Gary Watton: young, gifted, and white

An All-Ireland Soccer Team Is A Must by the commentator and football historian Gary Watton

2013-10-22T01:16:00.001-07:00

The dismal, not to say embarrassing, recent failures of both
Northern Ireland and their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland has
convincingly persuaded me that drastic surgery is required to heal the
sick men of Europe. Passing the managerial baton back and forth to
various hapless managers has clearly not worked on either side of the
border. In defence of the poor, wealthy managers, they can only do so
much with what they are provided with. There is after all no rich
sugar daddy owners or transfer windows at their disposal, so room for
manoeuvre is extremely limited. Northern Ireland in particular is
handicapped by a scarcity of footballing manpower, while in the
Republic, soccer must compete against the popular GAA for the
attention of the young. Furthermore, rugby union throughout the island
probably attracts more youngsters than was the case in previous
decades. Even the profile of Irish cricket has been elevated over the
last half a dozen years by the exploits of the national team at the
cricket World Cup.
Not surprisingly, the six northern counties is seemingly unable
to supply the footballing superstars of yesteryear. The days when
Northern Ireland could produce high quality performers such as a Best
or a Jennings or a McIlroy are long gone. Nowadays, top English
players are struggling to get selected each week for the top English
teams, so what chance have the humble journeymen of Northern Ireland
got in such circumstances? Consequently, the majority of Northern
Ireland's squad are drawn from mediocre lower league clubs. This
speaks volumes for the calibre of players that we are offering these
days. Where once we had Armstrong or Blanchflower of Tottenham
Hotspur, Neill, Nelson and Rice of Arsenal, and Gregg, McGrath,
McCreery, Nicholl, and Whiteside of Manchester United, we can no
longer foresee the cream of English soccer acquiring Northern Irish
players. Most recent Northern Ireland teams would struggle in the SPL
or the English Championship. Most of the Northern Irish team would
struggle to be known or recognised by the next-door neighbour, let
alone the wider footballing public.
The solution has to be an all-Ireland one. Regrettably, clinging
on to a separate Northern Ireland team is logic-defying and is a
manifestation of a sectarian undercurrent that will have no truck with
any vestige of Irish unity. This is all the more ridiculous when one
observes that we have a long-standing and thriving tradition of
all-Ireland cricket and rugby union teams. The existence of such
thirty-two counties sporting outfits has not led to the walls caving
in on Northern Ireland or the six counties being invaded by the forces
of the Vatican, so please let sanity prevail and combine the dubious
strengths of the six counties with the rest of the island into an
all-Ireland team. In fact, there was an all-Ireland team until about
1950. It needs to be revived, as two separate teams are merely
hopeless also-rans on the international soccer stage, and any
pipedream that Northern Ireland can revive the glories of 1958 or 1982
is delusional in the extreme.
So why doesn't the IFA of the six counties and the Republic's FAI
join together in unholy matrimony? I don't know if the FAI has any
burning desire for such a move, but certainly north of the border, the
rationale for remaining separate and adopting a Sinn Fein attitude of
'ourselves alone' is itself irrational. About half of the grassroots
supporters unfortunately view a day or night out at Windsor Park as a
boozing session 'with the lads'. I've seen the loyal Northern Ireland
supporters on a number of occasions congregating at the junction of
Tates Avenue and the Lisburn Road, bedecked with scarves, football
tops, and oh yes the obligatory cans of beer. To remove the
'privilege' of huddling together en masse in south Belfast at various
times in the year would merely deprive certain northern citizens of
the opportunity of a good old piss-up. Mind you, they could still
avail themselves of Dublin's hostelries, which admittedly are
considerably more expensive.
As for the 'top brass' of the IFA, this organisation will cling
on to its status for dear life. It's a mirror situation of the
northern unionists who would not wish to cede their hegemony at
Stormont and join the ranks in the Dail because they would be
transformed from big fish in a small pond to small fish in a bigger
pond. By the same token, the same political considerations condition
the IFA's attitude. They want to dictate their own neanderthal ideas
about soccer to the six counties. They do not wish to be subordinate
to an all-Ireland body where they would not possess the same
influence. Furthermore, Linfield Football Club has benefited a little
too well from being the hostess of Norn Iron internationals, and so
the unique status of Linfield must be preserved by various
self-interested parties. It simply wouldn't do to merge avec the
Republic's FAI. It might be deemed as an equivalent of turkeys voting
for Christmas.
However, the bottom line is that toothless Northern Ireland
cannot even overcome the perennial punchbags of Luxembourg. Our
players are merely seconded to lower league clubs. We do not have the
assembly line of future superstars nor the resources. The writing is
on the wall for the IFA. They are but a cabal that desperately avoids
facing the grim reality that their national team is now little more
than the international equivalent of a non-league team. An all-Ireland
soccer team is not another step towards the unification of Ireland nor
an erosion of Ulster's so-called culture. It's a common sense step to
ensure that soccer supporters north and south can have a team worth
cheering on. If we can do it in cricket and rugby union, then why
doesn't soccer step into the brave new world too?

Statistical Review Of The Cricket County Championship, Division One, 2013 by Gary Watton

2013-10-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

Statistics rarely lie, and with this in mind, I have lovingly compiled various facts and figures which go some way to explain why the Division One of the 2013 County Championship ended as it did. The tables underneath focus upon bonus points, while I have also studied and revealed which counties possessed the best opening partnerships. I do take the view that a first-wicket stand can be crucial in laying the foundations for a competitive innings, so it might be of considerable use to the various protagonists to take heed of my findings. Obviously, the opening pair in any encounter face the perils of the new ball in demanding conditions which sometimes favour the bowler. Therefore, it is perfectly understandable that one of the opening batsmen may succumb early in his innings. This explains the plethora of single figure first-wicket stands that each county has incurred.
OPENING PARTNERSHIPS
Derbyshire: 4 fifties; no tons; highest: 89; 13 single figure scores; 652 runs at an average of 21.7
Durham: 3 fifties; 2 tons; highest: 125; 13 single figure scores; 822 runs at an average of 27.4
Middlesex: 3 fifties; 5 tons; highest: 259; 8 single figure scores; 1255 runs at an average of 52.3
Nottinghamshire: 4 fifties; 1 ton; highest: 105; 12 single figure scores; 715 runs at an average of 27.5
Somerset: 6 fifties; 1 ton; highest: 103; 6 single figure scores; 1026 runs at an average of 34.2
Surrey: 4 fifties; 1 ton; highest: 171; 13 single figure scores; 693 runs at an average of 26.7
Sussex: 4 fifties, 4 tons; highest: 163; 7 single figure scores; 1132 runs at an average of 41.9
Warwickshire; 1 fifty; 6 tons; highest: 153; 6 single figure scores; 1107 runs at an average of 46.1
Yorkshire: 2 fifties; 1 ton; highest: 126; 9 single figure scores; at an average of 24.3
It was quite startling to discover that Middlesex were head and shoulders above les autres, with Warwickshire and Sussex also recording healthy first-wicket averages. Paradoxically, Yorkshire accumulated more batting bonus points than anyone else in spite of possessing a welter of mediocre opening partnerships. The County Champions, Durham, certainly did not have too many opening partnerships of note, but their strengths lay elsewhere.
OPENING WICKET AVERAGES TABLE
Middlesex 52.3
Warwickshire 46.1
Sussex 41.9
Somerset 34.2
Nottinghamshire 27.5
Durham 27.4
Surrey 26.7
Yorkshire 24.3
Derbyshire 21.7
In spite of boasting the best opening partnerships in the County Championship, Middlesex were less successful at converting their good starts into many batting bonus points. This obviously amounts to one of two explanations: Either their best opening partnerships occurred in the second innings or more likely that the rest of the batting line-up proved more fragile and less able to capitalise upon good starts. This surely must provide food for thought for the north Londoners.
Yorkshire by contrast did not benefit from many good opening partnerships but were instead able to draw upon a strength in depth in their batting formation, as their middle order batsmen of Ballance and Rashid [and Bairstow when available] rescued the team. Consequently, Yorkshire amassed most batting bonus points in spite of having less than impressive opening partnerships.
Durham, rather surprisingly, were well down the batting bonus points list, but clearly their potency derives from a knack of bowling teams out twice.
BATTING BONUS POINTS
Yorkshire 49
Nottinghamshire 47
Sussex 45
Warwickshire 37
Durham/Surrey 36
Somerset 33
Middlesex 32
Derbyshire 31
Let us examine the table that not surprisingly reveals the county champions of Durham as the most lethal in terms of acquiring bowling bonus points. Graham Onions and the gang excelled themselves at bowling most teams out twice, hence the county's impressive haul of ten wins from their sixteen fixtures. Moreover, Durham also accumulated a staggering forty-six bowling bonus points from a maximum of 48. Herein lies the deadly secret to their success. It's not that Durham were less competent at batting, yet when one observes the assorted batting statistics above, it is clear that Durham did not stand head and shoulders above the other counties in the categories already listed - far from it. Secondly, it is also worth noting that the two demoted teams, Derbyshire and Surrey did also finish at the foot of the bowling bonus points table. Clearly, a successful bowling unit is most necessary to thrive in the premier division of the County Championship.
BOWLING BONUS POINTS
Durham 46
Warwickshire 42
Somerset 41
Nottinghamshire 40
Middlesex/Sussex/Yorkshire 39
Surrey 37
Derbyshire 34
The table below for the combined bonus points does underline how adrift Derbyshire were in terms of their first-innings performances and when you loiter many points below les autres, then there is extra pressure to make amends my winning as many matches as possible. Sadly for Debyshire, they could not win enough matches and collect the crucial sixteen points on offer to redeem themselves for their inability to amass sufficient bonus points. Not surprisingly, their bonus points deficiency was a huge contributory factor in the county being relegated back to Division Two, one year after winning the Division Two league.
COMBINED BONUS POINTS
Yorkshire 88
Nottinghamshire 87
Sussex 84
Durham 82
Warwickshire 79
Somerset 74
Surrey 73
Middlesex 71
Derbyshire 65
Finally, the following facts make for interesting reading, thinks me:
1. Durham lost more matches than Sussex, Warwickshire, and Yorkshire, but still comfortably won the County Championship. The moral of this story is that wins are infinitely more preferable to honourable draws that yield far less points.
2. The two teams at the summit of Division One did win more matches than their counterparts. This again underlines the desperate need to win matches and obtain the sixteen points for such an achievement.
3. The two teams at the foot of the final table lost more matches than anyone else, so clearly they were more vulnerable than their competitors and most likely to be bowled out twice. Their relegation was therefore 'merited'.
4. Derbyshire won more matches than Somerset [who finished two places above them] and as many matches as Nottinghamshire [who finished above them too]. However, Derbyshire's undoing was a distinct lack of bonus points which suggests that their first innings performances were not up to scratch.
5. Middlesex also won more matches than Sussex and Warwickshire who were perched above them. Again, as a mirror of the Derbyshire situation, Middlesex finished fifth and not third because they did not record enough bonus points to match their haul of six wins.

Britain's Nanny State by Gary Watton

2013-10-07T01:12:00.004-07:00

In recent weeks, I have taken the liberty of emailing each and every one of the 650 Members of Parliament. It has been something of an eye-opener for this slow learner. For example, did you know that MPs are not permitted or required to reply to correspondence from non-constituents. Therefore, it is a bit difficult for amateur lobbyists such as yours truly when Mr, Mrs or Miss Elected Representative is unable and/or unwilling to respond. Nevertheless, some parliamentarians (bless them) did take the bait and had the courage and/or decency to grant my emails an answer. To cut a long and exciting (sic) story short, I suggested to the Westminster elite that each of the three main political parties (alternatively described by belligerent George Galloway as "three cheeks of the same bum") were reportedly bereft of ideas and policy proposals. Consequently, being the helpful young (sic) citizen that I am, I proceeded to make the foliticians aware of my manifesto as located lovingly at http://gw930.blog.com/manifesto
I wasn't remotely surprised that those who browsed through my 'manifesto' replied that there were some ideas that met with their approval and other proposals that did not. This is precisely how I feel about their manifestos too. There are various bits in each party manifesto which are appealing to me and there are others which are considerably more unattractive to my beautiful mind. In a nutshell, I am a radical whose ideas transcend the apparent ideological differences on planet politics. If one were to observe my various blogs revealing the Greedy Bastards of Great Britain, it would be apparent to the lucky reader that I have leftist tendencies. However, I am ultimately a square peg, because I also possess ideas which belong further to the right of the political spectrum. For instance, I am appalled by Britain's nanny state and wholeheartedly endorse the Conservative Party's attempts to improve and reform the benefits system and the rotting welfare state. In fact, my strong feelings about the dependency culture is uppermost in my mind in terms of determining my voting preference at the next national beauty contest in 2015.
Well, various raspberries were blown by the usual suspects at the Conservative Party Conference's most recent welfare reform proposals. The Daily Mirror [a perpetual apologist for benefits exploiters and trade unions that have a grudge against the Conservatives], fronted by its jocular Geordie Mr Kevin Maguire mischievously suggested that the Conservatives' 'earn or learn' scheme in which innocent, little unemployed wretches could be condemned to spending every weekday at the local job centre was a return to the bad old days of the dreaded workhouse. A number of others from the Left as well as representatives of soft touch organisations were equally keen to scoff at the imminent reforms.
Perhaps this reveals the flawed nature of Brits (and others elsewhere) that we are frequently resistant to change. Could it be that most people are conservative in so far as many and indeed any proposed reforms from our political superiors are opposed because they represent upheaval and oblige folk to evacuate the complacency and safety of their comfort zones and embrace the great unknown of change. However, we all need to improve ourselves and our society, and progress can only be achieved via change. This represents the great conundrum of modern society in that change is something of a terrifying concept. Admittedly, there is a maxim that if it ain't broken then it don't need changed. Regrettably, mankind is damaged, and Britain (and elsewhere) is "broken", so the bitter pill of change has to be swallowed by a multitude of reluctant patients.
Anyhow, I have digressed somewhat. The thing is that when benefits reform is proposed, one can be pretty damn sure that the media will wheel out one or two hard luck cases whose lives will be totally undermined by amendments to the welfare state. I admit wholeheartedly that there are people whose lives are characterised by poverty which is not of their making. However, I do also contend that there are many more who benefit a little too well from benefits. I invite any leftist and liberal and naive soft touch personage to visit all the betting shops and public houses in their locality, wherein they will find a whole host of gents who are clearly not working and yet who are able to splash the cash. How can this be? Have they all taken an early retirement? Have they all won the National Lottery? Or could it be that they are some of the recipients of welfare which has enabled them, I repeat, to benefit a little too well from benefits.
I believe that it is increasingly erroneous to use the term "benefits" because there appears to be a plethora of folk who do indeed benefit a little too well from benefits. Perhaps it would be more apt to describe state aid in future as "assistance", provided that it does actually and exclusively assist the deserving poor, rather than fund the dubious lifestyle of the idle. Furthermore, it might well be worth visiting the local council estate to discover just how many houses of the apparent down-at-heel have television satellite dishes and good quality cars parked outside. It might be an eye-opener or at least an uncomfortable truth for the Guardian, the Daily Mirror and other apologists of welfare exploiters to discover precisely how many people are able to drive up and down their local roads, all day, every day, in good cars, funded by a regular supply of fuel, car insurance, and car tax. Can it be humanly possible that such people are impoverished and living on the breadline, or is it closer to reality to ascertain that there are many people who are taking the urine by exploiting the benefits system and laughing all the way to the bank.
Of course, what is most sickening of all is that there are numerous genuinely poor people working in horrible minimum wage jobs who are indeed struggling to cope and maintain any semblance of a quality of life whilst benefits exploiters are enjoying an idle lifestyle at the expense of hard-working and low-paid taxpayers. Why does the British welfare state reward the idle and penalise the hard-working, low-paid workers?
The trouble with the Labour Party is that they prize the welfare state to such an extent that they often refuse to entertain any benefit reforms. The party prides itself with having established the welfare state in the latter half of the turbulent 1940s, and therefore feels obliged to conserve [that word again] this flawed 'institution'. However, now that Labour has been killing the hospitals and schools with kindness and allowing exploiters to run rings around the benefits system, the party has instead presided over the creation of a nanny state. Britain is indeed broken, but I sincerely believe that welfare reforms and benefits adjustments are absolutely crucial to repair the damage to our decaying nation.

Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Malice, a man who hates Britain by the author Gary Watton

2013-10-05T02:43:00.001-07:00

Like most 'normal' people, I was repelled by the latest dirty trick from the grotesque, self-righteous, holier-than-thou Daily Mail. This organ of hate against the Left chose to pick a fight avec Ed Miliband, the Leader of the Opposition. To do so, this reptilian newspaper launched an unprovoked attack upon Ed's dead father, the respected Marxist intellectual, Ralph Miliband. It is a low tactic to pour scorn upon an individual who is sadly unable to defend himself. Adding insult to injury, the humourless Daily Mail spewed forth a pun in poor taste about the grave of the late Mr Miliband. I would dearly love to see how the awful bully Paul Dacre and his Mail minions would react if the gravestones of their dead loved ones were published with accompanying puns. Yes, herein lies one of the plethora of fundamental flaws of the Daily Mail: they are experts at dishing out hostility but are less disposed towards anyone who dares to confront them or regulate them.
Nick Clegg was correct when he stated that the Daily Mail is responsible for overwhelming bile against the British people. It was Nick's greatest remark. However while immediately listing those groups that this viewspaper denounces, Mr Clegg generously omitted immigrants, benefits claimants, and people who go on strike amongst the multitudes that the Daily Malice despises. Meanwhile Alan Sugar is equally spot-on in his observation that the Daily Mail are "nasty, nasty people". Alastair Campbell is also accurate to assert that the Daily Mail is poisonous. What irks me is how they published a vicious attack upon the Milibands and then lacked the courage to face the broadcasting media, with the exception of Jon Steafel's feeble performance on 'Newsnight'. Steafel's obvious impotence under cross-examination typifies the Daily Mail: a rabble of disapproving journos who mercilessly launch vitriol and stamp upon anyone that they take exception to whilst courageously doing so from behind their computer screens. It is abundantly clear that they dare not leave the refuge of their comfort zone and engage in debate. The activities of the foul-mouthed Paul Dacre and his cowardly cronies are that of a bully.
It's hugely ironic how Dacre and his agents of hate campaign for tough laws and yet are terrified of press regulation. Human nature is so flawed that we all need boundaries. Why should the deluded hypocrites of the Daily Mail be exempt?!

