“The Plan: 12 months to renew Britain” by Daniel Hannan MEP and Douglas Carswell MP

The Plan has been written by two young politicians who have discovered first hand how inert is the machinery of the British state, and how intense is the consequent anger on the doorstep.  They offer an analysis of why people are sick and tired of politicians, and what can be done about it.  Douglas Carswell, is the forward-looking MP for Harwich and Clacton, and  Daniel Hannan the firebrand MEP for the South of England.  You can read more about Douglas here and about Dan, here.

Britain is heading in the wrong direction. The British people are giving up on politics and politicians.  The Plan is a book that sets out how to put Britain on the right track again.

The Plan proposes to restore meaning to the ballot box, freedom to the citizen and dignity to Parliament.  It puts forward a radical legislative programme to:

  • – Clean up Westminster
  • – Devolve power to the lowest practicable level
  • – Make Public services work for the people who use them
  • – Bring foreign and domestic policy back in line with public opinion
  • – Replace the quango state with genuine democracy
  • – Refresh our political system through localism and the use of referendums

Douglas and Dan show how a future government could actually shift powers back, from Brussels to Westminster, from Whitehall to town halls, from the state to the citizens.

Things do not have to be as they are. The Plan shows how we can change our country for the better.

The Plan is available ‘from all good bookshops’ from October 6th and the ISBN is: 13-9780955979903 or order your copy direct at: www.Renew-Britain.com

49 thoughts on ““The Plan: 12 months to renew Britain” by Daniel Hannan MEP and Douglas Carswell MP”

  1. This is harsh. To comment on this, we have to buy the ruddy book. Oh Boris, I am sure you have read it from cover to cover, and penetrated every nuance, so we will just take it that this is a jolly good idea. On your say so. (No that is intellectually lazy – goddamnit!)

  2. Well, Dawn, it is Friday lunchtime so I guess we can take a bit of intellectual time out before we get round to reading the book. How about what it ‘should’ say? For a start to that discussion, I would change, ‘Make Public services work for the people who use them’ to ‘Make Public services work for those who are entitled to use them’ (might broaden their use!). I wonder what the book says?

  3. It is a good book, indeed.

    One policy that The Plan doesn’t advocate, mind you, is “let’s punish the innocent because we are too damn lazy to tackle the guilty.”

    An example of this principle (that the book doesn’t advocate) is… oh… stopping people from having a drink on public transport because you cannot be bothered to apprehend the troublesome under drunk and disorderly laws. Just for instance…

    DK

  4. Or “Make people work so the people who serve become public users.” or have I got the wrong end of the tick?

  5. Absolute worst, Angela? Let’s not go there in detail. However, rather a lot more grow-your-own and self-reliance for everything is likely to be essential. Those who can, will survive, those who can’t or won’t, will not. If there is no normal money in circulation, there is no society as we know it. The clever-clogs will already have stashed their wealth in real physical basics that people need and that do not perish (think of anything that comes out of a mine or that can be dried after harvest). The rest of us have to hope the politicians and the bankers put their egos to one side and get on with sorting out a mess of their own making. Clawing back profits from big-time speculators strikes me as a good start – but don’t ask me where to draw the lie between ethical investment decisions and outright greed. Best guess would be to use a bell-curve and appropriate the physical assets of the most-profiting 0.1 per cent.

    SteveL: over to you if you are around as this is more your territory than mine!

  6. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1076097/The-guilty-named-shamed.html

    Gill you obviously have a good grasp of what is happening – I read a lot about it, but tend to believe the last authorative source I have read, and since they all sound authoratative, that doesn’t really help.

    Max Hastings has written a good if frightening article, see link above, exuding righteous indignation.

    Being quite suggestible and excitable myself, I tend to gravitate towards the calm types who can roll with the punches and weather storms – Barak Obama is doing a great job a the moment, as far as I am concerned. He sounds like he knows what he is talking about, he thinks it all through, he is realistic, but also totally calm. John McCain to me is like lighting a match in a munitions factory.

    Gordon is good in bullying mode, and if you fancy being a punch bag or doormat, he is probably your dream man, but you can’t bank on the fact that he won’t lapse into a depression at any minute. He is quite moody and sensitive, one feels to him two plus two make fourteen in the paranoid stakes. Personal mannerisms are gale force indicators to Gordon, so one always fears an over reaction. He also seems to personalise everything. I could imagine a deal being made, and then, because he sensed an imaginary snub, it would all be off and he would storm out.

    Nicholas Sarkozy, quel horreur, he made such a good speech about how important it was as a leader to always stay calm, and then he flipped into a Gallic fury, just because someone would not shake his hand! No reassuring calm there!

