Over the last four or so decades, Britain has almost completely lost its way. This once great nation is in a mess, what are the reasons? It all goes back a long way & has been building up for many decades or possibly centuries. There are some outstanding milestones, along the path through our history.

The nature of Local & National Government (Them and Us). This is where it starts, rooted in the origins & development of civilisation itself. There is a general conception, in the main justified, that Government is the other side ( "them" as distinct from "us" ). This applies to both National Government & Local Councils.

"The Government" or "the Council" is normally used. Few say our Government or our Council. It was not always this way, a brief history of the far & near past is required here. More may be written soon...

The greatest damage has been inflicted in recent years, by our last few Governments.

So called "Humanist" philosophies are attacking Christian family values on at least three fronts.

1: The sanctity of human life.

2: Lifetime commitment to marriage.

3: Family authority and responsibility.

These three areas are inextricably related, the result of these attacks is the deterioration in our society that we are seeing all around.

1: One of the most pressing cultural and moral issues now confronting Christians is the sanctity of human life. The issue of abortion is dividing our nation and our culture. It represents an unprecedented danger to all we hold dear. It can be seen as the 'thin end of the wedge'.

The same medical system which today accepts instructions from parents to destroy an unborn child will, one day, accept instructions from adult children to destroy their sick, demented, inconvenient or simply aged parents.

This probability may be viewed by some as the "logical" outcome of social changes. The ending of extended families, followed inevitably by the banishing of unwanted parents to a lonely existence in "Geriatric Homes". Rather as we condemn old cars to rust away in scrapyards.

Abortion weakens the family, producing selfish, uncaring attitudes. It can lead to depression and even suicides.

In 2008 a girl in Cornwall killed herself because she wa overcome with grief after aborting her twins. She left a note saying "I want to be with my children, they need me, no-one else does."

Over 200,000 unborn children are "legally" killed annually, in England and Wales. In Scotland the number was 13,817 for 2008.

Worldwide the annual figure is uncertain, but most likely around FORTY to FIFTY MILLION (40,000,000 to 50,000,000). in each year more than twice the total death toll of the Second World War. Up to half of these are illegal abortions.

Various studies have shown that suicide is 3.5 to 6 times more likely, with potential mothers who have an abortion, compared to those who give birth. Some studies suggest an even higher percentage.

There are two standards by which human life may be viewed. The one we promote is that every human life is sanctified by God.

God made human beings in His image, and everyone is accountable to God for his or her conduct.

Therefore, no one has a right to take the life of another human being. Thou shalt not kill.

The other standard is that of "Quality of Life". A pregnant young lady may have a better standard of life, with potentally great wealth generating capability, if she completes her education, without the encumbrance of a baby. So she may have her unborn child "terminated". This euphemism for legal murder elucidates memories of the killer robot in a popular science fiction film series.

This completely selfish, calculating attitude to life will, given time, result in the widespread attitude that life is cheap. A joyless future where only the trappings of money matter, devoid of peace, love and culture.

It may well ultimately (probably inevitably) bring about the kind of apocalyptic future portrayed in that fictional film series. A future where no life matters.

The National Health Service launched a "pilot scheme" to collect details of ethnic origin, skin colour & nationality of everyone registered with a doctor. This highly dangerous collecting of personal information is "justified" on the grounds of ensuring adequate & fair medical treatment for all patients or potential patients.

It is claimed that people from ethnic minorities are more susceptible to a variety of ailments & diseases. It is said that compiling a database of all peoples' origin etc. will allow "targeting" of medical resources to those in most need.

If in the future we have an ultra right wing government, they will be very grateful. Almost the first thing they will do is download this vast database, then will come banging on front doors in the small hours.

Some may say that this is an unlikely scenario, if so where were they during the 20th century?

German civil servants had collected similar information for centuries. Parish records, birth, marriage & death records etc. These records were not kept for any hostile reason, they were just being thorough & accurate. It was all quite innocent enough, yet what happened in the 1930s sholud probably have been predicted.

When the Nazis came to power they made use of those records, to track down anyone with the slightest trace of "Jewish blood". As a direct result six million "Jews" were sent to a horrific death in gas chambers, many would not have known they had any Jewish ancestry.

South Africa's white supremacist regime made use of similar records. They passed a law making "mixed marriage" illegal, then traced the ancestry of many "white" married couples. If a single "coloured" ancester was found on either side, the couple concerned were presented with a stark choice, divorce or prison.

