UK Floods: Homes Evacuated as Swollen Thames Keeps Rising

BBC: Flooded homes along the River Thames are being evacuated and thousands more are at risk, with water levels expected to keep rising for the next 24 hours.

Fourteen severe flood warnings are in place in Berkshire and Surrey, while two remain in Somerset.

Duncan Kennedy reports. (+ BBC video) » | Monday, February 10, 2014

Council Vetoes Flag of St George after Concerns Raised about Links to Crusades
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A local council decided against flying the flag of St George after concerns were raised that it would offend the town’s 16 Muslim residents.

Eleanor Jackson, a university lecturer, said the red and white symbol could cause upset in Radstock, Somerset, because it was used during the Crusades 1,000 years ago.

The Labour councillor voiced her concerns at a meeting called to discuss which flag should be purchased to fly atop the town's repaired civic flagpole.

She said: “My big problem is that it is offensive to some Muslims, but even more so that it has been hijacked by the far right.

"My thoughts are we ought to drop it for 20 years."

Radstock Town Council, which serves a local population of more than 5,600 residents, eventually decided to purchase a Union flag to fly on Armistice Day.

The rainbow flag of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride movement will be flown at “appropriate” times of the year while an In Bloom flag will celebrate the town's achievements in the gardening competition. » | Victoria Ward | Wednesday, May 15, 2013

British Islamists Protest French Campaign in Mali: Hollande Is a "Son of Pharoah", Islam Will Dominate France and England (January 12, 2013)

Local Elections: Labour Make Gains in England and Wales
BBC: Labour have won a string of victories in English and Welsh local elections - with shadow ministers claiming Ed Miliband is now on course for No 10.

The party is set to add more than 700 seats and has taken control of councils including Birmingham and Cardiff.

Based on results so far, Labour are projected to end up with a 39% national share of the vote, up three points, with the Tories down four on 31%.

The Lib Dems' share of the vote is estimated to be unchanged at 16%.

But the party has lost more than 125 seats - taking its total number of councillors below 3,000 for the first time since the party was formed in 1988. » | Friday, May 04, 2012

My comment:

I think one of the main causes for the Conservatives' drubbing is the fact that this government is perceived to be run for the benefit of the rich. Rich little overgrown schoolboys out to help their own kind. Added to that, Cameron's government endorses greed, and makes ordinary folk pay the high price of all the austerity cuts. Clearly, we are NOT all in this austerity thing together.

Then one has to witness all the U-turns. This, in itself, shows lack of competence. Before Cameron proposes anything, he should first check out its viability. He should ask himself if this policy plan is really do-able.

Further, he throws money around abroad like a drunken sailor, while at the same time cutting everyone else's lifeline at home. Savers, too, are being severely punished for their lifelong sensible approach to living within their means. Interest rates are appallingly low. One isn't even able to safeguard one's capital against the ravages of inflation, still less generate an income to live from. Little wonder the pensioners want Cameron and his clique punished.

For far too long in this country, politicians have been elected into office on a mandate to do one thing, but when they get into office, they do something else. They ignore the people's wishes, and end up doing things for which they have no mandate whatsoever. This government is very guilty of this. It must stop. People are fed up of being ignored.

Then there are all the restrictions we have to put up with. Conservatives are supposed to believe in less government, not more. Cameron, in this regard, is not a true Conservative, since his instincts are more left-wing. He seems to favour more control of everything, just like Labour does.

And what happened to all those useless laws he and Clegg were going to repeal after Blair's useless terms in office? Cameron and Clegg made a big thing upon taking up office of asking the people to let them know which laws they wanted scrapped. We have heard nothing about that ever since. It was all show.

I could go on. I won't. I have written enough for people to 'get my drift'. Cameron has now got a very steep hill to climb. It will be interesting to observe whether he'll be able to climb it. – © Mark

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Happy St. George’s Day!

Wishing all my English visitors today, April 23rd, a Very Happy St. George’s Day!

WIKI: Saint George and the Dragon »

WIKI: Saint George »

WIKI: St George's Day »

St George's Day: A site for England »

MAIL ONLINE: Give England its own anthem, demand MPs: Fans 'could sing Jerusalem or Land of Hope and Glory' » | Ryan Kisiel | Sunday, April 22, 2012

England Bans Public Cigarette Sales
England has banned the display of cigarette packets in supermarkets and other large stores. The government says the ban will encourage those trying to give up the habit, but its opponents say that it is discriminatory. Al Jazeera's Rory Challands reports from London.