    David Cameron is quite fiery and obviously has a temper, I should think he could be impatient too. However, he has excellent control. He is great under pressure, so I would totally trust him in this crisis, because that great control would kick in. You only have to look at him when interviewers try to pressure him. He is able to ignore it totally and simply behave as though it were not happening. I would definitely trust David Cameron in a crisis.

    The most placid rock solid one is Boris and this is one of his greatest assets as a leader. He wouldn’t bullshit us and he wouldn’t be pushed into anything he wouldn’t feel was best.

  7. It is just so hard to work out what has caused it all and I agree they all say different anyway!

    It is like that Bob Dylan song “Something is happening and you don’t know what it is…. Do you, Mr. Jones!”

  8. If we get the book and don’t understand it, it would probably serve as a soporific or I have a table that has a wonky leg, that needs propping up.It takes all my day to struggle through the Spectator.

  9. Can you believe it? The caption on the poster of a new Hollywood film of female vampires out in the cinemas this Halloween reads: ” They will swallow your souls. Anything else will cost you! “.

  10. That’s funny Stacey. I was looking after my friend’s kids who were watching STAR WARS. Darth Vader was saying to Skywalker DON’T MAKE ME DESTROY YOU! Crikey, Peter Mandelson gets his lines from Star Wars!

  11. What’s so hard to understand THE PLAN book ? In fact, you can save yourself money by just reading stories of corrupt MPs in your usual daily papers to understand how corrupt Westminster has always been.

    These things have been going for years and years and nothing has ever been done about it. Why now? Remember just a few months ago, there was scandals about MPs using big assistance allowance to employ their own relatives as ghost secretaries who don’t actually do any work which is really done by real secretaries on lower wages? There was public outcries but Scotland Yard said they could not investigate as nobody ( anybody: man, woman, a member of public ) had ever made a formal complaint to them about it. End of story.

    Newspapers are only good at reporting these corruptions but then, even they dare not make a formal complaint to Scotland Yard. Let alone a member of public. These political corruptions are very complex; it involves everybody, an investigation by Scotland Yard would be like opening a can of worms. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ( Halloween themed music in the background )

    Tell me, how can MPs ‘ spent ‘ all of their big stationary allowance each year and no receipts are needed? Why should they be entitled to restaurant class meals and drinks/ alcohols daily? Lots of other people have to travel along way from home to work in London everyday but not many of them are given free meals at work, are they? And how come MPs have the right to set their own annual big pay rise? How come MPs can use their big London accommodation allowance to pay the mortgage/ rent of their own mortgage-less London house and get away with it ?

    It’s not a bad thing that Doug and Dan have mentioned all these backward problems in their THE PLAN book, but really, can or will anybody lift a finger to sort them out ? Doug and Dan might be thinking their brand new book is awesome – like a rubbish Communist Manifesto booklet (?) and they are starting a new revolution (?) and hoping others will join them (?). But the truth is there is no revolution. Things just evolve themselves gradually. Having said that, I will still get THE PLAN book and see what I haven’t known about in there.

  12. I’m all for devolving power to the lowest level but as local government is devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland then it is absolutely necessary to first establish an English Parliament to devolve that power. It should be down to English politicians, elected to represent only English interests, to devolve power in England. The British government certainly can’t be trusted to do what’s right for us.

  13. ( cough, cough ) Yo there Stacy!
    Your Female Vampires: THEY WILL SWALLOW YOUR SOULS. ANYTHING ELSE WILL COST YOU. makes me splutter into my port. IT should be free, innit? IT usually is. ( cough, cough )

  14. “SteveL: over to you if you are around as this is more your territory than mine! (Gill)”

    Well, it’s Monday morning, 01:15 and I’ve just finished watching Lord of the Rings part 2 and drinking 8 cans of Kronenbourg, but I’ll try.

    We’ll start with this one:

    “The clever-clogs will already have stashed their wealth in real physical basics that people need and that do not perish (think of anything that comes out of a mine or that can be dried after harvest).”

    I’m of the opinion that the growth in ETF’s and the unregulated growth in the money supply did lead to the big spike in commodities prices. However commodities have come down recently, and any ‘clever clogs’ that didn’t cash out his bets a few months ago will be crying right now.

    Having watched the markets a lot recently I’ve convinced that there is actually a big wall of cash out there that doesn’t know where to go, a lot of it is sitting in government bonds I reckon. It would be helpful if it bought the banks, but Brown seems intent on doing that instead.

    As for:

    “The rest of us have to hope the politicians and the bankers put their egos to one side and get on with sorting out a mess of their own making.”