We suggest that those in medical need are those suffering from illness or injury. Resources do not need to be "targeted" towards any particular social or ethnic group. They should be provided as required, without quotas, prejudice, fear or favour. As with Justice, Medicine should be colour blind.

September 2005: A spoksman for the Liberal Democrats has stated that parents should be compelled to allow their children to attend 'sex education' classes. Naturally many caring parents are up in arms over this particularly inept political blunder. In most people's view the area of sexuality is a family matter & it is not the job of middle class busybodies to take over the role of parents.

Such classes, according to anecdotal evidence, are often extremely tacky & trivialise one of the most important aspects of life. The spokesman said his idea was to reduce the large number of under age pregnancies. Reducing the matter to the realm of embarrassed classroom giggles is no way to do this.

As a lifelong liberal I am saddened that the party, despite claims to be an alternative, has made itself even less electable in this way. The ideals of the true Liberal Party include the defence of individual choice, not state compulsion. Not only do the Liberal Democrats need a capable & charismatic leader. They & their spokesmen need to get in touch with the aspirations of those they hope to represent.

6-7-5: The granting of the 2012 Olympic Games to Britain has been a coup for our government & the organisers of our bid for the games. The planned Village is hailed as a major regeneration scheme for East London. Whilst there is probably some benefit to local communities, there is another side to the coin.

Little has been said about the fate of some three hundred local businesses, due to be displaced by the scheme. This is potentially a disaster for those firms & an irrecoverable loss to the community. Many have deep local roots, if they move away, the resultant loss of local employment & amenities may outweigh any small gains from the development.

Large numbers of firms 'cross polinate' one another in this region. Providing services that others buy and being customers for the services of yet more. They need to be in close proximity for this to work. The chance of finding another site, big enough to maintain this relationship, is remote in the extreme.

Then factor in cost of premises, access to existing customers, transport links, local availability of workers & raw materials. It is obviously going to be a disaster. The only way to re-house all these businesses together is to identify a large enough plot of land in the countryside, level it & build sufficient suitable industrial units. Then provide them to businesses at a fraction of the building & land acquisition costs.

It is obvious that no-one in local or national government has the power to do this. Let alone the will to do it, despite protestations of sympathy & empty promises of 'compensation'. Even if such a miracle happened, the development would be out of reach to existing skilled workers & many customers.

Our government failed to get Parliamentary approval for a National Compulsary Fingerprint and Biometric Database for ALL U.K. Citizens. So they have, in an almost unbelievable display of arrogance, gone ahead with it anyway. The will of Parliament has been neatly circumvented by using Royal Prerogative Powers. These little known powers, left over from the days of absolute monarchs, were originally the sole right of the Monarch.

They are now in the hands of the Prime Minister.

So he has been able, using these arcane powers, to completely bypass the will of both House of Parliament. Making a decision that overides that of our elected representatives. In this instance democracy has been bypassed, sidelined by one man, who holds the power of a King or Dictator.

This Draconian decision has been implemented by a new rule for those wishing to obtain or renew a U.K. passport. It will be compulsary to submit to fingerprinting and the taking of facial biometric scans. In other words, all these people are now treated as are criminals. Eighty percent of U.K. citizens hold a passport, five million apply each year for a new passport or renewal of an existing one.

It will obviously not be long before most of our population is on an ID Card database, even though Parliament has not approved. David Blunkett called the ID Card an 'entitlement card', this shows the way the Home Office was heading. It is obvious that the remaining twenty percent of our population will be increasingly pressured, by withdrawal of basic services.

Those who have spent their entire working lives paying towards our social & medical services will be denied those very services. Unless they submit to being fingerprinted, scanned & photographed like common criminals.

This is a much bigger scandal than the lies that got us embroiled in the Iraq war. Far more insidious and will adversely affect us all. Big Brother will soon rule all our lives, only twenty-one years after George Orwell's predicted date.

This will be the beginning of the end of democracy.

21-4-5, A court has ruled that doctors can let a seriously ill baby die, despite the parents objections. Is this the thin end of the wedge? Will the day soon dawn when such decisions become routine, if the FINANCIAL COST of maintaining life is high? Where will it lead and will the cost to our civilisation be much higher? Our fathers & grandfathers fought a war against another society treading this slippery path.

Life is precious and fragile. Any one person killed or allowed to die could have been a potential saviour of mankind.

Proposed legislation, intended to outlaw incitement to religious hatred, may have a quite different effect. Like many ideas from the present Home Office, the ramifications have not been properly thought through.