Greedy Pigs [***SEE http://aftu.webgarden.com]

2013-09-27T06:19:00.004-07:00

The following hall of shame is derived from the Town Hall Rich List of 2013 as published by the very worthwhile Taxpayers' Alliance. The listed greedy bastards are all employees of Scottish councils. If I was a Scottish voter at local elections, I would be making my views quite clear about the disgusting siphoning of public funds towards a select group of selfish individuals. Is it acceptable for ratespayers money to be allocated away from public services to feather the nest of such pigs? Surely not? I would advocate a campaigh of civil disobedience to defy the councils that waste public money so irresponsibly. As far as I am concerned, the wealth-worshippers below are my enemies.
Fergus Chambers; Managing Director of Cordia, Glasgow: £394,719
Gerry Gormal; Executive Director of Development and Regeneration Services at Glasgow council: £271,203
Stuart Nichol; Executive Director of Environment & Development at Fife council: £241,636
Ronald Hinds; Chief Executive of Fife council: £211,817
Alistair Dodds; Chief Executive of Highland council: £197,729
Malcolm Close; Operations Director of SEC Limited, Glasgow: £192,214
Gavin Whitefield; Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire council: £190,226
Geoff Lewis; Managing Director of Dumfries and Galloway First: £186,653
Russell Ellerby; Assistant Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire council: £185,368
Ben Goedegebuure; Sales Director of SEC Limited, Glasgow: £182,343
Gordon Lawson; Director of Support Services at Dumfries and Galloway council: £176,134
Tony Fitzpatrick; Director of Economic Regeneration at Dumfries and Galloway council: £172,285
David K Dorward; Chief Executive of Dundee City council: £171,599
Peter Duthie; Commercial Director of SEC Limited, Glasgow: £169,294
Annemarie O'Donnell; Executive Director of Corporate Services at Glasgow council: £166,505
Mary Pitcaithly; Chief Executive of Falkirk council: £164,207
Billy McFadyen; Finance Director of SEC Limited, Glasgow: £163,046
Elma Murray; Chief Executive of North Ayrshire council: £162,180
Lynn Brown; Executive Director of Financial Services at Glasgow council: £161,375
Bridget McConnell; Chief Executive of Culture and Sport at Glasgow council: £157,425
David Crawford; Executive Director of Social Care Services at Glasgow council: £153,890
Alan Geddes; Deputy Chief Executive & Director of Finance at Highland council: £150,979
F Lees; Chief Executive at East Ayrshire council: £150,647
Maureen McKenna; Executive Director of Education Services at Glasgow council: £147,402
Gerry Cornes; Chief Executive of East Dunbartonshire council: £146,901
Alistair Crichton; Executive Director of Finance & Customer Services at North Lanarkshire council: £145,892
Alex Jannetta; Director of Finance at Falkirk council: £145,699
Mary Castles; Executive Director of Housing & Social Work Services at North Lanarkshire council: £145,656
Paul Jukes; Executive Director of Environmental Services at North Lanarkshire council: £145,524
Steve Barron; Director of Housing & Property and Chief Executive at Highland council: £143,455
J Mundell; Chief Executive of Inverclyde council: £141,752
K Lawrie; Chief Executive of Midlothian council: £136,899
Alan Blackie; former Chief Executive of East Lothian council: £136,815
William Alexander; Director of Social Work and Director of Health and Social Care at Highland council; £136,642
Stuart Black; Director of Planning, Environment and Development at Highland council: £136,642
Hugh Fraser; Director of Education, Culture and Sport at Highland council: £136,642
Neil Gilles; Director of Transport, Environmental and Community Services at Highland council: £136,642
Michelle Morris; Assistant Chief Executive of Highland council: £136,642
Lorraine McMillan; Chief Executive of East Renfrewshire council: £135,096
Michael Enston; Executive Director of Performance & Organisational Support at Fife council: £132,462
Kenneth Greer; Executive Director of Education at Fife council: £132,462
Steven Grimmond; Executive Director of Housing and Communities at Fife council: £132,462
Brian Livingston; Executive Director of Finance & Resources at Fife council: £132,462
Stephen Moore; Executive Director of Social Work at Fife council: £132,462
G Short; Executive Director at East Ayrshire council: £131,024
Malcolm Burr; Chief Executive of Eilean Sar council: £127,399
Scott Taylor; Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau Limited: £126,022
Diane Campbell; Director of Corporate & Customer Services at East Dunbartonshire council: £125,490
D MacKay; Director of Education & Children Services at Midlothian council: £124,853
Graham Wallace; Managing Director of City Markets, Glasgow: £124,327
E Morton; Deputy Chief Executive at East Ayrshire council: £123,752
Derek Cunningham; Director of Development & Infrastructure at East Dunbartonshire council: £123,200
A Fawcett; Corporate Director of Regeneration & Environment at Inverclyde council: £122,078
A Henderson; Corporate Director of Education & Communities at Inverclyde council: £122,078
R Murphy; Corporate Director of Community Care & Health Partnership at Inverclyde council: £122,078
A McPhee; Executive Director at East Ayrshire council: £121,639
Roddy Burns; Corporate Director of Strategic Planning & Governance at Moray council: £120,785
P Wallace; former Corporate Director of Organisational Improvement & Performance at Inverclyde council: £120,767
John Wilson; Director of Education at East Renfrewshire council: £119,963
Alain Baird; Director of Social Work at Dundee City council: £119,942
Jim Collins; Director of Education at Dundee City council: £119,942
Michael P Galloway; Director of City Development at Dundee City council: £119,942
Norman Williamson; Director of Finance at East Renfrewshire council: £119,260
Marjory Stewart; Director of Finance & Corporate Services at Dundee City council: £118,910
Andrew Cahill; Director of Environment at East Renfrewshire council: £118,807
Bruce Clark; Assessor at Fife council: £118,774
Julie Murray; Director of Community Health & Care Partnership at East Renfrewshire council: £118,737
Iona Colvin; Corporate Director of Social Services & Health at North Ayrshire council: £118,572
Carol Kirk; Corporate Director of Education & Skills at North Ayrshire council: £118,572
Alasdair Herbert; Corporate Director of Finance & Infrastructure at North Ayrshire council: £118,226
John Simmons; Director of Community Services at East Dunbartonshire council: £118,160
Stuart Ritchie; Director of Corporate & Neighbourhood Services at Falkirk council: £117,816
Pete Collins; Director of Environment at East Lothian council: £117,769
Alex McCrorie; Director of Corporate Services at East Lothian council: £117,769
Rhona Geisler; Director of Development Services at Falkirk council: £116,895
Caroline Innes; Deputy Chief Executive at East Lothian council: £116,695
Margaret Anderson; Director of Social Work Services at Falkirk council: £116,284
Monica Patterson; Director of Community Services at East Lothian council: £116,002
J Blair; Director of Corporate Resources at Midlothian council: £114,945
C Anderson; Director of Communities & Wellbeing and Executive Officer of Transformation at Midlothian council: £114,050
Anne Leonard; Solicitor to East Renfrewshire council: £113,686
Maureen Campbell; Director of Community Services at Falkirk council: £110,802
Julia Swan; Director of Education at Falkirk council: £110,349
Don Ledingham; Director of Education & Children's Services at East Lothian council: £109,919
Elaine Zwirlein; Director of Housing at Dundee City council: £109,761
E Paterson; Head of Legal and Democratic Services at Inverclyde council: £107,513
Alastair Keddie; Chief Executive of Moray council: £107,416
Ian Mackay; Solicitor to North Ayrshire council: £106,507
Stewart Murdoch; Director of Leisure & Communities at Dundee City council: £105,690
Rose Mary Glackin; Chief Governance Officer at Falkirk council: £104,896
Colin Edgar; Head of Communication and Organisational Development at Glasgow council: £104,847
Mark Palmer; Corporate Director of Corporate Services at Moray council: £103,975
Sandy Riddell; Corporate Director of Education & Social Care at Moray council: £103,912
Donald Duncan; Director of Educational Services at Moray council: £103,160
Ken Laing; Director of Environment at Dundee City council: £102,972
Murray Leys; Head of Adult Social Care at East Lothian council: £102,034
Jim Lamond; Head of Governance & Performance at East Lothian council: £101,709
David Spilsbury; Head of Finance at East Lothian council: £101,307
D Mitchell; Solicitor to East Ayrshire council: £100,991
C Houston; Chief Internal Auditor at East Ayrshire council: £100,409

Commons Deserters From Syrian Vote

2013-09-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

*This list has been borrowed [or lovingly stolen] from: http://diack.co.uk/fitaloon/category/politics/

Roll of Shame – Syria Vote – Absentees

Roll of shame of those MP’s who couldn’t be bothered to vote on Syria. Hopefully they have full excuses for their constituents.

Adam Afriyie	Windsor	Con	absent
Ian Austin	Dudley North	Lab	absent
Henry Bellingham	North West Norfolk	Con	absent

Roberta Blackman-Woods	City of Durham	Lab	absent
Hazel Blears	Salford and Eccles	Lab	absent
Paul Blomfield	Sheffield Central	Lab	absent
Ben Bradshaw	Exeter	Lab	absent
Graham Brady	Altrincham and Sale West	Con	absent
Annette Brooke	Mid Dorset and North Poole	LDem	absent
Gordon Brown	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath	Lab	absent
Richard Burden	Birmingham, Northfield	Lab	absent
Lorely Burt	Solihull	LDem	absent
William Cash	Stone	Con	absent
Sarah Champion	Rotherham	Lab	absent
Christopher Chope	Christchurch	Con	absent
Kenneth Clarke	Rushcliffe	Con	absent
Ann Clwyd	Cynon Valley	Lab	absent
Michael Connarty	Linlithgow and East Falkirk	Lab	absent
Rosie Cooper	West Lancashire	Lab	absent
Geoffrey Cox	Torridge and West Devon	Con	absent
David Crausby	Bolton North East	Lab	absent
John Cryer	Leyton and Wanstead	Lab	absent
Ian Davidson	Glasgow South West	Lab	absent
Pat Doherty	West Tyrone	SF	absent
Nadine Dorries	Mid Bedfordshire	Con	absent
Alan Duncan	Rutland and Melton	Con	absent
Nigel Evans	Ribble Valley	Con	absent
Tim Farron	Westmorland and Lonsdale	LDem	absent
Yvonne Fovargue	Makerfield	Lab	absent
David Gauke	South West Hertfordshire	Con	absent
Michelle Gildernew	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	SF	absent
Justine Greening	Putney	Con	absent
Lilian Greenwood	Nottingham South	Lab	absent
Peter Hain	Neath	Lab	absent
David Hanson	Delyn	Lab	absent
Nick Harvey	North Devon	LDem	absent
Alan Haselhurst	Saffron Walden	Con	absent
David Heyes	Ashton-under-Lyne	Lab	absent
Sharon Hodgson	Washington and Sunderland West	Lab	absent
Lindsay Hoyle	Chorley	Lab	absent
Mark Hunter	Cheadle	LDem	absent
Diana Johnson	Kingston upon Hull North	Lab	absent
Barbara Keeley	Worsley and Eccles South	Lab	absent
Chris Kelly	Dudley South	Con	absent
Charles Kennedy	Ross, Skye and Lochaber	LDem	absent
Pauline Latham	Mid Derbyshire	Con	absent
Edward Leigh	Gainsborough	Con	absent
Charlotte Leslie	Bristol North West	Con	absent
Ian Liddell-Grainger	Bridgwater and West Somerset	Con	absent
Jack Lopresti	Filton and Bradley Stoke	Con	absent
Andrew Love	Edmonton	Lab	absent
Anne Main	St Albans	Con	absent
Paul Maskey	Belfast West	SF	absent
William McCrea	South Antrim	DUP	absent
Siobhain McDonagh	Mitcham and Morden	Lab	absent
Patrick Mercer	Newark	Con	absent
Austin Mitchell	Great Grimsby	Lab	absent
Francie Molloy	Mid Ulster	SF	absent
Greg Mulholland	Leeds North West	LDem	absent
Meg Munn	Sheffield, Heeley	Lab	absent
Tessa Munt	Wells	LDem	absent
Conor Murphy	Newry and Armagh	SF	absent
Jesse Norman	Hereford and South Herefordshire	Con	absent
James Paice	South East Cambridgeshire	Con	absent
Ian Paisley Jnr	North Antrim	DUP	absent
Priti Patel	Witham	Con	absent
Dawn Primarolo	Bristol South	Lab	absent
John Pugh	Southport	LDem	absent
Yasmin Qureshi	Bolton South East	Lab	absent
John Redwood	Wokingham	Con	absent
Emma Reynolds	Wolverhampton North East	Lab	absent
Andrew Rosindell	Romford	Con	absent
David Ruffley	Bury St Edmunds	Con	absent
Adrian Sanders	Torbay	LDem	absent
Mark Simmonds	Boston and Skegness	Con	absent
David Simpson	Upper Bann	DUP	absent
Angela Smith	Penistone and Stocksbridge	Lab	absent
John Spellar	Warley	Lab	absent
Rory Stewart	Penrith and The Border	Con	absent
John Thurso	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	LDem	absent
David Tredinnick	Bosworth	Con	absent
Karl Turner	Kingston upon Hull East	Lab	absent
Andrew Tyrie	Chichester	Con	absent
Steve Webb	Thornbury and Yate	LDem	absent
Bill Wiggin	North Herefordshire	Con	absent
Mark Williams	Ceredigion	LDem	absent
Jennifer Willott	Cardiff Central	LDem	absent
John Woodcock	Barrow and Furness	Lab	absent
Shaun Woodward	St Helens South and Whiston	Lab	absent
Tim Yeo	South Suffolk	Con	absent

GREEDY BASTARDS of Great Britain [***SEE ALSO the website http://aftu.webgarden.com]

2013-09-03T06:56:00.004-07:00

Before I list one hundred more greedy pigs who are exploiting the excessive generosity of various remuneration committees, may I remind the reader of the following. Any individual employed on the degrading National Minimum Wage earns typically about £11,000 per year. Any individual on Jobseekers Allowance and Housing Benefit typically receives eight or nine thousand pounds per annum. Contrast such pitiful rations with the large amounts below, and surely one can see the need for civil disobedience to confront a bureaucratic establishment that looks after itself a little too well whilst literally providing the bare minimum for the rest of the great unwashed. The allocation of huge salaries must stop!
*****SEE ALSO the website http://aftu.webgarden.com

Sir Leszek Borysiewicz; Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Research Council: £255,000
Paul Wilson; Chief Officer of the London Probation Trust: £240,000
A Richards; Managing Director of ETL (tie Limited): £235,836
David Bennett of the Independent Regulator of NHS foundation trusts: £230,000
Alan Langlands; Chief Executive Officer of the Higher Education Funding Council for England: £230,000
Neil Lloyd; Chief Executive of NHS Professionals: £230,000
Alison Nimmo; Director of Design & Regeneration at the Olympic Delivery Authority: £225,000
Hugh Summer; Director of Transport at the Olympic Delivery Authority: £225,000
Simon Wright; Director of Infrastructure & Utilities at the Olympic Delivery Authority: £225,000
Tim Byles; Chief Executive of Partnerships For Schools: £215,000
Iain Gray; Chief Executive Officer of the Technology Strategy Board: £210,000
D Murray; Commercial Director of tie Limited: £208,909
Alistair Buchanan; Chief Executive of Ofgem: £205,000
Andrew Hall; Chief Executive Officer of the Qualification Curriculum Authority: £205,000
Ralph Luck; Director of Property for the Olympic Delivery Authority: £205,000
Geoff Russell; Chief Executive Officer of the Learning and Skills Council: £205,000
R Jeffrey; Chief Executive of tie Limited: £200,463
Stephen Henwood; Chairman of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: £200,000
Simon Richards; Business Delivery Director of the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority: £200,000
Alan Rubenstein; Chief Executive of the Pension Protection Fund: £200,000
Andrew Altman; Chief Executive of Olympic Park Legacy Authority: £195,000
Dr Paul Leinster; Chief Executive of the Environment Agency: £195,000
Professor Michael Murphy; Clinical Director at the NHS: £195,000
Sir Denis O'Connor; HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary: £195,000
F McFadden; Infraco Director of tie Limited: £191,301
Peter Neyroud; Chief Executive Officer of the National Policing Improvement Agency: £190,000
Roger Baker of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary: £185,000
Zoe Billingham of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary: £185,000
John Clarke; Commercial Director of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: £185,000
Professor David Coggon; Programme Leader of the Epidemiology Research Centre: £185,000
James Morse; Director of Assurance at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: £185,000
Dr Derwood Pamphilon; a Clinical Director for the NHS: £185,000
William Roberts; Chief Financial Officer at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: £185,000
Malcolm Ross; Executive Director at the Olympic Park Legacy Company: £185,000
Drusilla Sharpling of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary: £185,000
John Vine; Independent Chief Inspector of UKBA: £185,000
Richard Waite; Director of Strategy & Technology at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: £185,000
Stephen Walker; Chief Executive of the NHS Litigation Authority: £185,000
Andrew Dillon; Chief Executive of the National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence: £180,000
Lynda Hamlyn; Chief Executive of NHS Blood: £180,000
Stephen Hay of the Independent Regulator of NHS foundation trusts: £180,000
Dr Patricia Hewitt; Lead Consultant of NHS Blood: £180,000
Elaine Holt; Chief Executive of Directly Operated Rail: £180,000
William Hughes; Director General of the Serious Organised Crime Agency: £180,000
Professor James Neuberger; Associate Medical Director of NHS Blood: £180,000
Steve Smith; Senior Partner at Ofgem: £180,000
Andrew Wright; Senior Partner at Ofgem: £180,000
Rob Clark; Finance Director for NHS Professionals: £175,000
Professor Cyrus Cooper of the Medical Research Council: £175,000
Professor Tumani Corrah of the Medical Research Council: £175,000
Tony Hobman; Chief Executive of The Pensions Regulator: £175,000
Professor Alan Lucas of the Medical Research Council: £175,000
Dr Derek Norfolk; Consultant Haematologist of NHS Blood: £175,000
Dr Ruth Warwick; Lead Specialist of NHS Blood: £175,000
S Clark; Programme Director of tie Limited: £170,232
Professor Sir Iain Chalmers; Clinical Consultant for the Medical Research Council: £170,000
Dr Harsh Duggal of the Health Protection Agency: £170,000
Dr Noel Gill of the Health Protection Agency: £170,000
Professor Douglas Higgs; Director for the Medical Research Council: £170,000
Peter Littlejohns of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence: £170,000
Karen Webb; Executive Director for the Olympic Park Legacy Company: £170,000
John Woodward; Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council: £170,000
Sally Caplan; Head of the Premiere Fund of the UK Film Council: £165,000
Martin Clarke; Executive Director at the Pension Protection Fund: £165,000
Bernard Crump; Chief Executive of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement: £165,000
Chris Humphries; Chief Executive Officer of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills: £165,000
RS Jackson; Chief Executive Officer of the Student Loan Company: £165,000
David Jordon; Director of Operations at the Environment Agency: £165,000
Jonathan Kestenbaum; Chief Executive Officer of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts: £165,000
Zahida Manzoor; Legal Services Ombudsman: £165,000
Peter Marsh; Chief Executive of the Tenant Services Authority: £165,000
Tim Matthews; Chief Executive Officer of Remploy Limited: £165,000
Tanya Seghatchian; Head of the Development Fund of the UK Film Council: £165,000
Jenny Williams; Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission: £165,000
Gavin Stevenson; Chief Executive of Dumfries and Galloway council: £161,361
Dr Nicholas Coleman; Programme Leader and Clinical Consultant of the Medical Research Council: £160,000
RT Ennis; Director at the Homes and Communities Agency: £160,000
E Goodwin; Chief Executive of the Waste and Resources Action Programme: £160,000
Graham Holley; Chief Executive of the Training and Development Agency for Schools: £160,000
Chris Kenny; Chief Executive of the Legal Services Board: £160,000
Fergus MacBeth of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence: £160,000
Jennie Price; Chief Executive of Sport England: £160,000
Dr Christopher Rudge; National Clinical Director of NHS Blood: £160,000
Nicholas Scholte; Chief Executive Officer of the NHS Business Services Authority: £160,000
Sir Nicholas Serota; Director of Tate: £160,000
Dr John Simpson of the Health Protection Agency: £160,000
Dr Robert Spencer of the Health Protection Agency: £160,000
Steve Cowley; Chief Executive Officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority: £155,000
Michael Dixon; Museum Director of the Natural History Museum: £155,000
Will Evans; Head of Business Affairs at the UK Film Council: £155,000
Dr Stephen Inglis; Director at the Health Protection Agency: £155,000
D Lunts; London Regional Director of the Homes and Communities Agency: £155,000
Dr Kenneth Mutton; Consultant Virologist at the Health Protection Agency: £155,000
G Roberts; Finance Director of tie Limited: £123,688
Colin Grant; Director of the Education Service at Dumfries and Galloway council: £120,017
John Alexander; Director of Social Work Service at Dumfries and Galloway council: £119,464
Alex Haswell; Director of the Chief Executive Service at Dumfries and Galloway council: £118,180
Alistair Speedie; Director of Planning at Dumfries and Galloway Council: £115,326
Angela Leitch; Chief Executive of Clackmannanshire council: £114,319
Justin Tracy; Director of Community & Customer Services at Dumfries and Galloway council: £109,985
Lorna Meahan; Assistant Chief Executive of Dumfries and Galloway council: £103,552

Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10489120

Tags: bonuses culture; disproportionate salary

GREEDY BASTARDS of Great Britain [***SEE ALSO the website http://aftu.webgarden.com]

