" from him by staff.

"I did not know about these particular issues. I can't explain why I wasn't made aware [of] what was happening."

Mr Ellis left the authority in 2010. When asked if he received a pay-off, he told the committee he could not reveal the amount due to "confidentiality".

He agreed there should be a judicial inquiry into what had happened in Rochdale to find out "who had failed" the children.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-20220556

Sex crime nursery worker Alexander Mortimer has jail term cut

A nursery worker from Lanarkshire who was jailed for eight years for filming himself abusing young boys has had his prison term cut by appeal judges.

 

 

Alexander Mortimer, 28, admitted assaulting the boys, taking indecent photographs of children, and possessing indecent images.

His lawyers successfully argued he was not given a large enough sentence reduction for his early guilty plea.

Appeal judges reduced his prison term to five years and 11 months.

When he was sentenced, the High Court in Edinburgh heard how Mortimer filmed and photographed the abuse he carried out, and was found to have 17,967 indecent images and 582 videos on his computer.

Read More: BBC News

Shamed peer allowed back into House of Lords despite failing to repay a penny of her £125,000 false expenses

• Baroness Uddin owns three properties with her husband but says she is 'too poor' to repay money
• Peer had 'never been seen' at main home in Maidstone
• Fears she will use tax-free £300-per-day House of Lords allowance to slowly pay back £125k

By Kirsty Walker
UPDATED:10:05, 15 November 2011

Shamed Labour peer Baroness Uddin will be allowed to return to her seat in the House of Lords, despite failing to repay a penny of the money she was fined for cheating on her expenses.
Lady Uddin, the first female Muslim peer, was booted out of the Lords for 18 months and ordered to repay £125,000.
Despite owning three properties with her husband, she claims she is now too poor to repay the money. It has emerged the Lords authorities are powerless to prevent Lady Uddin, whose suspension ends in April, from returning.
A ruling by the committee for privileges and conduct in the Lords says that it would be illegal to make her return conditional on the repayment of the money.

It has warned that such an arrangement would amount to a permanent ban and this would infringe her right as a peer to be called to the House by the Queen at the start of a parliament.
Lady Uddin was exposed as a cheat in May 2009 after it was reported that she had never been seen at her designated ‘main home’ in Maidstone, Kent.


The small flat allowed her to claim £174 a night while she was living at her family home in Wapping, East London, provided by a housing association.
Lady Uddin has always denied wrongdoing, but an investigation by the Lords authorities found she had deliberately exploited the system to boost her income. The failure to prevent the peer returning to the Lords has angered her fellow peers.
They fear that Lady Uddin wants to use her peers’ tax-free allowance of £300 a day to gradually pay back her debts
.
If she attended the House of Lords frequently, she could pay back all £125,000 in three years – meaning she would end up repaying taxpayers with their own money.

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott said: ‘It can’t be right to let a disgraced peer back before they have repaid their bogus expenses. If you do not pay your fines, you go to prison.’

His view is shared by a sub-committee on Lords’ conduct which has warned that she should not be allowed to come back until the money has been repaid.
Fellow expenses cheats in the Lords have either paid back the money or have vowed to do so before they return. Lord Hanningfield has promised to pay back £30,000, while fellow Conservative Lord Taylor of Warwick has paid back his full amount of £24,000.

Lady Uddin has declined to comment. When the scandal broke, she insisted that she had stayed regularly in the Kent home. The CPS said she would not face charges on the grounds it was ruled that a ‘main house’ might be visited only once a month.

Read more: Daily Mail

Expenses: Police Unable To Use MacShane Letters

Disgraced former minister's letters on false claims for thousands of pounds are protected by parliamentary privilege.

Letters in which a former Labour minister admitted expenses abuses cannot be used to prosecute him because they are protected by parliamentary privilege, an official has said.

Denis MacShane stepped down as an MP after a damning report from the Commons expenses watchdog found he had wrongly claimed thousands of pounds.

The report said he submitted 19 false invoices "plainly intended to deceive" Parliament's expenses authority - which said the case was the "gravest" it had dealt with.

There are now calls for a police investigation into Mr MacShane's expense claims, which was dropped in July, to be reopened.

The Metropolitan Police said: "We are aware of the report and will be assessing its content in due course."

The letters, which were never shown to the original inquiry because of parliamentary privilege, are likely to be examined by the police, but are still protected from being used in court.

Clerk of the Journals Liam Laurence Smyth, who is responsible for parliamentary privilege issues, admitted that many people would find the situation "surprising", but said privilege was necessary for Parliament to function effectively.

Even if Mr MacShane had openly admitted criminal behaviour in his evidence, the police would not be able to rely on the comments in court, he said.

However, he suggested the police might now be able to use the letters as a "map" to further their own enquiries.

Conservative MP Philip Davies, who urged the Met to reopen its investigation, said it was a "sad state of affairs" that Mr MacShane was protected by parliamentary privilege.

"All it will do is further undermine the reputation of Parliament," he said.

"There will be millions of people out there who think that MPs are above the law and that is what the perception will be."

Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon found the MP had entered 19 "misleading" expenses claims for research and translation services from a body called the European Policy Institute (EPI), signed by its supposed general manager.

However, the institute did not exist "in this form" by the time in question and the general manager's signature was provided by Mr MacShane himself or someone else "under his authority".

One letter from the MP to Mr Lyon in October 2009 described how he drew funds from the EPI so he could serve on a book-judging panel in Paris.

"I appreciate the committee's ruling that I made no personal gain and I regret my foolishness in the manner I chose to be reimbursed for work including working as the Prime Minister's personal envoy in Europe," he said.

MPs' Expenses: Denis MacShane Quits As MP

Denis MacShane declares he is stepping down as an MP after making false expenses claims running to thousands of pounds.

A former Labour minister has announced he is resigning as an MP after being suspended from the Commons for making false expenses claims.

It follows a damning report from the Commons expenses watchdog, which found Denis MacShane wrongly claimed thousands of pounds.

The report said he submitted 19 false invoices "plainly intended to deceive" Parliament's expenses authority - which said the case was the "gravest" it had dealt with.

The move came after the Labour Party declared the Rotherham MP's career to be "effectively over", and with Scotland Yard facing demands to reopen a criminal investigation.

Speaking of Mr MacShane's resignation, a senior Labour source said: "Denis has done the right thing."

A statement issued by former minister said: "I have been overwhelmed by messages of support for my work as an MP on a range of issues but I accept that my parliamentary career is over.

"I appreciate the committee's ruling that I made no personal gain and I regret my foolishness in the manner I chose to be reimbursed for work including working as the Prime Minister's personal envoy in Europe.

"I want to thank the people of Rotherham for allowing me to serve as their MP and the Labour Party for allowing me over the years to fight for the causes I believe in."