My comment:

The government is busy de-normalizing cigarette smoking; yet at the same time they do nothing about drug-taking. In fact, drug-taking appears to be becoming an ever more normal part of life for many. To me, this seems perverse.

I would say that they've got their work cut out if they want to rid society of this habit. All they are doing is driving it into the private sphere. But in so doing, they are making people that would otherwise be tolerant, less tolerant, because they keep hammering away at so-called dangers of second-hand smoke. (Where's the evidence?)

By segregating smokers like this, they are causing loneliness for many. These days, nobody wants you in their home if you smoke. And if you get invited, and you smoke, you have to go out into the garden to puff away. How demeaning that is! And how unwelcoming, too.

If the government ever succeeds in de-normalizing smoking, indeed if they succeed in banishing it, they will find that the habit will be replaced by something else. And that something else will probably be far more injurious to health than even smoking is. At least smoking kills slowly (in most cases). It does not bend the mind, or make people's behaviour odd.

I have to shake my head when I think how much this once tolerant nation has changed. My parents' generation were fine, upstanding citizens, who dressed well, spoke well, etc. Many of those people smoked, and sometimes a lot. But they were decent people: honourable, courteous, upstanding, welcoming, caring.

And today? What have we? Take a look around your local supermarket! Many might not smoke cigarettes, but take a look at the way they're dressed, listen to how they speak, listen to the foul language, observe the multiple tattoos and piercings on their bodies. How healthy is it to inject ink under the skin? And what is the government doing about that?

I don't have children, but if I did, I would much prefer that they be exposed to a little passive smoking than for their minds to be polluted by the excesses of the modern age.

Lastly, I should like to say that even though I am not in any way homophobic – far from it, actually – one really has to wonder the direction a society is taking when it will soon be legal for two men/women to marry, and walk down the street holding hands (and kissing?), yet it is already illegal for a man to light up in the public arena.

My poor father must be turning in his grave. – © Mark

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Cigarette and Tobacco Displays Banned in Supermarkets
THE GUARDIAN: Tobacco will be kept out of sight as ban aimed at discouraging young people from smoking comes into force

Packets of cigarettes will disappear from the shelves of supermarkets in England on Friday and must stay hidden in closed cupboards, out of sight and – the government and campaigners hope – out of mind.

New legislation, aimed at reducing the temptation to smoke for children and young people, will require all large shops and supermarkets to scrap displays at the point of sale. Campaigners argue that these have become more visual, colourful and attractive as bans on other forms of advertising have closed down marketing opportunities for tobacco companies.

Cancer Research UK, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and others also say that displaying cigarettes alongside sweets normalises tobacco in the minds of children, making appear harmless and available.

The government agrees. Ministers say that removing tobacco from sight will help discourage young people from taking up smoking.

Newsagents and small stores can display cigarettes until 2015, giving them time to refit shelves and cabinets.

The ban has become a reality in the face of stiff opposition by Big Tobacco, which until December appeared intent on a legal challenge. Imperial Tobacco, Japan Tobacco, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris argued that the ban was disproportionate, breached EC competition law and would encourage tobacco smuggling. But they dropped the case in January, saying that by the time it was heard the ban would be in place.

Hard lobbying has also come from corner shops, small stores and newsagents who say tobacco sales are crucial to their business. » | Sarah Boseley, health editor | Thursday, April 05, 2012

Wales Pays to Replace French-made Breast Implants – But England Won't
THE GUARDIAN: Welsh health minister says not removing defective implants could endanger women's health

The Welsh government says it will pay to replace French-made PIP breast implants for women who were treated privately.

Welsh health minister Lesley Griffiths said not replacing the implants could endanger women's health, given some have already ruptured.

The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, will rule out following suit in England when he updates MPs on the scandal today. » | Denis Campbell | Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Archbishop ‘Very Disappointed’ with Gay Marriage Move

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has said he is “very disappointed” with David Cameron’s plan to legalise gay marriage.

In his most detailed public comments on the controversial move, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols warned against the proposal to “annexe the territory of marriage” for same-sex couples and “weaken” an institution at the heart of society.

