The Hezbulla Trophy

The Pulmyplonker prize for Dead Tree Press photography



Read the full story Here
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STOP EU Number Plate up for grabs

The People's No Campaign has the above plate on retention.They registered it in order to raise funds for the campaign.Serious bids only to mail@thepeoplesnocampaign.co.uk

I have started the bidding with £200
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I have no choice

Judge say's "an obscure degrees-by-post establishment" = "bogus degree"



Look into my eyes, the eyes, not around the eyes, you are a TwaT
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Middle East bird flue outbreak

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Not Apart at Height

Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Peter Hain was at the centre of a row today over expensive taxpayer-funded flights to sporting events in the Republic of Ireland

The Belfast Telegraph has learned that Hain flew in specially chartered planes to a Dublin rugby international and two Sligo motor racing events within the past year.



Peter Hain said Northern Ireland was "leading the rest of the UK" in green energy provision. BBC

So, no carbon emissions on a sleazy 'Guinness run' eh
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Chewing the fat

While the rest of the world chew the fat in Rome, Israeli Defense Minister, Amir Peretz, has said Israel would retain a "security strip" along the 80 km Israeli, Lebanese frontier. Peretz said the buffer zone was "temporary", and would be maintained only until the arrival of an international peacekeeping force recommended by the EU and US.



But so far, no country has volunteered its soldiers for the mission. So much for the European Union Rapid Reaction Force.

It would be quicker to spray the zone with pig fat, than to wait for the European Union pig to fly
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Change to Win

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Not quite the poppy fields of flanders

BUT


David Cameron has arrived in Afghanistan to visit British troops and assure them that his party supports the job they are doing.

Senior Conservative MPs are also urging David Cameron to push for the licensing of legal opium farming in Afghanistan

Hug a Squadie and back Afghan opium legalisation.
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Scottish loan for English party

According to new evidence, a firm controlled by businessman Malcolm Scott, a treasurer for the Scottish Tories, loaned £200,000 to the Conservatives last year with interest paid at less than the Bank of England base rate. Sunday Times

So what were the Bank of Scotland's base rates

English loans for English parties, or should we have a 'Bank of Britain'

AT THE NEXT ELECTION what will we really achieve unless we use our vote to kick the 'corrupt parties' out of Parliament, all we have to do, is simply voting INDEPENDENT.

Obviously if the party candidate depends on the party for his ticket on to the gravy-train, then the party depends upon us to continue voting for their "corrupt party".

The sooner we stop voting for parties, the sooner their game will be up and control of the country will return to the people, where it really belongs. Individual liberty is the real democracy, not this collectivist sham that gives you a vote but takes away your power after you have voted.

At the next election, the only "wasted vote" would be that given to ANY party, which perpetuates the "elective dictatorship". We would be helping to create a free parliament once again, which can stop bad government before it occurs, instead of having to wait FIVE YEARS to try to repair the damage!
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Defenders of Culture

THEY have led soldiers into battle and frightened the enemy with their noise, while becoming one of Scotland's most enduring musical icons.

But the skirl of the traditional Scottish bagpipes is now under threat - from health and safety inspectors. Scotsman
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Nothing to Declare

The Deputy Prime Minister, already reeling after a damning report by the parliamentary watchdog, was dealt a fresh blow yesterday, as he admitted that he failed to declare to Customs the gift of a cowboy outfit from Philip Anschutz. Independent



The obligation to declare overseas gifts to Customs "on importation" is clearly set out in the ministerial code, the rule-book against government sleaze.

Mr Prescott's office sought to deny the latest breach, insisting that he did not want to keep the Stetson, belt, spurs and cowboy boots, and thus didn't owe any tax.

We better keep an eye on ebay then, or maybe it will turn up at the next labour party auction. get it. sign it. sell it. love it.
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Howells Howls

Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells has said, Israeli air strikes on Lebanon in the past 11 days did not always appear to be just hitting Hizbollah targets.

These have not been surgical strikes. It's very, very difficult to understand the kind of military tactics that have been used,"

I'm with you in Rockland where there are twenty-five-thousand mad com-rades all together singing the final stanzas of the Internationale

There are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
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No anti semite plagiarism here

(click on title)



View the History ironics
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The Court Jester

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"re-balancing" the criminal justice system

John Reid the Home Secretary, announced plans today to toughen sentencing guidelines following mounting public anger at a judicial system perceived as being too soft on serious criminals.



