So Lord Mandelsailor has compared Gordon Brown to Moses now. For the non-Biblical scholars, Moses was a Hebrew child abandoned by his mother, rescued by the daughter of  a Pharoah (an Egyptian King), rebelled against his hosts, visited ten plagues upon them and led the Jews on a 40 year hike around in circles in the Sinai Desert.

When the Jews reached Mount Sinai, Moses was presented with the 10 Commandments. Gordon has a new set of Commandments:

1. I am the lord your Gord. Thou shalt have no other Gord before me.

2. Thou shalt not make for yourself an idol, except for the vacuous celebrities on your television reality shows and in Heat magazine. For they shalt rot your brain making you much more likely to vote for Gord. Thou shalt definitely not watch Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson is the anti-Gord.

3. Thou shalt not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your Gord. For if you do, GCHQ will be listening, monitoring your text messages, emails and websites. Expect a call from counter-terrorism officers at 3am.

4. The Observer and The Guardian will be compulsory reading on The Sabbath. For six days shalt thou labour in order to pay back the trillion pounds that I have just lumbered on you and your children, and your children's children, and your children's grandchildren. Remember you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your Gord delivered you from the slavery which originated in America. But the seventh day is the Sabbath and thou shalt not work. Except for chavs and illegal aliens who shalt not work the rest of the week either but will be showered with gold and silver in return for their undying devotion to their Lord their Gord.

5. Humour thy mother and father. Tell the Lord your Gord if your parents are smokers, or if they wilfully waste energy, or do not recycle, or refuse to watch the BBC News and listen to the Gord's servants on earth Robinson and Peston. Do this and  thine days will be long in the land of Giros.

6. Thou shalt not murder. To this end I have ensured that no Hebrew will be allowed to own a firearm and have sent the army to foreign lands, thus ensuring Gord's own personal safety. As a precaution, pianos and other stringed instruments are banned and streetlights will only be 4 feet tall.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery, unless of course you are at an airport waiting for a plane with your mistress and Alastair Campbell sanctions it, or if you are a fat pie-eating bulimic.

8. Neither shalt thou steal. That's the job of chavs, scousers and HMRC.

9. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against your neigbour, unless of course he refuses to close his bin lids properly or you are appearing before the Hutton commission or at the dispatch box at PMQs.

10. Neither shalt thou covet your neighbour’s wife/same-sex partner. Neither shall you desire your neighbour’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour - Northern Rock shall repossess them all in due course.

Amen.

Yesterday, an official Opposition MP was arrested and held for nine hours on suspicion of "conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office". Damien Green is a Conservative MP and Shadow Home Office Minister - it is his job remit to expose government incompetence in the public interest.

What concerns me is that counter-terrorism police officers (all nine of them) were used to arrest Mr Green. Now, I hardly think that Mr Green would be stockpiling ammonium nitrate in his garden shed, so the question has to be asked: Why was it necessary to use counter-terrorism police in this matter? Is it now an offence under the Terrorism Act to be member of Her Majesty's Opposition?

Gordon Brown and The Home Ec Teacher claim not to have known - well maybe they were kept in the dark, but I'll bet a pound to a barrel of pigshit that The Business Secretary had some inkling of this [Awaits 3am kicking in of front door]. So who's next for criticising the government? George Osborne tore a strip off Alastair Darling on Monday afternoon and again on Wednesday, Baroness Neuberger ripped Douglas Alexander a new arsehole on Question Time last evening, and across the country bloggers (myself included) are less than polite about Gordon Brown and his government of all the incompetents.

I often wonder how the German people could have allowed a man like Adolf Hitler rise to power. Were they blind, were they intimidated, or did they just not care? I sincerely believe that the British people have gone through the blindness and apathy and we have now reached the stage of intimidation - where anti-terrorism legislation is used by local councils to spy on people who have applied to schools "outside the school's catchment area", or have left their bin outside "for too long" or have put too much rubbish in the bin, a country where a legitimate political party has members arrested for leafletting, a country where an Opposition MP is arrested.

Over on The Devil's Kitchen, Martin puts it more succinctly than I could:


Then again, Martin what can you expect from a bunch of people who hail murdering bastards like Che Guevara and Fidel Castro as heroes.