2013-08-31T02:51:00.002-07:00

Here are one hundred more wealth-worshippers who feel that they are superior human beings. They earn at least eight times what the poor buggers on the National Minimum Wage are “awarded”. Is this the kind of inequality that the UK should accept? I would advocate a national campaign of civil disobedience to challenge the grossly irresponsible allocation of public funds. Otherwise, the Chief Executives of greed and selfishness will continue to run rings around the sheepish populace. Let’s resist the unfair and disproportionate distribution of salaries which are an affront to common decency and humanity.
***SEE ALSO http://aftu.webgarden.com
Moya Greene; Chief Executive of the Royal Mail: £1,470,000
Paula Vennells; Chief Executive of the Post Office Limited: £697,000
Malcolm Grant; Provost & President of University College London: £376,190
Richard Ackroyd; Chief Executive of Scottish Water: £336,000
Ed Richards; Chief Executive of Ofcom: £321,749
S Bell; Tram Project Director of tie Limited: £306,780
Sir Mervyn King; former Governor of the Bank of England: £305,764
Sir Paul Stephenson; Commissioner of Metropolitan Police Service: £280,489
Paul Tucker; Deputy Governor of the Bank of England: £258,114
I Coupar; Marketing Director of Lothian Buses: £251,285
Tim Godwin; Deputy Commissioner of Metropolitan Police Service: £246,969
S Assar; Interim Chief Executive of Luton PCT: £242,500
Mark Elms; Headteacher of Tidemill School, Lewisham: £231,400
Jonathan House; Chief Executive of Cardiff City Council: £219,159
W Devlin; Engineering Director of Lothian Buses: £218,367
Sir Norman Bettison; former Chief Constable of West Yorkshire constabulary: £217,956
Dr Gareth Goodier; Chief Executive of Cambridge University trust: £217,500
W Campbell; Operations Director of Lothian Buses: £217,240
N Strachan; Finance Director of Lothian Buses: £216,491
Lord Hamilton; Lord President of the Court of Session: £214,165
Sir Declan Morgan; Lord Chief Justice of the Northern Ireland judiciary: £214,165
Lord Neuberger; Master of the Rolls: £214,165
Lord Phillips; President of the Supreme Court: £214,165
S Baker; Chief Executive Officer of High Peak and Staffordshire Moorlands councils: £213,155
David Bennett; Chief Executive of the Sanctuary Housing Association: £213,000
John Yates; Assistant Commissioner of Metropolitan Police Service: £211,624
MV James; Chief Executive of Carmarthenshire council: £209,498
Sean Price; former Chief Constable of Cleveland constabulary: £208,691
Lord Brown; Supreme Court judge: £206,857
Lord Collins; Supreme Court judge: £206,857
Lady Hale; Supreme Court judge: £206,857
Lord Hope; Supreme Court judge: £206,857
Sir Robert Andrew Morritt; Chancellor of the High Court: £206,857
Chris Allison; Assistant Chief Constable of Metropolitan Police Service: £204,882
Mike Craik; former Chief Constable of Northumbria constabulary: £204,701
Sir Hugh Orde; former Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland: £202,500
John Belcher; Chief Executive of the Anchor Trust: £202,000
Nigel Pallace; Bi-Borough Executive Director in central London: £200,556
Jacqueline Valin; Headteacher of Southfields Community College: £198,406
Rose Fitzpatrick; Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service: £196,396
S Bruce; Chief Executive of City of Edinburgh council: £196,007
Lyn Carpenter; Bi-Borough Executive Director in central London: £195,265
Ailsa Beaton; Director of Information at the Metropolitan Police Service: £189,896
Andrew Christie; Director of Children’s Services at three central London borough councils: £183,833
H Rissmann; Chief Executive of EICC: £178,191
A Buchan; Chief Executive of Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands councils: £176,919
Colin Mackenzie; Chief Executive of Aberdeenshire council: £174,409
G Tee; Director of Children and Families at City of Edinburgh council: £170,640
Valerie Watts; Chief Executive of Aberdeen City Council: £170,628
A Alexander; Headteacher in Devon County Council: £165,266
T Aitchison; former Chief Executive of City of Edinburgh council: £164,717
Sir William Atkinson; Headteacher at Phoenix School, London: £160,640
Michael Cogher; Director of Legal Services at two central London borough councils: £159,412
Paul Dick; Executive Headteacher at Trinity and Kennet school: £153,829
Jeffrey Risbridger; Headteacher at Saint Cecilia’s: £152,646
Kelvin Simmonds; Headteacher at Danum School, Doncaster: £152,536
D Anderson; Director of City Development at City of Edinburgh council: £150,412
J Inch; former Director of Corporate Services at City of Edinburgh council: £148,971
D McGougan; former Director of Finance at City of Edinburgh council: £148,971
M Turley; Director of Services for Communities at City of Edinburgh council: £148,971
R Stiff; Chief Executive of Angus council: £144,191
Sally Loudon; Chief Executive of Argyll and Bute council: £142,574
Brian Horsburgh; MD of Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre: £141,764
Paul Nurse; Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK: £140,000
Trefor Thomas Morgan; Chief Executive of Cardiff City Council: £139,575
David Clarke; Chief Executive of West Dorset and Weymouth & Portland councils: £132,022
Christine Gore; Director of Corporate Services at Aberdeenshire council: £131,399
Ritchie Johnson; Director of Housing and Social Work at Aberdeenshire council: £131,024
Ian Gabriel; Director of Infrastructure at Aberdeenshire council: £130,914
Sue Bruce; Chief Executive of Aberdeen City Council: £129,698
R Peat; Director of Social Work and Health at Angus council: £128,083
Stewart Carruth; Director of Corporate Governance at Aberdeen City Council: £127,828
Pete Leonard; Director of Housing and Environment at Aberdeen City Council: £127,828
Fred McBride; Director of Social Care and Wellbeing at Aberdeen City Council: £127,828
Gordon McIntosh; Director of Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure at Aberdeen City Council: £127,828
R Ashton; Director of Neighbourhood Services at Angus council: £125,409
Tim Black; Chief Executive of Marie Stopes International: £125,230
Jeremy Oppenheim; Chief Executive of Jewish Care: £125,000
N Logue; Director of Education at Angus council: £123,967
E Lowson; Director of Infrastructure Services at Angus council: £122,858
E Adair; Operations and Finance Director of the EDI Group: £121,135
M Miller; Chief Social Work Officer at City of Edinburgh council: £117,122
Annette Bruton; Director of Education, Culture and Sport at Aberdeen City Council: £116,725
Deryk Mead; Chief Executive of NCH Action for Children: £116,384
Leslie Busk; Chief Executive of the British Heart Foundation: £115,000
Fiona Reynolds; Chief Executive of the National Trust: £115,000
Cleland Sneddon; Executive Director of Community Services at Argyll and Bute council: £114,905
Douglas Hendry; Executive Director of Customer Services at Argyll and Bute council: £110,947
H Robertson; Assistant Chief Executive at Angus council: £110,767
Alexander MacTaggart; Executive Director of Development at Angus council: £110,562
C McMahon; Director of Corporate Services at Angus council: £108,850
S Hunter; Head of Law and Administration at Angus council: £107,738
Roger Singleton; Chief Executive of Barnardos: £105,027
Andrew Freemantle; Chief Executive of the RNLI: £105,000
Mary Marsh; Chief Executive of the NSPCC: £105,000
Nicholas Payne; Chief Executive of English National Opera: £105,000
I Lorimer; Head of Finance at Angus council: £103,657
Belinda Greer; Joint Head of Education at Stirling and Clackmannanshire councils: £102,855
David Barrie; Chief Executive of the National Art Collections Fund: £100,000
Peter Cardy; Chief Executive of MacMillan Cancer Relief: £100,000
Source:
http://society.guardian.co.uk/salarysurvey/table/0,12406,1042677,00.html

GREEDY BASTARDS of Great Britain [**********SEE ALSO http://aftu.webgarden.com]

2013-08-30T03:03:00.002-07:00

Here are another one hundred greedy villains who have been the recipients of excessive generosity from an unwitting public. It is remarkable how many money-grabbers have been knighted or officially recognised for their apparent greatness. Not only do the selfish swine receive a criminal volume of money but they are even applauded by the Establishment. Ultimately, the biggest crime of our time is the cavalier and irresponsible use of rates and taxes by our elected officials who award monstrous remuneration packages. I guess that the names below refuse to look a foolish gift horse in the mouth. All ratespayers should refuse to pay their rates.
*****SEE ALSO http://aftu.webgarden.com
Katherine Kerswell; Group Managing Director of Kent Council: £589,165
L.Hardie; Deputy Chief Executive of South Lanarkshire Council: £543,538
Thomas McDonald; Assistant Director of Development and Regeneration Sevices, Glasgow Council: £520,590
William Docherty; Managing Director, City Building [Glasgow]: £485,698
Steven Kelly; Director of Corporate Services, City Building [Glasgow]: £481,166
Anna Wright; Director of Education & Children’s Services at Reading Council: £392,878
Sean Nolan; Director of Corporate Services at East Sussex Council: £389,880
Robert Booth; Executive Director of Land & Environment Services at Glasgow Council: £382,789
Kenenth Harkness; Head of Service Development at Glasgow Council: £371,610
Joyce Redfearn; Chief Executive of Wigan Council: £343,400
Mark Davies; Chief Executive of Imperial Healthcare Trust: £340,000
Elaine Grieve; Assistant Chief Executive of Orkney Islands Council: £339,610
Patricia McIlquham; Deputy Chief Executive of Dundee City Council: £335,468
Michael Coughlin; Chief Executive of Reading Council: £334,578
A.Kerr; Chief Executive of Reading Council: £328,150
R.Heaton; Executive Director of Resources at Newham Council: £317,137
John Sharkey; Chief Executive, SEC Limited, Glasgow Council: £314,553
Gerald Jones; Chief Executive of Wandsworth Borough Council: £299,925
John Fingleton; Chief Executive of Office of Fair Trading: £275,000
S Robinson; Chief Executive of Cheshire West and Chester Council: £266,000
Ruth Carnall; Chief Executive of NHS London: £265,000
Andrew Stafford; Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Mint: £264,510
Stephen Hughes; Chief Executive of Birmingham Council: £260,360
Chris Williams; Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire Council: £259,438
Geoff Bellingan; Medical Director of University College London Hospital: £255,000
D.P.Martin; Chief Executive and Director of Administration of Wandsworth Council: £254,880
N. Walkley; Chief Executive of Barnet Council: £250,818
C. Tapster; Chief Executive of Hertfordshire Council: £250,351
Andrew Haines; Chief Executive of the Civil Aviation Authority: £250,000
George Black; Chief Executive of Glasgow Council: £248,004
Erika Wenzel; Chief Executive of Cheshire East Council: £247,762
Peter Gilroy; Chief Executive of Kent Council: £243,388
Mark Goldman; Chief Executive of the Heart of England trust: £242,500
K.Crompton; Chief Executive of Haringey Council: £241,657
Joe Duckworth; Chief Executive of Newham Borough Council: £241,483
Dave Smith; Chief Executive of Sunderland Council: £240,445
I.Craig; Managing Director of Lothian Buses: £238,954
C.J.Buss; Director of Finance and Deputy Chief Executive of Wandsworth Council: £238,787
P.Halsall; Chief Executive of Lancashire Council: £238,774
D.White; Chief Executive of Norfolk Council: £238,100
Nick Bell; Chief Executive of Staffordshire Council: £237,737
Will Tuckley; Chief Executive of Bexley Council: £237,336
Derrick Anderson; Chief Executive of Lambeth Borough Council: £235,650
Sir Neil McKay; Chief Executive of East of England SHA: £232,500
Colin Hilton; Chief Executive of Liverpool City Council: £229,555
Sir Leonard Fenwick; Chief Executive of Newcastle NHS Trust: £227,500
David White; Chief Executive of Norfolk County Council: £224,900
Mark Hammond; Chief Executive Officer of West Sussex County Council: £223,451
Paul Bentley; Acting Chief Executive of Ashford and St Peter’s trust: £223,000
Dr Barbara Hakin; Chief Executive of East Midlands SHA: £222,400
David Dalton; Chief Executive of Salford Royal trust: £222,215
Mark Farrar; Chief Executive Officer of the Construction Industry Trading Board: £220,000
Stephen Geraghty; Commissioner of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission: £210,000
Sir Michael Cahn; Chief Executive of UK Trade and Investment: £205,000
Roger Bright; Chief Executive of the Crown Estate: £200,000
Richard Paniguian; Head of UK Trade and Investment, Defence and Security Organisation: £195,000
Dr Harry Bush; Member of the Civil Aviation Authority: £185,000
Philip Ridal; Finance Director of British Waterways: £185,000
Andy Mckeon; Managing Director of the Audit Commission: £180,000
Eugene Sullivan; Managing Director of the Audit Commission: £180,000
Peter Wilkinson; Managing Director of the Audit Commission: £180,000
Paul Clark; Director of Investment and Asset Management of the Crown Estate: £175,000
Gareth Davies; Managing Director of the Audit Commission: £175,000
Neil MacGregor; Director of the British Museum: £175,000
Martin Evans; Managing Director of the Audit Commission: £170,000
Sir Alisdair Fraser; Director of Public Prosecutions, Northern Ireland: £170,000
Peter Freeman; Chairman of the Competition Commission: £170,000
Tony Redmond; Chairman of CLAE: £170,000
Richard Alderman; Director of the Serious Fraud Office: £165,000
Martin Davidson; Chief Executive of the British Council: £165,000
Nigel Johnson; Corporate Services Director of British Waterways: £165,000
Fiona Adshead; Director General on secondment to the World Health Organisation: £160,000
Sir John Elvidge; Permanent Secretary for the Scottish government: £160,000
Chris Jesnick; Member of the Civil Aviation Authority: £160,000
Stephen Leonard; former director of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission: £160,000
Dr Kevin Woods; Chief Executive of NHS Scotland: £160,000
Dame Lynne Brindley; Chief Executive of the British Library: £155,000
Anthony Douglas; Chief Executive Officer of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission: £155,000
Mark Grimshaw; Managing Director of the CSA: £155,000
Richard Jackson; Member of the Civil Aviation Authority: £155,000
Paul Jenkins Q.C.; Permanent Secretary for the Treasury Solicitors Department: £155,000
Terry Moran; Chief Executive of Pension, Disability & Carers Service: £155,000
Vince Moran; Operations Director of British Waterways: £155,000
Jim Stirling; Technical Director of British Waterways: £155,000
Richard Thompson; Chief Constable of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary: £155,000
Tim Brown; Chief Executive of Postcomm: £150,000
Alan Davey; Chief Executive of the Arts Council: £150,000
Roy Irwin of the Audit Commission: £150,000
Stella Manzie; Director General, Justice and Communities in Scotland: £150,000
Stuart Mills; Property Director of British Waterways: £150,000
Sir Michael Scholar; Chair of UK Statistics Authority: £150,000
Mark Swann; Member of the Civil Aviation Authority: £150,000
Brian Willmor; Regional Director of the Audit Commission: £150,000
M Williams; Chief Executive of East Devon and South Somerset Councils: £146,828
Colette Paul; Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Constabulary: £133,068
Dame Deirdre Hutton; Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority: £130,000
Professor Douglas Kell; Chief Executive Officer of the Biological Sciences Research Council: £130,000
B Richardson; Parliamentary Counsel at the Cabinet Office: £120,000
Dame Suzi Leather; Chair of the Charity Commission for England and Wales: £100,000
Richard Foster CBE; Chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission: £100,000

GREEDY BASTARDS of Great Britain; part three [***SEE ALSO http://aftu.webgarden.com]

2013-08-21T03:25:00.001-07:00

The following 100 over-paid folk are from the civil service as quoted by the BBC in 2010. It's really strange but if you attended a meal with others and you helped yourself to a huge volume of food which stacked up on your plate, you would be castigated as being "greedy", yet in our perverse society, it seems perfectly acceptable for an elite group to accumulate enormous salaries while those poor buggers on benefits are expected to live on about eight or nine thousand pounds per year. The selfish swine below may be talented and even hard-working, but their greatest talent is to load their bank account with copious amounts of money from the taxpayer. Is this fair?
Joe Harley; Chief Information Officer of the DWP: £245,000
Sir Jock Stirrup; Chief of the Defence Staff: £240,000
Jeremy Beeton; former Director General of the Government Olympic Executive: £225,000
Clare Chapman; Director General of the Department of Health: £220,000
Paul Hemsley; Director of Finance at the Ordnance Survey: £120,000
David Green of the Crown Prosecution Service: £210,000
Patrick Crawford; Chief Executive at the Export Credits Guarantee Department: £205,000
Lin Homer; Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency: £205,000
Helen Kilpatrick; Director General at the Home Office: £205,000
Steve Lamey; Director General at HM Revenues & Customs: £205,000
DA Shields; Programme Director at OGC: £205,000
Dr Mike Mitchell; Head of National Networks Group: £200,000
D Pitchford; Director at OGC: £200,000
Andrew Tyler; Chief Operating Officer at the Ministry of Defence: £200,000
Christine Gilbert; Her Majesty's Chief Inspector at OFSTED: £195,000
James Hall; Chief Executive, Identity and Passport Service: £195,000
Andrew Manley; Director General at the Ministry of Defence: £195,000
Sir David Normington; Permanent Secretary at the Home Office: £195,000
Keir Starmer; Director of the Crown Prosecution Service: £195,000
Vanessa Lawrence; Chief Executive Officer of the Ordnance Survey: £190,000
Trevor Llanwarne; Government Actuary: £190,000
Andy Nelson; Chief Information Officer at the Ministry of Justice: £190,000
Jane Platt; Chief Executive of National Savings & Investments: £190,000
Nemat Shafiq; Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development: £190,000
Tim Smith; Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency: £190,000
Kevin White; Director General, Human Resources at the Home Office: £190,000
Professor Kent Woods; Chief Executive of the MHRA: £190,000
Simon Bowles; Chief Finance Officer at HM Revenue & Customs: £185,000
David Goldstone, formerly of the Government Olympic Executive: £185,000
Sir Leigh Lewis; Permanent Seretary at the DWP: £185,000
Darra Singh; Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus: £185,000
N Smith; Chief Executive at OGC: £185,000
David Behan; Director General of Social Care: £180,000
David Bell; Permanent Secretary at the Department of Education: £180,000
Suma Chakrabarti; Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice: £180,000
Chris Last; HR Director General at the DWP: £180,000
Phil Pavitt; Chief Information Officer at HM Revenue & Customs: £180,000
Duncan Selbie; Chief Executive of the Department of Health: £180,000
Philip Collins; Chairman of the Office of Fair Trading: £175,000
Mike Falvey; Chief People Officer at HM Revenue & Customs: £175,000
Jim Gallagher; Director General - Devolution at the Ministry of Justice: £175,000
Mel Groves; former Project Director at the DWP: £175,000
Sir Bill Jeffrey; Permanent Under Secretary at the Ministry of Defence: £175,000
Sir Nicholas Macpherson; Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury: £175,000
Sir Kevin O'Donoghue; Chief of Defence Materiel: £175,000
Peter Ricketts; Head of the Diplomatic Service: £175,000
Air Marshal Peter Ruddock of the Ministry of Defence: £175,000
Nigel Shienwald; HM Ambassador to the United States of America: £175,000
Sir Mark Stanhope; First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff: £175,000
Jon Thompson; Director General at the Ministry of Defence: £175,000
Kim Darroch; UK Permanent Representative to the European Union: £170,000
John Hirst; Chief Executive at the Met Office: £170,000
Marco Pierleoni; Chief Land Registrar: £170,000
Geoffrey Podger; Chief Executive of the Health & Safety Executive: £170,000
Mike Robinson; Chief Executive of the UK Hydrographic Office: £170,000
Lesley Strathie; Chief Executive Officer at HM Revenue & Customs: £170,000
Sir Stephen Dalton; Chief of the Air Staff; £165,000
Lindsey Davies; Interim Regional Director of Public Health: £165,000
Carolyn Downs; Director General at the Ministry of Justice: £165,000
Sir Nicholas Houghton; Vice Chief of the Defence Staff: £165,000
Lorraine Langham; Director of Corporate Services at OFSTED: £165,000
Sir John McColl; Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Europe: £165,000
Les Mosco; Director at the Ministry of Defence: £165,000
Hunada Nouss; Finance Director General of the DWP: £165,000
Sir David Richards; Chief of the General Staff: £165,000
R Shostak; Head of Prime Minister's Delivery Unit: £165,000
Moira Wallace; Permanent Secretary of the DECC: £165,000
Martin Bellamy; ICT Director of the Department of Health: £160,000
Robert Devereux; Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport: £160,000
Helen Edwards; Director General - Justice Policy Group: £160,000
William Emery; Chairman of the Office of Rail Regulation: £160,000
Dave Hartnett; Permanent Secretary for Tax at HM Revenues & Customs: £160,000
Stephen Holt; Director of Change Management at the DWP: £160,000
Melanie Hunt; Director at OFSTED: £160,000
Peter Makeham; Director General at the Home Office: £160,000
Susanna Mason; Director at the Ministry of Defence: £160,000
Sir Jonathan Phillips; former Permanent Secretary at the Northern Ireland Office: £160,000
Nick Ramsay; Director at the Ministry of Justice: £160,000
Sir Trevor Soar; Navy Commander-in-Chief: £160,000
JMG Taylor; Financial Services and Stability Director at HM Treasury: £160,000
Sir Peter Wall; Army Commander-in-Chief: £160,000
Phil Wheatley of the National Offender Management Service: £160,000
Ursula Brennan; Second Permanent Under Secretary at the Ministry of Defence: £155,000
Bill Gunnyeon; Chief Medical Adviser and Chief Scientist at the DWP: £155,000
Archie Hughes; Chief Executive of the Defence Support Group: £155,000
Stephen Love; Chief Constable of Ministry of Defence police: £155,000
Jonathan Stephens; Permanent Secretary of the DCMS: £155,000
Paul Wiles; former Chief Scientific Adviser at the Home Office: £155,000
Mike Clasper; Chair of HM Revenue & Customs: £150,000
Peter Collis; former Chief Land Registrar: £150,000
John Goldup; Director at OFSTED: £150,000
Neil Hayward; Group HR Director at the Ministry of Justice: £150,000
Bruce Houlder QC; Director of Service Prosecutions: £150,000
Nirmal Kotecha of the Department for Transport, Highways Agency: £150,000
Patrick Leeson; Director at OFSTED: £150,000
TW Scholar; second Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury: £150,000
Beverley Shears of the National Offender Management Service: £150,000
Dame Helen Ghosh; Permanent Secretary of Defra: £140,000
Professor Robert Watson; Chief Scientific Adviser of Defra: £135,000
Philip Fletcher; Chairman of Ofwat: £105,000
SOURCE:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10202596