The committee's sanctions follow an investigation by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon, who accused Mr MacShane of "extremely serious" rule-breaking.

It also emerged in today's report that the commissioner's findings had not been shared with the Metropolitan Police, which dropped its own lengthy inquiry into Mr MacShane without further action in July.

Conservative MP Philip Davies urged police to revisit the allegations against Mr MacShane armed with the detailed evidence in the commissioner's "astonishing" report.

In a letter to the Met, he wrote: "Now that the report has been published, and parliamentary privilege no longer applies, I would ask you to consider reopening the investigation into Mr MacShane."

Committee officials suggested that the evidence from Mr MacShane would not be legally admissible - even though it has not now been made public.

The committee said it was impossible to say how much Mr MacShane claimed "outside the rules" but estimated it "may have been in the order of £7,500".

Sky News

Newsnight caught in fresh paedophile storm amid claims 'senior political figure' will be outed on show

Editor of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Iain Overton, makes claim on Twitter

The tweet prompts furious speculation online about the identity of the alleged paedophile, who is still alive

Channel Four's Michael Crick claims he has spoken to the man, who denies allegations and will sue if Newsnight shows investigation

BBC refuses to confirm if the investigation into the alleged abuser exists

The BBC has been dragged into a fresh storm over a second Newsnight paedophile investigation, it emerged today.
Editor of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Iain Overton, mysteriously tweeted that a 'senior political figure' was to be outed as a child-abuser on the programme this evening.
The investigation about the unnamed man, who is alive, is being looked at by the BBC's legal team, MailOnline understands, but the corporation is refusing to confirm the probe exists.
This is despite Mr Overton's crystal clear message online: 'If all goes well we've got a Newsnight out tonight about a very senior political figure who is a paedophile.'

Mr Overton's bureau is a not-for-profit organisation which works with news outlets to publish in-depth investigations. It says it has been working on this project for the BBC.

It piles more pressure on the beleaguered corporation after last month it was revealed Newsnight dumped an investigation into paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile, even though they had interviewed his victims.

Channel Four political correspondent Michael Crick says he has spoken to the man at the centre of the allegations, who denied that he was a paedophile and said he would sue if Newsnight broadcasts anything on him tonight.

He also added that the man said he had not been approached for a comment by the BBC, despite it being earmarked for tonight's Newsnight.

The Metropolitan Police have told MailOnline they have not been handed anything on the subject of the investigation.

Read more: Daily Mail

Freddie Starr arrested in Jimmy Savile abuse inquiry

Entertainer Freddie Starr has been arrested in the police inquiry into sex abuse claims against Jimmy Savile.

Mr Starr, from Warwickshire, was arrested by Operation Yewtree officers on suspicion of sexual offences and has been taken into police custody locally.

He has denied claims he groped a girl of 14 while in a room with Savile.

Meanwhile, an independent review into BBC Newsnight's dropping of a programme about the allegations against Savile will report later this month.

Meanwhile, an independent review into BBC Newsnight's dropping of a programme about the allegations against Savile will report later this month.
Operation Yewtree is a Scotland Yard criminal inquiry into sexual abuse claims.
The Metropolitan Police said officers arrested a man in his 60s, from Warwickshire, at 17:45 GMT in connection with the investigation and was "taken into police custody locally".
Police said the individual fell under the strand of the investigation termed "Savile and others".
On Sunday, ex-pop star Gary Glitter was arrested and bailed after being questioned as part of the inquiry.
Glitter, 68, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was arrested at home and questioned at a London police station before being released on bail until mid-December.

Read more: BBC News

The High Street: A year of casualties

The high street: A year of casualties

• January
• Peacocks collapsed, placing 7,500 jobs in jeopardy
• Pumpkin Patch went into administration with 400 jobs put at risk
• Past Times appointed administrators, resulting in 507 redundancies
• La Senza collapsed, triggering 1,300 redundancies
• Barratts called in administrators, cutting 680 jobs
• March

• Game collapsed, triggering 2,104 job losses
• April
• Aquascutum fell into administration but was sold in May, saving 100 jobs
• Allied Carpets saw nine stores saved after going bust for the third time in three years
• May
• Clinton Cards fell into administration with 397 of its stores sold on

• June
• Allders called in administrators Duff and Phelps
• July
• Ethel Austin went into administration, risking around 500 jobs
• Julian Graves called in administrators, putting more than 700 jobs at risk
• October
• Around 2,200 JJB Sports staff were made redundant after administrators were called in

Jimmy Savile: Steptoe and Son actor Wilfrid Brambell 'abused boys in Jersey' claims whistleblower

Wilfrid Brambell, the actor, became the latest BBC celebrity accused of child sex abuse last night after it emerged that two people had come forward in Jersey claiming to be his victims.

Brambell, who played the “dirty old man” Albert Steptoe in the comedy Steptoe and Son, allegedly abused two boys in a theatre in Jersey at the height of his fame in the 1970s.

One of the alleged victims was a resident at the notorious Haut de la Garenne children’s home which was at the centre of a high-profile police investigation into historical child abuse on the island in 2008.

He claimed to have been taken to the island’s main theatre, the Opera House, as a “treat” before being taken backstage to meet Brambell, who he accuses of molesting him in a back room.

The second victim, who had not been a Haut de la Garenne resident, also claimed to have been abused by Brambell at the theatre. The alleged victims were aged 12-13 at the time.

Brambell, who died in 1985, was homosexual and had a criminal record for “persistently importuning for an immoral purpose” in a public lavatory dating from 1962.

The allegations were made to former Jersey health minister Stuart Syvret, the most outspoken critic of the island’s failure to deal with child abuse when the Haut de la Garenne scandal erupted four years ago.

He was contacted by dozens of people who had been abused on the island, some of whom named Jimmy Savile as one of their abusers.

Mr Syvret told The Daily Telegraph: “Two of the people who contacted me said that they were abused by Wilfrid Brambell.

“I was told that he visited the back rooms of the Jersey Opera House and abuse would happen there.
Read More: The Telegraph

BBC executives covered up a second paedophile who abused children in the toilets at the Corporation's studios, a leading journalist claimed.

BBC executives covered up a second paedophile who abused children in the toilets at the Corporation's studios, a leading journalist claimed.

John Simpson said a radio presenter, at the time one of the biggest names at the BBC, preyed upon youngsters after they won competitions to tour the studios and meet him.

But when Simpson, who has worked at the BBC for more than 40 years, tried to expose the predatory paedophile after his death, bosses called him an ‘idiot’ and instead told to praise the star in his obituary.

Veteran war correspondent Simpson made the claims in his 1999 autobiography Strange Places, Questionable People, first published in 1998, where he refers to the abuser as simply 'Uncle Dick'.

But in the light of the Jimmy Savile scandal they will make uncomfortable re-reading for the Corporation.