    Someone once said to me (over a chessboard) “Never make the mistake of thinking your opponent understands a complicated position more than you do.”

    We’re in a very complicated position right now, and the politicans have started doing radical things, but not that radical. I’ve read some really radical ideas on blogs recently. One was cancel all mortgage debt, another was rule all credit default swap contracts null and void.

    Both have their own revolutionary appeal (as does the state taking over the banks as we are doing) but the consequences have yet to be played out. I think Boris said in his Damson jam article a couple of weeks ago something about sowing the seeds of the next crisis by responding to this one. We need to adjust our lifestyles. I’ve given up the good stuff in favour of Tescos’ £2.88 Bulgarian red recently, we should all be making decisions like this.

    “Clawing back profits from big-time speculators strikes me as a good start – but don’t ask me where to draw the lie between ethical investment decisions and outright greed.”

    The big time speculators mainly invest on a commission basis (i.e. 20% of profits taken from their clients), and within the rules of the game. A lot of the money they manage is peoples pension money.

    What would be helpful is if we could encourage more rich people to get into venture capital as businesses start to go up the wall. It will be harder for young people to start off in business or to find good jobs during a recession.

    Yes, some people will have made a lot of money from the finanical crisis (I’ve tried to make a few bob, failed to the tune of £1,000 and cut my losses) we need to encourage the wall of money out there to buy back into our economy. Fiscal and legislative levers can help here.

    Simply confiscating people’s legally gotten gains is not a good idea in my book.

  15. I was thinking. Everybody is supposed to have borrowed far too much on loans, mortgages etc. when money was cheap. The banks were borrowing from each other. So who were the people with the money?

  16. = There is no revolution. Things just evolve by themselves gradually = all right!!! Cough. Cough. Cough.

    The communists say there must be no family inheritance. I have worked hard all me life and now I have to sell me own house to pay for me stay in a bloody nursing home until me money has run out before the State steps in and pays for me. So there will be nothing left for me children to inherit. It’s bloody unfair this. Cough. Cough. Cough.

    This once great country is evolving itself into a bloody communist state all right!!! Thanks to Labour that!!! Cough. Cough. Cough.

    Where’s me bloody Zimmer??? **@A*!!**@@ Cough. Cough. Cough.

  17. ( cough, cough ) Bloody communist Labour. I have to agree with me Edna there. This once great country has gone to the dogs and all !!! Labour has turned it into a nancy state. Health and safety gone mad. Where’s the bloody good old common sense, if you don’t mind me asking?! ( cough, cough, cough ) I’ll tell you where the bloody good old common sense gone –

    Salt shakers with 5 holes have been handed out to 200 chippies so customers use LESS salt ! Caerphilly council spent £3,650 on 390 salt pots and health posters after one Takeaway was found to have 17 holes in its shaker. So what? Bloody loonies ****$$FFF@@@*** Ain’t them better things to do???
    ( cough,cough,cough,cough,cough )****@@$$F**F**@@**

  18. ros, it’s created out of thin air. Some banks are allowed to do that. The promise to pay the loan back is the asset that balances the banks books.

  19. ( cough, cough, cough ) B***** communist Labour. Me have to agree with me Edna there. This one great great country has gone to the dogs and all, I’m telling yous. Labour has turned it into a great nancy state. Health and safety gone mad. Where’s the b***** good old common sense, if you don’t mind me asking? ( cough, cough, cough, cough ). I’ll tell you where the good old common sense gone-

    Salt shakers with 5 holes have been handed out to 200 chippies so customers use LESS salt !!! Caerphilly council spent £3,650 on 390 salt pots and health posters after, wait for it…., ONE chippie was found to have 17 HOLES in its shaker. So what?? B***** loonies !!! Ain’t them better things to do???
    ( cough, cough, cough, cough ) B****cks to them !!!

  20. “Britain is heading in the wrong direction. The British people are giving up on politics and politicians.”

    But a lot of young kids are becoming interested in politics because of David Cameron and particularly because of Boris Johnson, so I don’t know that things are as bad as stated in the above extract. If Boris got more air time, there would be even more interest in politics, and it is that simple. MORE AIR TIME FOR BORIS JOHNSON.

    ps. There was a repeat of an old HIGNFY on the Freeview channel DAVE last night, when Boris was chairing the panel.

    They showed a bit of the Cameron/Paxman interview, when Paxman (heavily accusing as always) asked David Cameron what a Pink Pussy was and what a Slippery Nipple was. It was all intended to throw DC off balance, but failed utterly.