GREEDY BASTARDS of Great Britain; part two [*****SEE ALSO http://aftu.webgarden.com]

2013-08-20T03:35:00.001-07:00

Here are one hundred more rogues who are creaming the public purse. I found it very illuminating when pouring over the annual trade union rich list furnished by the Taxpayers Alliance which reveals a lot of hypocrites who speak of socialism whilst enjoying lavish salaries. Even more galling is the fact that Trevor Phillips, head honcho of the ‘Equality Commission’ receives a salary in excess of 100k per annum. Well, it’s a bit rich (if you excuse the pun) for clever Trevor to champion ‘equality’ when he is so handsomely rewarded. I guess that Michael Corleone was correct when he stated to the senator in The Godfather Part II that “we are both part of the same hypocrisy.”
Gordon Taylor of the Professional Footballers’ Association: £856,007
Peter Henderson; director of asset management of Network Rail: £672,000
Tony Fountain; chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: £520,000
Cynthia Bower; chief executive of the Care Quality Commission: £440,000
Denis Hone; former chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority: £401,000
Howard Shiplee; former director of construction of the Olympic Delivery Authority: £320,000
John Armitt; formerly of the Olympic Delivery Authority: £250,000
Tim Jones; chief executive of the Personal Accounts Delivery: £235,000
Gus O’Donnell; Cabinet Secretary: £235,000
Robin Evans; chief executive of British Waterways: £230,000
Stephen Laws; First Parliamentary Counsel: £230,000
Douglas Erskine-Crum; chief executive of the Horserace Betting Levy Board: £220,000
Lord Mogg; chairman of Ofgem: £210,000
Robert Parker; Parliamentary Counsel: £210,000
John Suffolk; Chief Information Officer for HM Government: £205,000
Michael Bradley MBE, former head of the General Federation of Trade Unions: £203,416 in 2011
Philip Davies; Parliamentary Counsel: £195,000
Godric Smith; former director of communications of the Olympic Delivery Authority: £195,000
Catherine Johnston; Parliamentary Counsel: £190,000
Derek Simpson; former general secretary of Unite, the Union: £186,626
Peter Housden; Permanent Secretary of Communities and Local Government: £185,000
Stephen Lovegrove; Chief Executive of BIS: £185,000
Gill Rider; Head of Civil Service Capability Group: £180,000
Philip Rutnam; Director General of BIS: £180,000
David Cook; Parliamentary Counsel: £175,000
Richard McCarthy; Director General of Housing and Planning: £175,000
Vicky Pryce; Director General of BIS: £175,000
Elizabeth Gardiner; Parliamentary Counsel: £170,000
Adrian Hogarth; Parliamentary Counsel: £170,000
Leonie McLaughlin; Parliamentary Counsel: £170,000
Keith Norman; former head of ASLEF: £167,566 in 2011
Jens Bech; Chief Risk Officer of the Asset Protection Agency: £165,000
Professor John Beddington; Permanent Secretary of BIS: £165,000
Ion Dagtoglou; Chief Investment Officer of the Asset Protection Agency: £165,000
Sir Ken Knight; Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser: £165,000
Sir John Sawers; chief of the Intelligence Sevice, MI6: £165,000
Alex Allan; Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee: £160,000
Simon Fraser; Permanent Secretary of BIS: £160,000
Peter Lewis; Chief Executive of the Crown Prosecution Service: £160,000
Howard Orme; Director General of BIS: £160,000
Philip Rycroft; Director General of BIS: £160,000
Professor Adrian Smith; Director General of BIS: £160,000
Edward Stell; Parliamentary Counsel: £160,000
Matt Tee; Permanent Secretary for Government Communications: £160,000
Peter Ward; chief executive of the British Dental Association: £159,506
Jonathan Cunliffe; Prime Minister’s Adviser on International Economic Affairs and Europe: £155,000
Jonathan Evans; director general of the security service, MI5: £155,000
Hayley Rogers; Parliamentary Counsel: £155,000
Mark Russell; Deputy Chief Executive of BIS: £155,000
Alison Littley; Chief Executive of Buying Solutions: £150,000
John McCready; Managing Director of BIS: £150,000
Marc Middleton; Managing Director of BIS: £150,000
Joe Montgomery; Director General of Regions and Communities: £150,000
David Sprackling; Parliamentary Counsel: £150,000
Stephan Wilcke; Chief Executive Officer of the Asset Protection Agency: £150,000
Christine Blower of the National Union of Teachers: £142,363
Russell Hobby of the National Association of Head Teachers: £141,408
Jim McAuslan of the British Air Line Pilots Association: £139,791
Brendan Barber of the Trades Union Congress: £139,634
Professor Cathy Warwick CBE of the Royal College of Midwives: £138,099
Dr Mary Bousted of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers: £137,316
Peter Carter of the Royal College of Nursing in the United Kingdom: £137,267
Sean Morris of the Professional Cricketers Association: £135,639
Douglas Ramsay; Parliamentary Counsel: £135,000
Brian Lightman of the Association of School and College leaders: £134,639
Geoff Lucas of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference: £133,657
Alan Wood of the UFS: £133,216
Brian Scammell; Chief Credit Officer of the Asset Protection Agency: £130,000
Chris Keates of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers: £129,571
Mark Le Fanu former head of the Society of Authors: £129,240
Mick Brookes of the National Association of Head Teachers: £129,070
Tim Poil of the Nationwide Group Staff Union: £127,898
Jonathan Baume of the FDA: £127,739
Paul Noon of Prospect: £126,987
David Cockroft of the International Transport Workers Federation: £126,815
Mark V.Brown of Affinity: £125,624
Brian Caton of the Prison Officers’ Association: £125,157
Ian Partridge of Lloyds TSB Group Union: £124,735
Ged Nichols of Accord: £123,053
Len McCluskey Joint General Secretary of Unite, the Union: £122,434
Tony Woodley Joint General Secretary of Unite, the Union: £122,108
Bob Crow of the RMT: £121,687
Ronald A Smith of the Educational Institute of Scotland: £121,237
Paul Kenny of the GMB: £121,000
Mick Stevens of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, Nottingham Section: £120,563
Janet Paraskeva; First Civil Service Commissioner: £120,000
Billy Hayes of the Communication Workers Union: £119,790
John Hannett of the Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers: £118,895
Phil Gray of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy: £118,714
John Dunford; former head of the Association of School and College Leaders: £118,540
Mark Serwotka General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union: £116,429
Michael Leahy of Community: £115,995
Matthew Wrack of the Fire Brigades Union: £115,724
Sally Hunt of the University and College Union: £115,375
Dr Hamish Meldrum of the British Medical Association: £115,188
John Smith of the Musicians Union: £115,175
Neil Buist of the National Association of Co-operatives Officials: £112,786
Trevor Phillips; chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission: £110,000
Dave Prentis General Secretary of Unison: £108,516
Dean Sheehan of the Welsh Rugby Players Association: £103,000
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10202596

GREEDY BASTARDS of GREAT BRITAIN [See also the website http://aftu.webgarden.com]

2013-08-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

If there are numerous underdogs in our society, it logically follows that there is a multitude of overdogs too. This after all appears to be the very essence and inherent flaw in unregulated, free market economies in that they produce winners and losers in a horrible zero-sum game. Here below lurking in the hall of shame are some of those money-grabbers whose very existence is motivated by a love of wealth. Their riches perversely buys them influence and frequently a lenience from the law, rarely afforded to or affordable by the hoi polloi of the inner cities. Hang your heads in shame, you irresponsible, selfish "thieves" in your slick suits.
Motormouth Kelvin MacKenzie once stated that the anarchic youth who engage in looting and rioting are "scum". That may be so, but I would venture to suggest that there is an elite of white collar, suburban "scum" whose activities and attitudes have completely discredited capitalism and which places them on a par with the so-called feral underclass. Underneath are the names of some such individuals. They represent but the tip of a huge, exploitative iceberg that is taking the piss while the large majority must cope with cuts, pay freezes, and much worse. This list is in its infant stages and the amounts are the reported annual income.
Although David Cameron was absolutely correct when he once diagnosed "broken Britain", little did this hypocrite realise that he and the Westminster/Whitehall elite are part of the problem. Why would any young people look up to and respect their political superiors when the personnel of the Establishment are each pocketing disproportionate salaries that are way beyond logic and good sense. Britain is indeed broken and it needs repaired from the top down to the bottom. The human body cannot function if the head is damaged. By the same token, Britain's sickness cannot be cured if the head of the nation (the political class of legislators and mandarins) is malfunctioning.
Admittedly, the list below is a bit random but it ought to illustrate quite clearly how the Establishment are legally stealing from the public purse with the kind of thievery that would have made the Artful Dodger blush with shame. When I consider the overwhelming number of leaders and 'responsible' people earning disgusting amounts of money, I am frankly staggered that the British people allow this injustice to persist. How the foolish populace of the UK have so deferentially accepted this sickening state of affairs beggars belief. Many revolutions have been fought for less. I am livid that Britain prefers to damn Guy Fawkes while the real criminals in the Establishment and business community can continue to take the ****ing piss. Maybe the silly people of the UK and their grossly-overpaid masters actually deserve each other!
The trouble with the British masses is if they assembled at a demonstration, they would all quickly disperse if they were each offered a free pint. Yes folks, the Brits are easily bought, and gone are the days when this nation had backbone and good principles. Now it's every man for himself and to Hell with the consequences. That is the great legacy of Mrs Thatcher. She can take credit for having broken the spirit of the population. Everybody is seeking fame and fortune nowadays. The UK is a nation of wannabees. Instead of wishing to change a corrupt, decaying system, many of the dispossessed aspire to become part of the monster that is devouring them! Rather than protest against the fat cats, Joe Public harbours the hope of also becoming a fat cat one day. Most people are corruptible nowadays. In other words, offer anyone wealth or power or fame and fortune and they would abandon anything and everyone to attain such apparent 'prizes'.
Not that Labour can crow about the legacy of Mrs Thatcher. Mr Blair and Mr Brown presided over lavish pay increases for their cronies in the public sector as a means of currying favour with the opinion-formers and movers and shakers. So-called new Labour was zealous in its attempts to out-flank the Conservatives by allowing monstrous pay rises for the bourgeois elite. Austere Britain is still having to grin and bear the adverse impact of the bonus culture, the expenses scandals, and the pay-offs, pensions, and perks of the uber-rich. Keir Hardie must be spinning in his grave.
What really ought to concern the named individuals here and other fortunates who have been fortunate to be omitted thus far is the legacy that they are leaving for future generations. Their own offspring will grow up in the warped, mistaken belief that success is conditioned by how much wealth one has amassed and that a huge bank account and property portfolio are essential ingredients for a happy, fulfilled existence. The most influential members of the chattering classes will have a lot to account for as others see the bad example that they are setting and seek to follow in their flawed footsteps.
Some of the following figures are now probably out-of-date and inaccurate in so far as they err on the low side. If any of the named human parasites are now earning less than £100,000 per annum, I will gladly remove them.
Why is it that the major politicos now make noises about the disparity of wealth but then don't appear to practise what they preach? There are two likely explanations as to why the greedy won't relinquish their excess wealth. Either they have very demanding spouses who expect nothing less than to be maintained in regal luxury, or else the selfish swines realise that money purchases importance and influence. One gets to sit at the top table, so to speak. In other words, the pathetic pursuit of riches is essentially a desire to acquire a lofty status. A pox on all their mansions.
Ultimately the names and statistics derive from various media intenet sites, so if I am wrong, then so are they. I suppose that we all could pay thanks to the newspapers for originally sourcing such information about various obscene salaries. Of course, the viewspapers claim that their collective whistle-blowing is in the public interest. The real truth is that viewspapers are businesses that need to turn a profit. Consequently, as they are operating in a competitive market-place, they must produce attention-grabbing revelations and scandals in order to earn revenue. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to state that most journalists would knock their grandmother in her zimmer frame over if she was standing in the way of a juicy news story. The media have about as many scruples as Genghis Khan, and therefore their nonsense about the 'public interest' can be more aptly translated as self-interest.
The wealth-worshippers are as follows:
Ana Botin of Santander: £4 million
Mark Byford: £949,000 pay-off from the BBC
Mark Carney; Governor of the Bank of England: £874,000
David Mobbs of Nuffield Health: £850,000 in 2011
Tim O'Toole of First Group: £846,000
David Abraham; Chief Executive of Channel Four: £744,000
Sir Antonio Pappano of the Royal Opera House: £741,403 in 2011
Mark Thompson; former director-general of the BBC earned £664,000
Chris Moyles; BBC Radio One disc jockey: £630,000
Lord Burns of Santander: £600,000
Andrew Marr; BBC presenter: £580,000
Sir David Higgins of Network Rail: £560,000
Dean Finch of National Express: £550,000
Jay Hunt; Chief Creative Officer of Channel Four: £542,000
David Brown of Go-Ahead: £510,000
Fiona Bruce; BBC television presenter: £500,000
Lord Hall; Director General of the BBC: £450,000
Jez Maiden of National Express: £420,000
Jana Bennett; director of BBC Vision: £412,000
Patrick Butcher of Network Rail: £382,000
Ross Kemp; BBC actor: £380,000
Andrew Wolstenholme of Crossrail: £380,000
John Humphrys; BBC Radio Four presenter: £375,000
Peter Salmon; BBC North director: £375,000
Robin Gisby of Network Rail: £360,000
Simon Kirby of Network Rail: £360,000
Sidney Barrie earned £349,000 when previously employed by First Group
Darren Cattell formerly of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust: £340,000 in 2012
Stephen Montgomery of ScotRail: £333,000
Caroline Thomson; BBC chief operating officer: £333,000
Zarin Patel; BBC director: £329,000
Keith Down of Go-Ahead: £326,000
Tim Davie; BBC director: £325,000
Lucy Adams; BBC director: £320,000
Helen Boaden; director of BBC news: £320,000
Sharon Baylay; BBC director: £310,000
Pat Loughrey; BBC director: £300,000
Peter Vicary-Smith of the Consumers' Association: £300,000 in 2012
Richard Sambrook; BBC director: £299,880
James Purnell of the BBC: £295,000
Jan Filochowski of West Hertfordshire Hospitals trust: £282,500
Bal Samra; BBC director: £280,500
Jeff Carr earned £280,000 when previously employed by First Group
Jay Hunt; controller of BBC one: £265,000
Sir Robert Naylor of University College London Hospitals: £262,500
Bernard Hogan-Howe; Chief Constable of the London Metropolitan Police: £260,088
Dominic Coles; Chief Operating Officer at the BBC: £257,500
David Nicholson; Chief Executive of the NHS: £255,000
Sir Ron Kerr of Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation trust: £254,000
Professor Stephen Smith of Imperial Healthcare: £250,250
Roly Keating; director of archive content at the BBC: £250,000
Peter Morris of Barts and the London trust: £247,500
Roger Mosey; BBC director of London 2012: £241,230
Lord Igor Judge; the Lord Chief Justice: £240,000
John Linwood; Chief Technology Officer at the BBC: £240,000
John Yorke of BBC Vision: £238,119
Edward Williams; BBC director: £225,940
Geoff Alltimes of Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council: £225,785
Danny Cohen; controller of BBC Three: £225,000
John Devaney of National Express: £225,000
Richard Deverell; Chief Operating Officer at the BBC: £225,000
Janice Hadlow; controller of BBC Two: £225,000
John Foster of Islington Borough Council: £223,385
Erik Huggers; BBC director: £223,000
David McNulty of Surrey County Council:£222,053
John Cooper of CrossCountry: £222,000 in 2011 according to the Daily Telegraph
Derek Myers of Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council £220,936
Nicholas Eldred of BBC operations group: £219,751
Roger Kelly of Gateshead Council: £219,521
Emma Swain of BBC Vision: £217,505
Roger Wright; controller of BBC Radio Three: £215,322
Chris Day of BBC finance: £211,500
Andy Parfitt; controller of Radio One: £211,000
Anne Morrison; director of training and development at the BBC: £210,069
Mark Damazer; controller of BBC Radio Four and Radio Seven: £210,000
Joanna Killian of Essex County Council: £210,000
Chris Kane; Head of Corporate Real Estate at the BBC: £206,992
Sir Liam Donaldson earned at least £205,000 as Chief Medical Officer
Andy Griffee; editorial director at the BBC: £205,000
Bob Shennan; controller of BBC Radio Two and Radio Six: £205,000
Nicolas Brown; director of drama production at the BBC: £200,000
Christine Connelly; Chief Information Officer for the department of health: £200,000
Graham Ellis of BBC audio & music: £200,000
Peter Horrocks; director of global news at the BBC: £200,000
Sir Bob Kerslake; Head of the Civil Service: £200,000
Heather Lawrence OBE; chief executive of the Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust: £200,000
Peter Lewis of Haringey Borough Council: £200,000
James Naughtie; BBC Radio Four presenter: £200,000
Gabriel Scally; regional director of public health: £200,000
Stuart Smith; formerly of Liverpool City Council received £198,568 plus £147,000 redundancy
Lord Justice Leveson: £196,707
Sir Jeremy Heywood; Cabinet Secretary: £195,000
Richard Klein; controller of BBC Radio Four: £195,000
Stephen Mitchell; Head of Programmes: £195,000
Tom Archer of BBC Vision: £193,600
Stephen Kavanagh: Chief Constable of Essex Police: £192,163
Liam Keelan; controller of BBC daytime: £190,550
Dorothy Prior; controller of production resource: £190,500
Peter White; chief executive officer at BBC finance: £190,550
Michael Gooddie; a director at the BBC: £190,000
Alastair Hamilton; Chief Executive of Invest NI: £190,000
John Vickerman; head of HR at the BBC: £190,000
George Entwistle of BBC Vision: £189,625
Frances Allcock of BBC People: £188,100
Mark Lloyd of Cambridgeshire County Council: £186,167
Ken MacQuarrie; director of BBC Scotland: £185,000
Menna Richards; director of BBC Wales: £185,000
Adrian Van Klaveren; controller of Radio Five Live: £185,000
Sir Nicholas Young of The Red Cross: £184,000
Robert Johnston; Reward Director at the BBC: £183,750
Anabel Hoult of Save The Children: £181,930
Sir Peter Fahy; Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police: £181,455
Chris Sims; Chief Constable of West Midlands Police: £181,455
Barbara Slater; director of BBC sport: £180,000
John Tate; director of Policy & Strategy at the BBC: £180,000
Keith Beal; programme director at the BBC: £179,725
Sally Debonnaire of BBC Vision: £178,500
Jonathan Michael; chief executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS trust (London): £178,000
Mark Kortekaas of Future Media & Technology at the BBC: £175,000
Mark Linsey of BBC Vision: £175,000
Kerstin Mogull of Future Media & Technology at the BBC: £175,000
David Salisbury; director of immunisation: £175,000
All High Court judges receive £174,481
Dr Mike Anderson; medical director of the Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust: £170,000
Simon Nelson of BBC Vision: £170,000
Beverley Tew of BBC Finance: £170,000
Sir Mark Gilmore; Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police: £169,359
Alan Yentob; BBC director: £168,300
Jacqueline Brandreth-Potter; head of brand & planning at the BBC: £167,145
David Jordan of Executive Support & Projects at the BBC: £167,000
James Lancaster of BBC Vision: £166,464
Seetha Kumar; controller of BBC online: £165,000
Francesca Unsworth; head of newsgathering at the BBC: £165,000
Liz Rylatt of BBC finance: £164,646
Paul White; chief executive of Barts and the London NHS trust: £164,500
Justin Forsyth of Save The Children: £163,000
Karen Boswell of East Coast: £161,000 according to the Daily Telegraph
Sara Thornton; Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police: £160,290
Michael Barton; Chief Constable of Durham Constabulary: £160,000
Ann Lloyd; Chief Executive of NHS Wales: £160,000
Dame Gillian Morgan; Welsh Permanent Secretary: £160,000
John Turner; finance director at the BBC: £160,000
Helen Normoyle; head of audiences at the BBC: £159,600
Derek Smith; chief executive of Hammersmith hospitals NHS trust (London): £158,508
Jon Murphy; Chief Constable of Merseyside Police: £157,260
Sue Sim; Chief Constable of Northumbria Police: £157,260
Michael Holden of Directly Operated Railways: £156,100
Robert Naylor; chief executive of University College London hospitals NHS trust: £156,000
Nicholas Newman of Future Media & Technology at the BBC: £155,250
David Edwards; chief executive of Cardiff and Vale NHS trust: £155,000
David Holdsworth of BBC journalism group: £155,000
Dr Tony Jewell; Welsh chief medical officer: £155,000
Sir Hugh Taylor: Permanent Secretary of the department of health: £155,000
Alex Marshall; Chief Constable of Hampshire Police: £154,233
Rachel Currie; HR director at the BBC: £153,983
Rahul Chakkara of Future Media & Technology at the BBC: £153,750
Peter Reading; chief executive of University hospitals of Leicester NHS trust: £152,500
Steve Finnigan; Chief Constable of Lancashire Police: £151,215
Ian Learmonth; Chief Constable of Kent Police: £151,215
Shaun Sawyer; Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police: £151,215
Clare Dyer; HR director at the BBC: £150,000
Mark Gottlieb; Director of Marketing, Communications & Audiences at the BBC: £150,000
Sarah Montague; BBC Radio Four presenter: £150,000
Matthew Postgate of Future Media & Technology at the BBC: £150,000
Mark Friend of Audio & Music at the BBC: £148,512
Mark Britnell; chief executive of University hospital Birmingham NHS trust: £148,500
David Crompton; Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police: £148,194
Colin Port; Chief Constable of Avon & Somerset Police: £148,194
Martin Richards; Chief Constable of Sussex Police: £148,194
Peter Vaughan; Chief Constable of South Wales: £148,194
Neil McKay; chief executive of Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust: £147,000
Ben Stephenson; controller of drama commissioning at the BBC: £145,000
Peter Clifton; head of editorial development at the BBC: £144,200
Boris Johnson; Mayor of London: £143,911
David Cameron MP; Prime Minister: £142,500
David Highton; chief executive of Oxford Radcliffe hospitals NHS trust: £142,500
Malcolm Stamp; chief executive of Addenbrooke's NHS trust (Cambridge University teaching hospitals trust): £142,260
Chris Eyre; Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police: £142,143
John Bercow MP; Speaker of the House of Commons: £142,000
Andy Coulson; former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party earned £275,000 in that role and 'only' £140,000 as the Prime Minister's Director of Communications
Mary Hockaday; head of BBC newsroom: £140,000
Alex Salmond; First Minister of Scotland: £140,000
Ed Miliband MP; Leader of the Opposition: £139,355
Andy Bliss; Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Police: £139,119
Simon Cole; Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police: £139,119
Mick Creedon; Chief Constable of Derbyshire Police: £139,119
Mike Cunningham; Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police: £139,119
Tim Hollis; Chief Constable of Humberside: £139,119
David Shaw; Chief Constable of West Mercia Police: £139,119
David Whatton; Chief Constable of Cheshire Police: £139,119
Lesley Swarbrick; HR director at the BBC: £138,600
Derek O'Gara; finance director at the BBC: £138,000
Andrew Cash; chief executive of Sheffield teaching Hospitals NHS trust: £137,500
Mike Deegan; chief executive of Central Manchester and Manchester children's University NHS trust: £137,500
Phil Gormley; Chief Constable of Norfolk Police: £136,092
Lynne Owens; Chief Constable of Surrey Police: £136,092
Vin Ray; Director of BBC College of Journalists: £135,188
Stuart Welling; chief executive of Brighton and Sussex hospitals NHS trust: £135,109
Mark Goldman; chief executive of Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull (teaching) NHS trust: £135,000
Gareth Hall of the Welsh department of the economy and transport: £135,000
Peter Johnston; director of BBC Northern Ireland: £135,000
Dr Gwyn Thomas; director of Informing Healthcare: £135,000
Nick Clegg MP; Deputy Prime Minister: £134,565
George Osborne MP; Chancellor of the Exchequer: £134,565
All British cabinet ministers receive £134,565
Jo Woods; radio finance director at the BBC: £134,003
Simon Ash; Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary: £133,068
Martin Baker; Chief Constable of Dorset Constabulary: £133,068
Jacqui Cheer; Chief Constable of Cleveland Constabulary: £133,068
Tim Madgwick; acting Chief Constable of North Yorkshire constabulary: £133,068
Simon Parr; Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire Constabulary: £133,068
Mark Polin; Chief Constable of North Wales Constabulary: £133,068
Jeff Farrar; temporary Chief Constable of Gwent Constabulary: £133,068
Patrick Geenty; Chief Constable of Wiltshire Constabulary: £133,068
Colette Paul; Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Constabulary: £133,068
Adrian Lee; Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Constabulary: £133,068
Carwyn Jones; First Minister of Wales: £132,862
David Roberts; chief executive of University hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS trust: £132,857
Bernard Lawson; acting Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary: £130,044
Michael Matthews; acting Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary: £130,044
Andy Parker; Chief Constable of Warwickshire Constabulary: £130,044
Neil Rhodes; Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Constabulary: £130,044
Jackie Roberts; Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys Constabulary: £130,044
Lorraine Bewes; director of finance of the Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust: £130,000
Maggie Boyle; chief executive of Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen hospitals NHS trust: £130,000
Jeff Buggle of the Welsh department of health and social services: £130,000
Rachel Stock; Resourcing Director at the BBC: £128,000
Gareth Goodier; chief executive of Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS trust (London): £127,500
Barry Johns; chief executive of West Midlands metropolitan ambulance service NHS trust: £127,500
David Jackson; chief executive of Bradford hospitals NHS trust: £127,360
David Moss; chief executive of Southampton University hospitals NHS trust: £126,500
Loretta Minghella of Christian Aid: £126,072
Alec McGivan; Head of BBC Outreach: £125,557
Sue Inglish; head of political programmes at the BBC: £125,000
Ed Llewellyn; Prime Minister's Chief of Staff: £125,000
Stephen Day; chief executive of Norfolk and Norwich University hospital NHS trust: £124,000
Jane Perrin; chief executive of Swansea NHS trust: £124,000
Julie Acred; chief executive of Southern Derbyshire acute hospitals NHS trust: £122,500
John de Braux; chief executive of Epsom and St Hellier NHS trust: £122,500
Jessica Cecil; head of BBC director-general's office: £122,500
Jane Collins; chief executive of Great Ormond Street hospital for children NHS trust (London): £122,500
Ian Hamilton; chief executive of St George's healthcare NHS trust (London): £122,500
Cally Palmer; chief executive of Royal Marsden NHS trust (London): £122,500
Alix Pryde; Controller of Distribution at the BBC: £122,500
Stephen Greep; chief executive of Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals NHS trust: £122,400
Julian Nettel; chief executive of St Marys NHS trust: £121,566
David Astley; chief executive of East Kent hospitals NHS trust: £121,417
Sheila Foley; chief executive of East London and the City mental health trust: £120,000
Mark Hackett; chief executive of Royal Wolverhampton hospitals NHS trust: £120,000
Bob Hudson of the Welsh department of health and social services: £120,000
Anna Mallett of Business Strategy at the BBC: £120,000
Martin McGuinness; Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland: £120,000
Amanda Pritchard; deputy chief executive of the Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust: £120,000
Peter Robinson; First Minister of Northern Ireland: £120,000
Mark Goldring of Oxfam: £119,560
Dame Barbara Stocking of Oxfam: £119,560
Peter Bradley; chief executive of London ambulance service trust: £118,000
Moira Britton; chief executive of Tees and north-east Yorkshire NHS trust: £117,500
Cornelius Egan; chief executive of Bradford community health NHS trust : £117,500
Sally Gorham; chief executive of Waltham, Leyton & Leytonstone (London): £117,500
Mike Atkin; chief executive of Leeds community and mental health services teaching NHS trust: £117,000
Christine Daws; finance director of the Welsh government: £115,000
Simon Dean of the Welsh health and social services department: £115,000
William Greswell; Controller of BBC Vision: £115,000
Paul Greeves; Head of Safety at the BBC: £114,400
Daniel Moylan earned £112,599 when previously employed by Transport for London
Nigel Fisher; chief executive of South-west London and St George's mental health NHS trust: £112,500
John MacDonald; chief executive of Queen's medical centre, Nottingham University hospital NHS trust: £112,500
Caroline Gover; Head of Business Continuity at the BBC: £112,425
Graham Nix; chief executive of United Bristol healthcare NHS trust: £112,000
Alice Webb; programme director at the BBC: £112,000
Peter Morris; chief executive of South Manchester University hospitals NHS trust: £111,000
Therese Davis; chief nurse of the Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust: £110,000
Bernard Galton; HR director of the Welsh government: £110,000
Derek Griffin; chief executive of Cafcass Cymru: £110,000
Carolyn Miller, formerly of Merlin, is rumoured to have earned £110,000 in 2011 (according to the Daily Telegraph, 5th August 2013)
Chris Patten of the BBC: £110,000
Paul Smith; Head of Editorial Standards at the BBC: £110,000
Martin Sykes; chief executive of Value Wales: £110,000
Angela Peddar; chief executive of Royal Devon and Exeter healthcare NHS trust: £109,500
Will Jackson: Head of Strategy at the BBC: £108,000
Peter Coles; chief executive of Whipps Cross University hospital NHS trust (London): £107,500
Erville Millar; chief executive of Camden & Islington mental health and social care trust: £107,500
Richard Davies of the Welsh department of public services and performance: £105,000
Mike Hopkins of the Welsh lifelong learning and providers decision: £105,000
Roy Male; chief executive of Blackpool Victoria hospital NHS trust: £105,000
Sue Ross; chief executive of Selby and York primary care trust: £105,000
Nick Temple; chief executive of Tavistock and Portman NHS trust (London): £105,000
Dr Jane Wilkinson; Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Wales: £105,000
Richard Addy of the BBC Journalism Group: £104,000
Malcolm Lowe-Lauri; chief executive of Kings College hospital NHS trust (London): £104,000
Liam Hayes; chief executive of Doncaster and south Humber NHS trust: £103,161
Sue Assar; chief executive of Central Manchester primary care trust: £102,500
Stuart Bell; chief executive of South London and Maudsley NHS trust: £102,500
Brian Milstead; chief executive of Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS trust: £102,500
Nicola Sturgeon; Deputy First Minister of Scotland: £100,748
Geoffrey Dennis of Care International: £100,000
Kate Fall; Prime Minister's Deputy Chief of Staff: £100,000
Peter Murrell; SNP Chief Executive: £100,000
Christine Willis; chief executive of North Tees primary care trust: £100,000