Days ago a Jim'll Fix It director claimed he made several attempts to expose disgraced Jimmy Savile to the BBC but had been ignored by bosses.

David Nicolson, 67, said he reported Savile decades ago when he caught the star having sex with a 15 or 16-year-old girl in his dressing room. Yet he was told by bosses: ‘That’s Jimmy’ and ‘that’s the way it goes’.

Claims that bosses covered up child abuse spanning 40 years by a second paedophile, said to be 'a children's favourite', will cast further doubt on the practices at the Corporation.

He claims the BBC's attempt to silence the claims went as high up as the then Director General, as reported by The Sun.

The radio presenter he claims abused children was one of the BBC's biggest names from the 1920s until his death in 1967.

Read More: DAILY MAIL

Jimmy Savile: Labour faces embarrassment over former child sex claims

Labour faces embarrassment over its calls for a wide-ranging inquiry into Jimmy Savile as senior party figures have previously called for the relaxation of child sex laws.

Harriet Harman, the Opposition deputy leader, said the allegations that the late TV and radio presenter abused dozens of young boys and girls had “cast a stain” on the BBC and other trusted institutions.

But at the time Savile was at the height of his fame, Miss Harman was calling for the relaxation of the law on child pornography.

She was a leading light in the pressure group now known as Liberty, which advocated the lowering of the age of consent to 14.

The organisation, then run by the Health Secretary under Tony Blair, Patricia Hewitt, even counted among its affiliates a number of extreme pro-paedophilia groups whose leaders were later jailed.

It means that any independent public inquiry into the culture that allowed Savile to abuse children for so long with impunity, could end up looking into the radical left-wing demands for the liberalisation of child sex laws that were made in the 1970s.
Read more: The Telegraph

Benefits

There is a great deal of talk these days about cutting benefits and the main targets seem to be the neediest, but are we approaching this from the wrong end?

The main concern at the moment is to push people back into work, (which I agree with in principle). My concern is that when they are back in work they will still have to be in receipt of benefits because they will probably be on the minimum wage, which leads me to the conclusion that benefits are being paid not to assist the worker but they are a form of subsidy to the employer so that he can pay low wages.

What I propose is a minimum wage of nine pounds per hour for a 40 hour week making (£360pw), a man with a wife and two children will not pay tax or insurance on that amount, anything over that amount will be taxed and insurance paid, the family will not be entitled to benefits, if the other partner works the full amount of that partners earnings will be subject to tax.

A flat rate of 20% tax on all earnings under thirty thousand pa.
A flat rate of 30% tax on all earnings under forty thousand pa.
A flat rate of 40% tax on all earnings over fifty thousand pa.
The new French government has introduced a so-called 'rich tax' and the rich have sold up and left. It has not worked, there the French government is now collecting less in taxes.

The idea here is to take the employed off benefits by ensuring that they can earn a living wage. We achieve this by requiring employers to pay an honest wage for honest work.

By Erik UKR

Vitesse Arnhem pay tribute to British Airborne on anniversary of Arnhem

Fantastic gesture by Dutch team Vitesse Arnhem in playingin the colours of the British Airborne on the anniversary of Arnhem (A Bridge Too Far) and also honouring the remaining veterans of the battle.

Read More: HERE

Thousands cut food spending to keep cars on road

Almost a third of motorists are sacrificing food in exchange for keeping their cars on the road, according to new research.
Around 30 per cent said they had been forced to cut back on their weekly grocery shop, according to the latest Driver Satisfaction survey by car search website Motors.co.uk.

The savings motorists are making on food are being used to fund rising motoring costs such as fuel and car insurance.

A litre of petrol cost an average of 96.98p in June 2007, compared to 132.20p in July 2012, according to the AA.


Read more HERE

Are these really the people we elect to lead us?

No decorum, no class, just base and desperate to be seen to be with it and 'down with the people'. British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and Mayor of London, Boris Johnson at the London Olympics closing ceremony.

What a sad indictment of modern British politics. Are these really the best we've got? Do ANY of our politicians inspire respect anymore? No.

Next week Ed Milliband breakdancing outside Poundland.......

Coventry City ship out Gary Deegan

Hibs sign Gary Deegan from Coventry City on one-year deal

Hibernian have signed midfielder Gary Deegan, the player who tweeted 'Up the RA' ta team-mate, from Coventry City.

The Leith club say the 24-year-old has joined on "an initial one-year contract after terms were agreed for his permanent transfer".

Born in Dublin, Deegan previously worked with Hibs manager Pat Fenlon when both were Bohemians,

"It's a perfect move for me and I'm excited about what we can achieve in the season ahead," Deegan told Hibs' official website.

Read more HERE

UKR opens Aston branch - Aston Resistance

New blogsite for our activists in Aston, Birmingham, can be found at

http://astonresistance.blogspot.co.uk/

We,the people!

British Gas owner Centrica boosts profits

The Independent Peter Cripps Thursday 26 July 2012

 

The owner of British Gas increased profits at its residential arm by 23% today in a move fanning flames of anger over recent price hikes.

Centrica said profits at British Gas Residential, which has 15.8 million energy accounts in the UK, lifted to £345 million in the six months to June 30 after volumes were boosted by the cool start to the summer.

But the UK's biggest energy supplier also benefited from higher prices because, while it dropped its standard electricity prices by 5% in January, this did not cancel out a 16% rise in August, when gas bills also went up by 18%.

Consumer Focus has accused utility companies of being quick to pass on rising wholesale costs to consumers but being slow to drop prices when they fall and today's bumper profits haul is likely to provoke further outrage.

Profits at its residential arm are also higher because of weak figures a year ago when it delayed passing on price rises to customers, meaning it was supplying at a loss.

The rise in profits means that British Gas Residential made some £1.9 million of profit a day as consumers struggle to cope after the average dual fuel bill rose to £1,310 a year - more than £200 higher than two years ago.

Richard Hall, head of energy regulation at Consumer Focus, said: "Wholesale prices rose a little earlier in the year but are now falling and they are still a long way from their peak in 2008. "We have long questioned whether drops in wholesale costs find their way through to household bills."

Centrica said higher volumes and tariffs more than offset the higher commodity prices and other costs. But it claims to control just 15% of a customer's bill through its operating costs and profit margins.

Chief executive Sam Laidlaw said: "Centrica has performed well in the first half of 2012 despite challenging market conditions, although the increase in earnings must be placed in the context of unusually low levels of consumption and profits in the UK in the first half of 2011."

Read more HERE

Their hypocrisy knows no bounds

One rule for them, another for us.

MP for South-West Hertfordshire and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, claims that it is "morally wrong" to offer to pay tradesmen in cash in the hope of avoiding tax.

In newspaper interviews Gauke said the practice came at "a big cost" to the Treasury and meant other people had to pay more in tax.