"The overriding and primary aim of this review is to ensure that the criminal justice system is geared at every stage to protecting the public and putting the interests of the law-abiding majority and the victim first,"

"I do not regard this as a matter of just being tougher or softer but it is about being fairer and smarter and above all, better protecting the public against serious offenders."

some like it hot, others opt for a levy ooops level playing field.
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EXTRA GAOL PLACES

EIGHT thousand new prison places are to be built to keep Britain's criminals behind bars.

Home Secretary John Reid will announce one of the biggest Gaol-building programmes for decades costing tens of millions of pounds.



A senior Government source said: "The public rightly wants to see offenders serving their time behind bars - not out in the community."

Investigations by Yates of the Yard must be coming to there natural conclusion.
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ID cards 'could increase identity theft'

The Conservatives have attacked the government's plans for identity cards, saying they could increase the risk of identity theft. epolitix



Shadow home secretary David Davis told MPs that ministers had exaggerated the justifications for introducing the ID card and reported that the database holding the information could be open to abuse.

"One of the FBI's leading identity fraud consultants said the ID card could be replicated by criminals perfectly in six months. In order for the House to be absolutely sure, can the minister guarantee that the ID card will be 100 per cent secure against fraud? Yes or No?"

Joan Ryan claimed it would be a "ridiculous contention" to say that "anything was 100 per cent secure".

Put in my place

I have been ticked off by Andy Davey cartoonist for nicking elements of his cartoons in my posting 'montage' accompaniments.

here is what he wrote

Dear Anoneumouse

I have just been alerted (by my fellow cartoonist Matt Buck) to your use of some cartoon material of mine, obviously nicked from my website [the graphic of Blair in "Sleazier then you" and "That's the way to do it", 16/7/06 - credit - anoneumouse]. (It was actually a google.com cache)

I'm generally in favour of political blogs - they're satirical, occasionally funny, and they stir up the poo. However, you obviously have a political aim (EU withdrawal, for example), which I don't agree with. Scrolling down your blog, I notice you've also pinched work from other cartoonists (Steve Bell and Martin Rowson, for example) for use in your montages. I do not want my work used to promote political aims I disagree with.

There are laws of copyright protection. My website contains a specific instruction that all artwork is copyright-protected and permission should be sought. If you want to make money or mileage out of my artwork, ask me first. A simple e-mail request would be polite. Don't nick stuff - didn't your mum tell you it's not nice?

Andy Davey
mailto:cartoons@andydavey.com
http://www.andydavey.com

So according to Andy all montages are illegal, 'copyright wise'

Hmmmmmmmmm, my mum taught me that, to use another person’s work without his permission is legal only when one uses it in such a manner as not to cause the essential characteristics in the expressive form of the work to be perceived directly as such.

I guess, I shouldn't take the piss! 'Mum' never really knew how to suck egg's.



Parody needs to mimic original, at least to the extent the audience can perceive the original expression. Therefore, if one has to make the original expression unperceivable in order to avoid infringement, there is no way to create parody as a logical consequence.
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sleazier than you

Cherie Blair was last night at the centre of a damaging sleaze row amid revelations that she used her position to help the partner of her personal fixer to lobby for lucrative NHS contracts. Mail on Sunday
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That's the way to do it

Russian President Vladimir Putin took a deliberate swipe at Anthony the Spiv on Saturday, turning a question about democracy into a jab at Blair's embattled fundraiser Lord Levy.




Putin was fielding reporters' questions at the end of the first day of a G8 summit in St Petersburg when a journalist from a British newspaper asked him how he would deal with Blair's inevitable grilling on the state of Russian democracy.

He said after a long pause. "Questions, let's say, about the fight against corruption. We'd be interested in hearing your experience, including how it applies to Lord Levy."
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Blair rated 'sleaziest'

Tony Blair's Labour government is regarded by the public as sleazier than John Major's government of the 1990s, according to a new poll.



The YouGov poll showed that 69 per cent of the public regarded Labour as "very sleazy and disreputable'', compared with 63 per cent of voters who thought the same of the last government, which New Labour ousted from power nine years ago.
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Press Release:Immediate

Metric Martyrs Defence Fund14th July 2006

High Court 'Parking Ticket Judgment' could create a tax windfall for businesses... Justice Collins decision in the High Court could lead to a 'fine mess' for the Inland Revenue

High Court Judgment Set to Cost the Inland Revenue Millions Mr Justice Collins decided last week that parking tickets are not fines but 'civil responsibilities' and this judgment means that businesses can claim that all such 'responsibilities' as allowable expenses. because they are no longer considered to be fines.