He also expressed some support for the activists camped outside St Paul’s Cathedral, saying that protest can help start important debates, but added that they needed to make their demands clearer.

And in response to the current scandals involving abuse committed by Catholic clergy, the Archbishop of Westminster admitted that the Church’s response to victims has been “inadequate”.

His comments highlight the fact that the Prime Minister will face strong opposition from traditional religious groups over the next year, despite receiving praise for his commitment to allow full marriage for same-sex couples for the first time.

Homosexuals have been allowed to enter into civil partnerships since 2005, giving them the same legal rights as heterosexuals.

From next month [they] will be able to hold the ceremonies in places of worship, providing the governing body of the faith group agrees. » | Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Editor | Friday, November 18, 2011

Sarkozy Insult to 'Island' Britain: Snarling French President Dismisses the English Saying 'You Don't Understand Europe'
MAIL ONLINE: French president Nicolas Sarkozy launched an astonishing attack on Britain’s attitude to Europe last night.

The furious French leader was branded the ‘new de Gaulle’ after claiming the British can’t comprehend Europe because we are ‘an island’.

‘You come from an island, so maybe you don’t understand the subtleties of European construction,’ he snapped at BBC Newsnight’s economics editor Paul Mason.

Mr Sarkozy had been asked whether it was right for the European Union to be attempting to block an EU referendum and install a coalition government in Greece.

His outburst was quickly seen as evidence that the diminutive French premier has contempt for both Greece and Britain.

His comments come less than two weeks after he snapped at David Cameron at a Brussels summit, telling the Prime Minister to stop telling the eurozone ‘what to do’ about the economic crisis. ‘You have lost a good opportunity to shut up,’ he said.

Also at the Brussels summit Mr Sarkozy publicly snubbed Mr Cameron by turning away as the Prime Minister offered his hand in friendship. » | James Chapman and Hugo Duncan | Saturday, November 05, 2011

What is this? The 'Little Englanders' Saturday Forum'? Europhobia abounds on this small island. Sarkozy is right: The English don't understand Europe at all. I am so glad he didn't include the Celtic fringe in his assertion. I truly believe that you will find very different attitudes to the EU in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Attitudes to Europe in the English press rarely speak for me, not being English, and certainly no 'Little Englander'. – © Mark

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The Poison of Bloomberg’s New York Reaches England: Stony Stratford Set to Ban Smoking in All Public Places
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An English town is set to follow the example of New York and become the first in Britain to ban smoking on its streets.

A campaign has been launched to outlaw smoking in all public places in Stony Stratford near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

If passed, the new bylaw would mean anyone caught lighting up in the historic market town would face a fine.

Senior politicians on the town’s council have indicated their support for the scheme, which comes after the mayor of New York banned smoking from parks and beaches in the US city last month.

The town’s council will discuss the concept next month before Milton Keynes Council is likely to be asked to use its powers to introduce the ban.

Stony Stratford Councillor Paul Bartlett, who is leading the campaign, said: "When you walk through the high street in any town, smoke is in your face and harming you and any children there. » | Murray Wardrop | Wednesday, June 29, 2011

French as a Mother-Tongue in Medieval England
The Norman Conquest of 1066 by William the Conqueror marks the beginning of an era of French influence in England[1]. However, despite logical reasoning, French did not become either the official or unofficial language of England. William was not combining the lands of Normandy and England, and had no wish to replace language or culture. Latin and English were used for most documents and formal proclamations by William, and the English legal system was renewed, not replaced. After all, William was claiming legitimacy to his succession. Nevertheless, the upper class was almost completely taken over by (French speaking) Normans, and although the system was English, many of the legal proceedings and documents were in French.

It is important to know that there were various dialects of French being spoken on the continent at this time and throughout the middle ages. Norman French was distinct from Parisian or Continental French, and, with time, the French spoken in England by the Norman landed gentry became distinct. Scholars refer to the particular dialect of French as spoken by England-dwelling native French speakers as Anglo-Norman or Anglo-French.