As with most things from this ministry, the text is being kept secret. Hopefully some well intentioned civil servant will leak it, before it is too late. It is all too easy for such legislation to outlaw all discussion about religion. It merely requires the wrong form of words, something governments are historically good at.

Unless a large number of people make themselves heard now, we may finish up with a law making even preaching illegal, shades of Stalinist Russia. After all, to preach the benefits of Christianity may suggest to some person that other religions are not so good. If a complaint is made it is likely to be upheld.

Recent history has taught us that anti discrimination laws are misused to create reverse discrimination. Discrimination against indigenous peoples or majority thinking. Take for example the activities of "The Commision for Racial Equality". Its very name is discriminatory, suggesting that ethnic minorities are from a different race. Thinking people know we are all part of the Human Race.

Some years ago the C.R.E. obliged Local Councils to keep records of ratepayers ethnic origins. I challenged this, arguing that Hitler's regime used such records, gathered innocently enough for centuries, to send six million fellow humans to the gas chambers. Later such records were used by the South African Government, to forcibly break up what they called "mixed marriages".

Despite opposition the C.R.E. won the day, the government's legislation gave them the power to do so, another case of bad drafting. We can only hope, in years to come, that we don't get an extreme right wing Government. Those records could be used to forcibly evict established families from our shores, intern them, or worse. It happened several times in the 20th Century, remember Hitler, Idi Amin & other despots?

It is obvious that meaning well is not enough, any text for a law affecting religious freedom must be fully discussed in public. It is important that all people have a say in its drafting. What means one thing to some people may mean something different to others. We know civil servants & lawyers are the worst at something like this. Politicians come a close second. Having no law is far better than having bad law.

We value our hard won religious freedom & the right to free discussion. Many have suffered & died for these freedoms. Don't let a government's "knee jerk" reaction put us back in the bad old days, when people could end up in court, for expressing an opinion, or a belief.

Previous year's local election results show people's dissatisfaction with our government. To be honest, Labour had the only credible leader at the time, the other two main parties had no integrated plan for running the country & no believable leadership. Manifestos issued were mostly negative & whinging about current policies.

The results were a 'shot across the bows', traditionally Local Elections enable people to express their opinions without displacing a generally good government. The Poll Tax was the Tory's Achilles Heel & brought down Mrs. Thatcher. She was arguably the best leader they had since WW2.

It will be a shame if Labour allow the same thing to happen. They need to get in touch with people's wishes, opinions & hopes. Drop the Identity Card, quietly phase out tuition fees & put our relationship with America on a more even footing. Stop treating people like idiots, we all see through the 'spin'. There was more to running a country than keeping the economy on track, it has since become obvious that even this was an illusion..

The Liberal Party are potentially our best hope of an alternative direction of government. They have a lot to do, if they wish to don the mantle of power. A former leading Tory once said " Liberal Policy is a slippery pig". It is true that policy must adapt to circumstance, enslavement by dogma held back the two main parties for years.

People need, however, to have something to hold onto, a guide as to general direction. The Liberal Democrats' jumping from one current bandwagon to another does no good, no better than the Tories. The one consistent message over the last few years has been the spectre of a high tax administration. They have shot themselves in the foot with this one, we pay too much tax already, even if often hidden behind other names.

High taxes will never win elections or maintain a government.

The first thing they need to do is return to their roots. The Liberal Democrats should bridge the rift with the true Liberal Party. Throw out the constitution & 'disciplinary code' inherited from Old Labour. Get back to Liberal ethics & policies. That is the right way, it will win the hearts & minds of thinking people. It will also win elections, we have had an essentially two party system for too long.

Another major need for Democrats is a genuine, popular, charismatic & motivated leader. They have not had one for years, since Jo Grimond.

Here is their old declaration, used when I was in local politics. It is still part of the true Liberal Party constitution, Liberal Democrats should return to it.

"The Liberal Party exists to build a Liberal Society in which every citizen shall possess Liberty, property and security, and none shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. It's chief care is for the rights and opportunities of the individual, and in all spheres it sets freedom first."

This says it all, they need nothing else.

As for campaign issues, there are plenty: They should fight for truly free education, free health care & a free-er society. Young people should have more say in the political process, the voting age should be sixteen. Children over eight have (usually) fully formed minds. They are perfectly capable of understanding issues & having relevant opinions.

They may not have the experience of older people, but they do not carry the baggage that comes with age. Brilliant ideas frequently come from an uncluttered view of the way ahead, cynicism & the culture of impossibility obscure that view. Many decisions we now make will affect today's children far more than us, yet they are not consulted, ways should be found of doing so.