Charles Walker, an arrogant MP [see also http://aftu.webgarden.com]

2013-08-14T03:55:00.003-07:00

On the eleventh of July 2013 it was revealed that the House of Commons MPs could look forward to a lovely pay rise, conveniently beyond the next general election. Imagine the difficulty that they might encounter on the proverbial doorsteps if they campaigned at the 2015 national beauty contest shortly after a pay increase had been implemented!
Anyhow, while the salary increase has been cleverly deferred until just beyond the next national poll, some MPs were expressing their unease at the pending pay award. However, not every parliamentarian was cringing with embarrassment.
One Charles Walker stepped forth to be interviewed for Radio Bore's 'The World Tonight' later that same day. Mr Walker proceeded to pour scorn upon Michael Gove's commendable attitude that "they" could "shove" his imminent pay rise. Well, an exorcised Mr Walker denounced Mr Gove and others who had expressed similar sentiments as "crass".
Mr Walker then went on to brazenly state that not only would he gladly accept his pay rise but that he had already planned to spend it upon his children. If you are a docile, glass half full creature, you might want to applaud Mr Walker for lovingly revealing that he is a devoted father. However, if you are a glass half empty specimen like yours truly, then you have to believe that with a generous salary of circa 65k per annum, Mr Walker's offspring already want for nothing from Daddy. Quite why Mr Walker feels that his children need to bear the fruits of his future windfall is beyond the reaches of my pretty little head.
However, here is the grim reality of Mr Walker's circumstances. I recently performed a study to ascertain what are the safest seats in the UK, and guess whose constituency just happened to be numbered amongst the 25 safest parliamentary seats? Yep, Mr Walker is the custodian of the Broxbourne seat, which is such a stronghold that clearly he can make bold pronouncements on the airwaves and be immune from any possible electoral repercussions.
Well, I exhort the hard-pressed citizens of leafy Broxbourne to mobilise a candidate who challenges Mr Walker whose smug complacency manifested itself in a shameless acceptance of his future pay award. Surely there might be several thousand folk in Broxbourne whose indignation just might be sufficiently aroused, or are you too comatose to confront the arrogant Mr Walker? Personally, I found his defiant stance all too reminiscent of a certain Mr Alan B'stard, MP.

Britain's Dangerous Seats [an extract from http://psephologist.blog.com]

2013-08-13T03:50:00.000-07:00

I have already compiled a list on this blog page of the 25 safest seats in the House of Commons. In fact they are so secure that they could be described as “ultra safe”. Clearly, if there are indeed safe seats in which the incumbent MP or party only has to turn up to win the next contest at such a constituency, it must logically follow that various seats are the opposite of “safe”……. dangerous, in other words.
Dangerous is a slighty peculiar word as it suggests that the seat at Westminster is bad for the health of its user. That might be pushing melodrama a tad too far, but there are certainly a whole host of constituencies where the MP’s tenure is indeed tenuous as he or she won election to parliament in May 2010 on the back of a wafer-thin majority.
In fact, not only was the eventual outcome of the last British general election rather close, at least in so far as no party was able to command an overall majority, but I discovered whilst rummaging through all the results that there was a huge amount of constituency contests which were also mighty close. I have therefore taken the trouble to record the following forty-one constituencies where the winning margin didn’t even exceed one thousand votes.
Most of these seats will form the heart of the electoral battleground at the next national poll as they will be termed as “key marginals”. Obviously every political party aims in theory to win every constituency that they contest, but I have highlighted the party which will be targeting each of the listed seats. However, although about half of the listed seats are indeed dangerous and definitely up for grabs, the statistics are also slightly misleading. For example, if Labour was to enjoy any kind of swing at the next general election (and the consensus of opinion is that they will recover from their 2010 setback) then the seats where Labour won narrowly in 2010 will be much safer in 2015.
Similarly, there are many constituencies not included where the current parliamentary majority may be several thousand, but again a notable swing to Labour could place many other incumbents in peril at the next national beauty contest. Therefore, the enclosed list comprises the forty-one seats that incurred the slenderest winning margin in 2010. It does not automatically follow that in every instance, such constituencies will produce a photo-finish again. Clear as mud?
Amber Valley: Conservative majority – 536; Labour target
Ashfield: Labour majority – 192; Liberal Democrat target
Bolton West: Labour majority – 92; Conservative target
Bradford East: Liberal Democrat majority – 365; Labour target
Broxtowe: Conservative majority – 389; Labour target
Camborne and Redruth: Conservative majority – 66; Liberal Democrat target
Cardiff North: Conservative majority – 194; Labour target
Carlisle: Conservative majority – 853; Labour target
Chesterfield: Labour majority – 549; Liberal Democrat target
Derby North: Labour majority – 613; Conservative target
Dorset Mid and Poole North: Liberal Democrat majority – 269; Conservative target
Dudley North: Labour majority – 649; Conservative target
Edinburgh South: Labour majority – 316; Liberal Democrat target
Fermanagh and South Tyrone: Sinn Fein majority – 4; Unionist target
Great Grimsby: Labour majority – 714; Conservative target
Hampstead and Kilburn: Labour majority – 42; a Conservative and Liberal Democrat target
Hendon: Conservative majority – 106; Labour target
Hull North: Labour majority – 641; Liberal Democrat target
Lancaster and Fleetwood: Conservative majority – 333; Labour target
Morecambe and Lunesdale: Conservative majority – 866; Labour target
Newton Abbot: Conservative majority – 523; Liberal Democrat target
Norwich South: Liberal Democrat majority – 310; Labour target
Oldham East and Saddleworth: Labour majority – 103 [The majority increased in 2011]; Liberal Democrat target
Oxford West and Abingdon: Conservative majority – 176; Liberal Democrat target
Rochdale: Labour majority – 889; Liberal Democrat target
Sheffield Central: Labour majority – 165; Liberal Democrat target
Sherwood: Conservative majority – 214; Labour target
Solihull: Liberal Democrat majority – 175; Conservative target
Southampton Itchen: Labour majority – 192; Conservative target
Stockton South: Conservative majority – 332; Labour target
Swansea West: Labour majority – 504; Liberal Democrat target
Telford: Labour majority – 978; Conservative target
Thurrock: Conservative majority – 92; Labour target
Truro and Falmouth: Conservative majority – 435; Liberal Democrat target
Walsall North: Labour majority – 990; Conservative target
Warwickshire North: Conservative majority – 54; Labour target
Waveney: Conservative majority – 769; Labour target
Weaver Vale: Conservative majority – 991; Labour target
Wells: Liberal Democrat majority – 800; Conservative target
Wirral South: Labour majority – 531; Conservative target
Wolverhampton South West: Conservative majority – 691; Labour target
*See also http://psephologist.blog.com

Britain's Safest Seats [an extract from http://psephologist.blog.com]

2013-08-09T07:32:00.000-07:00

What constitutes a safe seat? Let me throw the following suggestion out there. First of all, it is not sufficient to state that a seat is safe if the elected Member of Parliament possesses more than half of the vote. At Bristol North East in 1970, Robert Adley accumulated more than fifty per cent of the votes cast, but his majority was a measly 462. This may be an extreme example, but it does illustrate that just because Candidate A has more votes than all the other candidates added together, this does not automatically render he or she the custodian of a safe seat.

I would argue that a seat is safe (indeed ultra-safe) if the MP’s majority is greater than the total votes polled by the other candidates. I am guessing that one will struggle to find too many occasions when this safe seat scenario has not been valid. One occasion when such a safe seat is indeed unsafe is at a by-election. Glasgow East in 2008 illustrates this exception.

Anyhow, now that the Boundary Commission’s most recent recommendations have regrettably been mothballed, I have taken the liberty of pouring over all the 650 constituency results from the most recent British general election charade in May 2010. Applying my criteria, I was surprised to find only 25 seats which fall into my safe seat category. I think that we can safely say that there are a great many more constituencies where the current incumbent can sleep safely in their bed in advance of their next beauty contest in 2015. Therefore, it might be more prudent to define my findings as ultra-safe seats, in other words, the kind of constituency contests which are basically non-contests, the political equivalent of a five furlong horse race involving a champion sprinter competing against three or four donkeys. The listed constituencies consequently can be described as Britain’s safest 25 seats, where to coin a phrase, the incumbent MP ‘only has to turn up to win’. You won’t find too may high profile politicians and front-bench spokespersons campaigning in such constituencies, because their result will be deemed a foregone conclusion. Instead, those persons living within the confines of a key marginal will instead have the joy or pain of a multitude of heavyweight politicos tramping up and down their shopping precincts and beyond, ensuring that every possible vote can be squeezed out of such target seats at the next national poll.

Meanwhile, here are the 25 seats that appear to be ‘safe as houses’, five of which are in the current possession of the Conservative Party while the Labour Party currently lays claim to seventeen such Westminster strongholds. In the list underneath, the MPs are Conservative, unless otherwise stated. Only thirteen are located in England’s green and pleasant land, while there are none in Wales. Northern Ireland boasts two such ultra-safe seats whilst north of the border, there are no fewer than ten mega-safe seats. The MPs of such fiefdoms will not thank me for publishing these findings as perversely there is nothing that galvanises people more than the thought that they and their vote are taken for granted. Could a surprise therefore be on the cards? I doubt this somehow!

