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Continue reading →: “I don’t know about that…”
In response to Andrew Marr's comment that the Commons blocked publication of MPs expenses, the Prime Minister said "I don't know about that…" and claimed that all this was coming out because of "Labour's Freedom of Information Act." Marr let him get away with it, despite the fact that Gordon…
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Continue reading →: Is this the face of the worst of them all?
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | MP 'claimed for church donation'. He doesn't recall the claim. No doubt because it was one among so many. He doesn't dispute it though, so accepts that he is someone who might try to reclaim from the taxpayer a donation to a…
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Continue reading →: A personal letter from the Prime Mentalist
'I'm sorry.. now vote for me' says Brown in letter blaming Tories for expenses scandal | Mail Online. To our amusement, Mrs Paine received one of these supposedly targetted personal letters. Oh boy, is your database inaccurate guys! Not only is she NOT going to vote for you, she detests…
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Continue reading →: Dear God, is there no end to these comically-appropriate names?
MPs' expenses: Bill Cash claimed £15,000 to pay his daughter rent – Telegraph. Bill Cash did. £15,000 to pay to his daughter. Come on, Cameron. Deal with it.
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Continue reading →: Now we know she’s desperate… ++UPDATED++
MPs' expenses: Julie Kirkbride claims criticism could mean fewer women in Parliament – Telegraph. "Is it because I am a girl?" No, it's because you claimed sums from the public purse which increased your net worth. All reasonable electors accept that MPs should not be worse off because of expenses…
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Continue reading →: Charlotte Gores Labour
Hey, Wait a Minute!! at Charlotte Gore. I grew up in the Labour heartlands. My own family's experience of Labour does not differ significantly from that of a small shopkeeper dealing with the Mob. Except that mobsters don't usually confiscate businesses altogether, preferring to "wet their beaks" rather than steal…
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Continue reading →: When is a cover up not a cover up?
De Menezes inquest: officer cleared of staging cover up – Telegraph. The defining story of the history of New Labour is not the expenses scandal. That has more to do with the impotence of parliament, which New Labour has ruthlessly exploited but did not create. The Devil found work for…
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Continue reading →: Train punctuality
Train punctuality reaches new high – Telegraph. When the history of the Brown premiership is written, it will conclude with the words "…but the trains ran on time."
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Continue reading →: Scarecrow straws in the wind
Old Holborn's optimism gave me pause for thought. We are of a similar vintage. Am I just a grumpier old geezer? Is he just naive? The last time I felt as optimistic politically as I usually am in my business and personal lives was in the late 1970s. The tired…
THE LAST DITCH
Your blogger
Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.
Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.
He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that
“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”
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There are many reasons they’re not passed down, Tom. The Triune code, laid out in scripture in all reputable versions…
I’ve always tried to live my life doing no wrong but life isn’t like that so you make compromised but…
Hate to tell you this, but it’s not going to end until you end it. You think people to whom…
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The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
A little bird tweeted in my ear that it was time to come over and see how things are.