Forums in schools are one possible answer, implemented properly, these should attract the interest of thinkers among the pupils. Care must be taken to prevent them degenerating into party political indoctrination classes. This, as with all things, will require constant vigilance.

Decentralisation of power in Britain is a hot potato that politicians usually fear to pick up. Our various regions should have their own Assemblies, with a high degree of autonomy. Around seven in England seems a good starting point for discussion, probably based on the old Kingdoms. Europe seems keen on regional autonomy, which is hopeful. Plans need the full support of residents affected, otherwise nothing useful will be gained.

The proposals by New Labour for regional assemblies in England are in fact nothing of the sort. The are simply a way of reducing local democracy & accountability. Many Local Councils will be eliminated, disenfranchising large numbers of our population. This must be fought against at every turn, it does not give power to the people, it takes it away.

Allied to true Local Assemblies should be repealing of the 1964 & 1974 Local Government Acts. These pieces of blatant gerrymandering legislation have done much continuing harm to our society. Communities have been disrupted & broken up. Resources have been squandered in setting up artificial, unsupportable counties etc. All in the name of fleeting electoral advantage.

Tont Blair's party made a start with Scotland & Cymru. Why have the Liberals not been in the forefront of this issue? It is arguably their home territory.

The latest 'thinking' from our government equates motorists, travelling 2MPH over the speed limit, with paedophiles, rapists & wife murderers. This is exactly what came up in radio conversations with 'plum in the mouth' spokesmen & women. These 'posh nobs', including a Baroness, think that ordinary people, falling foul of increasingly Draconian regulation, are no better than such obscene criminals.

Being discussed, on Radio Two this morning, was an idea to surcharge motorists, for minor transgressions. The money raised to go to a fund for victims of crime. Needless to say a lot of anger is generated, our 'leaders' really have no idea what makes our population tick.

During one of the radio programme's conversations, a suggestion was made, by one of the spokesmen. That a working van driver, stopping on a yellow line, in order to do his job, was lumped with serious criminals. This kind of lunacy is responsible, at least in part, for society's ills today.

There is a saying, that well heeled people, with more money than brains, would do well to heed.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool. Rather than open one's mouth and confirm it."

Since the late 1950s there has been an increasing divide between the forces of "law & order" and most other people. Government should step back & take time to work out what they have been doing wrong over that period. They should not ask professional self styled "experts" or university "think tanks". The opinions of a vast number of ordinary people, of all ages, are needed.

There are a number of clear & obvious reasons for lack of respect for the police. Unfortunately these reasons are not 'clear & obvious' to our legislators. That is why almost every piece of legislation makes matters worse, not better. They just can not see why certain 'law breakers' are classed as heroes by so many people.

To be continued.

A continuing & increasing problem. Finally, after years of featuring on this page, the relevant organisations have fined Channel Four & the BBC. It took pressure from newspapers & the public to make them act.

More & more television programmes ask for viewers opinions on matters over which the programme has no influence. Questions such as 'should our government do this or that' or 'should such and such a person be sacked'. Other programmes ask viewers to apply to take part in quizzes etc. Telephone voting, featured on various programmes, is another ploy.

One thing common to all of these. Viewers are asked to call expensive 0900 series premium numbers or send text messages to dedicated high rate numbers. If programmes genuinely wanted opinions they would use free 0800 numbers. Callers part with money, with little or no chance of anything in return. The expensive text option seems particularly aimed at young people. They are all just cynical money making scams.

This dubious way of raising money should be outlawed. We are entitled to expect more of our broadcasters & public service organisations in general. I am not even mentioning the generally appalling quality of much prime time television.

0900 Numbers are mostly a way of making money from unsuspecting & vulnerable people. They should never have been introduced & are part of the unacceptable face of unbridled capitalism. Having now gone beyond the 'Naughty Nora' boundary, it is time to apply effective checks to them, or abolish them.

2005, This scam has now extended to BBC radio programmes, or have I only just noticed?

It should be noted that 08700 numbers are also a form of premium rate, despite starting with 08. They are national rate, even if the recipient is in the next street. They can be expensive from non - BT phones.

Finally, after this item has been on this page for several years, our press are getting interested. Probably woken up by the clamour of television viewers complaining.

The Channel 4 programme, that used to infuriate me, has drawn the first attention. With its "You Say, We Pay" so called competition. That is the way all these "quizzes" work, childishly easy questions, that almost everyone can answer. To lure lots of unsuspecting viewers to their money grabbing 0900 lines.