[compiled by Gary Watton; author of The Celtic Fringe (GW Publications, 2012) under the anagram pseudonym of 'Grant Toway']

Beaconsfield
Belfast West [Sinn Fein]
Birkenhead [Labour]
Bootle [Labour]
Chelsea and Fulham
Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill [Labour]
Down North [Independent Unionist]
Dunbartonshire West [Labour]
Easington  [Labour]
East Ham [Labour]
Glasgow North East  [Labour]
Glasgow South West  [Labour]
Glenrothes  [Labour]
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath  [Labour]
Knowsley  [Labour]
Maldon
Motherwell and Wishaw [Labour]
Orkney and Shetland [Liberal Democrat]
Paisley and Renfrewshire South  [Labour]
Rayleigh and Wickford
Richmond (Yorkshire)
Rutherglen and Hamilton West [Labour]
South Holland and The Deepings  [Labour]
Tottenham [Labour]
West Ham [Labour]

Britain's Fascist Regime

2013-08-08T03:33:00.001-07:00

Britain is a fascist democracy. A what? I hear you say. Seriously, folks. Our parents, grandparents, and assorted ancestors went to war in the early 1940s seemingly to defeat the disease of fascism, or more particularly Nazism. However, fascism is still alive and thriving today in Britain and the western world, many decades after the heroic sacrifices of our predecessors. Permit me to explain.

Well, first of all, let us briefly tackle the myth that Britain fought and conquered fascism in the early 1940s. The reality is that the Nazi brand of fascism drew its racist inspiration from an Englishman by the name of Chamberlain: Houston Stewart Chamberlain [who married into the Wagner family]. Nazism was based upon totally misguided racial theories. The Japanese harboured similar racialist tosh during their barbaric flexing of muscles for a decade up to the necessary dropping of the atom bombs. Fascism was not defeated in 1945. It is prevalent in Britain and the First World. It is no longer a racist ideology of gobbledygook, but instead has become a lot more subtle.

Instead, I would argue that fascism is derived primarily from the Nietzschean concept of the Supermen – individuals who by dint of their skills and talent are supposedly superior to other lesser mortals whom he termed Untermenschen. Well, speaking as a self-respecting Untermensch, I live in a society where celebrities, sporting superstars, business leaders, politicians, and the royal scroungers all earn amounts of money which far exceed the income and ‘wealth’ of the great unwashed. How can it be permissible if fat cat bankers and MPs are not willing to get out of bed for less than about sixty thousand pounds per annum whilst they exhort many millions of the populace to make do with the minimum wage? Why are some people much more handsomely rewarded than others? Is this merely a manifestation of a meritocracy where the high-flying achievers acquire much more wealth and rewards than the under-achievers? Why do the middle-class professionals get exorcised when their retirement funds or pensions are jeopardised and are strangely silent about the have-nots in our selfish society? Could it be that many folk feel that their university education has earned them the right to become a two or three-car family with a holiday home or regular holidays abroad whilst the uneducated should content themselves with much less? Is this not fascism: the belief that some people are more superior than others and deserve much more? This is fascism in its purest, impure concept.

I would venture to state that it is a case of meritocracy gone mad and is instead in keeping with Nietszchean fascism, the notion that certain people are more superior than others and that these Ubermensch deserve more wealth than the Untermensch. The government policy as practised by administration after administration, regardlesss of their apparent political label, is one of containment of the grievances of the underdogs and doing the bare minimum to redistribute income and wealth. No government has the moral courage to confront the great taboo of British politics and society which is to demand that the Head of State and her vast entourage pay their fair share and make a suitable contribution to the economy. It seems that our political leaders are terrified of questioning the royal scrooges in case they take umbrage and refuse to confer knighthoods and such awards. Clearly, patronage is very much part and parcel of the British Establishment. It simpy won’t do to offend the monarch whilst the greed of the monarchy is itself offensive to any sensible observer. Perhaps John Lydon, vocalising in 1977, was correct after all when he stated “God save the Queen, the fascist regime.”

A British Holocaust?

2013-08-07T07:08:00.002-07:00

The purpose of this blog piece is to highlight the state-sponsored terror that was doled out to the populace during the seemingly eventful decades during which the Tudor family sat on the throne. It is not a mere recital of Foxe’s Book Of Martyrs nor intended as a chronology of Catholic martyrdom. Instead, I feel it necessary to demonstrate just how vengeful and murderous Henry VIII was, whilst also drawing your attention to the misery, pain, torture and worse that was inflicted by Henry’s two daughters upon a whole host of brave souls whose religious convictions were at variance with that of the reigning monarch. Good old Harry of England may have his fan club, but was he far removed from being an early version of Joe Stalin?

[Was Henry VIII a great king or just a sixteenth-century Idi Amin?]

          Anyhow I would quickly like to emphasise that the Tudors did not enjoy the monopoly on inflicting suffering upon their naughty subjects. There was widespread barbarity visited upon the peoples of the British Isles long before and indeed long after the last of the Tudor monarchs exited the stage in 1603. Why is it then that I and many others have always been drawn to the soap opera of the sixteenth century? I would venture to suggest that the callous cruelty that we associate particularly with the reigns of Henry VIII and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth owes itself to the religious upheaval that Martin Luther instigated around 1517 when he unwittingly founded the Protestant Reformation, a fact all the more absurd when one considers that this pioneer was himself a Catholic monk. Ever since Luther’s rebellion against Rome, Europe was plunged into turmoil. What renders the situation a matter of life and death is that the two respective camps had a clear sense of black and white on matters spiritual. Anyone who dared to oppose or reform the old religion was an enemy of Rome and had to be literally extinguished. By the same token, once Protestantism took hold, those who steadfastly clung to the old religion were regarded as equally too dangerous to tolerate. The concepts of compromise and tolerance and mutual respect and understanding were anathema to the religious fanatics and devout worshippers of the sixteenth century. In many respects, the so-called Christians of this epoch were fighting their very own Jihad, but against each other. It is against these unfolding circumstances that the Tudor monarchs were confronted with all manner of heretics and perceived traitors. In such unenlightened times, it was reckoned that the only means of killing an idea was to exterminate every last soul who possessed such an idea or faith. The modern-day perpetrators of genocide still entertain the naive notion that a belief can be killed off by removing everyone who holds that belief. Easier said than done.
          Before we pour over the list of over seven hundred wretched souls who paid the ultimate price during the tumultuous Tudor years, I would like to enlighten you with the following items of trivia, which you may or may not already be familiar with.
          Firstly, did you know that the lucky victims of a beheading who were spared the prolonged agony of a hung, drawn, and quartered ordeal could potentially remain conscious for several seconds after they had been decapitated? This is a medical fact.
          Secondly, it was customary to pay the executioner in a beheading in order to bribe the axeman to complete his gruesome task to the best of his peculiar talent. However, not all victims received value for money. The dastardly ex-Lord Chancellor Thomas Cromwell and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex were two such notable persons whose heads refused to exit the rest of their body at the first attempt, leaving them and others in such circumstances in considerable pain for longer than their wages to the executioner had bargained for.
          Thirdly, the executioner was expected to ask the imminent victim for his or her forgiveness ahead of the fatal blow. It is also worth pointing out that if there was an unenviable queue of ‘offenders’ awaiting their fate on the block, they were dealt with in decreasing ‘order of importance’. The individual of highest rank and noble birth was permitted the extra privilege of being decapitated first. So what? Well, if you consider the five unfortunates who were each falsely accused of being in an adulterous relationship with Queen Anne Boleyn, then you can imagine the amount of blood flowing literally on the block and the scaffold by the time that victim number five, the wretched Mark Smeaton was required to die. Going first and getting the ordeal over with was something to wish for!
          Fourthly, although the victim was usually granted an opportunity for a pre-execution oration atop the scaffold, some offenders deemed it prudent not to condemn their accusers for fear of retribution being meted out against their bereaved families.
          Fifthly, the hung, drawn, and quartered punishment is slightly inaccurately named. Initially, the wretch was drawn by horse through the streets to their place of execution, then he would have been half-hanged, but cruelly kept alive, and then the ritual culminated in a disembowelling, before the corpse would be sliced into four and distributed to vantage points in the vicinity as a reminder of what awaited anyone who contemplated a treasonable act. Therefore, strictly speaking, the punishment was actually drawn, partially hung, and quartered.
          It is also worth pointing out that the victims who were burnt at the stake were being ‘purged’ of their sinful heresy in order to render them worthy of eternal salvation. This peculiar practice was widespread at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. It became commonplace in England in the 1550s on account of the fact that Queen Mary was effectively a Spanish monarch, given that her mother and her new spouse both hailed from Spain. Anyhow, it was deemed to be infinitely more preferable to burn for a few hours on earth than supposedly to burn forever in Hell. Thus the torture of being fried alive in a town or village square was an act of generosity!

[Mary I (reigned from 1553-1558) was a hate-figure among Protestants!]
          Did you also know that the remarkable Anne Askew [see below] is believed to be the only female who was subjected to the gruesome torture of the rack, an interrogation method which became commonplace decades later for Catholic priests during the Elizabethan era when the threat from Spain heightened a sense of anti-papist hysteria. Every individual listed below has a remarkable story to tell beyond the grave. One person who escaped martyrdom was the exceptionally fortunate Robert Benet, a Mayor of Windsor, who was condemned to be burnt at the stake, but who was peculiarly excused by dint of the fact that he was unwell!
          Also of interest, thinks me, is the fact that some individuals who were transported to the Tower of London by barge along the River Thames would have had to wait the turning of the tide before he or she could proceed with their potentially final journey. Never has the ominous phrase ‘the turning of the tide’ seemed quite so poignant.
          On the subject of the imposing royal fortress in central London, it ought to be pointed out that for all its horrible dungeons, such as the pit and the infamous tiny cell dubbed ‘Little Ease’, the Tower of London was relatively palatial in contrast to almost any other prison or municipal jail up and down the country, in an age when the notion of prison reform was but a foreign language. Special mention also ought to be assigned to the chief tormentor of Catholics in the last two decades of the sixteenth century, Richard Topcliffe. Old Topcliffe thrived on inflicting torture and even installed a customised rack in his own house for those of a papist inclination. To those who still regard Catholicism as a manifestation of the devil, then Topcliffe is presumably a hero. For the rest of humanity, this gent ranks very highly [or lowly] amongst the most sadistic and barbaric of interrogators.
          Did you also know that one of Anne Boleyn’s favourite Bible stories, derived from the middle of the Old Testament, relates to how Queen Esther saved her people and fellow-believers from extermination at the hands of the evil anti-Semitic Haman? However, Thomas Cromwell managed to postpone the same fate as Haman by striking first against Queen Anne Boleyn in the spring of 1536.
          Furthermore, en route to a trial, the accused would be preceded by an individual who carried an axe facing away from he or she. However, when a guilty verdict was conferred on the accused, he or she would leave the court proceedings with an axe pointed towards them to inform bystanders of the death sentence. Such procedure was reportedly enacted upon the likes of Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey.
          Finally, there are a number of myths about Tudor history which I will briefly address here. In the first instance, Henry VIII may be the founder of the Church of England but he remained staunchly Catholic until his dying day in 1547. Also, although Anne Boleyn is heralded as a champion of the English reformation, she too remained a Catholic until she breathed her last in May 1536. It was indeed Edward VI, the ill-fated male heir of Henry VIII who was England’s first Protestant sovereign. It is also worth noting that King Henry’s sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr actually came perilously close to joining two of her predecessors on the scaffold. An ageing Henry was growing tired of Catherine’s reformist tendencies. Fortunately for Mrs Henry VIII, she was tipped off about the sovereign’s concerns and she had the presence of mind to row back from her theological sermonising. It almost certainly spared her, though she did not long survive her ailing husband. Furthermore, although Mary and her estranged younger sister Elizabeth merit much scorn for their own reigns of terror, they did feel varying degrees of regret and sorrow for approving respectively the executions of Lady Jane Grey and Mary Queen of Scots.

[Elizabeth I was equally 'bloody' towards the Catholic clergy]

       Okay, that’s enough bits and pieces of dead bodies for thee. Let us now solemnly browse through the list of high-profile victims of a Tudor tyranny which perhaps collectively cast the shadow of holocaust over the history of Britain. Pedants will correctly point out that a holocaust constitutes a widespread massacre of a large volume of people. Also, a catalogue of over seven hundred executions, spanning a little over a century scarcely merits the word massacre. However, I did insert a question mark in the title, thereby allowing the reader to decide whether there is a case for arguing that the Tudor terror amounts to a holocaust. Nevertheless, it almost goes without saying, but I shall say it anyhow, but these are effectively the ‘celebrity deaths’. The recorded executions below are but the tip of the Tudor iceberg. Indeed, it has been estimated that perhaps as many as seventy-two thousand souls were on the receiving end of capital punishment during the reign of Henry VIII. Maybe the word holocaust is not entirely misplaced after all.
          The litany of victims below paid with their life in almost every instance for either heresy or treason. In fact, one could argue that heretics were traitors and traitors were heretics. In the days of ‘the divine right of Kings’, defying the monarch was tantamount to defying God, while declining to submit to the church of state was equally akin to refusing allegiance to the sovereign. Oh, and if you were given the choice between being hung, drawn, and quartered, or being burnt at the stake, well it is a tad like being between a rock and a hard place. For me, I would opt for the burning, if only because many of the victims were strangled before the flames took hold. Oh such Christian compassion!
          Many more poor souls were executed during the Tudor era. There is simply not enough space to chronicle all such misfortunes. Oh and I would also like to state that irrespective of one’s religious allegiances [or lack of them], there should not be any hierarchy of victims. The list underneath is by no means exhaustive, but perhaps exhausting!
*THE LIST CAN BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING SITE: http://gw930.blog.com/the-tudor-tyranny/

A beautiful extract from the informative music publication, 'You Are A Tube!'; only £9.99; xo

2013-06-23T07:30:00.001-07:00

Too Experienced

by the Bodysnatchers (1980)

This was a B-side of a minor hit for this all-female group that signed to the fledgling Two Tone Records label. The lead singer was Rhoda Dakar who a couple of years later had another minor hit when she sang the lead role on 'The Boiler', a harrowing tale about date rape, which had originally been co-written by four of this group. Regrettably, the Bodysnatchers only snatched bodies for a brief time before some of them found future employment as the Belle Stars who had a giant hit with the

outstanding 'Sign Of The Times' in early 1983.

This is a soul version of a Rock Steady classic. [mthai66]

love these gals, a crime they never did a studio lp to release! [TheRealTommyRock]

Awesome blast from the past! :-))) [ReidOriginals]

This tune would be considered Reggae. [TxTFamGuy1]

This is just class in a glass, it really doesn't come much better than this for pure 2-Tone delight. [ganbowling]

This has always been one of my favourite second wave ska songs. [vonratt]

This is 2-tone, not ska. A Reggae cover of Bob Andy... [Cash82Mx]

must say that this has to be one of my fave 2-tone tracks. it seems to be forgotten by the ska ccompilation compilers. Why? [christopherdavidsims]

first record i bought [liamnicg]

i have the disc, 45rpm 7", thats wonderfull! [furiaCZN]

I never thought I would get to hear it again after having it on the 'THIS ARE 2TONE' vinyl album years ago. Think the album has been deleted now... [ZIG139]

author: 'This Are 2-Tone' was the compilation album where I got acquainted with this item and with 'The Boiler'.

for some reason I wish amy was around to cover this [gavkasso]

Centerfold
by J. Geils Band (1981)

This track from their 'Freeze Frame' album was a big hit in the UK and an even bigger sensation in its native land where it occupied the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks. Funnily enough, it was knocked off the USA summit by another sing-along rock song 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll'.

High School memories at their best! [goatboyful]

i wish they still made songs like this screw 2012 [tzracing29]

So this was the song that was #1 on the billboard charts the week I was born. I remember this song, my dad, a musician would play this song himself an awful lot- I think I know why now. Very cool. [Specailk007]

just love that beginning it's so amazing :) [USMachinimaCorps]

This band was a big influence on early Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. [CurtisMateer]

ahhh the good old days [brendanaruba]

For those of you who dont know this song was actually about the lead singers girlfriend who was a Playboy Bunny, and she was always on the centerfold of the mags, so he worte this song. [BeatleBoy1235]

Not 100% true. This was about a girlfriend in Highschool that he saw in a centerfold of Playboy. He did talk to her after he saw her, but nothing more came of it. But as per a VH1 popup video, he had a lot of relations with just about every girl on the set of this song so I don't think he was too worked up over it. [forcrz6]

I remember when I was little me and my older brother would always jump around the bed while we where hearing this song. Now I have finally found this song again and tears run down my chin because the memories are so fantastic [MperorM]

you need to take those Nostalgia googles off. Anything seems "special" if it's from when you were young. [widdlepuddyfat]

author: Your point is a good one, if a tad cynical.

Dancing On The Floor (Hooked On Love) by Third World (1981)

They did indeed originate from the 'third world' country of Jamaica and this has prompted them to be mistaken for yet another reggae act. The truth is that Third World leaned a lot more towards disco than roots reggae. This hit does live up to its title. It's one for dancing on the floor to.

Just a fantastic track, Man this is so good, what a great reggae groove, all time favourite. At 60yrs old this still takes me back to my youth & it will never fade.. try Now that weve found love... Love it, dancing as I type...Yes Love is at your rescue.. [lawistheking]

beautiful mellow vibe,still fresh [hadidta]

Lovely reggae groove [macclesfield35]

Up there with the greats! [pomeroykeith]

wow I can't stop movin! [NecipPerver]

That's what I call music. [homenation]

Love this song!!! use to dance to this in the night clubs. [MrTahana28]

Damn, I love this song! ... love is at your rescue! [Kmontage]

30 years old and still sounding catchy! [vcrjgf08]

dancing on the floor and now that we found love, my top two favourite records ever.brings back some great memories and some sad ones aswell. you all take care. [funkmegentley]

Its early eighties and I am dancing on the floor--beautiful memories. [349quinman]

the sweetest song of them!!Love it [pare5markes]

great !! [DJKNEK1]

kraker!!! [mssuperaap]

Wordy Rappinghood
by Tom Tom Club (1981)

Half of the Talking Heads, namely Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, created their own offshoot, called Tom Tom Club. Along with 'Genius Of Love' with its animated video, this is the club's most memorable record.

I wanted to leave a comment, but what are words worth? [cellosareawesome]

It can't be understated how much this influenced hiphop for years to come. [eternal0star]

good words and baaad words [ivancalvario]

80's sound...Classic! [dbernal031]

Brilliant song!! [EdEditz]

This song is so girly! [beautifulmoneek]

It may not seem very special today, but I remember how it blew me off my feet in '81. I had never heard anything like it. [baetterdoe]

So cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [rosilva0909]

I Most Deff Like The Rhythm To This Songg :D <3 [ShessDaddiee]

I remember when I first heard this song I was like, WOW! Very creative. Tom Tom Club were a distinct act. That's what made them appealing. [MrKevin619ism]

I suppose that the quality of a song is assured when one first discovers this song 30 years after its intial release and likes it. [McLarenMercedes]

Ok, this song reminds me of how many drugs were actually done in the 80's. But I LOVE IT! [brokenheartmender]

Way ahead of their time [Burtchaell]

This was a major 1981 hit [hhamaildk]

Human Nature by Michael Jackson (1982)

For me, this is an overlooked classic pop song from MJ's 'Thriller' LP. Unfortunately, the YouTube site again was plagued with folk expressing their condolences to this giant of a human being who brought such joy to the whole world. Actually, many of his songs were great, but he was no

saint or superman. He had a flawed human nature, just like everyone else.

It ain't hard to tell that this is a good song [nicholasny23]

My all time favorite MJ song of all time !!!!!! [666brandohill1]

Best song!!!! [Luigi1free]

@666brandohill1 i agree this is my favorite of his as well [MethodofModernLove]

Human Nature is the Best!!;) [greeeen2828]

he didn't die he just wen't home [MarioMario6298]

my favorite MJ song ever. [gogetta025]

Too bad his Human Nature was to be the scum of the earth. Even in death he was capable of ruining a man's life. [TheDavid3663]

Wow this song is just so... wow... Yeah I have no words! [Burdjur]

Why Why did he have to die [grivett40]

cool [423coolkid]

It would have been super badass if Queen & Michael Jackson had made a song together. [orionthion]

He looked good darker just sayin [josornio300]

he died too late for a peado but ffs i loved this song. [itswoody4u68]

Quality [afroguy226]

More Than This
by Roxy Music (1982)

Ten years after the successful issue of their début single, 'Virginia Plain', Roxy Music scored with a hit single from the 'Avalon' LP that oozes quality. The music is first class and Bryan Ferry's vocal delivery is as smooth as a baby's bottom. If you're ever in search of a classy pop song, don't go to Google, just check this item out.