    I was roaring with laughter at DC’s bland air of unconcern and cheering when he later went on the attack to Paxman about his interviewing style, which doesn’t allow the interviewee to answer and assumes he is a con man….. Cameron was just fantastic and his psychological astuteness was verY obvious. He had obviously sussed Paxman out and succeeded in turning the tables on him brilliantly.

  21. I admired the interview that David Cameron did with Paxman so much I taped it and kept it. DC was absolutely brilliant. According to the book THE 33 STRATEGIES OF WAR, by Robert Greene, Cameron was using two strategies here. He first used the Counterbalance Strategy (amidst the turmoil of events do not lose your presence of mind). The author says:

    “In the heat of balance, the mind tends to lose its balance. Too many things tend to confront you at the same time. There’s a danger of responding emotionally with fear, depression or frustration. it is vital to keep your presence of mind, maintainng your mental powers whatever the circumstances.”

    How great a contrast was there when Paxo interviewed Blair over the Iraq war. He managed to trigger all Blair’s latent Catholic guilt by attacking him aggressively and Blair became depressed and confused, seeming almost to crumble under the hostile verbal onslaught.

    David Cameron’s second strategy was the Counterattack strategy. Greene explains:

    Moving first – initiating the attack – will often put you at a disadvantage. You are exposing yourself and limiting your options. Instead, discover the power of holding back and letting the other side move first, giving you the flexibility to attack from any angle. if your opponents are aggressive, bait them into a rash attack that will leave them in a weak position.”

    David Cameron totally outmanoevred Paxman, leaving him in the unaccustomed position of looking an absolute idiot!!

  22. Boris Johnson is an exponent of the Metternich strategy, “Dominate while seeming to submit”. (Chapter 32). THE 33 STRATEGIES OF WAR. Boris is a most brilliant exponent of this strategy.

    “You must seem to go along with everybody, offering no resistance. But actually you dominate the situation. You are non-committal, even helpless, but that only means everything revolves around you.”

    I have noticed Boris employ this strategy in Mayor’s Question Time, and on one notable occasion,so successful was he that John Biggs, his erstwhile hostile foe and arch interrogator, told Boris he needed protecting! A piquant moment indeed!

  23. DK makes a good point (and I don’t quite understand Dawn’s: “Make people work so the people who serve become public users” ?) Anyway…

    I also think Doug ‘n Dan have forgotton a couple of other points: That of the Social Services being able to take away peoples children in ‘family courts’ (ie. secret kangaroo courts) with no option of appeal and with the full might of the law (ie. military forces). Also Social Services being able to section and/or otherwise confine people without trial, or conversely to release from care into the community those who are in need of care and pose a danger to themselves and/or the public, such release is without public scrutiny or recourse. In other words representatives of the state can act with the full power and might of the state ON A WHIM, based on a persons relationship with the representative on not on behaviour proven under trial and habeus corpus to be breaking a law, ie. IF THEY DON’T LIKE THEM.

    And the other point is being able to defend oneself in this community without fear of prosecution by the state. ie. the state is inclined to support the innocent and not treat the perpetrator of a crime as a victim to be healed.

    I think those two points are key issues responsible for a climate of fear in this country. They are also responsible for a significant change in behaviour. It’s about time these issues were addressed.

    Boris for PM.

  24. Cough, cough, cough. Tight censorship here, Cyril. No more swearing, you hear me? I have to tone down me political message here again. Oooo, me fingers’ tips, them hurting. ****@@BB**** cough, cough.

    Now, where was me again? Ah… There is no revolution. Thingies just evolve by themselves gradually all right. The way the b***** Labour running this country, it must be true !!! *****@@BB****

    The b***** communists say there must be no family inheritance. I have worked hard all me life BUT now I have to sell me own b***** house to pay for me stay in a nursing home until me cash has run out before the State steps in and pays for me until I’m gone upstairs. Where’s the b***** fairness in all this , I’m asking yous ? ***@@BB**** This means there will be NOWT left for me lazy son to inherit ! That’s why. This once great, great country is evolving itself into a b***** communist state all right. And thanks to the b***** Labour for this. ***@@BB*** cough, cough, cough.

    And the b***** MPs and the b***** MEPs and all . Them lot b**** useless. B****CKS to ’em, I say. cough, cough, cough. Look at them. Look at them. Look at that lot Neil and co. , Him, his wife Glenys, them son/s and even them daughter/s in law. B***** Them have all moved to Brussels to work as MEPs. B***** Hell !! Who needs to win the Lottery jackpot, eh ? They just want to jump on the allowances gravy train, that’s all. B******CKS to ’em, I say.