I am glad they have now been found out, it is good that our press has eventually joined the cause. It was getting lonely as the 'lone voice in the wilderness', being branded a kill-joy for moaning at "harmless fun". What price 'harmless' now? It is simply fraud, making millions of pounds for the perpetrators.

This is only the beginning, there are many more that have not been un-masked yet. Just scan through the satellite listings, to find the number of "Quiz" channels, how many are genuine?

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Tele-sales have been an increasing problem, particularly for businesses, over the last thirty years. After the advent of FAX this was also used, now it is E-Mails. Particular culprits have been publishing companies selling space for adverts in marvelous directories. These usually turn out to be once only efforts, with a name chosen to sound like a well known publication.

If you agree to a cheap advert, they then ring you back with a once only offer you can't refuse. There is just one large space left, possibly due to a cancellation. They will let you have it at a bargain price, no payment required until publication.

You will eventually get a bill that is much more than expected, together with your complimentary copy of the publication. You will get no custom from this outlay, probably only their victims receive a copy of the rag concerned.

Of course a few may be genuine, they should probably be using one of Britain's excellent Mail services instead. This is not really intrusive & does not usually cause disruption. Mailshots, as long as they are truthful, can be read, acted upon, recycled or used for packing.

The best way to keep the predators at bay is to register with the FAX & Telephone Preference Services and use an E-Mail 'SPAM' filter.

E-Mails are of course the current favourite method, take care. It may be best to delete any that look suspect without opening them, malicious viruses are also a growing problem.

At least one of the best known E-Mail programmes has a problem in that it can, dependent on settings, open E-Mails automatically as soon as they are highlighted. Beware!

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Our current government in 2002 again floated the ides of a National Identification Card for everyone. This prospect has been raised many times in the past & each time submerged in a wave of objections.

They now hope to start the process of introduction, apparently oblivious to public opinion & the long term ramifications. It is said the a majority of people support the idea. This is an obvious lie, the majority of people have not been asked. A referendum on this subject is far more important than one on the E.U. constitution. So far the government have been careful to keep the real facts quiet.

They hope, after past attempts, that people will be weary of fighting & just accept it. If that happens it will mark the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it. O.K. we had ID. cards during the Second World War. They were tame compared to what is proposed now. Just an officially printed card with a person's name & address.

The proposed new cards include every citizen's life story. Medical records, Educational history & qualifications etc. Presumably also Employment history & family connections etc. Certain strata of society will have a field day. Thieves, having stolen a man's card, will be able to target his family.

It will be a massive extention of current National & International databases. At the moment they hold details of most peoples credit history, buying patterns etc. The data on each card will be added to this mass of information.

A cynical attempt was made to 'muddy the water' by calling it an 'Entitlement Card'. This shallow ploy is insulting people's intelligence & hopefully most will see through it. In any case, entitlement to public services is a basic tenet of democratic civilisation, we have no need for a piece of plastic. This proposal must be fought with all the ferocity at our disposal, the result of not doing so is unthinkable.

As with much legislation it will target the innocent & not wrong-doers. A plastic card is almost the easiest thing in the world to copy or forge. Blanks will be mass produced in tens of millions, a flourishing black market in these will soon develop. Any reasonable quality digital camera can copy a person's iris pattern. Most have a 'macro' feature & a self timer.

Packages will become available allowing anyone who can afford them to read, edit or write cards using a PC. Once, as will happen, carrying ID. Cards becomes compulsory, innocent travelers will end up in police cells because their card has been lost or stolen. Terrorists with forged or stolen cards will go about their business un-hindered.

Our police may be the finest in the World, however, they represent a cross section of society, not all are good. A policeman may stop someone in the street & read all about them with his hand-held scanner. If so minded, he may say to his colleague, 'This guy lives alone & has no money, no one will mind if we bump up our arrest figures'. Alternatively, 'this fellow has connections, best leave him alone'.

At the end of the day an ID. Card system will be a first step towards a totalitarian society. The old East German Secret Police would have dreamed of such technology. Once Western countries have gone down this road the rest of the world will follow. Eventually most of our planet will effectively be run by one vast bureaucracy.

Outer space will begin to look ever more attractive.

The matter was hibernating but has re-emerged. The government is hoping that no-one is looking.

He who knows not & knows that he knows not. He is ignorant, teach him:
He who knows & knows that he knows. He is the Boss, obey him:
He who knows not & knows not that he knows not. He is a politician, distrust him.
He who knows & knows not that he knows. He is a floating voter, persuade him.
With apologies to an old proverb.