Damn this sounds good. Hey kids: That's called singing. No auto-tune needed. [yakfitguy]

Smooth and sexy. I still melt at the sound of this song. [Ozzymum3]

beautiful song!! [agusravegdl]

magnifique !!! [mrsprs1375]

I can never get enough of Roxy Music!!! [wendykizer]

One of the best bands ever. [lesassassins]

totally unrecognized and under-rated ode to agnosticism [citylimitsdvd]

Classic.. in every way u look at it. [23jordanian]

Now this is a little thing I like to call MUSIC! [MonkeyZorr]

Something so bittersweet about this song... [MusicLessons]

this song drums up so many feelings for me its remarkable, I am an emotional mess now with the last strains of this glorious melody still echoing through my tiny apartment [TheDarkstar333]

The fact people can't believe it isn't autotune just shows how disconnected people these days are from the fact that there really were some people that could sing that well! Also, this sounds nothing like autotune...80's reverb isn't autotune! [MrG0p0p]

What an awesome group they were. [Niblipix]

author: Hey thanks, dude.

Steppin' Out by Joe Jackson (1982) Here is another gorgeous transatlantic hit single that ought to silence detractors of 'eighties pop. Joe Jackson has issued a composition that sits comfortably with any product in any other decade.

What a great song ! [kdwestbrooks]

I love this. [GoukiTehPwner]

Love this song! The piano in this is awesome!....J [RedJragon1]

great song of the 80's !! [Hellfire5500]

dude this song is one of those NO ONE should never get tired of[thetealeo]

a very nice orginal tune that reminds me of a long time ago [elvispresley718]

I loved this song since I first heard it as a little kid. Glad my parents are Joe Jackson fans. [bobojack83]

A great classic from my high school days, and always great to hear. [Multi80schick]

I cannot hear this song enough right now. We need more of this class in our charts today. [kkly27]

I too love the bass on this song. by way is that a synth doing the piano part? [oldermusiclover]

i had this tune stuck in my head for weeks..it got so bad that i went online and went through every eighties song trying to figure out who sang it and the actual name....with the help of my awesome sister here i am...this song is way BOSS [COCOALUV4LIFE]

This song makes me wanna do my happy dance, even if before I had a sad face. [SignoraArcobaleno]

This is my favorite 80's song XD [Megan1156]

Theme From Harry's Game
by Clannad (1982)

It is hard to conceive that Derek Thompson who plays the likeable male nurse Charlie in BBC's 'Casualty' once played the IRA terrorist in 'Harry's Game'. The music to this drama series was composed and performed by the talented Brennan family from Donegal, otherwise known as Clannad.

ive always loved this beautiful song, sung to perfection, it will be my last song ever! clannad are amazing in this performance, still, amazing, eletric, and thinkable, xx love it x [freshborn66]

love this [rakennaugh]

Remember watching the series all those years ago...........The Perfect song to complement it! [penfloyd]

Very nice song ... In Irish ;) [Ellen97om]

Clannad are Irish certainly. But I heard them being interviewed on the radio, and they said that this tune was Scottish. Not that it matters much, as the Scots and the Irish pinch each others' tunes all the time. Scotland the Brave, for example, is Irish. [tigranvartanovitch]

IMO, their most iconic and incredible song. [tedly1911]

Always reminds me of Belfast in the bad times. [fabulousgerro66]

haunting and beautiful, I have always loved this song x [willshewontshe69]

Beautiful. [GingerHebblethwaite0]

i find peace in this , i find myself in this , i find all things that i want in this , i find the vocal visual and the visual vocal ,,,,its eternal...please love this.. [sommy38]

this is a magical yet haunting piece of music that will be my entrance into the cave where I am getting married :o) [kizza170]

sit bake an chill [garymcilwaine1]

Time (Clock Of The Heart)

by Culture Club (1982)

This was a successful follow-up to the foursome's UK chart-topper 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me'. It is a sensitive tune with great strings and a saxophone solo thrown in for good measure. It's a reminder of the value of 'eighties pop from one of its leading protagonists.

This song was about Boy George's gay love for the drummer. No joke. [Ihatethisugh1]

Timeless [MrJdp1968]

oh man i'm so glad i was a child of the 80's [pearlexport32]

this is sooo beautiful..... and i just heard this song for the first time a couple of days ago...... this is timeless. Lol [kobebaker09]

Great song [carrtex]

author: It deservedly climbed into the UK Top Three.

" dont put your head on my shoulder " combined with that drum and bass line . pure genius [peterpetersbng]

I love this song! [VanitieGrace]

This song is the truth. I liked it as a kid because it had a catchy tune. I did not understand what he was talking about until i was grown. I love this song. Boy George was a very good singer and song writer. Need artist like him around now. [tonyvalentine3]

This song was so OVER-played when it was released, I thought i'd never enjoy hearing it again. (: WRONG :) In time it was so much more. [mortygirly]

One of the most brutally honest songs ive ever heard, yet beautiful [eerhtythgie11]

If you're in love with a man or woman, it doesn't matter, TIME will either make or break your relationship. Time will catch up with all of us! Live life! Love life now! Pretty soon it's over. [Placidfaced]

Borderline
by Madonna (1983)

This was one of the first hit singles which announced the arrival of the latest pop sensation, Madonna. She certainly proved to be no Virgin Mary, but the American songbird soon proceeded to conquer planet pop with a multitude of hit records. I also like 'Live To Tell' which demonstrated her

versatility as it was completely different to this tune. Nevertheless, I regard 'Borderline' as one of the best pop songs in popular music.

you can't beat that intro. totally classic pop brilliance [S2Cents]

It was such a simpler, happier time (well, except for that whole unpleasant Cold War thing) [krystlerita]

Actually, AIDS had just hit the world in 1981 and no one knew what it was or what to do about what looked like an instant death sentence for millions. I don't think times were ever simpler. Be well and happy now! Happy new year. [alexuniverse]

At her best [bruceleekick1]

pop masterpiece [ColdOasisU2]

This is back when Madonna was still really good. Before she became a, a, a---oh yeah, a douche bag. [smokiebird06]

This song -- espeically the intro -- always reminded me of Stephanie Mills' "Never Knew Love Like This Before". Recently found out that both songs were written by Reggie Lucas. :) [IluvEthnicGuys]

BORDERLINE is a precious jewel! Good times! [wuppertalk]

Borderline is the most likeable track of her early career, modern Madonna has given in to the music industry I'm afraid and has lost her soul to the dullards of modern pap. In fact, I only like her stuff up to '86, then she

seems to take a few wrong turns. She's a talent, though, there's no denying it :) [HighgateSamphire]

Whatever you think of her now, she sure could sing her ass off back then. [smokiebird06]

Beautiful extract from the controversial diary, 'The Views From A Pauper's Penthouse'; £9.99

2013-05-30T04:21:00.002-07:00

Sunday 23rd October

Thousands assembled in Benghazi to formally declare the liberation of Libya, so a big standing ovation is called for.

Way out in New Zealand, the locals are congratulating their rugby team for a hard-fought nine points to eight World Cup final triumph against a spirited France. I cannot say that I am overjoyed at their success, but one must acknowledge that the World Cup was won by the world's best team.

In India, England slumped to a fourth successive one-day cricket defeat, this time by six wickets. There needs to be an overhaul of the personnel, with the under-achieving Ravi Bopara shown the exit door.

North of Hadrian's Wall, the has-beens that are otherwise known as the 'Old Firm' each carved out victories in the SPL in that two-team division.

However, the stunning sports headlines emerged from the football in England's Premiership. At Old Trafford, the hosts were comprehensively humiliated by six goals to one by their lovely neighbours, Manchester Mercenaries. The latter took full advantage when Jonny Evans was sent off. Now Manchester Wannabees have a comfortable cushion at the top of the pile, assisted by a healthy goal difference.

Oh the jokes are coming thick and fast about ManUre's embarrassment. Simon Mann of the BBC remarked that 1-6 at Old Trafford suggested that Lancashire must be batting woefully. Someone else has quipped that on a scale of 1-6 how shameful was ManUre's capitulation?

West London also played host to a derby where Queen's Park Rangers sneaked past Chelsea by one goal to nil. The latter were handicapped by two sendings-off which obliged them to play the whole of the second half with nine men. Even then, the home team were clinging on, having earlier scored from a penalty. The appalling referee Chris Foy brandished cards all match and certainly didn't cover himself in glory,

Elsewhere in the Premiership, Robin Van Persie again inspired Arse-nil who are fast transforming into a one-man team. In the event they beat Stoke City three-one, while their fellow north London also-rans Tottenham Coldspur won by two goals to one against Blackburn Rovers. Evercrap also won at Fulham, but both mid-table teams are an irrelevance.

There was also an earthquake in eastern Turkey today. The number of fatalities may reach three figures. Such a calamity puts the trivia of sport into perspective. However some footie fans might be feeling tonight does not compare with those who have lost their lives or their loved ones.

Born on this date: Douglas Jardine (1900); Steve Harmison (1978)

Died on this date: W.G. Grace (1915); Bill Nicholson (2004)

Monday 24th October

There was heavy, prolonged rain today. It feels like July therefore.

Beyond Britain, the citizens of Morocco are casting envious eyes at their neighbours Tunisia who are holding national elections. Not to be outdone, some folk in Morocco are now demonstrating for democracy. If they saw how much of a shambles 'democracy' really is in Greece, Ireland, and even Britain and America, perhaps they might wish to have a re-think.

Further afield in Syria, the United States Ambassador is being recalled from Damascus for safety reasons. It seems that his sympathies towards the pro-democracy protesters isn't rendering him the government's flavour of the month. In a silly bout of tit-for-tat, Syria is recalling its ambassador from Washington “for consultation.” Isn't it really swell to see how diplomacy and international relations is being practised by grown-ups?

Back in Westminster village, the House of Commons played host to a debate and vote on whether Britain should be allowed a referendum on her future participation in the runaway train otherwise known as Europe. In the end, the bizarre coalition of some Conservatives and most Labour and Liberal Democrats combined to defeat the motion. However, alarmingly for the Prime Minister, it appears that in the region of eighty members of his parliamentary party chose to defy his wishes. Mr C has insisted that whilst Europe is in mid-crisis, it is not the appropriate time to be holding a public vote. Perhaps the right time will only ever emerge whenever the Conservative Party is free from the shackles of an alliance with the pro-Europe Liberal Democrats. One can therefore imagine Mr Cameron's consternation that his MPs don't seem to be aware of the mathematics of the government. Without Liberal Democrat acquiescence, David Cameron's Conservatives would be a minority government, trying to cobble together a legislative programme that won't incur defeats in the lower chamber. As long as the Liberal Democrats need to be kept on board, then it is nigh impossible for any Euro-scepticism from Mr Cameron and Mr Hague to manifest itself in any obvious way.

I have however much sympathy with the so-called rebels, whom John Major would presumably have affectionately dubbed “bastards”. Such MPs are voting both according to their conscience while firmly believing that they are representing the wishes of their constituents. The fact that about one-third of the electorate even bothers to vote at the European elections tells its own story. The British people are clearly lukewarm about Europe.

Born on this date: Reggie Kray (1933); Ronnie Kray (1933)

Died on this date: Louis Renault (1944); Vidkun Quisling (1945)

Tuesday 25th October

Our beloved Fuhrer, Herr Cameron, insists that there is no bad blood that will linger after the Euro-sceptics voted against his wishes last night. I can't help but feel that they ought to consider their position within the Conservative Party and perhaps transfer their allegiance to UKIP. There again, everyone likes to be on the winning team, so I guess that for all their collective consciences, these great idealists will stay on board the good ship Conservative because this vessel represents their best route to a seat in parliament. So much for ideals and conscience!

The deputy Fuhrer, Herr Clegg has argued that it is more preferable to be leading Europe than to be leaving Europe. He and his colleagues are of the opinion that the best way to reform Europe is to be at the heart of Europe and thus be a leading player in future treaties. It is a tempting argument. If Eurozone wasn't horribly imploding, I would be more persuaded. One sage reminded us of the complexities of solving Europe's financial woes when he recounted that Eurozone contains seventeen states while the European Union is a club of 27 states. Achieving a unity of purpose that surmounts cultural and language barriers and historic rivalries is a task indeed.

Somewhere out in the desert the remains of the late Colonel Gaddafi were secretly laid to rest. May he rot in peace.

In Kolkata, the rejuvenated India cricket team gave England another lesson in how to play a one-day international. Alistair Cook had a knack of winning the toss, but his hapless bunch couldn't win a darts match against a blind man. England's cricketers are a schizophrenic lot: masters of test cricket but clueless at the one-day version.

In the English league cup tonight, Arse-nil and ManUre successfully negotiated their last sixteen assignments, while controversy is brewing over John Terry for allegedly issuing a racist comment at QPR's Anton Ferdinand. It would be wrong to pre-judge the outcome of an FA inquiry, but JT is no saint, but there again the media just love this kind of story. I mean the sports tabloids would much rather focus on sendings-off, spats between managers, and other unsavoury incidents because extensive coverage of these dramas masks their own lack of expertise on sport itself.

I remain unimpressed with Chris Foy's shambolic handling of the west London derby the other day. He seems to think that because Chelsea are such a rich club, then they don't deserve the benefit of the doubt. If that is his prejudiced attitude, he should go and officiate at a pub league match.

Born on this date: Jimmy McIlroy (1931); Harry Gregg (1932)

Died on this date: Vincent Price (1993); Richard Harris (2002)

Wednesday 26th October

The European powers have all convened in Brussels for a conflab on the issue of how to rescue Greece without plunging themselves into trouble. I think that the participants should all get into silly costumes and attempt a re-enactment of the 1970s' European game show Jeux Sans Frontières.

While the Irish presidential election nears its finale, I've received a joke text stating that Martin McGuinness has been leaving his election leaflets under people's cars. The punchline being that old habits die hard. The Sinn Fiend representative isn't expected to win the contest. Remarkably he has had to endure a barrage of questions from Oirish people who are concerned with his 'armed struggle' curriculum vitae. While the northern unionists have had to bite their tongues about Irish republicans in power-sharing, the southern Catholics are proving less comfortable with the possibility of Sinn Fein personnel legislating on their behalf.

Elsewhere, the inquest into the death of Amy Winehouse has revealed that the tragic chanteuse drank a massive amount of alcohol which almost certainly poisoned her. Ironically this 'death by misadventure' had arisen after Amy had made genuine attempts to turn her back on 'hard living'.

Boris Johnson has expressed his disapproval of the prolonged protest by anti-capitalists who have laid siege to the ground beside St Paul's Cathedral. Maybe if the greedy financiers all developed a conscience and renounced their obscene accumulation of wealth, then there would be no need for anyone to inconvenience the good folk of the cathedral.

Tonight played host to a handful of interesting league cup matches north and south of the border. In Scotland, with Glasgow Wannabees trailing one-nil at half-time, perhaps Neil Lennon was staring at the prospect of having to shortly claim Jobseekers' Allowance, but he has been granted a stay of execution courtesy of four second-half goals against Hibernian.

The impressive Luis Suarez scored twice to rescue Liverpool in their awkward assignment at Stoke City, while a much-changed Manchester Mercenaries thumped Wolverhampton Wanderers by five goals to two. At Ewood Park, Blackburn Rovers led two-nil and then three-two before eventually conquering the admirable resistance of Newcastle United. Last but not least, Chelsea suffered an astonishing fifth red card of the season but emerged victorious two-one, after Everton too were reduced to ten men in extra time. Both teams also missed a penalty. I reckon that Chelsea need to practise scoring penalties as well as practise conceding them!

Born on this date: Francois Mitterand (1916); Hillary Clinton (1947)

Died on this date: Hoyt Axton (1999); George Swindin (2005)

Thursday 27th October

President Sarkozy has publicly confessed that Greece should never have been allowed entry into the Eurozone. Oui monsieur, c'est vrai. Anyhow, it appears that a substantial portion of Greece's debts are being written off. It is remarkable how some states and people live such a charmed life. If I incurred huge debts, would they be written off? Oh there's no justice.

Across the Irish Sea, while the Poles have been coming to Ireland, it was the turn of Ireland today to go to the polls. The hot air has all been blown, and now the counting will begin to see who has won the beauty contest, otherwise known as the Presidential election.

This has been another 'no progress day' for me. I have been having quite a lot of 'no progress days' in recent times. In fact, I have also accumulated several 'no progress years' in the last decade or two as well. Northern Ireland is just a land of woe and no opportunity for me. All I can do now is wait for divine intervention. I sincerely hope that a miracle or three can come my way in the next couple of months, as I hope that I can look back on this year with fondness. At present, the likelihood of me having good memories of 2011 is rather slim. Oh I do believe that life is just like a game of snakes and ladders. One goes up a few ladders and comes down some snakes as well. Funnily enough when one climbs a few ladders and reaches the top row of the game, there are a few snakes in the 91-100 line lurking and ready to take one back down a peg or two. It is certainly the case that the closer one sometimes gets to the prize, the harder that it can become.

I am giving sport a miss today, other than to state that if QPR's allegations of a racist comment by John Terry prove unfounded or at least unproven, then this club should be sued for defamation of character, with any proceeds going to charity. Oh yes I know that some folk would argue that Mr Terry has not much of a (good) character left to defame, but it is the principle that is at stake. If more sports stars are accused by rival teams of racism, then the complainant must be held financially liable, or else it will become open season to accuse anyone of racism or sexism.

Born on this date: Glenn Hoddle (1957); Vinny Samways (1968)

Died on this date: Tom Dowd (2002); David Shepherd (2007)

Also, may I record my disgust at how Spelga 125 gramme yogurts cost an extortionate forty-two pence in Asda, Sainsburys and Tescos. Such tiny pots are a glorified Petit Filou, containing several mouthfuls of yogurt. Mr and Mrs Spelga are having a laugh at our expense. The same supermarkets charge 61 pence for other yogurts from the Muller range. The retailers and their suppliers should be arrested for theft. Total fascism.

Friday 28th October

At a Commonwealth conference in Australia today, David Cameron has announced changes to the laws of succession of the British monarchy. As a dyed-in-the-wool British republican, I nevertheless welcome the reforms. First of all, it will no longer be permissible to bypass a first-born female as heir to the throne. In future, the first-born child will be heir regardless of gender. This belated adjustment is clearly in keeping with equality for women. It's just so typical that it has taken the Windsors so much longer to embrace the equal rights agenda.

Secondly, there will no longer be a ban on any future monarch marrying a Roman Catholic. Again this modification conforms to almost any basic human right that one can think of. It was always an absurdity for British people to pour scorn on the arranged marriages within some Asian family circles when in fact our own Sovereign was rather restricted for choice of partner, at least in terms of their religious affiliation. This liberal development will no doubt meet with the intense displeasure of Northern Ireland's so-called loyalists. They prize the monarchy if only because the institution has always paid heed to the laws arising out of the Williamite 'constitution' of the 'Glorious Revolution' which stipulated that those treacherous popish folk were to be avoided by any future king or queen. Will the Orange Disorder and the Royal Black Institution still be so unstinting in their support for the British royal family? Presumably their deference for all things royal may be expressed through gritted teeth in future, if the monarch's spouse is one of those dastardly fenian types.

Meanwhile it was announced that the bosses of many of Britain's top businesses have enjoyed nice pay rises over the last year, thank you very much. Nick Clegg correctly described this sickening news as a “slap in the face” for those of us on planet poverty who must struggle on through a landscape of cuts, no jobs, and no growth, while the greedy business types fill their boots. I personally blame their WAGs, because one can certainly anticipate that rich entrepreneurs are under pressure to satisfy the material cravings of their dissatisfied other half. Such horrible people.

Well, it looks like we are going to get through another week without the bottom falling out of the world's economy. I cannot help thinking that the prophecies of doom tend to emanate from zealous media pundits who love nothing more than a nice crisis. If the economy recovered and world harmony was restored, the media vultures would have nothing to report.

Born on this date: Bernie Ecclestone (1930); Bill Gates (1955)

Died on this date: Ted Hughes (1998); Trevor Berbick (2006)

Saturday 29
th October

Now then, now then dear old Sir Jimmy Savile has passed away. If Jim won't be able to fix it for me, then who will? God? Only if He wants to.

I attended a birthday get-together tonight for young Paul. We climaxed the festivities with a prolonged session of karaoke, whereupon all manner of cheesy pop songs were attempted. I excelled at this entertainment. I'm sure that the late Sir Jim would have approved.....as it happens.

Back in the real world, the points gap between Glasgow Strangers and wee Glasgow Wannabees has been extended which fills me with joy. The latter failed to score against a plucky Hibernian which was really sweet.

