Colonel Tim Collins Shoots From The Hip
Colonel Tim Collins, was the army officer who gave the inspirational speech to his troops before the last Iraq War.
He’s just been on Kate Silverton’s program on Radio 5, being as forthright as anybody I’ve heard in the last few months.
A few points.
- He said that Tony Blair had surrounded himself with obsequious advisers who weren’t up to the job.
- He wished that the second Iraq war had been more like the first, with a coalition of sixty countries.
- On Northern Ireland he said that Yesterday’s men are still trying to get the war going. But the real problem is lack of jobs and especially for young people in the province.
- He was very scathing about Defence Procurement, saying that they squandered all the money.
- Asked about the defence cuts, he said something like if Virgin could do the long-range troop deployments, the Navy the strike and the battlefield helicopters were under the Army, then what is there for the Air Force to do.
- As Colonel Tim is a proud Irishman, I was surprised he would want to have dinner with Oliver Cromwell. But then he said he wanted to get to know the man.
It was an amazing interview full of common sense and humanity.
The Universal Credit
I can’t help feeling that this is the way to go on benefits, but it won’t be an easy change.
But I think if anybody can drive it through then Ian Duncan-Smith can, as he seems to have researched the subject thoroughly.
I know my late wife, C, would be applauding the changes. In so many of her divorce cases, the client was often in despair about dealing with the various agencies. She said they all complained, that if they worked too many hours or earned just a little too much, they saw none of it, as the benfits just reduced in line. In the changes, it has been said this morning, that for every pound extra claimants earn, then they will be able to keep thirty five pence. It may not seem much, but it’s more than nothing.
There will be fights over this benefit and those outside the process will try to create havoc, just as some students did yesterday on the protests in Westminster.
Power to the People.
David Cameron is proposing putting details of a lot of Government expenditure and plans on the Internet, so that anybody with time on their hands can scrutinise it. It is an idea that I totally approve of. In fact, I think we need a lot more information there, so that people can have statistics to back their theories; conventional or not!
Miliband is Very Much Old Labour
Congratulations to Ed Miliband and his partner, Justine, on the birth of their son.
But the announcement of the birth with his weight in pound is very much in the past and well into Old Labour territory.
When our second son was born in the same hospital, forty years ago, his weight was given in kilograms.
So get into the present day, Mr. Miliband!
A Unique Place in the History of European Fascism
That was the said in Private Eye as they detailed how the senior figures in the odious British National Party might be bankrupted by Unilever for breaching Unilever’s copyright on a Marmite advert.
They finish the article by saying that they could be the first neo-Nazi party destroyed by the makers of a yeast extract sandwich spread.
C used to love her Marmite, but I don’t!
Hasty Legislation Often Doesn’t Work
This article entitled London landlords cash in as MPs play by the rules, also in the Independent, shows how when you do things quickly, you often don’t get the result you wanted. Before the expenses claim, this article says that the average monthly mortgage claim was £694.63. Now the average rental claim is £1,173.81.
It sounds like in order to get the morality right, we have created a system that doesn’t give the best value in all cases.
C would have thought this par for the course, as the number of times she came home complaining how the new laws about families, children, divorce and dogs were often worse than those that had been in force before.
Should Prisoners Have the Vote?
In my view, yes! Read the arguments on the BBC here.
After all, it might just help some to take some of their responsibilities seriously.
But will it make any difference?
It will to us, in that we won’t have to pay any damages to those who the European Court of Human Rights, think we have wronged.
But I doubt that the number who vote will be high!
But let’s wait until we see the statistics.
I think when we do, that this will be one of those stories that got a lot of people very heated, but in truth it won’t matter!
SAGA Backs the Time Change to Central European Time
SAGA has now backed Rebecca Harris and her Private Members Bill. Apparently 63% of over-50s back moving to Central European Time.
Well here’s one that does!
Will Britain Dance In Time to the Scottish Nationalists?
Parliament is discussing going to Central European Time today, so the BBC has a piece about the possible change from Scotland. A professor from Edinburgh University has said that Scots are generally in favour of the change to lighter evenings, but that the SNP has called the change ludicrous.
Let’s hope that every other politician feels that way about their stand.
But I’ve always felt that this very sensible move, which has so many positive energy, business, job and leisure implications will never happen, as it is in effect a vote for something that makes us closer to Europe.
The Anonymous Widower 