Gauke told the Telegraph that: “Getting a discount with your plumber by paying cash in hand is something that is a big cost to the Revenue and means others have to pay more in tax."

“I think it is morally wrong. It is illegal for the plumber but it is pretty implicit in those circumstances that there is a reason why there is a discount for cash. That is a large part of the hidden economy.”

Of course, no mention was made of multinational companies which swerve paying billions in tax through loopholes, or their bills being written off by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. This is possibly because before becoming an MP, Gauke worked for city law firm McFarlanes, a company that helps wealthy clients avoid tax.

It also later emerges that in 2006/7, Gauke used parliamentary expenses to cover the cost of the stamp duty when he moved home. According to the London Standard, Gauke claimed £10, 248.32 in payments for his second home which included "Inland Revenue Stamp Duty" of £8,550. The rest was consisted of solicitor's fees, land registry and property searches.

If this wasn't enough hypocrisy, it then emerges that Gauke's wife, Rachel, is a professional support lawyer who specialises in corporate tax law, in other words helping big business avoid paying as much tax as possible.

Rachel Gauke works for Lexis Nexis, a company which claims to “support every tax practitioner on the front line as they deal with the tax collector“.

It emerged last year that big companies were excused paying £25,5 BILLION in tax to HMRC. £25.5 billion equates to roughly £1000 for every British family, or 6p off the current rate of taxation.

The tragedy of this case isn't the blatant and gross hypocrisy of yet another member of our political class,  it isn't the persecution yet again of ordinary people who are struggling in the current economic climate.

The real tragedy is that people like us are standing for it....

British consumers will soon feel the squeeze from rising food prices as US crops are hit by America's worst drought in more than half a century, economists warn.

By Emma Rowley 22 Jul 2012

Scorching temperatures and extreme dryness are devastating harvests across farmland in the Midwest. More than three quarters of the US's growing space is now affected by the harsh weather conditions, according to official data.

With crops dying in the fields, the prospect of tightening supplies is driving what Barclays Capital analysts say is one of the most rapid prices spikes "in recent memory".

US corn and wheat futures contracts have both risen by a third since mid-June, the biggest four-week price gain in US grains futures seen more than a quarter of a century. On Thursday, US corn for September delivery set a record high of over $8.16 a bushel, while soybeans for August delivery also hit a record at $17.49.

The global nature of markets means that the reverberations from the US, the world's biggest corn producer as well as a major supplier of soybeans and wheat, will be felt around the world.

Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotia Capital, expects the effects of the drought to add "significantly" to UK inflation over the start of 2013, since it takes around six months before rises in agricultural commodity prices feed into prices on the supermarket shelves.

Read more: HERE

BBC lawyers consider formal appeal over court ban on riots drama

Lawyers ponder challenge to ruling preventing docu-drama from being broadcast 'by any media until further order'

Guardian 19 July 2012

By Paul Lewis and Josh Halliday

Lawyers for the BBC are considering making a formal appeal against a court order that has banned the corporation from showing a dramatised film about the experiences of rioters who took part in last summer's disorder.
The ruling from a judge prevented the docu-drama, which had been due to be broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm on Monday, from being broadcast "by any media until further order".

The channel's executives were forced to pull the film, which is based on the testimony of interviews conducted for the Guardian and London School of Economics research into the disorder.
A second BBC film in the two-part series, which is based on personal interviews with police officers and was scheduled for broadcast on Wednesday, is also banned under the order.
For legal reasons, the Guardian cannot name the judge who made the ruling, the court in which he is sitting or the case he is presiding over. However, it is understood that lawyers for the BBC strongly object to his ruling, the nature of which is believed to be highly unusual.

Read more HERE

UKR Justice for the 21 campaign in Birmingham Mail

FORENSIC experts are being called in to review potential new evidence in the Birmingham pub bombings.
Detective Chief Superintendent Kenny Bell, head of Counter Terrorism at West Midlands Police, has made the commitment in a letter to the sister of one of the 21 people killed in the 1974 terrorist atrocity.
He wrote: “Forensic science continues to develop. I will ensure that we consult with a forensic expert to establish how science has advanced and if new techniques can evidentially assist us with bringing those responsible to justice.”

The city’s head of Counter Terrorism is also tasking officers to bring together and look again at all the old files in the case.
He wrote: ‘‘It is important we gather, understand, consolidate and preserve all relevant material in one central repository. While the scale of this is a huge undertaking, it will greatly assist with our ability to assess the relevance of any new evidence.
It will also give me confidence in providing you with information that is accurate.”
West Midlands Police had never officially reopened the case after the Birmingham Six had their convictions quashed by a Court of Appeal in 1991, having spent almost 17 years behind bars.
Det Chief Supt Bell wrote the letter to Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine was only 18 when she died in the suspected IRA attack on November 21, 1974, which also injured 182 people.
He said of his team’s new efforts: “This task will take some considerable time, however, I undertake that you will receive updates on a bimonthly basis.’’
The written assurances back up what Mrs Hambleton claims she was told in a meeting with the top cop at the force’s Lloyd House HQ.

Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2012/07/19/counter-terrorism-chief-orders-fresh-review-of-birmingham-pub-bombings-evidence-97319-31424978/#ixzz213rye1J5

Thieving bastards, the lot of them!

There are certain large organisations operating in this country which were never intended to make a profit.

That’s not what they are there for.

On a national level, the NHS, the police, the armed forces, state education, the DWP along with most government departments etc. should all be above such mundane matters.
Locally, most council departments (with certain minor exceptions such as catering, for example) ought to be “excused duties” as far as making money is concerned.
The taxpayer (or council tax payer) has entered into a tacit agreement to fund these organisations. In return for our money we expect an efficient service and (national security issues aside) total transparency. We receive these in varying degrees, but that is probably a topic for a discussion in its own right.

Given the non-profit making status of these organisations, why do we allow private suppliers, agencies and so forth to plunder them like latter-day pirates?
The hot topic of the moment is the G4S Olympic debacle. The whole shebang has cost the British taxpayer billions of pounds one way and another, which we will never see again whatever the liars in parliament and LOCOG tell us.
Since we are getting Olympics whether we want them or not (I wasn’t asked, by the way?) then we have to accept the need for enhanced security, particularly in light of the posturing of our friends from the East.

That being so, shouldn’t this extra security have been provided by the police and the military as a matter of course? I would much rather entrust my personal safety and the world-wide reputation of my country to well-trained and smartly-dressed British soldiers and/or police officers than minimum-wage people most of whom have been forced into the job by the DWP and some of whom, we are reliably informed, don’t speak the native language of the host country.