One interesting question is how long these aristocrats kept Anglo-Norman as their mother-tongue. William’s wish to preserve English as the national language was successful and no doubt is directly (though not solely) responsible for the inhabitants of England speaking English to this day. Additionally, despite taking over the upper class and the legal system, the Norman descendants speaking Anglo-Norman were still completely outnumbered by the masses of English speakers in every other class. Modern scholars estimate that the initial migration of Normans into England after the Conquest was no more than 20,000 people including the army, a number that was roughly 1.3% of England’s population (Berndt 1965, quoted in Kibbee 1991). So how long did it take for the native Anglo-Norman speakers to give up their language in favour of English? » | Jacquie Heys | Copyright 2001

The Domination of French in England
The Norman Conquest. Toward the close of the Old English period an event occurred which had a greater effect on the English language than any other in the course of its history. This event was the Norman Conquest in 1066. What the language would have been like if William the Conqueror had not succeeded in making good his claim to the English throne can only be a matter of conjecture. It would probably have pursued much the same course as the other Germanic languages, retaining perhaps more of its inflections and preserving a preponderantly Germanic vocabulary..., and incorporating words from other languages much less freely. In particular it would have lacked the greater part of that enormous number of French words which today make English seem, on the side of vocabulary, almost as much a Romance as a Germanic language. The Norman Conquest changed the whole course of the English language. An event of such far-reaching consequences must be considered in some detail. » | Albert C. Baugh & Thomas Cable

Charles Moore: Will There Always Be an England, Whatever the Origin of Its People?
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: We are clamping down on immigration now, but the gates have been wide open since 1997, writes Charles Moore.

EXTRACT: …Most of us do not want immigration on this scale. That is shown by every poll. But, in another sense, most of us do. You and I want someone to serve us in a bar and clean the hospitals and make cheap clothes. I want someone to drive me across town so that I can make my Colonel Blimp remarks to a friendly audience. Above all, we show, in our obsession with birth control, that we do not want to provide a big enough next generation of people like ourselves. Demographic projections now show Britain overtaking Germany as the largest EU country in 30 years or so. None of that growth will come from the indigenous white population.

All this need not be a total disaster. It is possible, though hard, to forge a United Kingdom made up of many ethnicities. Leaders like Mr Cameron are right to try to insist on common standards and better rules, rather than to despair. But whatever it is, and however well it turns out, it cannot be England. Perhaps when I am very old, my grandchildren will ask me what England was. It will be a hard question to answer, but I think I shall tell them that it seemed like a good idea while it lasted, and that it lasted for about 1,000 years. Read it all and comment » | Charles Moore | Friday, April 15, 2011

The Difference Between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Explained

Operation South Coast: Germany's Plans for the Invasion of Britain Revealed in Rare Nazi Book Not Seen for 70 Years
446-page Nazi war dossier details Hitler's planned 'Operation Sealion'. Photograph: Mail Online
MAIL ONLINE: With obscure technical diagrams and notes scrawled over its pages of faded colour maps, this book might appear as nothing more than an uninspiring aerial survey.

But these pictures are taken from Adolf Hitler's original war dossier of the planned Nazi invasion of Britain.

Unveiled for the first time 70 years to the day of Hitler's planned onslaught on England's south coast, the blueprints offer a chilling insight into what might have been on the morning of September 15, 1940.

The booklet pinpoints the quaint English coastal towns in the path of the Nazi ground assault, which could have been a grim reality had the RAF not performed so valiantly against the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.

The invaders' guide book also eerily shows how postcards identifying unmistakable landmarks such as Brighton Pier and Land's End were given to Nazi troops to identify their targets in preparation for their blitz of the British Isles. Read on and comment >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Fury as Israel President Claims English Are 'Anti-Semitic'
THE TELEGRAPH: Israel's president has accused the English of being anti-semitic and claimed that MPs pander to Muslim voters.

Shimon Peres said England was "deeply pro-Arab ... and anti-Israeli", adding: "They always worked against us."

He added: "There is in England a saying that an anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary."

His remarks, made in an interview on a Jewish website, provoked anger from senior MPs and Jewish leaders who said the 87-year-old president had "got it wrong".

But other groups backed the former Israeli prime minister and said the number of anti-semitic incidents had risen dramatically in the UK in recent years.

The controversy follows the furore last week over David Cameron's remark that Gaza was a "prison camp", as he urged Israel to allow aid and people to move freely in and out of the Palestinian territory.

Mr Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who is three years into his seven-year term as president and was awarded an honorary knighthood by the Queen in 2008, said that England's attitude towards Jews was Israel's "next big problem".

"There are several million Muslim voters, and for many members of parliament, that's the difference between getting elected and not getting elected," he said.

