Step In to Tackle Yobs, Says New Home Secretary Theresa May
THE TELEGRAPH: Members of the public should intervene to stop anti-social behaviour on Britain’s streets, the new Home Secretary has said.

In her first interview since her surprise appointment, Theresa May says she wants to create an atmosphere in which people feel able to stop gangs of youths blighting neighbourhoods. She suggests that more police would be on the beat – able to “help” citizens if confrontations threaten to become violent.

The Home Secretary tells The Daily Telegraph that her success in the post should be judged on whether “people feel safer in their own homes” and public faith in the police is restored.

Mrs May says a priority for the Government would be introducing laws to protect people tackling burglars and “good Samaritans” taking on troublemakers. She will also scrap dozens of Labour measures, such as ID cards, which threaten civil liberties.

“We need to generate an environment in which people are able to have the confidence to intervene,” she says. “The more we are able to generate that confidence, the more people will feel confident about intervening with kids on the street corner. I would like to have a situation where people felt able to intervene.” Mrs May, who was previously the shadow work and pensions secretary, also:

*Refuses to rule out a cut in the number of police officers under plans to reduce the Home Office budget.

*Pledges to end the “health and safety culture” in the police and return officers to the beat.

*Says she does not believe that there should be an absolute limit on the population but adds that plans are under way to introduce an annual cap for immigration from outside the European Union.

*Announces plans to take samples of the DNA of every prisoner in an attempt to make it easier to catch reoffenders.

Says the Government will push ahead with directly-elected “police chiefs” despite opposition from some chief constables. >>> Robert Winnett, and Andrew Porter | Friday, May 14, 2010

Labour MP Stephen Timms Stabbed at Constituency Surgery
THE TELEGRAPH: A former Labour minister has been taken to hospital after being stabbed during a constituency surgery.

Stephen Timms, 54, the financial secretary to the treasury in the last government, was attacked while holding a surgery in Beckton, East London.

The incident happened at 3.20pm at the Beckton Globe Library in Kingsford Way where Mr Timms holds a monthly surgery.

A police source said he was taken to hospital by ambulance where his injuries were not life threatening.

A 21-year-old woman was arrested at the scene and is in custody at an East London police station. >>> Duncan Gardham and Nick Collins | Friday, May 14, 2010

Ephraim Hardcastle: What does Margaret Thatcher Think of the Con-Lib Coalition?
MAIL ONLINE: What does Margaret Thatcher think of the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition? At 84, she isn't always au courant with the day's events but her friend and adviser, Tim Bell, says: 'I am absolutely certain she would have done exactly the same thing. Whilst she was principled and idealistic, she was also intensely pragmatic.' [Source: Mail Online] | Ephraim Hardcastle | Friday, May 14, 2010

Coalition Government: David Cameron Tells of Shock at Being Prime Minister
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has told of his shock at how quickly he was installed in Downing Street - and at being referred to as Prime Minister.

In an interview with The Sun, he said of Tuesday's historic changeover: ''If you had told me at lunchtime that I'd be in the Palace at ten past eight and in Downing Street at a quarter to nine, I would have said you were completely mad.''

The new premier, 43, also told of two instances since replacing Gordon Brown when he heard references to the Prime Minister, only to realise they were about him.

He told the paper: ''I had a wonderful moment...when the radio went off as I was just waking up in my own bed at home.

''I heard, 'This morning, the Prime Minister will...' and I thought, 'Oh God, what's he doing now? And then I thought, 'Oh no, hang on a second - it's me!'''

The other came at Buckingham Palace after he was appointed by the Queen. >>> | Friday, May 14, 2010

David Cameron Hails 'Seismic Shift' in Politics
THE INDEPENDENT: David Cameron hailed "a historic and seismic shift" in Britain's political landscape today as he launched the country's first coalition government since the Second World War.

The new Prime Minister marked his inaugural day in office by handing two major economic portfolios to his Liberal Democrat allies, anointing Vince Cable as Business Secretary and David Laws as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

He also promised "very early legislation" to establish fixed-term Parliaments, effectively enshrining in law the Conservatives' five-year coalition deal with the Lib Dems.

At a joint news conference with new Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - held in the garden of No 10 - Mr Cameron said the award of a total of five Cabinet jobs to Lib Dems underlined the parties' "sincere determination" to work together. >>> PA | Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Blairites Rally Round Brown in Desperate Effort to Keep Tories Out
TIMES ONLINE: A measure of the determination, or perhaps desperation, with which Gordon Brown clings to power can be found in the counsel he chose when writing his post-election statement yesterday.