The question here should not be, “Why was this £300M contract awarded to G4S?”
I suspect Baron Reid of Cardowan, otherwise known as the former communist and Labour Home Secretary, John Reid, now re-incarnated as a “Group Consultant” otherwise known as “middle-man” or “bag-man” for G4S, may know more than he is letting on about that.
The question should be “Why was this £300M contract awarded to anybody? “

The British military have a reputation which is second-to-none in the security arena. Their services are rightly in demand across the world.
Sadly, “budgetary constraints” mean that many of our soldiers and police officers are to be thrown on the scrap-heap.
Excuse me? Where were these budgetary constraints when the £300M of tax-payers money was handed over to the hopelessly inept and more importantly totally unnecessary G4S?

Answers on a postcard.

Bit10 withdraw sponsorship of Gary Deegan following UKR intervention

Coverntry Internet services company Bit10 today announced via Twitter that it was sponsoring both Coventry City and player Gary Deegan for the forthcoming season.

UKR, has been monitoring the Deegan situation at Coventry City Football Club since the publicity following the player's now infamous 'Up the RA' tweet. Deegan was suspended by Coventry City Football Club pending an investigation.

Following the announcement by Bit10, UKR contacted them to inquire if they were aware of the situation regarding Deegan. The company immediately replied stating that it did not support or condone the insensitive comments made by Gary Deegan, and that they were merely proud to be involved with Coventry City FC.

UKR replied asking the company if they were still planning to sponsor the player in question following his insensitive and offensive remarks. We are pleased to say the company replied that although they still supported Coventry City FC 100%, they had withdrawn their sponsorship of Deegan in light of his comments

.

We'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Bit10 on their response, their decision to withdraw sponsorship for the player and also their commitment to sponsoring a local football club which has been down on its luck of late.

Coventry suspend Deegan for IRA remark

Coventry City midfielder Gary Deegan has been suspended from training for two weeks while the club investigates comments he made on Twitter.
The player tweeted about the IRA in an online conversation with team-mate James McPake on the social networking website.
A statement from the club said: "Coventry City confirm that Gary Deegan has been suspended from training for a period of two weeks whilst further investigations take place into comments on Twitter social networking site.
"Neither the player nor the club will be making any further statement whilst internal investigations are on-going."


Read More HERE

Coventry City 'star' tweets 'Up the RA' to team mate

COVENTRY City has launched an investigation after player Gary Deegan sparked outrage on Twitter with a comment about the IRA.
The Sky Blues midfielder posted remarks on social networking website on Saturday.
The Dublin-born player publicly made the comments to his Scottish team mate James McPake, who has been called up for international duty by Northern Ireland.
McPake transferred his allegiance from Scotland courtesy of his grandmother, who was born in Northern Ireland.

After posting the tweet, Deegan claimed it was just banter and apologised to his fans: “Everybody calm down. I apologise if I offended anybody – was just taking the p***.
“No matter where you go in the world Irish people are loved #bestcountryintheworld. Proud to be an Irish man.”
But some fans didn’t see the funny side and described him as a “disgrace” to the team.
Moz Baker tweeted to Gary: “I hope you never wear a Cov City shirt again.”
Shortly afterwards, Deegan’s Twitter account was deleted.
One fan tweeted: “As I am from Northern Ireland I can say from the bottom of my heart I hope he never plays for Cov again.
“He is from Dublin so has not lived through the horrors of Northern Ireland 70s to 90s.
“He isn’t qualified to make stupid comments.”
Another said: “Gary Deegan – you are in a privileged position to play pro footy and make stupid remarks regarding IRA. Disgrace.”
One fan posted: “Gary Deegan tweeting ‘Up the IRA’ The same terrorists that attempted to bomb the city whose team you play for and are paid by!”
Tim Fisher, chief executive of Coventry City, said: “We have received reports regarding a first team player and his use of Twitter and we are investigating the matter.
“We do take all matters of this nature very seriously.
“It underlines that footballers, like anyone else in the public eye, have to be extremely careful what they say on social networks, because their words are open for all to see and are open to scrutiny.”
The IRA targeted Coventry nine days after the outbreak of the Second World War when a bomb exploded in a carrier basket of a bicycle left outside a shop in Broadgate.
The explosion killed five people and injured more than 100, causing damage to several shops in the area.
Two IRA members and three others were put on trial for murder. Three were acquitted and two were convicted. In the 1974 an IRA member was killed while planting a bomb in Coventry city centre.


Read More HERE

Archbishop Sentamu

THE Archbishop of York celebrated St George’s Day with city school children.



Wearing an England baseball cap the Archbishop, Dr John Sentamu, was joined at Bishopthorpe Palace by children from Archbishop of York’s CE junior school who sang the National Anthem and children’s hymn When A Knight Won His Spurs.

As in the past, Dr Sentamu expressed the hope St George’s Day would become a national holiday.

He said: “We should be proud of our country and not be afraid to show it. Wouldn’t it be great if the whole country could be given a day of holiday to celebrate England’s fantastic patron saint?”

The children enjoyed ginger biscuits, but the wet weather prevented them playing cricket with the Archbishop on the lawn of the palace.

Head teacher Jonathan Green said they enjoyed their visit nonetheless. “We do look forward to it every year and the children love it.”

link
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9665958.Flying_the_flag_for_St_George/

UKR statement: Boston's Elderly Living in Fear

UK Resistance – Working Class Action staged a protest in Boston on Saturday 14 April 2012, seeking to highlight the concerns of working class people in the area. We asked local people to answer a few questions about their experiences living in Boston and will release the findings of our survey in the very near future.

The response we received was positive and the amount of people willing to talk to us quite unexpected. People simply seemed to want to unload their frustrations upon willing listeners. Many Bostonians said they felt ignored and abandoned by the political system and in particular their local MP, Mark Simmonds. Many of these people were elderly members of our community and the one over-riding concern of the town's pensioners was their personal safety when visiting Boston town centre. Pensioners were approaching our activists literally begging us to highlight their concerns over personal safety. This view was so prevalent amongst pensioners, that we thought it only right to pass on these concerns to the authorities as soon as possible. Therefore we have this week contacted both Boston Borough Council and Lincolnshire Police with our concerns.

UK Resistance - Working Class Action believes that one of the first requirements of a civilised society is for our elderly, many of whom have worked and paid taxes all their lives, not to mention served the community or nation in one function or another, should be able to live out the remaining years of their lives in peace, feeling secure. For various reasons such as anti-social behaviour and street crime that is seemingly not the case in Boston and we would like that to be resolved.

However, this is not an attack on the police, who we realise, in a time of economic hardship are doing their best in challenging circumstances. Initial analysis of our survey reveals that although many elderly people seemed worried about crime and particularly anti-social behaviour, when they have come into contact with the police they have been satisfied with the conduct and professionalism of officers. Even so, we believe that the authorities should deal with this problem as a matter of urgency. We have suggested that an announcement that the matter is being looked at might help assuage the fears of our elderly in the short term, while realistic long term strategies are assessed and implemented.