Businesses all over the country are consulting their tax specialists and there appears to be a majority opinion that the decision of Justice Collins will now cost the Inland Revenue millions of pounds, because businesses can now offset their parking 'responsibilities' against taxes due to be paid.

The High Court case was brought on 5th July 2006 by Robin Decrittenden in an application to strike down decriminalised parking fines because there is conflict with the constitutional provisions enshrined in the Bill of Rights...which says that no-one can be fined except by a court. Decriminalised Parking does not allow access to a court and deCrittenden argues that this is unconstitutional. The Bill of Rights was confirmed in the Metric Martyrs High Court Judgment in 2002 as being a constitutional statute of major importance (see 7 below)

However, what was witnessed in the High Court last week was worthy of Humpty Dumpty but not very worthy of a High Court Judge. Read the Sunday Telegraph report of the case here

The crux of Justice Collin's decision was that parking tickets are not fines but 'civil responsibilities.' Judge Collins stated that the Adjudicators and Local Authorities could now 'breathe a collective sigh of relief' as Decrittenden's case was 'without merit.'This decision has now opened up a massive can of worms for the Inland Revenue and has created a huge embarrassment for the Government - Perhaps the adjudicators and the local authorities should be prepared to hold their collective breath a little longer.

This is because the Inland Revenue site states:NIM05630 - Class 1 NICs : Expenses and allowances : Car parking fines "Fines for illegal parking are not allowable business expenses. Any payment which an employer makes towards the cost of fines incurred by an employee, and for which they are liable, should be included in gross pay for Class 1 NICs purposes."

The Government's own website, DirectGov gives advice on 'Paying and Appealing Parking Fines' with links to, and therefore implicating, EVERY local authority.Robin de Crittenden is a most unlikely and very unwilling Knight on a White Horse for the Cause of the Inland Revenue or the Government...but nonetheless, he is looking forward to a seat in the House of Lords as his reward for doing battle with Judge Humpty Dumpty. An appeal against Judge Collins' decision was lodged at the Court of Appeal yesterday.

If the Court of Appeal overturns the Collins decision and confirms the position now being taken by Robin De Crittenden; the Government and the Inland Revenue's - that parking tickets are fines - then we are back to the position that the Bill of Rights forbids all fines or forfeitures without conviction...

AND...if that is the case then Decriminalised Parking falls and a £1.2 billion a year 'Parking Industry' falls with it.

ENDS:Contact:Neil Herron(Campaign Director)Metric Martyrs Defence Fund12 Frederick StreetSunderlandSR1 1NATel. 0191 565 7143 Mob. 07776 202045Website: http://www.metricmartyrs.co.uk/ e-mail: metricmartyrs@btconnect.com

Notes for Editors:
1. 'Parking Fine Mess' case now set for the Court of Appeal...Judge Humpty Dumpty's decision to be challenged.

2. Read the application for Judicial Review submission by Robin Decrittenden here

3. Recent Metric Martyrs News:- German Bar in Glasgow faces prosecution for selling beer by the litre ... Metric Martyrs Campaign called to assist. Read the news reports here- Devon Market Trader faces prosecution for selling 46p worth of onions on imperial scales ... Metric Martyrs Campaign called to assist. Read the news reports here

4. House of Commons Transport Committee's Parking Report here

5. BBC Reports Robin Decrittenden's Bill of Rights case news here

6. News reports of Steve Thoburn's scale seizures here

7. Thoburn v Sunderland City Council [2002] EWHC 195 (Admin), [2003] QB 151 ("Metric Martyrs" ruling) 18 Feb 2002 [Extract]

62 Where does this leave the constitutional position which I have stated? Mr Shrimpton would say that Factortame (No 1) was wrongly decided; and since the point was not argued, there is scope, within the limits of our law of precedent, to depart from it and to hold that implied repeal may bite on the ECA as readily as upon any other statute. I think that would be a wrong turning. My reasons are these. In the present state of its maturity the common law has come to recognise that there exist rights which should properly be classified as constitutional or fundamental: see for example such cases as Simms [2000] 2 AC 115 per Lord Hoffmann at 131, Pierson v Secretary of State [1998] AC 539, Leech [1994] QB 198, Derbyshire County Council v Times Newspapers Ltd. [1993] AC 534, and Witham [1998] QB 575. And from this a further insight follows. We should recognise a hierarchy of Acts of Parliament: as it were "ordinary" statutes and "constitutional" statutes. The two categories must be distinguished on a principled basis. In my opinion a constitutional statute is one which (a) conditions the legal relationship between citizen and State in some general, overarching manner, or (b) enlarges or diminishes the scope of what we would now regard as fundamental constitutional rights. (a) and (b) are of necessity closely related: it is difficult to think of an instance of (a) that is not also an instance of (b). The special status of constitutional statutes follows the special status of constitutional rights. Examples are the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Union, the Reform Acts which distributed and enlarged the franchise, the HRA, the Scotland Act 1998 and the Government of Wales Act 1998. The ECA clearly belongs in this family. It incorporated the whole corpus of substantive Community rights and obligations, and gave overriding domestic effect to the judicial and administrative machinery of Community law. It may be there has never been a statute having such profound effects on so many dimensions of our daily lives. The ECA is, by force of the common law, a constitutional statute.