There are serious questions to be asked - but don't expect the BBC to do the asking:

Who knew and when did they know? Apparently Boris Johnson, David Cameron, The Speaker of The House and the Serjeant At Arms were sdvised prior to the arrest.
Is it credible then that The Home Ec Teacher and The Sub-Prime Minister didn't?
If they didn't know, who took the decision not to inform them?
Who authorised the arrest warrant?

Far be for me to be cynical, but I suspect that the government has now realised that its own flush is well and truly busted and it is reverting to dirty tricks and smear tactics to portray the Conservatives in a light less favourable than the one shining on the Labour Party right now. Gordon Brown is right about one thing - his policies are about saving jobs - his own. And in saving that job he, or he and his advisors have now donned the jackboots and jodhpurs of totalitarianism - their true colours have come to the fore.

Guido and other websites are displaying this graphic:


I for one, would donate good money to see this as a full page ad in the Sunday Papers ahead of the next election.

Also, I'm not one for stat porn - there isn't a great deal of traffic through this blog when compared to some of my erstwhile fellow bloggers in the blogroll on the right. But I have noticed that in the past few weeks a referral to this website has come from http://whois.domaintools.com/grumpyoldsods.co.uk - which begs the question who wants to know who I am? And why?

For the very first time, as a loyal Englishman, I am afraid of our government. This is not good.

Spotted in the comments on Guido's website:

In 1904 JM Barrie invents a character called Mr Darling who doesn't believe in Never-never land.

In 2008 New Labour invent a character called Mr Darling who puts the whole land on the never-never.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
 
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
 
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
 
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
 
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
 
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
 
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
 
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot.  She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
 
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust, his wife Discretion, his daughter Responsibility, and his son Reason.
 
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
 
I Know My Rights.
 
I Want It Now
 
Someone Else Is To Blame
 
I'm A Victim .
 
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, please observe a minute's silence. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Common Sense's cousin, Prudence was murdered on Monday and her brother, Fiduciary Responsibility, is critically ill in hospital.

What was the point of Alastair Darling's budget speech last March? Yesterday he ripped it all up and has introduced a raft of panic measures that will have little or no affect.

The introduction of the 45% tax band for Whitehall mandarins and Town Council leaders is being hailed as a triumph. But people forget that in March Darling doubled the tax rate on low income earners. Somehow the rebates and handouts are supposed to be gratefully received by the populace at large. Is Brown hoping that people have such short memories or is this just another smoke and mirrors trick from Pennywise the Clown.

The BBC website has the following table, and guess who gets the biggest kick in the teeth? People on high incomes, those city fats that Labour ministers love to woo but their members love to knock? No, looks like the low income earners are carrying the can.

INCOME TAX, NI CHANGES COMPARED TO 2008/09 TAX YEAR

Income/year	09/10	10/11	11/12
10,000	118.80	118.80	215.58
25,000	118.80	118.80	140.58
50,000	343.30	343.30	240.08
75,000	343.30	343.30	115.08
100,000	343.30	343.30	-9.93
125,000	343.30	-951.70	-1429.93
150,000	343.30	-2246.70	-2849.93
175,000	343.30	-2246.70	-4224.93
200,000	343.30	-2246.70	-5599.93

VAT Down by 2.5%

Lopping £2.13/£100 in VAT will have no affect whatsoever. I looked at m monthly outgoings to see where I will make savings:

Groceries - Last week's shopping bill was £99.05 of which £3.11 was VAT (£20.86). Cutting the VAT to 15% would mean a reduction of 45p. Ooh enough for two cans of 20p Tesco lager.

Gas & Leccy: Vat levied at 5% so no saving there.

Petrol: VAT reduction offset by rise in fuel duty. No saving there.

House & Car Insurance: Paid in full at start of year. No savings.

Mobile phone bill: Two PAYG phones plus one contract of £30.00 per month. A Saving of 75p.

So, all in all a fat lot of good reducing VAT is going to be.

Child Benefit Increase

From £18.80 to £20.00 per week. A whole £1.20 per week. £62.4 per year. Enough for a tank and a half of petrol. YAY!

50% Interest rates for the poor

A new state supported saving scheme - known as the Savings Gateway - will be launched, in which the government will contribute 50 pence for every pound saved.

