Tax is NOT the solution to everything

Mr. Urquhart enjoys a wee dram every so often and the occasional cherry at Christmas just like many other Britons. Also like many Britons he resents being taxed into oblivion by this wretched New Labour Government, and being patronised by ‘experts’ who hold the ear of Government.

So he reads with undisguised venom that a certain Professor Ian Gilmore of the Royal College of Physicians has recommended that alcohol, particularly cider, should be hammered (no pun intended) with tax increases to deter ‘binge drinkers’.

F.U. dislikes the view among members of the Government and the ‘experts’ that advise them that taxation is the way to correct problems. Surely there are more ways to tackle irresponsible drinking rather than slapping a higher tax price tag on booze? Better education? Not granting pubs 24 hours licenses? Apparently not.

He also finds it bloody ridiculous that responsible drinkers and consumers generally must pay the price for the abuses and excesses of a sizeable minority. Besides, F.U. asks, shouldn’t the individual be able to make his own decisions regarding his lifestyle without being subject to an overbearing Nanny State?

Prof. Gilmore speaking at a responsible drinking conference even went as far as to endorse a Nanny State. He said: "The Government is anxious about the nanny state, but I think the harm done by alcohol is such that nannying would be in order."

Mr. Urquhart is pretty sure that the Labour Government doesn’t need any encouragement to increase its already bloated nannying. How long will it be before enjoying a pint or two in your local will be simply unaffordable? Not too long if the likes of Gilmore has his way.

Another Dirty Socialist throws his hat in the ring…

Former arch-Blairite John Cruddas has thrown his grubby little hat into the ring to become the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. F.U. hopes this unpleasant turn-coat socialist gets elected so that the Labour Party can take the lunge to the Left that so many of its members are crying out for.

Cruddas is the Member of Parliament for Dagenham, and was a Political Secretary to Tony Blair up until 2001. Cruddas was, therefore, in the thick of the New Labour experiment and should take his share of the blame for ripping the Labour Party away from its ‘socialist’ roots and hurtling it towards its filthy occupation of the political ‘middle ground’. But now he has turned his back on Blairism and has embraced the need for “change”. In change, Mr. Urquhart suggests, one should read “return to a defunct socialist legacy”.

Apparently after leaving the cushy and comfortable confines of 10 Downing Street Cruddas became disillusioned with Blair and his alleged politics of “aspiration.” The streets of working class Dagenham and all the inherent hardships that come with it showed Cruddas all the people Labour had left behind. So he says.

Nevermind all the hard working middle classes that New Labour has systematically taxed to the hilt, eh? Nevermind the real backbone of the country that Labour has been killing for nearly ten years.

F.U. hopes Cruddas gets the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party, to hammer the final nail into the coffin of New Labour. Cruddas is a crud candidate for a crud party, and F.U. wishes him all the luck in the world.

German EU Presidency looks a little like Orwell's 1984

As F.U. trundled his way to work this morning, ensconced in his filthy railway carriage, he nearly had a stroke when he read a particularly chilling article in The Daily Telegraph (2nd February 2007) detailing the latest act of subtle oppression the European Union is willing to inflict upon the freedom of the individual. See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/02/weu02.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_02022007

The ever-creeping tentacles of the EU are now hungry to clamp down on freedom of speech, expression and intellectual pursuit by tabling a new piece of legislation designed to outlaw “genocide denial”.

It will, if the Germans have their way, be an offence under EU law to question the historical validity of even the existence of various genocides, extending their vicious clampdown on anyone who denies the Holocaust. It would appear that Orwell’s prediction of the “thought crime” has become a serious reality, Mr. Urquhart notes.

The next of this draft charter banning freedom of speech says: "Each member state shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the following intentional conduct is punishable: 'publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes as defined in'... the Statute of the ICC." So what does this amount to?

It amounts to, in F.U.’s estimation, the European Union creating an Official History. This has been the hallmark of some of the most oppressive and wicked regimes throughout history including Nazi Germany (oops, don’t mention the war), Stalin’s Soviet Union, and Pol Pot’s Cambodia. F.U. maintains that it is a fundamental characteristic of a modern and mature democratic nation to allow dogmatic orthodoxies to be challenged, analysed and reassessed, how spurious, incredibly, offensive or utterly stupid they may be. Outlawing these views will not lead to their destruction, but merely avoid them been properly demolished in the freedom of the arena of open debate.

Free and open access to the world's history, with the ability to reassess it and draw one's own conclusions is an inviolable right of any human being. Indeed, one might construe it as a right to self-determination even, which is already enshrined as an inalienable human entitlement. Through studying history and making one's own conclusions, one understands who one is, and where one came from. This is an area in which Governments, Courts, and Legislatures have absolutely no role to play, Mr. Urquhart asserts.

If this is the flavour that the already oppressive, undemocratic, and dictatorial EU is taking, then F.U. would suggest all nations that value that little ickle thing called free speech should serious consider pulling out.

It smacks of Orwell’s 1984, quite frankly, and F.U. like any other decent freedom loving Briton should be up in arms about it.