“Am back in my old office!” Alastair Campbell announced, with suitable incredulity, to friends in a text message from deep inside Downing Street over lunchtime.

He joined Lord Mandelson and Lord Adonis — those most pluralist of peers — to help the Prime Minister to draft words that could yet pave the way for the completion of what some call the “new Labour mission” but others have ridiculed as a wild Blairite fantasy.

There remain many obstacles to a “progressive majority” coalition with the Lib Dems, not least the reluctance of Nick Clegg himself. But the speed and confidence with which Labour has begun to navigate this uncharted terrain may just develop enough momentum to make it traversable.

The Conservatives had hoped that Labour would react to the loss of 90 seats — and a share of the vote that would have made Michael Foot blush — with the self-destructive mutual recrimination in which the party has so often indulged. >>> Tom Baldwin | Saturday, May 08, 2010

Britain to Go to Polls Again Within 12 Months, Experts Say
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain is very likely to go to the polls within 12 months, political experts have warned, costing the parties millions in further expense.

As the Conservatives started to negotiate with the Liberal Democrats about forming some form of alliance, political historians warned that it there was a strong chance that Britain would be forced to go to the polls by as soon as the end of the year.

Dr Richard Toye, an historian at Exeter University, said: "I'd bet on an election in October or November this year." >>> Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor | Friday, May 07, 2010

Hung Parliament in the UK: A Very Un-British Election Result
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Britain, it seems, has finally become European, at least in its political system. The UK's much-dreaded hung parliament would be business as usual on the Continent, where parties are used to forming coalition governments. Britain's unfair first-past-the-post system needs to finally be fixed.

British beer is famous for tasting flat to continental Europeans. Equally flat was the mood that set in over the course of the long election night after Britons voted in Thursday's general election. The result is disappointingly undecided: The British wanted change, but not enough to actually get it.

They have obviously had enough of Labour's Gordon Brown and his government, but they do not necessarily want Conservative challenger David Cameron as prime minister. With around 36 percent of the total vote, the Tories narrowly missed their goal of winning a majority of seats in parliament. Now the British have produced a very un-British election result: a hung parliament in which no single party has a majority of seats.

In the eyes of the Brits, coalition governments have been regarded, at least up until now, as an excessively complex invention by those continental Europeans. Such governments were seen as incapable of action, and coalitions were thought to promote haggling between parties and political corruption.

The British are accustomed to having a single government party and a large opposition party in their parliament. The government -- which, thanks to the undemocratic first-past-the-post system, usually had a comfortable majority -- dictated their policies; the opposition railed against them. Once the ruling party had run out of steam, the roles were reversed. New Political Territory >>> A Commentary by Michael Sontheimer | Friday, May 07, 2010

On Outskirts Of London, Far-Right Seeks Foothold

British Lapdog Gets Ready to Be Set Loose

Media Hype? Nick Clegg Nearly as Popular as Winston Churchill
THE SUNDAY TIMES: NICK CLEGG, the Liberal Democrat leader who until a few days ago was little known to voters, is now the most popular party leader since Winston Churchill, a new Sunday Times poll reveals.

Following his decisive victory in last week’s television debate, Clegg has surged to a higher approval rating than Tony Blair at the peak of new Labour’s popularity.

Last night, as the YouGov survey showed that the three parties are almost neck and neck, Labour and the Tories desperately tried to respond to the Clegg phenomenon.

The general election has become a genuine three-way contest with the Lib Dems, on 29%, enjoying their strongest support in almost 30 years. >>> Jonathan Oliver and David Smith | Sunday, April 18, 2010

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Lib Dems in Front for First Time in 104 Years >>> | Sunday, April 18, 2010

«Zehntausende pro Jahr, und nicht Hunderttausende» : Tories wollen Einwanderung in Grossbritannien einschränken
NZZ ONLINE: Die britischen Tories haben im Wahlprogramm ihren europaskeptischen Kurs festgeschrieben. Die Partei verspricht in ihrem Manifest, dass es unter einer konservativen Regierung über alle EU-Angelegenheiten ein Referendum geben werde.

«Wir werden nicht zulassen, dass Grossbritannien in ein föderalistisches Europa schlittert», heisst es in dem Programm, das Parteichef David Cameron am Dienstag in London vorstellte.

Darin versprachen die Tories zudem, die jährliche Zahl der Einwanderer aus Nicht-EU-Ländern zu begrenzen. Die Zahl solle auf das Niveau der 90er Jahre gedrückt werden - «Zehntausende pro Jahr, und nicht Hunderttausende».