Around eight million people will have the opportunity to open an account and to earn a Government contribution of up to £300. Saving Gateway accounts will be provided by financial institutions and will be available through the Post Office. The Government also continues to work closely with a range ofpotential account providers on the design of the Saving Gateway and will publish a summary of responses setting out the final details of the scheme later this year.

Can't wait to see the details for this. Save £600 and the government will stump up £300. Great I'll open one for me, my wife and each of my kids. Much better than buying shares in the Royal Bank of Socialism.

Income Tax Threshold
The government will make permanent the £600 increase in the income tax personal allowance announced in May 2008 with a further increase of £130, meaning basic rate taxpayers pay £145 less tax a year in 2009-10.

Don't forget that this was the panic measure introduced in the wake of doubling the basic rate of tax from 10p in the pound to 20p. Effectively the government are not giving us anything that they wouldn't have otherwise taken off us.

Vehicle Excise Duty
Still going up, just not as much.

Financing the Christmas Bonanza
Alastair Darling: I'm going to borrow money. Who I'll borrow it off I have no idea. The banks have no money despite us giving them £38bn. I know, I'll put up taxes, so I'll just borrow the money from you. And your children. And your children's children.  I'll give you tax breaks and increased allowances now and you can pay it back with interest. Oh shit, the debit column in my ledger book isn't big enough for all those noughts that make up One TRILLION pounds. Oh well, I'll just shift it off balance sheet along with the PFI debt, The Northern Rock debt, the Bradford and Bingley debt and public sector pensions.

We are so fucked!

A tragic story of some young lad taken in by advertising.

Expect an avalanche of health and safety guidelines and arse covering legal clauses on the adverts.

Despite the "global recession" which the nasty Americans started the newspapers and radio are doing their level best to distract us with news of some bloke who won't be on telly this Saturday.

I think they have completely missed the "real story"



Is John Sargeant Jo Brand's dad?

Today's special is prostitution, or more specifically the Home Economics Teacher's announcement that men who pay a prostitute who found to be "trafficked", will be prosecuted and fined. 

In one way or another, all men pay for sex but that's an argument for another day. But I have to say that if blokes want to hand over their hard-earned cash for sex, then surely that's between them and the "lady" in question. However, the government, as always, are targetting the wrong end of the market. Trafficking, in whatever form it takes, be it for the sex industry or cheap labour for factories and agriculture, is evil. That's were the police efforts should be and not in driving around the sleazy end of town on the lookout for David Pleat.

The BBC have this report on their website this morning about this very topic:

A man who admitted sex trafficking and controlling prostitution in Belfast has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Mark Russell, 38, from Circular Road in Dromore, County Down, was convicted on charges connected to a police raid on a brothel earlier this year.

Russell collected women who arrived in Northern Ireland by ferry from Scotland and took them to Belfast.

He was arrested after police discovered four women working as prostitutes at an apartment in Ardmore Court, Belfast.

The prostitutes, all believed to be Asian, said they gave half their money to another woman who ran the racket.

Belfast Magistrates Court was told documents containing the names of customers and accounts were also seized during the swoop.

Police were alerted to Russell after finding a large unopened box of condoms marked with his address in Dromore.

Russell, who was said to have been paid £250 for his involvement, also admitted placing an advert offering women's services, the court heard.

A defence lawyer claimed Russell was a facilitator, rather than one of those running the brothel.

The lawyer also told the court that the woman in charge of the prostitution racket had already been jailed for her role.

Imposing a three month prison sentence for each offence of trafficking for sexual exploitation and controlling prostitution, District Judge Noel Dunlop said the punishments would be suspended for two years.

A three month suspended sentence. Whoop-de-fucking do! That's really going to deter gangsters exploiting vulnerable young women, isn't it Jacqui? You go after the easy targets and make sure the Chief Constable gets those crime figure boxes ticked.

Who do you think uttered these words?

From The Times:

It transpires that Baby P's mother had another child whilst on remand. Thankfully the child has been taken into care and if the authorities have any sense won't let the mother anywhere near ever again.


Home in time for Christmas? Christmas 2069 if there's any justice.

Whatever the circumstances of the case - an unfit mother with limited intelligence by all accounts, there is no excuse for the wilful negligence on the part of Haringey Council.

