David Cameron's Letter

For those of you who read my post about the tax payer funded Party Political Propoganda that I received from David Cameron re: business NI tax cuts - I now have the costs.

The National Audit Office have kindly informed me that Cameron's letter went to 1.7 Million people at a cost (to us) of £430,000. His office have also told me that they were given access to the HMRC database to get the address details, but claim that this was not a breach of the Data Protection Act.

I wonder what Eric Pickles would do if a Local Authority used Council Tax money to pay for a letter telling residents how wonderful they think they are?

Migration is a 2 way process

Migration is a 2 way process. In excess of 2 million Brits have used their rights as EU citizens to live, work and retire in Europe. This freedom is threatened by UKIPs proposal to take the UK out of the EU. I regularly work in other EU countries, and UKIP will deny me the right to do so; thus UKIP's policy is  a threat to personal freedom and will undermine our economy.

The principle of free movement was fought for by Margaret Thatcher, when she helped to create the single market; it seems bizarre that the Right Wing of her Party now seek to undermine her achievement. The Conservative Party are the architects of Britain's membership of the EU, and Heath/Thatcher/Major & Cameron were/are committed Europeans. Ironically when Labour fought the 1983 General Election with a policy of leaving the EU they lost heavily.

So let's have some balance here. Yes there is a need to address migration, but simply slamming the door will turn the UK into a prison - with us all as the prisoners denied the right to live and work in other EU countries.

Romania 10 - a fantastic country - Farage 0 - a disgrace to Britain

The highlight of our last trip to Romania was Iasi, by luck a Feast Day and all the churches were open, including the walled monastry in the centre of the town. I know most Brits head for the stunning Black Sea Coast, but travel around a bit and you get some great sights. Sinaia is the gateway to the royal palaces, and ski lifts to the snow capped montains. On to Brasov - stunning. Count Vlad seems to have lived everywhere, Bran the obvious tourist draw, but his birthplace is also a superb ruin. The more German Western part brings in to play Sigisoare - and other mediaevel towns; but try to find time to visit the fortified churches - unique to this country.

The only uncivilised side of this debate is Nigel Farage, who yet again has brought disgrace to this country

Wind Turbines Reach 30,000

Wind Turbines Reach 30,000

What a fantastic piece of news, at last an achievement to be proud about. Onshore wind is predicted to be the lowest cost form of electricity generation within 5 years, only overtaken by Solar Panels in 2030 (DECC audited figures). We can now get away from using Middle East Oil, Russian Gas and Uranium from Central African war zones. Household energy bills will fall, as wind is so low cost, and it is secure because it is British! Well done, we are well on our way to meet the 20% target that the National Grid have stated that they can handle.

Poor UKIP, East European migration has fallen

Poor UKIP, East European migration has fallen  - so much for the migration flood nonsense. What the leader colums fail to mention is htat 2 million+ Brits have used their freedom as EU Citizens to live, work & retire throughout Europe. Migration is a 2-way process and UKIP want to take that freedom away from us.

Of course one group of British migrants are the UKIP MEPS, whom it seems now have to hand over 10% of their income to UKIP (bit like some of those whacky American religious cults). Of course this nice source of cult income is dropping as UKIP MEPS defect or get jailed for fiddling their expenses. To my knowledge (correct me if there are more) the only MEPs ever jailed for expense fiddling are UKIPs' - Ashley Mote and anotehr who's name escapes me

Renewables are the lowest cost source of energy

Energy policy should be based upon long-term planning and costing, not short-term sound-bites driven by political expediency.The removal of subsidies for the development of large-scale photo-voltaic (PV) energy production makes no economic sense. According to the DECC's very well researched figures, PV at £70 per kWh will be the lowest cost source of electricity production in the UK by 2030, undercutting closed cycle gas turbines (CCGT) at £85 per kWh, and Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGT), essential to manage peak demand, currently costing £165 per kWh rising to £184 per kWh in 2030. Onshore wind at £85 per kWh is also a clear economic winner. Nuclear is also predicted to fall to £77 per kWh. Long term forecasts show gas, coal and oil based generation costs rising, whilst wind, PV and nuclear continue to fall. If we ignore the environmental debate, just a cursory look at the figures shows that we should cease all use of fossil fuels now. If we also account for the human and economic cost of climate change, plus the unsolved problem of long-term nuclear waste storage; promoting the rapid expansion of renewable energy is the only credible energy policy. It will guarantee security or supply, and reduce household bills.