Die traditionell euroskeptischen Tories versicherten auch, dass Grossbritannien unter einer Tory-Regierung niemals den Euro einführen würde. Zudem wollen sie die Bürger generell mehr an der Regierung beteiligen. >>> sda/dpa | Dienstag, 13. April 2010

David Cameron s'engage à «rendre le pouvoir au peuple»
David Cameron, lors de la présentation du programme officiel de son partipour les élections législatives,mardi à Londres. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le chef des conservateurs britanniques veut s'attaquer aux déficits et limiter le rôle de l'État.

De correspondant du Figaro à Londres

Pas d'annonces surprises ni de grandes promesses coûteuses. David Cameron a quelque peu rompu avec la tradition des grands discours électoraux lors de sa présentation du programme conservateur mardi à Londres. Après avoir longuement laissé la parole à ses principaux futurs ministres, le chef des tories a précisé sa vision du gouvernement s'il réussissait à obtenir une majorité des députés à la Chambres des communes lors des législatives, dans trois semaines.

Promettant de rendre «le pouvoir au peuple», le jeune leader des conservateurs a présenté le manifeste de son parti, un épais livre de 130 pages intitulé: «Invitation à rejoindre le gouvernement de Grande-Bretagne.» «Les projets contenus dans ce manifeste vont changer la Grande-Bretagne pour le meilleur, mais seulement avec votre implication», a-t-il dit. >>> Par Cyrille Vanlerberghe | Mercredi 14 Avril 2010

Labour Is 'Worst Government Ever', Says Mark Serwotka
THE TELEGRAPH: The Labour government has been branded the "worst in the history of this country” by the head of one of Britain’s biggest trade unions.

Mark Serwotka Photo: The Telegraph
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said the government’s poor treatment of public sector workers meant it was a worse employer than the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher or John Major.

In a bitter attack, he called for unions to take “united industrial action” as a last resort to defend jobs, pensions and services.

The comments – in an address to the National Union of Teachers’ annual conference in Liverpool – drew an extraordinary response from activists.

In scenes reminiscent of union rallies of the 60s and 70s, teachers chanted “the workers, united, will never be defeated” as they gave Mr Serwotka a standing ovation.

It was a further signal that the incoming government is likely to face a bitter battle with public sector unions over major cuts imposed to reduce Britain’s multi-billion pound deficit.

The move came as the NUT – Britain’s biggest classroom union – passed an emergency resolution rejecting plans by “all major parties" for cuts which they claim will impact on children’s education.

It called for a “coordinated campaign of action, up to and including strike action where needed” to oppose pay freezes, threats to pensions and cuts to jobs.

One NUT member said the union should be put on a "war footing". >>> Graeme Paton, Education Editor | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

Screwy Is as Screwy Does! Now Vegans Are Covered by Harman’s Equality Law
MAIL ONLINE: Vegans, teetotallers and atheists are to be given the same protection against discrimination as religious groups, under Harriet Harman's controversial new equality laws.

People who do not eat products and refuse to wear leather have been singled out for inclusion under the new legislation by Labour's super-quango - the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

Official guidance issued by the body points out that the 'ethical commitment' of vegan's to animal welfare is 'central to who they are'.

The code of practice explains the legal implications of the equality bill states that religions need not be mainstream or well known for their adherents to gain protection.

The Equality Bill, masterminded by Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman*, is due to come into force this Autumn.

It makes it a legal requirement for public authorities, including schools, to consider the impact of all their policies on minority groups.

But the guidance explains: “A belief need not include faith or worship of a god or gods, but must affect how a person lives their life or perceives the world.” >>> Kirsty Walker | Monday, March 08, 2010

*Harman appears to be a card-carrying member of the SEG. (SEG = Social Engineering Gestapo)

Pope Benedict XVI Criticises ‘Unjust’ Effects of Harriet Harman’s Equality Bill
THE TELEGRAPH: Pope Benedict XVI has criticised Harriet Harman’s “unjust” Equality Bill for trying to prevent religious groups remain true to their beliefs.

The pontiff claimed Labour’s flagship anti-discrimination legislation “actually violates” natural law, and suggested that it contravened “long-standing British traditions” of freedom of speech.

He also urged Roman Catholics in the UK to “speak with a united voice” in a secular and multicultural society, as he confirmed that he will make a historic state visit to the country later this year.

His comments come a week after Christian peers defeated the Government on a key part of the Equality Bill.

Existing exemptions for religious employment were set to be changed, and churches feared under the new rules they would have face prosecution unless they went against their beliefs by employing homosexuals and transsexuals. Catholics said the law could have forced them to admit women to the priesthood.