The Times has also learnt that Haringey Council, sharply criticised after the death of Victoria Climbie eight years ago, failed to hand over all the information in their possession about Baby P to murder squad detectives.

It was only when the trial got to court and the judge requested that they provide all their evidence that police officers were able to see everything they had.

A senior source involved in the inquiry said: "The council came in with pages and pages of stuff that we had no idea existed and had never seen before."

As well as information relating to the trial, police sources also said that they did not find out about one hospital visit involving Baby P until long after the event. The doctor was so worried about the bruises and other injuries to the baby that he contacted social services. No-one told the police.

The source said: "There was loads of stuff, whether it would have made a difference we will never know. What we do know is the social workers never gave us all the information and a lot of people believe there should be a public inquiry into what went wrong."

Now I don't know much, but I do know that wilfully withholding evidence is considered perverting the course of justice.


Media Training? For fuck's sake. They waste council taxpayers' money on covering their own arses!!

Despite 60 visits to the youngster nobody from the council thought that the injuries were severe enough for him to be removed from the family.

SIXTY VISITS!! How many visits did they need, FFS?

They did place the baby temporarily with a family friend but this decision was also criticised by police. An officer said: "How can you give a baby to a family friend. For all we knew that friend may have been involved in any abuse or maybe the friend was scared of the mother and would not say anything detrimental about her.

"We wanted that baby taken into care but we were over-ruled by the council."

Well there's evidence enough. The police wanted to remove the baby but were overruled by the hand-wringing tossers working for the council.

The whole of Haringey Council should be sacked forthwith, no gardening leave, no compensation - just out on their arses. Today.

Oh no we can't, we haven't filled the risk assessment forms in.

From Old Holborn comes the news that the Police in London can now put a stop to musical events - like pub gigs if they think it "might attract people with a propensity for violence"

I bet this was some sort of multi-agency anti-knife crime strategy solution.

You can imaging the meeting:

Hand-wringing do-gooder: Det Superintendent, how are we going to stop the feral youth from knifing each other in the street.

Det Sup. Fuckwit-Smythe: Well ma'am, we do know that musical events attract people with a propensity for violence.

HWDG: Well jolly well stop these musical events.

DSF-S: Better than that ma'am, we'll ask the organisers to fill in a form.

 

Oh look, the government's favourite pasttime of "having a review" is back in the news.

I doubt there can be many who have not been sickened by the cruelty suffered by Baby P. Even more sickening are the mealy mouthed excuses from Haringey Council and their social services department as to why this helpless little boy was left with his neglectful mother and her piece of dogshit boyfriend. Do corporate responsibility laws not apply to council employees? They obviously learnt nothing at all from the Victoria Climbie case, so what's the point of another review. The Minister for Children Beverley Hughesless and Ed "Talking" Balls have asked some Lord bloke to prepare a report - fat fucking lot of use that's going to be. "Nice report Lord Thingummy. Well worth the taxpayers money. Guilt assuaged, job well done. Carry on."

The collective gross negligence of the social workers, their supervisors and departmental heads as well as that of the consultant paediatrician has resulted in the death of a child. They should be sacked and prosecuted.

Update: David Cameron raised this issue at PMQs today only to be accused of "playing party politics" by Brown the Bullshitter whilst the government benches jeered Cameron. Brown just blustered and bluffed through his response: "Review....blah blah...report... right thing to do....". Disgraceful.

Update 2: After the sub-Prime Minister's woeful performance yesterday, has he tacitly admitted he got it wrong? Ed "Gotno" Balls has ordered yet another review. By my count this government have been in more reviews than Danny La Rue. Will Brownfinger apologise for his behaviour yesterday? I won't hold my breath.

"Glenrothes victory is a vote of confidence in the government's economic policy" thus quoth the Bullshitter in Chief.

So, a by-election in a safe Labour seat (that is, a constituency where sticking a red rosette on a steaming pile of dogshit would result in the residents voting for it. And they did) with a reduced majority is somehow a "good thing".

Maybe it is on Planet Gordoom.

The rest of us are not fooled. So go on Gordoom, take a leaf out of one of those books you like to write. Call a General Election and we'll show you what a vote of confidence looks like.