"And in England there has always been something deeply pro-Arab, of course, not among all Englishmen, and anti-Israeli, in the establishment.

"They abstained in the [pro-Zionist] 1947 UN partition resolution ... They maintained an arms embargo against us in the 1950s ... They always worked against us. They think the Arabs are the underdogs."

By contrast, relations with Germany, France and Italy were "pretty good", he added. >>> David Harrison and Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem | Saturday, July 31, 2010

Shimon Peres has got this right. MPs do pander to Muslims for votes. Further, the Foreign Office and the establishment of this country has long been pro-Arab. Bravo, Mr Peres for having the courage to state the truth! I applaud you. – © Mark

THE GUARDIAN: Israel president Shimon Peres accuses Britain of pro-Arab bias: Veteran politician claims MPs pander to Muslim voters with anti-Jewish rhetoric and glorify Palestinians as underdogs >>> Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem | Sunday, August 01, 2010

General Election 2010: Rise of the English Democrats

Anti-Semitism Creeps Back On To English Lawns
THE TELEGRAPH: Charles Moore reviews 'Trials of the Diaspora’ by Anthony Julius and finds the author's vigilance justified.

England can make the dubious boast of being the first country to have expelled the Jews en masse, in 1290. It also invented one of the strangest types of anti-Semitism, the blood libel. In the Middle Ages, Jews were massacred in York, Lincoln and elsewhere because of claims that they had kidnapped and killed Christian children for the blood of ritual sacrifice. This image of horror is still used against Jews. Modern newspaper cartoons – it is often in cartoons that the underlying visceral feeling appears most clearly – quite often depict Israeli leaders as deliberately killing children, and sometimes as vampiric. By a peculiar twist in our politics, such cartoons are now much more likely to appear in grand Leftish papers – such as the Guardian and the Independent – than in Right-wing popular ones.

There never was any evidence for the blood libel. But total lies can be surprisingly effective. In our time, the more important anti-Semitic lie is the denial of the Holocaust. You would think that its blatant untruth would kill it, but it turns out that the sheer scale of the lie has a curious power. Holocaust denial is a frequent feature of modern Muslim anti-Semitism, assiduously promoted by President Ahmedinejad of Iran. In this country, the Muslim Council of Britain, while not actually denying the events of the Second World War, objects to what it sees as the privileged status the words "the Holocaust" confer on Jews. It will only mark the Holocaust if other genocides are commemorated too, and many extreme Muslims pretend that Israel is itself genocidal.

Holocaust denial helps resolve a dilemma in the minds of anti-Semites. They believe that Jews secretly rule the world. But if this is true, how can it be that they allowed six million of their number to be murdered? Answer: it didn't happen! The Jews pretended they had been killed in order to win unique sympathy, set up their own state, and advance their power. The same mind-warp is applied to more recent events. Polls suggest that large minorities of Muslims believe that "the Jews" blew up the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Such madness is not confined to ignorant Muslim masses stirred up by fanatics: I have heard it seriously advanced by non-Muslims at a respectable dinner party. >>> Charles Moore | Monday, March 22, 2010

Hugo Chavez Demands Queen Returns [sic] Falkland Islands to Argentina
THE TELEGRAPH: President Hugo Chavez delivered a bizarre attack on the Queen when the firebrand Venezuelan leader demanded Britain return the Falkland Islands to Argentina.

Hugo Chavez has asked the Queen to return the Falkland Islands to Argentina. Photo: The Telegraph
The outspoken Mr Chavez used his weekly television and radio show Alo Presidente to rally Latin America behind the cause of his Argentine counterpart Cristina Kirchner by making a direct appeal to Buckingham Palace.

"Look, England, how long are you going to be in Las Malvinas? Queen of England, I'm talking to you," said Mr Chavez.

"The time for empires are [sic] over, haven't you noticed? Return the Malvinas to the Argentine people."

Still addressing the Queen, he went on: "The English are still threatening Argentina. Things have changed. We are no longer in 1982. If conflict breaks out, be sure Argentina will not be alone like it was back then."

He described British control of the islands in the South Atlantic as "anti-historic and irrational" and asked "why the English speak of democracy but still have a Queen". >>> Tom Leonard in Port Stanley | Monday, February 22, 2010

England’s Extremists
Watch Journeyman Pictures video here