Unlike our political establishment, UKR will not desert the elderly members of our community. The fact that many are living in fear should be a matter that everyone should be keen to address at the earliest opportunity. In the absence of interest from our elected representatives, who have allowed this situation to develop, UKR intends to become a voice for our abandoned elderly. They will be ignored no longer.

We are the working class resistance, long live the resistance!

Boston Standard: Protest Against Political Establishment

PROTESTERS gathered in Boston on Saturday to make a stand against the ‘dumbing down’ of politics and the lack of representation from government.

Members of the apolitical group UK Resistance: Working Class Action held a demonstration at the Ingram Memorial on the Market Place in which they handed out leaflets and questionnaires to passers-by in a bid to discover local views on politics and discover if there would be support for the group to challenge the traditionally safe Conservative seat at the next general election.

Members believe that if people’s views were better represented it would reawaken an interest in politics for much of the working class.

Mike Watts, who was one of around 15 people to attend the event, told The Standard: “We think the working class is not represented anymore.

“It’s easy to moan, but we think as a mass of people we are being dumbed down and that’s why a lot of people have become apathetic and depoliticised. We want to show people that these so-called safe seats are built on sand.”

READ MORE: BOSTON STANDARD

Boston: The Spirit of Herbert Ingram Action 14 April 2012

UK Resistance – Working Class Action visited Boston in Lincolnshire on Saturday 14 April 2012. Local UKR activists were joined by their comrades from across the country for the third UK Resistance – Working Class Action demonstration. We were in Boston to highlight the concerns of many local working class people who feel ignored by their elected representatives. UKR also carried out a small poll (the results of which will be published shortly) in the form of a questionnaire amongst shoppers, to ascertain their feelings about how the town was being run.

We had notified Lincolnshire Police of our intentions beforehand and had issued them with a final draft of our literature to assuage any fears they may have had. We know we didn’t have to do this, but in such austere times, we feel we have a responsibility to the Council Tax-payers of areas which we visit not to place any further strain on already overstretched police and local authority budgets.

Our protest was mentioned in local newspaper, the Boston Standard.

ACTIVISTS opposed to the ‘dumbing down’ of politics will be holding a demonstration in Boston this weekend. Protesters from UK Resistance: Working Class Action will make their stand at the Herbert Ingram Memorial this morning (Saturday) from around 10.30am.

Around 15 people are expected to travel from across the country to oppose to the safe Conservative seat held in the Boston and Skegness area. The apolitical group will have placards and will be handing out leaflets and questionnaires to members of the public.

Demonstration for Boston - Boston Standard

Our working class protest was aptly staged in the shadow of the statue of local MP and philanthropist, Herbert Ingram. A photographer from the Boston Standard was present and took photographs of the assembled UKR activists. Placards were held up raising issues over local concerns and the increasing detachment of the main three political parties. Leaflets (see below) were also handed out amongst members of the general public.

The Spirit of Herbert Ingram

UK Resistance – Working Class Action is in Boston today to highlight the genuinely held concerns of many local people who feel ignored by our elected representatives and frustrated at the quality of their leadership and lack of accountability.

In recent years, some areas of Lincolnshire have experienced a 33% rise in population. Many people are concerned about this and also the propensity of local employers to employ only foreign labour. Working class people who raise concerns about immigration are automatically condemned as racist; we believe this response creates frustration and is also counter-productive to our development as a society. Politicians pretending nothing is wrong will only lead to people simply in search of a better life being targeted. In the last five years alone, racially or religiously aggravated offences in Lincolnshire have risen by 22%. This is unacceptable, but simply a result of the genuinely held concerns of people not being addressed.

Locally, unemployment has risen 18% in the last 12 months, well above the national average. In some areas of Boston, a third of people live in fuel poverty, our elderly and disabled are literally forced to decide between heating and eating every winter. There is a housing crisis in Lincolnshire, yet extra government funding amounted to a paltry £419,940. There are also concerns regarding rise in drug and alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour on the streets. Under-funded and over-worked law enforcement and health services are buckling under the strain. Cancer patients are told that medicine to save or prolong their life is too expensive. The state education system is failing generations of our children. Long established shops and small businesses are disappearing, former proud working class areas turned into ghettos.

Our MP, Mark Simmonds, asks Parliament for more resources to solve the problems, but in such austere times we believe our politicians should be brave and confront the real issues instead of continually turning to hard-working tax-payers to paper over the cracks. In opposition, the Conservatives called on Labour to address the situation, why have they not acted themselves now the roles are reversed? The problem is, we have idealistic ex-public school pupils running all the mainstream parties. They’re totally detached from reality, terrified of taking tough decisions due to media response and re-election concerns. Instead of dealing with the issues, they raid pensions, raise retirement age, increase tax on petrol, road-tax, alcohol, tobacco and expand VAT on food. In other words, like the banking crisis, they expect you to pay for their folly. Easy come, easy go.

We understand the exasperation and dissatisfaction which is felt, because we feel it too. Unlike our politicians, we are confronting the real issues and intend to channel genuinely held concerns positively by encouraging ordinary people to stand up and speak out and our politicians to start listening to working class common sense again. We do not want problems to fester and leave it to our already under-funded and overstretched police force or NHS to pick up the pieces when frustrations boil over. Our emergency services are decent, dedicated people who contribute to society by serving it, but our politicians cynically take advantage of that altruism.

Our politicians turn out every four years to beg for votes, promise the world, then slope off and change nothing. Proven inept and incapable, they are failing in the basic task of representing us. It is mismanagement of epic proportions which has a negative effect on people’s lives, yet none of them seem to think they are answerable anymore. They will never get back in touch with reality if voters don't remind them they are still answerable to the electorate.

How many times do you hear ordinary people like us say ‘what’s the point? We’ll never change anything’. We believe we can change things, peacefully and democratically. Granted, there is no difference between the main parties anymore, but we believe that once the political gravy train looks like hitting the buffers for certain individuals they will sit up and take notice, especially in safe seats such as Boston and Skegness. Over the coming months and years we intend to confront our elected representatives and insist they address the concerns of ordinary working class people again.

We have lost the Labour Party and the trade unions to speak out on our behalf, so we have to do it for ourselves. We've seen people from Boston stand up for issues they care about in recent months and achieve recognition. We’ve also seen supposedly safe seats, which the main parties take for granted such as Bradford West, overturned by people power. We can do the same thing with working class communities and build voting blocs that will regain us representation again.

This is the first of many actions by UK Resistance – Working Class Action, the peaceful and democratic fight back of the patriotic working class starts here, in Lincolnshire.