South of the border, ManUre returned to winning ways in the English Premiership with a hard-fought one-nil triumph against awkward Evercrap. However the drama was in more abundance at Stamford Bridge. In this early kick-off, Chelsea proceeded to lead one-nil and then two-one at the interval with goals from their English senior citizens, Frank Lampard and John Terry. However, perhaps the writing was on the wall in so far as Arsenil had created a number of clear openings in the first half to suggest that they hadn't come to this London derby to simply make the numbers up. In the event, the remarkable Robin Van Persie recorded a hat-trick while Theo Walcott helped himself to a goal as the away team stormed back to lead three-two and then the Dutch striker, RVP, scored twice in the dying minutes to secure a famous victory for the Gunners. Credit goes through gritted teeth to such a dazzling performance from the winners. They scored five times, they could easily have netted ten goals. Have they turned the corner? I am far from convinced. Their defence is anything but solid.

However, what of Chelsea? They appear to have gone back in time to the days of Gullit and Vialli when they were full of goals and thrills, but equally liable to concede plenty too. The greatest indictment of Chelsea is that as the third or fourth richest club in the world, they ought to have the third or fourth best goalkeeper. They don't. The once-great Petr Cech is not even amongst the top four goalkeepers in the Premiership. Furthermore, as the third or fourth richest club in the world, they ought to have the third or fourth best defence in the world. This is definitely not the case. The Blues have not achieved a shut-out in the Premiership since the opening day of the season. As the third or fourth richest club in the world, they really ought to be more effective in the transfer market. However, the sluggish Mikel plus the inconsistent Bosingwa and Torres were not smart moves.

Born on this date: Matthew Hayden (1971); Michael Vaughan (1974)

Died on this date: Joseph Pulitzer (1911); Terry Southern (1995)

Posthumous Pardons Please! by Gary Watton

2013-01-25T02:12:00.000-08:00

One fine Friday morn in late March whilst delaying my departure from the comfort zone of my bed, I decided to browse through a nearby history book. I randomly picked up ‘Six Wives’ by David Starkey. I chose well. I immediately re-acquainted myself with the demise of tragic, young Catherine Howard, the penultimate wife of the ageing, obese, ugly Henry VIII. After re-familiarising myself with this sad tale, I journeyed a little further back in time [six years to be precise] to the equally memorable downfall of the controversial Anne Boleyn in May 1536.

[artist's depiction of the execution of Catherine Howard; February 1542]

History has actually been rather kind to Anne Boleyn because while she has come through the mists of time to be viewed sympathetically, she was far from popular with contemporaries. Catholic England was still smarting from the royal eviction of Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn was portrayed as a scheming, headstrong mistress who was intent on reforming the old religion. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to state that Anne Boleyn would have made exceptionally good tabloid fodder. In the end, the female usurper was herself jettisoned. However, the two executed wives of old Harry of England have been favourably depicted in modern movies as eye-catching young women who paid the ultimate price when they fell foul of their husband, the king. Furthermore, to quote a piece of modern cynicism, perhaps death was ‘a good career move’. There is something ‘cool’ and enigmatic about martyrdom, the sense of a young life taken before its time.

[portrait of Anne Boleyn, the doomed second wife of Henry VIII]

It may be difficult to fathom for modern-day observers, but in bygone days of yore [at least until the English Civil War and the subsequent Glorious Revolution reared their collective heads], the English monarch operated with carte blanche on the basis of what historians refer to as the ‘divine right of kings’. Believing themselves to be appointed and anointed by God as his representative to officiate over their nation state, various sovereigns saw it as both their duty and their right to govern without any pesky subjects inflicting checks and balances upon their authority. England in the first half of the sixteenth century was not yet a land ripe for constitutional monarchy, and indeed the kingdom had to be dragged kicking and screaming towards such a system of governance well over a century later. It is against this backdrop that the king was not only the head of state but he also had literally licence to kill, a power that he wasn’t shy at utilising. To defy the monarch was tantamount to defying God and defying the very land on which you lived. Such behaviour met literally with zero tolerance, and anyone who undermined the sovereign could expect to pay the full penalty for their apparent treachery. Treason was an offence that led to death, and frequently a protracted and horrible death into the bargain. Of course, if you were of noble birth, you might be spared the ritual of a hung, drawn and quartered spectacle in favour of the apparently lenient punishment of beheading. Meanwhile, a female traitor could ordinarily be expected to burn at the stake. Such were the unenlightened times of Tudor England.

Cutting a long story short, what struck me with Starkey’s account of the doomed lives of Catherine and Anne was a sense of injustice which hung over their arrest and conviction. Catherine’s crime of having an apparently platonic relationship with a young man is exceptionally small potatoes, especially when one considers that she was a typical immature teenager. Of course, such behaviour was regarded as infidelity, and infidelity towards your husband, the king, God’s right-hand man in England, was totally unacceptable…..Or was it? As for Anne, she was reportedly tried on trumped-up charges which include the rather incredulous accusation of incest with her brother and the equally ludicrous notion of witchcraft. For the scheming Henry to marry his mistress Jane Seymour, his second wife had to be thoroughly demonised. Perhaps Anne’s biggest crime was that she failed to furnish her other half with a male heir. Well, historians and legal experts can argue into the night and well beyond about the justification for what I believe amounts to the judicial murder of these two unfortunate souls.

Fast-forwarding two decades, I would also like to throw into the mix, Lady Jane Grey, who unwittingly found herself thrust upon the throne of the kingdom but whose tenure therein was a pitiable nine days. This young lady was a mere fifteen years of age when she was elbowed aside by the Catholics’ choice, Mary, daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon. At first, the incoming monarch simply regarded Lady Jane as an inconvenience as opposed to a foe, but the tide well and truly turned against Lady Jane when Wyatt’s abortive Protestant rebellion of 1554 was possibly designed to restore the teenager to the throne. Mary was ‘obliged’ to permanently remove the focal point for all the reformists out there who needed a champion of their cause. Just like any good twentieth century Mafia boss, Queen Mary had to concede that Lady Jane had outlived her usefulness. Thus, young Jane would also join Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard in an elite club which met their untimely deaths within the confines of the Tower of London, on what is now called Tower Green.

[the execution of Lady Jane Grey in 1554, painted by Paul Delaroche]

I must at this point confess to possessing a morbid fascination with such tragic young lives, especially how they were compelled to confront the imminent spectre of death by execution – a truly macabre ordeal.

More than anything, what has struck me about these three grim episodes is the sheer injustice of it all. These young women [two of whom were teenagers] were cruelly killed on the basis of a judicial process which certainly would not stand scrutiny in the twenty-first century world. In fact, to quote modern legal parlance, such convictions would be regarded as totally unsafe nowadays. If capital punishment was a trifle melodramatic, not to mention unwarranted, then surely it falls on the collective conscience of subsequent generations to issue such high-profile personages with a pardon for crimes that would be regarded as small fare in our modern permissive, liberal kingdom. Is it not therefore long overdue that a posthumous pardon be conferred on this tragic trio? I think that the case for such an act of generosity and forgiveness is compelling. Of course, perhaps forgiveness is an inappropriate word, because it implies wrong-doing. It is highly contentious to state that either Anne Boleyn or Lady Jane were indeed guily of wrong-doing. Sinners they were; treasonable criminals they were not. Catherine Howard by contrast had been ‘guilty’ of pre-marital sex, admittedly before Henry cast his lecherous eyes on such an ill-suiting bride. Perhaps pardon is the more suitable term. Or perhaps forgiveness is equally apt.

Quite why such a noble cause has not been long since pursued escapes me. Would it be politically incorrect to correct the legal abuses of the past? Or would it be politically expedient to turn the other cheek and ignore such travesties of justice? Could it be that the venerated Harry of England’s reputation would be besmirched if we were to grant a twenty-first century pardon to his apparently naughty wives? Oh yes, I guess that there is nothing quite like whitewashing the past and maintaining the legend that is the great Henry VIII. Well, I did chance upon a brilliant mural in east Belfast in which the late David Ervine [an Ulster loyalist who was no stranger to crime and punishment] is quoted as wisely stating that those who ignore the past are condemned to repeating it. Therefore, naive fool that I am, I wish to launch a crusade to have the three young ladies awarded a pardon for their nonsense crimes. A failure to wipe the slate clean and forgive them [if forgiveness is necessary] would be itself almost unforgivable. Also, while modern Britain still impersonates rather unconvincingly a Christian nation [albeit a cosmopolitan, heterogeneous one] is it not incumbent upon a nation with Christian values to practise the art of forgiveness?

Mercifully, I am not intent on traversing the tiresome route of accumulating a multitude of signatures for a petition or instigating yet another futile Facebook campaign. No, one must direct the need for belated justice directly at the nation’s law-makers [and law-breakers?] in parliament. I regard any movement to restore the good name of the tragic trio as neither a left-wing nor a right-wing cause celebre. Instead, the need to confront the crimes, injustices, and abuses of our past and not bury them under the carpet of time is something which transcends all ideologies and faiths. Of course in the corridors of power, inertia amidst bureaucratic red tape reigns supreme. However, it simply won’t do any more for all and sundry to shrug our shoulders at the injustice of yesteryear and excuse them away with something akin to ‘Oh times were hard in those days, and it was hard cheese if you broke the law’. Sorry, that attitude must not be allowed to prevail. If the Holocaust and the horrors of the early twentieth century justifiably stir us to feel nothing but a deep disapproval of the agents of genocide, then why draw the line at the butchery of a century ago. Where indeed do we draw the line in terms of time elapsed?

Britain has always prided herself on being a pioneer of constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy and would continue to claim that her human rights record is second to none. Would it not be a further boost to the nation’s ego if the UK was willing to demonstrate to the rest of the world a willingness to confront and correct the mistakes of bygone centuries? In taking such a lead, the UK would be encouraging other nations to examine the distant past and apply a modern judgment upon state crimes and atrocities whilst pronouncing that previous bogeymen and women deserve to have their good name returned to them. Of course, it will be argued that it is simply not enough to dwell on three high-profile ladies who were born into privilege. What about the countless wretched souls who perished in prison and on the gallows and were transported? Shall we forgive them or declare them innocent? Well, clearly, it would be too cumbersome and downright impractical to re-investigate all the crimes of past times, but in the absence of a historical enquiry team, is it beyond the reach of the Prime Minister or the head of state [or the Home Secretary to be precise] to issue the occasional statement which addresses the abuses of previous centuries? I for one would argue in favour of a general posthumous pardon for all the Protestant and Catholic martyrs of the sixteenth and seventeenth century in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland who died holding steadfast to their faith. Their only crime was not to retreat from their religious convictions, which itself led to their convictions, and frequently a horrible death, burned at the stake. Again, posthumous pardons are the very least that we can offer such courageous saints as Thomas More or his polar opposites Ridley and Latimer.

Pedants will suggest that why stop at the three named sixteenth century femmes fatales? Why not rehabilitate Charles I or Mary Queen of Scots or Walter Raleigh et cetera et cetera? Well folks, don’t let me stop you from pursuing such a campaign, but in the first instance I think that it would be prudent to address the legalised crimes against Anne, Catherine, and Jane [and the persecuted martyrs]. If others wish to take up the baton and focus on other atrocities and legal travesties, be my guest. However, since the miscarriages of justice visited upon Anne, Catherine, and Jane have perhaps captured the world’s imagination more than any other Tower tragedy, then they seem to serve as a logical starting point, or at least a posthumous pardon for them would by implication be an acknowledgment that many less famous souls were also victims of a Tudor terror whose pursuit of justice leaves an awful lot to be desired and frankly pardoned!

With the Olympics paying a visit to London, there is an opportunity to win a gold medal in demonstrating to the world our generosity of spirit. Furthermore, the Tower of London remains the staple diet of many a tourist’s itinerary. How good would it be if the multitude of visitors could study a plaque at the Tower of London which confirms a posthumous pardon for the famous victims who met their early deaths at Tower Green. Procrastination and indifference is itself criminal. Only immediate posthumous pardons can reinforce modern Britain’s claim to be a shining beacon of justice.

Margaret Moron: a cheating, cowardly crook

2013-01-11T03:23:00.000-08:00

I am disgusted that the disgraced former MP Margaret Moran was able to escape prison on Friday the 14th of December when a team of so-called experts [or softies more likely] decreed that Moran was too doo-lally to enter a plea. This is a sickening example of a feeble society where nobody is willing to accept responsibility for anything. When our political superiors lack the integrity to put their hands up and admit their own wrongdoing and have the courage to face the consequences, like the rest of us poor bastards, then this country is finished. No wonder, the yoof go looting, when they see the middle-class law-makers deteriorate into white-collar law-breakers. The trouble with the actress, Margaret Moron, is that having been a legislator [and by implication, a parliamentary law-maker], she knows how the system works, and is therefore ideally placed to work the system in her cowardly favour. She is one of many bourgeois villains who appear to be too ill to stand trial but who were in perfectly rude health to commit crime in the first place. Chirac in France and Mubarak in Egypt are but two recent examples of folk ‘doing a Petain’ and faking ill health in order to achieve leniency. There should be a re-trial. Otherwise British justice is a sick joke. As someone who broke the law many years ago, I had to take my punishment on the chin. It would be good if other high-ranking hypocrites accepted blame too and took responsibility for their actions, like the rest of us plebs. To thwart justice and cling onto their pampered lifestyle sends out a terrible signal to the rest of the society. I believe that the expression that springs to mind is: “one rule for them; one rule for the rest of us”. Well, I am ****ing livid about you Margaret Moron. [No doubt, the defence team will manage to ensure that the convicted detective April Casburn also escapes a prison sentence after she was found guilty arising out of her attempt to sell information to the News Of The World. I find it breathtakingly astonishing that various middle-class women avoid incarceration by bringing on the tears and persuading the judge that they are not fit for jail. If someone like Margaret Moron is deemed as too ill for prison, are the legal authorities not aware that prisons have hospitals? Silly bastards.]
Sickened,
Gary Watton; author, commentator, and historian; December 2012

2010 election in 'The Celtic Fringe' by Grant Toway

2012-08-06T05:13:00.002-07:00

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celtic-Fringe-Westminster-Elections-1970-2010/dp/0956272576
SCOTLAND
Labour’s two ‘gains’ were merely a case of re-capturing two seats that they had lost in recent by-elections to the Liberal Democrats and the SNP. For all their woes south of the border, Labour performed well in Scotland.
The Liberal Democrats had a bizarre election. Nick Clegg won a lot of plaudits, but his party underperformed in Scotland, and yet they were sufficiently successful to enter a coalition government.
The Conservatives improved their vote in Scotland, though this leap of progress didn’t translate into extra seats. The SNP’s vote share was 19.9%.
WALES
This was a record-breaking night for the Welsh Conservatives. Only two candidates in Wales exceeded twenty thousand votes. They were both from the Conservative Party. One of them, David Davies, became the first Conservative MP to win the most votes at a general election in Wales for many decades. On top of that, there was the small matter of a recovery of five seats. Plaid Cymru’s vote share fell to 11.3% while UKIP polled better.

2005 election in 'The Celtic Fringe' by Grant Toway

2012-08-05T01:16:00.002-07:00

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celtic-Fringe-Westminster-Elections-1970-2010/dp/0956272576
SCOTLAND
Ordinarily, a loss of fifteen parliamentary seats would be perceived as a catastrophe, but Labour’s representation was drastically cut on account of a boundary review which confiscated many former Labour seats. The Labour Party frequently suffered during the boundary modifications as they had a knack of winning the inner-city constituencies, but as there was a migratory shift away from the inner cities, then such Labour constituencies dwindled in population size, rendering them ripe for abolition.

The Labour government had now won its third consecutive national election, but Tony Blair was beginning to outstay his welcome at the top of the party, as Gordon Brown itched for his turn as the Prime Minister.

As for the Conservatives, they were struggling to land a blow on a far from popular Labour government. It soon became apparent that the party that once looked upon itself as the natural party of government would need another changing of the guard at its highest echelon in order to capitalise on a growing weariness of (new) Labour and facilitate a return to power.

The Liberal Democrats again made much progress, but their leader was obliged to stand down several months later. As a consequence, Menzies Campbell succeeded Charles Kennedy in early 2006 as the party supremo. Scotland had been the main supplier of the leaders of Britain’s third party. The hall of fame had included Jo Grimond and David Steel, while Robert Maclennan was the ‘caretaker manager’ when the Liberals and the SDP merged into the Liberal Democrats.

The Scottish Socialists failed to build upon the foundations of their 2001 efforts, while the SNP’s overall vote share slipped to 17.7%, but they were more than mere extras on the Scottish political scene.

WALES
The Welsh constituency contests were probably becoming much more competitive than was the case in the past. Fewer and fewer seats were a one-party state. This is demonstrated by the fact that only six MPs polled more than twenty thousand votes, and even these select few only just exceeded this amount.

It could be argued that a lower turnout was partially a consequence of Wales possessing its own Assembly, thus diminishing the former importance of Westminster elections. Secondly, with the people of Scotland and Wales required to vote in council elections, European elections, and local parliament elections, as well as the national election, then the populace were election-weary. In the context of 2005, a third explanation for low voter turnout and the absence of a huge endorsement for any particular party or candidate is that people were progressively becoming disillusioned with the Labour government, but were equally wary of the Conservative opposition who did not yet present themselves as a credible alternative.

Having said that, the Conservatives had just accumulated three seats in Wales which was three more than in 2001 or 1997, so clearly progress was being made.

By contrast, Plaid Cymru appeared to go into reverse in this election. Their vote share had decreased from 14.3% in 2001 to 12.6% in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats doubled their House of Commons representation in Wales. Gone were the days when Britain’s third largest party were also-rans who sometimes didn’t have the confidence or the resources to contest every constituency election.

2001 election in 'The Celtic Fringe' by Grant Toway

2012-08-03T02:21:00.001-07:00

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celtic-Fringe-Westminster-Elections-1970-2010/dp/0956272576
Remarkably, only one constituency changed hands in Scotland, as the Conservatives narrowly secured Galloway & Upper Nithsdale, thereby breathing some semblance of life into Scotland’s Conservative Party, which had borne the brunt of public disaffection with the harsh economic medicine of Mrs Thatcher and Mr Major.
Admittedly starting from a low base, the Liberal Democrats produced the most improved performance, while the Scottish Socialists plucked up the courage (or sheer folly?) to field a candidate in all seventy-two seats. It was clearly felt by the latter that the Labour Party had jettisoned its left-wing roots under Tony Blair’s new Labour project, and therefore the Scottish Socialist Party sought to fill what they perceived as the vacuum left by the Labour Party’s move to the centre ground.
There was a considerable drop in voter turnout. This allied with the relative success of the two afore-mentioned parties suggests that the age-old frontrunners of Labour and the Conservatives had to an extent fallen out of favour with the Scottish electorate. Having said that, in spite of the drop in their vote, fifty-six Labour Members of Parliament was a formidable return for a party that was ‘out of favour’.
The SNP experienced a less than impressive election, polling 20.1%, compared to 22.1% in 1997, but better times lay ahead for a party whose electoral performances represented the proverbial see-saw.
By the time of the next general election, Scotland’s Westminster contingent was reduced to only fifty-nine. With the recent, belated advent of devolution and the creation of a Scottish Parliament, it seemed prudent to trim the number of MPs, now that MSPs were starting to function.
In Wales just two seats changed hands: Carmarthen East & Dinefwr and Ynys Mon.

1997 election in 'The Celtic Fringe' by Grant Toway

2012-08-02T03:15:00.001-07:00

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celtic-Fringe-Westminster-Elections-1970-2010/dp/0956272576
After a staggering eighteen years in government, the Conservative Party had outstayed its welcome. As well as taking a ferocious hit south of the border, the Conservatives were wiped off the Scottish map, at least in terms of Westminster representation.
The Scottish National Party doubled its Westminster parliamentary party, while the Liberal Democrats moved into double figures.
The biggest winners were undoubtedly Labour. Tony Blair had steered the party towards the centre ground, rendering it more electable than hitherto. Consequently, the new Labour project finally conquered the likes of Ayr and Stirling, after a few frustrating failures.
One of the most notable successes of this Labour landslide was actually recorded by a Liberal Democrat. Donald Gorrie had been a losing candidate in Edinburgh West since as far back as 1970. After almost three decades, he finally earned a seat in the House of Commons.
This election marked a sharp rise in the number of ‘contestants’, as such also-rans as the Green Party, Natural Law and the Referendum candidates were foolishly resolved to pursue their deposit-losing wild goose chases.
The Conservatives were wiped out in Wales, which now had forty seats. Two Cardiff MPs were husband and wife: Julie and Rhodri Morgan.