63 Ordinary statutes may be impliedly repealed. Constitutional statutes may not. For the repeal of a constitutional Act or the abrogation of a fundamental right to be effected by statute, the court would apply this test: is it shown that the legislature's actual – not imputed, constructive or presumed – intention was to effect the repeal or abrogation? I think the test could only be met by express words in the later statute, or by words so specific that the inference of an actual determination to effect the result contended for was irresistible. The ordinary rule of implied repeal does not satisfy this test. Accordingly, it has no application to constitutional statutes. I should add that in my judgment general words could not be supplemented, so as to effect a repeal or significant amendment to a constitutional statute, by reference to what was said in Parliament by the minister promoting the Bill pursuant to Pepper v Hart [1993] AC 593. A constitutional statute can only be repealed, or amended in a way which significantly affects its provisions touching fundamental rights or otherwise the relation between citizen and State, by unambiguous words on the face of the later statute. 64 This development of the common law regarding constitutional rights, and as I would say constitutional statutes, is highly beneficial. It gives us most of the benefits of a written constitution, in which fundamental rights are accorded special respect. But it preserves the sovereignty of the legislature and the flexibility of our uncodified constitution. It accepts the relation between legislative supremacy and fundamental rights is not fixed or brittle: rather the courts (in interpreting statutes, and now, applying the HRA) will pay more or less deference to the legislature, or other public decision-maker, according to the subject in hand. Nothing is plainer than that this benign development involves, as I have said, the recognition of the ECA as a constitutional statute.
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Con you a bit Party

We are not brave enough to stand alone



In Europe and subservient to it.
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Not just Levy

Lord Levy is the Labour Party’s high-profile fundraiser. A close friend of the Prime Minister from the days when he helped finance and run a blind trust in Blair’s Opposition days. Levy, along with Matt Carter, the then general secretary of the Labour Party organised the private loans given to the Labour Party by wealthy donors in the run-up to the last election.
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The Clever Dumb balance restored

As Tony Blair's special envoy to the Middle East is arrested, questioned and bailed to appear at another date, the roar of a low-flying Israeli F16's is heard over Lebanon's International Airport.

So did Yates of the Yard, request that Lord Levy surrender his passport as a condition of bail?

And do we have a Kosher extradition arrangement with Israel under the Extradition Act 2003 ?
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Is he trustworthy

Click on the above image for full story from ConservativeHome blog


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Deputy Dawg

John Prescott is under pressure again after it has been alleged that American tycoon Philip Anschutz gave him a hand-crafted Wild West outfit.




According to a source, the present given to the Deputy Prime Minister included a pair of tooled leather boots, a Stetson hat and a belt with his initials on a silver buckle.

Apparently similar items made by local craftsmen can cost anything up to £20,000.

The suit was said to have been given to Mr Prescott during a two-night stay at Mr Anschutz's Colorado ranch last year.
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ID cards doomed

Anthony the Spiv's flagship identity cards scheme is set to fail and may not be introduced for a generation, according to leaked Whitehall e-mails from the senior officials responsible for the multi-billion-pound project. Sunday Times



The problems are so serious that ministers have been forced to draw up plans for a scaled-down “face-saving” version to meet their pledge of phasing in the cards from 2008.

That is, if one assumes, that the purveyor of 'bluepeter badges' hasn't been lifted by Yates of the Yard before 2008.
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Bringing a Message of Hope and Deliverance

'hug a hoodie'

David Cameron will completely re-engineer the Conservatives' image on crime this week with a remarkable speech calling for more understanding of 'hoodies' and criticising what he calls short-term solutions to curb youth crime such as anti-social behaviour orders and curfews. The Observer



In a ground-breaking speech calling for more 'love' to be shown to adolescents, the Tory leader will attack bans on hooded tops - a symbol of urban menace to many adults - that were imposed by a shopping centre last year, arguing that shrouding their faces is a response to children's own fear of crime against them, not a crime in itself.
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"just a spoonful of sugar"

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Currying favours

'Cash for peerage' tycoon was asked to hide loan

Sir Gulam Noon, who lent Labour £250,000 last spring, declared the money on his official Lords nomination form, according to documents seen by the Times.