We received a surprising amount of positive feedback from members of the public. Activists were amazed at how many people were willing to engage with them and answer the questionnaires, many seemingly simply wanting to unload their frustrations to willing listeners. One elderly member of the public remarked we were the only people who had ever asked them their opinion. Another begged us to visit their city and stage a similar action. Another elderly couple approached us and said “Good on you, we’d join you but we’re too old now”. It is for people like these we are on the streets, they may be considered surplus to requirements by our political class, but they certainly haven’t by us. As a group the visit proved to us that we do have a mandate from the working class to pursue our present course.

One worrying response, which all activists remarked upon, was the fear of travelling to Boston town centre expressed by the vast majority of elderly residents we spoke to. Many said they felt intimidated every time they visited the town centre, regardless of the time of day. The frequency of these complaints worried our activists to such an extent that we have immediately written to the Chief Constable of Lincolnshire and also to Boston Borough Council. UK Resistance – Working Class Action will not tolerate elderly members of our community who have contributed positively to society all their lives, living out their remaining days in fear. We shall take whatever peaceful and legal action is necessary to remedy the situation in Boston. At the moment will shall contain ourselves with the correspondence we have sent to the authorities and await their response.

However, we must stress that this is not automatically a criticism of our police. Many residents who expressed fears, mainly about anti-social behaviour and street crime in Boston town centre, also said they thought highly of the police, there just weren’t enough of them on the ground. This view obviously re-enforces the general ethos of our protest on Saturday, out of touch politicians are responsible and must be held to account for the current situation, not our dedicated public servants.

Other concerns were voiced, immigration seemed to be the number one issue on peoples mind. Many people said they felt a lot of other problems stemmed from the unwillingness of politicians to address immigration. Employment, the propensity of local employers to only employ foreign labour and housing were also major pressing concerns. Anti-social behaviour, including drunkenness in the town centre was repeatedly mentioned. As was litter and the fact many town centre businesses had closed down and new ones, popular in other towns, seemed reluctant to open in the area. One view everyone seemed to share was the feeling of abandonment by the politicians of the main three political parties.

A couple of people were obviously perturbed by the fact we peasants had the temerity to take to the streets. One gentleman claimed we were the political wing of a white supremacist group. Obviously his claims fell on stony ground when, to his embarrassment, it was pointed out that we carried a picture of Honest John Sentamu and had demonstrated in support of the Ugandan Archbishop of York on a previous demonstration. Even our detractor had to agree, they were hardly the credentials of a white power organisation. Obviously, we will encounter middle class fascists, or working class sell-outs like this gentleman who will try and tar us with any brush which they think will silence us. The abandonment of the working class by the Labour Party and trade unions was engineered for a purpose; the middle class establishment simply do not want working class people organised and vocal. Tough. We will emphasise now, and continue to do so in the future, we do not support any political party or ideology, we do not have links with any other organisation or group. We will never subscribe to any ideology our ancestors fought against and in some cases paid the ultimate sacrifice. We are simply a working class resistance movement seeking to credibly and effectively defend our community, its customs, traditions and way of life. We will not waste any time on, or be silenced by, immature and inaccurate accusations by people bereft of an argument or a point to debate.

At the end of the protest, UKR activists posed with a Falkland Islands flag to show solidarity with our comrades in the South Atlantic and their fight for the right of self-determination in the face of recent Argentinian provocation. We were proud to stand alongside one of our members who played an active part in the liberation of the Falkland Islands in 1982.

This is the first of many actions by UK Resistance - Working Class Action. Following such a positive response, we can confidently state that we have a genuine mandate to act in Boston and the wider Lincolnshire area in the future. For now, we will await a response from Lincolnshire Police and Boston Borough Council regarding the safety and the perceived safety of the elderly members of our community. That is something in the short term that we are determined to rectify.

We, the working class, we, the people!

UK Resistance in Boston, Lincolnshire

UK Resistance - Working Class Action today visits in Boston in Lincolnshire to highlight the concerns of local people and the failure of their elected representatives to acknowledge those concerns and act upon them.

In recent years, some areas of Lincolnshire have experienced a 33% rise in population. Many people are concerned about this and also the propensity of local employers to employ only foreign labour. Working class people who raise concerns about immigration are automatically condemned as racist; we believe this response creates frustration and is also counter-productive to our development as a society. Politicians pretending nothing is wrong will only lead to people simply in search of a better life being targeted. In the last five years alone, racially or religiously aggravated offences in Lincolnshire have risen by 22%. This is unacceptable, but simply a result of the genuinely held concerns of people not being addressed.

Locally, unemployment has risen 18% in the last 12 months, well above the national average. In some areas of Boston, a third of people live in fuel poverty, our elderly and disabled are literally forced to decide between heating and eating every winter. There is a housing crisis in Lincolnshire, yet extra government funding amounted to a paltry £419,940. There are also concerns regarding rise in drug and alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour on the streets. Under-funded and over-worked law enforcement and health services are buckling under the strain. Cancer patients are told that medicine to save or prolong their life is too expensive. The state education system is failing generations of our children. Long established shops and small businesses are disappearing, former proud working class areas turned into ghettos.

Local MP, Mark Simmonds, asked Parliament for more resources to solve the problems, but in such austere times we believe our politicians should be brave and confront the real issues instead of continually turning to hard-working tax-payers to paper over the cracks. In opposition, the Conservatives called on Labour to address the situation, why have they not acted themselves now the roles are reversed? The problem is, we have idealistic ex-public school pupils running all the mainstream parties. They’re totally detached from reality, terrified of taking tough decisions due to media response and re-election concerns. Instead of dealing with the issues, they raid pensions, raise retirement age, increase tax on petrol, road-tax, alcohol, tobacco and expand VAT on food. In other words, like the banking crisis, they expect you to pay for their folly. Easy come, easy go.

Unlike our politicians, UKR will confront the real issues and channel genuinely held concerns positively by encouraging ordinary people to stand up and speak out and our politicians to start listening to working class common sense again. We do not want problems to fester and leave it to our already under-funded and overstretched police force or NHS to pick up the pieces when frustrations boil over. Our emergency services are decent, dedicated people who contribute to society by serving it, but our politicians cynically take advantage of that altruism.

Our politicians turn out every four years to beg for votes, promise the world, then slope off and change nothing. Proven inept and incapable, they are failing in the basic task of representing us. It is mismanagement of epic proportions which has a negative effect on people’s lives, yet none of them seem to think they are answerable anymore. They will never get back in touch with reality if voters don't remind them they are still answerable to the electorate.

How many times do you hear ordinary people like us say ‘what’s the point? We’ll never change anything’. We believe we can change things, peacefully and democratically. Granted, there is no difference between the main parties anymore, but we believe that once the political gravy train looks like hitting the buffers for certain individuals they will sit up and take notice, especially in safe seats such as Boston and Skegness. Over the coming months and years we intend to confront our elected representatives and insist they address the concerns of ordinary working class people again.