The controversial clause was dropped after a vote in the House of Lords although it is possible that the European Commission may now intervene to back the Government’s original plan.

In an address delivered on Monday to Catholic bishops from England and Wales who had made the five-yearly ad Limina pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, the pope attacked the implications of the Equality Bill.

He said: “Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed.

“I urge you as Pastors to ensure that the Church’s moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others - on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth. >>> Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Monday, February 01, 2010

Pope Condemns Gay Equality Laws Ahead of First UK Visit
THE GUARDIAN: Benedict XVI says legislation safeguarding rights of same-sex couples violates 'natural law' of human equality

Pope Benedict XVI has condemned British equality legislation for running contrary to "natural law" as he confirmed his first visit to the UK later this year.

In a letter addressed to the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, the pope praised Britain's "firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all".

However he criticised UK legislation for creating "limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs".

It is thought his comments relate to laws that came in last year preventing adoption agencies from discriminating against gay couples.

The pope, whose visit is expected in September, made the comments after hearing representations from English and Welsh bishops on their concerns about the place of religion in an increasingly secular society. They told him sexual orientation legislation that came into effect on 1 January 2009 had forced the closure of half of the Roman Catholic agencies because the law making it illegal to discriminate against gay applicants went against their beliefs.

In his letter the pope said: "The effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.

"In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed." >>> Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent | Monday, February 01, 2010

UKIP Woos White Working Class with Call for Total Ban on Burkas
My comment on this article in The Times today:

Ms Jagger, this is not a class issue; rather, this is an issue of national identity and preserving one's culture and values. The burqah does not belong here. The practice has its roots in the desert. It is actually not Islamic, even though it has come to represent Islamic fundamentalism. Its actual roots lie in the class structure of Saudi Arabia! Upper class women in Arabia, the city-dwellers, wore them for two main reasons: to protect the skin from the hot sun in the desert (pale skin on women is prized there even to this day); and as the hallmark of a lady who didn't have to do manual labour, as the poorer classes did.

There is therefore absolutely no reason for wearing them in the United Kingdom. They were never really a religious duty anyway. The prophet of Islam called for modesty. One doesn't have to cover oneself from head to foot to preserve one's modesty! – © Mark

TIMES ONLINE: The UK Independence Party is to call for a ban on the burka and the niqab — the Islamic cloak that covers women from head to toe and the mask that conceals most of the face — claiming they affront British values. The policy, which a number of European countries are also debating, is an attempt by UKIP to broaden its appeal and address the concerns of disaffected white working-class voters.

UKIP would be the first national party to call for a total ban on burkas, though the far-Right BNP believes they should be banned from schools.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, the leader of UKIP, said yesterday: “We are taking expert advice on how we could do it. It makes sense to ban the burka — or anything which conceals a woman’s face — in public buildings. But we want to make it possible to ban them in private buildings. It isn’t right that you can’t see someone’s face in an airport.”

He explained that UKIP wanted to bring to the fore the issue of the increasing influence of Sharia in Britain: “We are not Muslim bashing, but this is incompatible with Britain’s values of freedom and democracy.”

Nigel Farage, the former UKIP party leader, will announce tomorrow that the party believes the fabric of the country is under threat from Sharia and that forcing women to conceal their identity in public is not consistent with traditional Britishness.

UKIP believes that the burka and the niqab have no basis in Islam, are a threat to gender equality, marginalise women and endanger the public safety because terrorists could use them to hide their identity. >>> Suzy Jagger, Politics and Business Correspondent | Saturday, January 16, 2010

Female? Black? Gay? All Three? Then You're More Likely to Become an MP Under Controversial New Plans
MAIL ONLINE: Controversial plans were unveiled yesterday to force political parties to make Parliament less white, male, middle-class and heterosexual.

Under proposals backed by Commons Speaker John Bercow, but labelled as 'insulting' by former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe, parties will be made to declare publicly how many women, ethnic minority, gay and disabled applicants they reject as potential Parliamentary candidates.

Parties also face demands to ensure at least half the MPs leaving Parliament at the next election - in what is expected to be the biggest exodus since 1945 - are replaced by women.

The proposals have emerged from a crossparty review set up by former Commons Speaker Michael Martin - and taken forward by his successor, Mr Bercow - on how to make the chamber more representative.

In an interim report published yesterday, the panel said parties must be made to be more transparent about the people putting themselves forward as would-be MPs.

