Xinomorph

Under proposals drawn up by ex-minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the Conservatives are considering an English Grand Committee (as reported in this BBC News article).

The plans - currently being considered for introduction as official party policy - would see a new 'Grand Committee' introduced, to sit in the House of Commons. The committee would be comprised of English MPs, and have sole influence and say over issues which affect England alone.

Although not quite the full, seperate English Parliament that many call for, the so-called EVoEL settlement would be a huge step towards justice, democracy, and fair treatment of English people.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party - particularly delusional harpie Harriet Harman - have been swearing that black is lime green:

I think this is a very, very dangerous line of argument that the Conservatives are pushing. They used to be the Conservative and Unionist Party and now they are making proposals which wouldn't help strengthen regional accountability in England but would actually, I think, threaten the Union.

Aside from the fact that, as proven in a referendum in the north-east of England a few years back, NO ONE wants the regional assemblies which she is referring to with the vile term "regional accountability", this is pretty rich coming from the deputy leader of the party who created this "dangerous" imbalance in the first place. With individual democratic institutions responsible for certain areas of policy in each of the other three constituent countries of the UK, and England left off to be dictated to purely by the British Parliament (including MPs who have no accountability over those who their votes affect), the present imbalance is far more dangerous, and infinitely more damaging, than anything the Conservatives could propose. The vile, left-wing-posing-as-right-wing-to-win-votes modern Labour Party have a grip on reality and affinity with the people which seems to diminish by the day (and in the latter case, was arguably never really there in the first place). If there is just one thing, in the 300 years since the union was formed, which has destabilised and damaged it, then it is Labour's devolution - and particularly lack thereof, as far as England is concerned.

Meanwhile, as Labour continue to rely on polls years old to back up their "England doesn't want a Parliament" argument, ignoring dozens over the past few years which show overwhelming support to the exact opposite, the public gain increasingly restless.

As regular and long-time readers may be aware, whilst I certainly believe that there is an imbalance which must be addressed, I do not personally support the idea of an English Parliament. Rather, I support the idea of reversing devolution totally (perhaps not in the case of Northern Ireland of course - could get a bit messy). Apart from my own pride in Britain, this is perhaps primarily through tax concerns. A good couple of billion pounds (that's a real billion, not an I-can't-count American billion) must go to the running of the Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies, as well as the Scottish Parliament, already. And that's without taking into account the inevitably horrendously bloated civil services in each. So how much more would an English Parliament cost? An English Parliament which would of course cover a far, far greater area and populus than any of the other three. We need to be making cutbacks and spending the money on worthwhile causes and services, not throwing more at the latest version of democracy.

I fear, however, that that is far from likely.

Yes, the persecution and blatant robbery (nevermind what is arguably a small-scale attempt at an ethnic cleansing of the English) continues to grow, with the announcement from Holyrood that, as of April 2008, all those who are "chronically ill" will have totally free prescriptions (although I'm yet to discover the exact definition of "chronic", as free prescriptions are available in England to some). And by 2011, it is intended that all charges for all Scots will be totally free.

Meanwhile, you guessed, the English taxpayer continues to not only foot the estimated £70 million bill, but also receive far, far substandard service in return.

The sadly-not-at-all-surprising news comes alongside Scottish schools beginning a pilot scheme that will eventually provide all primary-school children (supposedly up to year 3 only, but let's wait and see it expand) with totally free school dinners. Below the border, our children face skank being dished up to them at the production cost of 37p - yes, that's less than is spent on a prisoner's meal - and they still have to pay for the privilege. But never fret, Mr. English, for the lovely Government have promised to increase that! To 50p. When? Well there's no date that I'm aware of, but feel free to comment if you know. Back up north, the production can cost no less than 70p. That's the best part of 200% the English rate.

When will the public wake up and realise just what is happening? Whilst this information is admittedly from the Daily Mail and so perhaps not entirely objective, the old adage that "there's no smoke without fire" is only too apt. Head over to Wonko's World (but only for a moment!), to read of his shocking first-hand experience of the English (vs Scottish) NHS. Truly outrageous.

Boiling with rage? I am.

My God. I can't believe that anyone could come up with such cack (but then they are all Europeans); yes, that's right. The latest pro-EU propaganda is aimed directly at children - Captain Euro.

The adventures of the bell-end in blue (not forgetting his team, The Twelve Stars organisation, of course) centre on the defeat of the most evil of villains, Dr. D. Vider, whose sole objective is to break up the union of peace, prosperity and good that is the European Union. Oh, and they compete in international sporting events for the union as well. And lead scientific discovery, no doubt. (Captain Euro himself is a professor of paleontology, don't you know?) I think it quite amusing, nevermind apt, that the Captain's real name is Adam Andros.

As is hinted at over at Wonko's World, this is not only blatant and unashamed propaganda, but almost certainly for the "benefit" of the children of the United Kingdom. What a pity that the use of propaganda is illegal in the UK's schools - although I daresay that they believe that they are far above the law.

If I had children, and I found that they had been exposed to this mind-bending insanity at school, I would not think twice before sueing. I've always said that the EU is ultimately exactly what Hitler wanted, and now they using Nazi-style propaganda tactics too.

If you're mentally stable and mature enough to not risk being drawn in by such utter, utter shite, then have an incredulous look at the official Captain Euro website - a new adventure will be posted each day!

Do they really have no shame?

Good old Ken. After previously promising that the funding of Crossrail would NOT require a far increase, what has he announced? Yes, that's right. A fare increase. And by how much? He can't say.

Now, admittedly that last part is fair enough, as no one can really predict inflation or interest rates years in advance, but I really can't say I'm surprised. I mean, a Labour politician, going back on his word?! Who'da thunk it.