We have lost the Labour Party and the trade unions to speak out on our behalf, so we have to do it for ourselves. We've seen people from Boston stand up for issues they care about in recent months and achieve recognition. We’ve also seen supposedly safe seats, which the main parties take for granted such as Bradford West, overturned by people power. We can do the same thing with working class communities and build voting blocs that will regain us representation again.

This is the first of many actions by UK Resistance – Working Class Action, the peaceful and democratic fight back of the patriotic working class starts here, in Lincolnshire.

We are the working class resistance, long live the resistance

By George, he's done it yet again....

RESPECT Party candidate George Galloway last night won the Bradford West by-election by 10,140 votes, a swing from labour of over 5 thousand in a turn-out of around 50%. Galloway claimed that it was the "most sensational victory in by-election history". Labour MP Toby Perkins bizarrely claimed it was Galloway's appearance on televisions Big Brother which was responsible for the win. Labour’s Head of Cultural Fascism, Harriet Harperson, admitted the result was "very bad" for Labour. Galloway, who commanded a 56% share at the ballot box, said the "mammoth vote" represented the "Bradford Spring" and was a "total rejection" of the three major parties which constitute the British political system. Galloway said he thought there was a ‘tidal wave waiting to break across many parts of the country and last night it broke in Bradford. It's a wave of alienation towards the mainstream political parties and their leaders.’

Adam Boulton floundered on Sky News, outclassed by Galloway and reduced to apparently trying to oust a confession from Galloway that he was now a Muslim. CH4's Jon Snow tweeted that it was “a protest vote”. Snow's tweet actually proved how remote from reality the ruling left-wing middle class establishment is. People have quite simply had enough of the empty promises of our political class, their idealistic but wholly impractical and naïve politics. It was obvious why the metropolitanista were glum, in subsequent interviews, Galloway pin-pointed everything which is wrong with New labour, no real leaders anymore and no working class participation whatsoever. Galloway told BBC Radio 4's The World At One that Labour had lost touch with its traditional core voters: "If Labour doesn't go back to being a Labour Party again, it will never command the support - let alone the enthusiasm - of the kind of people who supported it for at least 100 years."

Bradford Spring-board for patriotism

It might not be readily apparent to patriots, but this is a landmark result in the fight to regain political representation for the English people. Instead of bemoaning the result, claiming he played to the Islamic bloc vote, or that sectarianism is the winner etc, we should take the massive positives which are apparent from Galloway's win.

Apathy rules amongst the English, how many times do you hear people talking about the political process and saying "I don't vote, what's the point, we'll never change anything". Well it certainly doesn’t amongst the electorate of Bradford West. Our friends in the north demonstrated to us that the three-party stranglehold over British politics can be broken. Yes, you can change things you don’t like. Yes, you can get rid of inept politicians and replace them with people who will speak out and support YOUR interests.

Bradford West could be the turning point for the English patriotic resistance movement. It should, if we have ANYTHING about us, spur English people into voting again. We should learn from it. Can we change it? Yes we can! We have been brainwashed into believing we cannot change anything and that we can't survive without the three main parties. We need to reciprocate the feeling of change emanating from West Yorkshire now, and ensure OUR VOICE is heard in the same manner as the voters of Bradford West. If we do not learn, adapt and capitalise from this safe large Labour majority being overturned, then perhaps we deserve everything we get.

All three main parties pay scant regard to the wishes of their electorate anymore. They send our children to their deaths in their foreign wars, they use our money to bail out their chums in the banking industry. They tell us we're all in it together, while they screw us into the ground with taxes, but allow their corporate peers to avoid paying their dues to the society which spawned them and facilitated their enormous wealth. Our elderly and disabled have to choose between eating and heating every winter, our cancer patients are told there is no money for drugs which could save or prolong their lives, while we send billions in foreign aid abroad. They can do it only because we allow them to. It’s obvious why they get away with it, many of us are so stuck in our ways, we are cowards in the face of change. The majority of us are still voting out of family loyalty, or allegiance to principles or policies which our three main parties have long abandoned, discarded as irrelevant. If we keep being reactionary, and moaning about everything that arises with resignation, we are finished. Instead, we should be looking to learn and adapt. We will not gain any ground while the three party system is strong and settled, that is why Bradford West is such a positive result for us, we need to perpetuate this air of political subversion.

An English Ummah

The patriotic resistance of this country needs to learn from Bradford West. It is no good individual political parties announcing manifestos when they have no electorate, that makes them just as bad as the main parties. You will never inspire the English by turning up every four years in a suit spouting political rhetoric. We need to talk to ordinary people who are disenfranchised from the system, educate them that they can make a change. Bradford West was fought on the issues which voters in the constituency wanted confronting. We need to appeal to people in the same fashion, form patriotic bloc votes like RESPECT is showing us can be done. We need to engage with the abandoned English working class, listen and address their concerns.  If we do, we might finally smash this middle class metropolitan political cartel which currently has the country in a stranglehold.

However, we have to be honest with ourselves and overcome self-inflicted obstacles first, such as our penchant for anti-intellectualism and our habit of mocking anyone who cares enough to stand up and be counted in a credible manner. We have to establish a patriotic intelligentsia, which would operate within the system it seeks to topple. We have to play the game, if we don’t, we lose, simple as that. We have to look at our approach, nationalist or patriotic groups up to now have not spoken in a language that ordinary people have responded to in any great number, certainly nowhere near enough to make a mark. We have to admit our failings and address them.  This is our Dunkirk, where we realise the path we have trodden might not have been the right one, that others are ahead of us in the game, it’s the moment where we take stock, adapt and prepare to retake the fight to our enemies.

There needs to be a clear strategy, laborious work done at grassroots level to re-engage ordinary people adrift from politics. We need to represent ourselves but we also need an electorate. The reason the main parties only address middle class concerns is because they are the only people who vote in any great number still. We need to forget small party allegiances and policies for now (all patriotic parties and groups should work together, we can sort it out afterwards). All groups with similar aims need to call a ceasefire and stop arguing with each other, the reds did it and attained power. If we are to survive, never mind prosper and regain lost ground, we need to form a bloc vote and vote according to OUR interests. Bradford West should sound the death knell for English apathy. but we have to accept that we need to learn lessons wherever they may come from, educate ourselves, re-politicise our people and most importantly VOTE.

We are people on whose backs the greatest empire the world has ever seen was forged. We are the descendants of people who paid the ultimate sacrifice for this country without a second thought. Now is the time to resist in the manner of our forefathers, in a credible and effective fashion. England is the birthplace of political radicalism, we are sons and daughters of Lilburne, of Place, descendants of Shurmer and Bevin, people who spoke out for the ordinary man in the street without fear and regardless of consequence. It is time to pay due respect to such illustrious forebears by using our heads and salvaging what is left of this once great nation and our way of life…..