The report said: 'The fact remains that, at present, the House of Commons continues to be largely white, male, middle-aged and middle-class: people from under-represented groups who are putting themselves forward for selection are still proportionately less likely to be selected.' >>> | Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Dhimmitude Alert! More Balls from Ed Balls!
MAIL ONLINE: The Government department headed by schools secretary Ed Balls has lavished £3million on luxury office refurbishments including a massage room, it emerged last night.

A 'contemplation suite' and an area set aside for Muslim prayer have been installed as part of a major makeover of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Designer furniture was shipped over from Italy for the office refit, while black granite surface tops have been laid in the kitchen areas.

The most costly expense was a grand staircase made from glass and surgical steel. Its price tag is understood to have run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A gym, four lifts, six meeting rooms with high-tech conference equipment and two cafes have plumped up the bill for the two-year project to £3m.

News of the makeover comes as Mr Balls prepares to cut £2billion from the country's schools budget, meaning jobs will be slashed across the education system. Ed Balls spends £3m on office makeover... including massage room and Muslim prayer area >>> Fay Schlesinger | Monday, September 28, 2009

The New Politics of Decline
THE SPECTATOR: Trevor Kavanagh says that Britain’s pitiful standing on the world stage is not just about al-Megrahi or the recession, but is the result of Labour’s disastrous mismanagement. Everything now depends on Cameron

For the incurable optimist — of which there are no doubt several in the Downing Street bunker — there are signs that Britain is starting to recover. The stock market is booming once more, confidence is returning to the housing market and the recession may soon be over. Is it possible Gordon Brown really has saved the world — even if it is too late to save himself? Or, as Labour used to warble, might things only get better?

If only. The bleak truth for UK plc is that after 12 years of stupefying Labour incompetence, the worst is yet to come. Britain is once again on the slide towards the margins of economic influence and military clout. We have the worst public finances of any comparable western economy. The British Chambers of Commerce warned this week that the UK faces a ‘grim’ economic future, with a high risk of a relapse. Unemployment is not just spreading but setting like concrete for years to come. And our shabbily treated troops, once a match for the world’s best, will soon be driven humiliatingly out of Afghanistan.

This is not the slow, managed decline of an empire looking for a role. It is a sudden, embarrassing discovery that we don’t count on the world stage any more. Thanks to our lumbering Prime Minister, we have been given the unwelcome gift to see ourselves as others see us. And it ain’t pretty.

I am writing this from New York, whose citizens once saw Britain as a staunch economic, diplomatic and military ally. It is only a few short years since they hailed Tony Blair as a 9/11 hero and awarded him the Congressional Medal he was so embarrassed to collect. That was the high-water mark for New Labour.

Today, thanks to the Oil-for-Megrahi fiasco, we are a bitter disappointment to America. Newspapers from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Daily News are still running every fresh turn in this tawdry story.

It was perfectly summed up by a devastatingly editorial in the News: ‘Gordon Brown has given grounds to believe today’s British are a cowardly, unprincipled, amoral and duplicitous lot. Because he is all of those.’ Those are cruelly exaggerated words, but they put the finger on a single identifiable cause of Britain’s collapse. The new decline in Britain’s standing on the world stage is not just about Lockerbie. Nor is it even the decision to trade a convicted mass murderer for Libya’s vast oil reserves. It is about the shifty, furtive and ultimately disastrous management of a country which, in 1997, had every conceivable chance of becoming great again.

Labour strode to power with a huge Commons majority, the goodwill of the British people and the prospect of at least two terms in office. For the first time, Labour could ride an economy which had just taken off on a long and sustainable boom.

Tony Blair could have done one or two truly great things. His government had the cash and clout to transform a welfare state in which almost three million were on incapacity benefit. Instead, it left them to rot while importing migrants to fill almost all of the three million new jobs created. It could have performed drastic but urgently needed surgery on the lumbering National Health Service. Instead, it poured truckloads of taxpayers’ money into a giant bureaucracy, entrenching inefficiencies that will cost us up to £40 billion a year, every year. >>> Trevor Kavanagh | Wednesday, September 9, 2009

BNP Wins First Ever County Council Seat in Major Victory for Far-right Party
MAIL Online: The British National Party won its first ever county council seat in the UK today.

The far right party won its first seat in Lancashire in the party's stronghold of Burnley as Labour was routed.

Sharon Wilkinson was elected to Lancashire County Council with a massive 30 per cent of the vote as electors dumped Labour in their droves.

Her victory in the Padiham and Burnley West ward, where she was born and brought up, is a major victory for the party. >>> By Jaya Narain and Beth Hale | Friday, June 05, 2009