British Right or Human Rights?

British Right or Human Rights?

Every person has the right to life, liberty and security; their private and family life should be respected, and they have the right to get married. No-one should be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and has the right to a fair trial. No-one can be enslaved; or suffer discrimination due to sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status. People should have the freedom of thought and religion; and in accordance with law freedom of expression, association and assembly.

That is the European Convention of Human Rights. We should not be afraid of having our laws measured against these principles by an independent Court, free of political bias. Only 2 other European nations refuse to recognise the ECHR, they are Kazakhstan & Belarus; David Cameron shames us by aligning Britain with these dictatorships.

Devo-Min for England (Cameron does not understand devolution)

Having taken the UK to the brink of dissolution, without giving the majority of UK citizens the right to have a vote, David Cameron is now trying to foist an unelected English Parliament on us. His right wing have totally failed to understand that the driving force behind the Scottish independence movement was a desire to take power back from a London elite. English aspirations cannot be met by giving more power to London, as Michael Gove, John Redwood and Nigel Farage are demanding. The message is clear, what England wants is devolution of power and the money that goes with it, back to the English Regions; which ought to be held accountable to local people via directly elected Regional Assemblies.

Scots power for English Regions

Regardless of the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum the devolution genie has been re-released. Devolution is already a reality for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and even the Channel Islands. Yet tentative steps to offer the same rights to English Regions were snuffed out by the incoming Coalition. Regional Assemblies and Regional Development Agencies (RDA) were closed with no consideration for the consequences. Regional planning bodies, established in 1946 to manage post war reconstruction, went as well. Localism was the slogan, but in reality power and money flowed to Whitehall, where much of it remains unspent. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) started appearing; some parts of the country are served by more than 1 LEP, others have none. I am exceptionally impressed by the way LEPs have developed, but the most successful ones are those that have merged to re-create the strategic impact that was delivered by the RDAs. The best example being the North East LEP which now covers almost all the territory that used to be managed by One North East RDA. Sheffield City Region LEP covers much of what was once Yorkshire Forward RDA, and have been bold enough to call it an English Region. Years of potential regional growth has been lost, which in part helped to stall the UK's economic recovery. Ed Milliband has committed Labour to giving power back to English Regions. Many Conservatives support genuine English devolution. Lord Helseltine's 2012 report “No Stone Unturned” concluded that the Government should transfer £49bn of public sector industrial investment from central government to the English Regions to help local leaders and businesses. Whatever is left of the UK after the vote, there must be a genuine commitment to re-create English Regions, with directly elected oversight, and genuine local control of regional development money.

Report by OECD notes UK's 'quantum leap' in higher education

As anyone with a science background will be aware - a 'quantum' is the smallest increment that a particle can make - not the largest. I can only assume that that the OECD really means that under the Coalition UK eduction has made neglible progress - well spotted

Gordon Brown rescues David Cameron

Gordon Brown is now set to rescue David Cameron's premiership. A Scottish independence vote would undoubtably have marked the end for Cameron, as the man who broke up United Kingdom and sleep walked out of the EU. What a contrast Brown is to Cameron - whom he vilified, but in reality is widely recognised the man who's actions steered the UK through the world financial crisis, and led the way for the rest of the industrialised world. In 2010 the UK's debt, was less than all our major competitors but has now spiralled out of control under Osborne. Unemployment was falling and the UK was the first major economy that was back in to growth. 4 years of austerity have resulted in stagnation, poorer public services and a growing gulf between rich & poor that is shameful. The coalition's ethos is riddled with complacency, so much so that they have had ask Gordon Brown to get them out of their mess.

Douglas Carswell - UKIP DEFECTION TO BE WELCOMED

Douglas Carswell should be congratulated for his honesty. Even though exit from the EU would damage our economy, our national security and our personal freedom, he thinks that that is best for Britain. He also knows that as architects of British membership of the EU the Conservative Party would never take Britain out of the EU. David Cameron keeps saying he will 'take back powers' but he has never said what. Our European partners have asked him to tell them what he wants, but they also get no answer. The truth is that it is a con as David Cameron has no idea what he wants 'back from Europe', and the Conservative Party remains as committed to EU membership as it always has been. Thankfully for our well being that view is also held by the majority of the British population as evidenced by the recent EU elections when UKIP secured less than 30% of the total vote with 70% going to parties (including the Tories) who support continued British membership of the EU.

An odd reshuffle - Delighted that Gove has Gone, but why do Pickles and Smith remain?

I am delighted that Michael Gove will no longer be able to mangle our education system. During his time in office he has taken direct control of over half of Britain's schools, which represents the biggest centralised power grab for decades. The scandals are now appearing, with an arrest for an alleged £2 million fraud in just one Academy chain, millions wasted on half empty Free Schools were there are not enough children to fill the desks, whilst schools that remain locally controlled have had their building programme cut and and are overloaded. It is odd that other failed ministers like Eric Pickles, who has undermined local government services, and Ian Duncan Smith who has caused so much misery to disabled people, remain. They should have followed Andrew Lansley to the back benches, who was sacked for wrecking the NHS. The only really great appointment is Lord Hill, who will be our new EU Commissioner. A committed European he helped John Major steer the Maastriccht Treaty into existence. His appointment proves that Cameron is not prepared to back crude anti-EU policies just to win back support from UKIP.