(click image)

However, a high- ranking Labour figure with close links to No 10, who has not been named, asked Sir Gulam to drop any mention of the loan after he had sent the form to Downing Street, Whitehall sources said.

The un-named official! "the Jewish boy from run-down Hackney Downs made good".
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Anschutz cancels Wilberforce talks

American billionaire Philip Anschutz has pulled out of a planned meeting with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Times

A spokeswoman for Mr Prescott said that Mr Anschutz - who is bidding to open a super-casino at the Millennium Dome - cancelled next week's meeting because of the media "hysteria" surrounding their discusions about William Wilberforce.


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plan to bomb the Blogs

In a twist of irony, state broadcasters ALBEBECERA plan to bomb the Blogs.



Can Iain Dale talk them out of it.

Petard and Hoisted seem to be words I am trying to string together in a coherent sentence here.

Get to it Iain, Guido will be well under the table at that time of night and they dont have 'kegs' in France
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Feel the Force Philip

John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, faced fresh questions last night over his stay at the ranch of an American tycoon bidding to turn the Millennium Dome into a supercasino. Telegraph



Prescott disclosed that he had met Mr Philip Anschutz seven times over a three-year period, but they had used the meetings to share their interest in Wilberforce, who was born in Mr Prescott's Hull constituency.
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That Slot Machine

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"And let them come!"

Scots take control of English river

The simmering row over Scotland's influence on English affairs took a new twist yesterday, with the claim that the Scottish Parliament is set to extend its powers across the Border into Northumberland and territories once ravaged by the Border reivers. The Scotsman



"And let them come!" fierce Dacre cried;
"For soon yon crest, my father's pride,
That swept the shores of Judah's sea,
And wav'd in gales of Galilee,
From Branksome's highest towers display'd,
Shall mock the rescue's lingering aid!--
Level each harquebuss on row;
Draw, merry archers, draw the bow;
Up, bill-men, to the walls, and cry,
Dacre for England, win or die!"

Verse XXIX The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Walter Scott
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Remember Them Now

Brigadier Ed Butler, Britain's most senior army officer in Afghanistan has warned that more troops are likely to be killed in the battle to crush Taliban forces.

Contact your Member of Parliament by clicking HERE
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'English votes on English issues'

The Conservatives are to recommend that Scottish MPs be banned from voting on issues that only affect England. BBC



Why just Scottish MP's? and why just voting? what about the Committee stage?

When a Bill has passed its second reading in the House of Commons, it is usually referred to a standing committee “upstairs” for detailed examination. The committee consists of from 16 to 50 Mps, but usually only about 18. The Committee examines the clauses of the Bill line by line and detailed amendments are considered. The Bill’s opponents, seeking to emasculate or destroy it, propose some amendments but many are technical improvements and clarifications proposed by the government itself. Occasionally a Bill may be referred to the whole House, sitting in committee, for example, Bills of great constitutional importance or a Finance Bill. At the committee stage, MPs study the Bill in depth, dealing with each clause in turn, line by line. Whilst individual provisions may be altered, the main principle of the Bill is preserved.

In order to become an Act of Parliament, a Bill must be passed by both Houses of Parliament and then receive Royal Assent.

After passing its third reading a Bill is sent to the House of Lords. The role of the House of Lords is to act as a check on the Governments power. The passage through the second House is not a formality, and Bills can be further amended.

So, will Scottish, Irish and Welsh born peers be exempt from voting too

And why are Laws which are passed in Scotland, not subjected to House of Lords scrutiny?


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OUT

England is out of the world cup but Tony Blair's European Union Defence procurement policy is still killing our soldiers.

Remembrance
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Finland's EU Presidency

Finland’s six-month European Union Presidency begins today. To celebrate the start of the Presidency, a launch party will be held in the Grand Place in Brussels, where Finlands Prime Minister Vanhanen will blindly put his head where the sun dont shine.



Through transparency and greater effectiveness, Finland aims to address the Union’s core problem: its diminished legitimacy in the eyes of its citizens.



France...Non, Holland...Nee


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