    Cough, cough. I’m telling yous. I can see that Glenys jumping up and down screaming her head off : ” Who said me family jumped on the gravy train?!!! How dare you??? Show your face here if you dare??? And I don’t even like gravy !!! How dare you ??? ” cough, cough, cough.

    Cough, cough, cough. I can tell you. I can see Neil pleading to his missus: ” Calm down. Calm down. Let’s go back home to Brussels now, woman. Let’s take a short cut along the beach! ” B*****CKS to ’em, I say. cough, cough. Oooo…me chest’s playing up again. Cold. Can’t afford the heating, that’s why. cough, cough. Cyril? Cyril?

    Where’s me beans-on-toasts, Cyril? cough, cough. Where’s me tea? cough, cough, cough.

  25. I was just jumbling up the words to be funny because I did not understand the point that Gill was making, nor the point Boris’s office was making. It was all over my head.

  26. The only thing which has been keeping the lid on the anger of the British people has been the illusion of wealth brought by the credit boom.

    No wonder Brown is desperate to re inflate it.

  27. The really dangerous thing now Kevin is that he knows how to inflate a big credit boom. He knows how to do the off-balance sheet slicing, dicing and securitising and how to shuffle the dodgy debt around. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts the whole scam off again, insisting that the banks meet his lending targets and hand the dodgy debt over in return for crisp new gilt-edge securities. He’ll guarantee them and keep the scam going until the markets realise the UK is bankrupt.

    Then he’ll nationalise the lot, including your current account and home, mission accomplished.

  28. But he can’t guarantee that he will be in forever, can he? He is still likely to lose the next election.

  29. Angela – thankyou, I’m getting there. It sometimes feel a bit like British Rail but generally I’m good, thanks.

    StevenL – sadly I believe your every word. If only I could argue against it 🙁

    Kev – unfortunately I see either miserable resignation or unfounded confidence in Cameron; the Blue-rinse Blair.

  30. Also, David Cameron will see what is going on. I have huge faith in David Cameron, he is a fighter, he has got Gordon’s number. He and George have made the brave decision that for the moment, they need to back the government and support their actions to pull us out of the crisis, which is the right thing to do.

    When this crisis is over and I do not mean the problem will be solved, because we all know that won’t happen for a long time…… When the panic and the markets have calmed, David Cameron will speak out and he will fight Gordon with all his strength to prevent anything bad happening that can be prevented. We all know that recession cannot be prevented.

    David Cameron is stronger than people realise, he will not let Gordon run amok. He has got a fantastic team of very clever people. They will do what has to be done and I totally have faith in them.

  31. Thank you Steven L and Jaq.

    (I may quote you elsewhere if you don’t mind, Steven.)

    “We will be the rock for the people.” Dependant on him – just how Nu Lab like it.

    For modern socialism to succeed and spread socialists need only adopt policies which lead to failure. This failure requires more socialist policy to put right – more policy equals more government. The only clever thing they need to do is spin good explanations for bad ideas or to shift blame

    The socialist coup starts with the infestation of our education system and broadcast media – then the buggers burst out of your chest and rampage around the whole bloody ship eating your mates as they go.

  32. Kevin, but nobody believes their spin anymore. You seem to think this country doesn’t see through them, but we do. They have trashed our civil liberties, we have a PM who would NEVER be in power if we had had the chance to elect him, they have snuck Mandelson in by the Lords, Campbell is probably spewing poison behind the scenes already, the Lords has thrown out the 42 day detention scheme, we know they are spying on our e-mails and poking their noses into peoples’ privacy, and they are hated for it.

    You speak as though we are just passive victims enduring their abominations without any wills of our own. THEY ARE HATED. We see what is happening, and people hate it and will speak up and they will be thrown out so hard that Labour and New Labour will cease to exist as political options for decades, if ever.

    My confidence in David Cameron is NOT unfounded. He knows that the trust of the people has been destroyed in goverment. He knows that. He intends not to lie to us and he intends to build back that trust, and he will build back that trust and so will George and Boris. They may not yet be carrying their whole party with them. They may not yet have won the trust of the whole country and people do not yet totally realise what they are about.

    But the day will come when people will realise that there are still some good, honourable people in poltics, they are not all shits and liars just because New Labour were practically all like that.

    David Cameron and George Osborne and William Hague and Boris Johnson are the one bright ray of hope that the present government could never be and to prove that fact, (as long as it could be guaranteed my looks would not be ruined and my life would be saved) I would take a bullet to prove my faith in them. that is how much I believe.

  33. Angela you are clearly tribal. But NuLab is not universally hated. And you don’t have to HATE a person to disagree with their actions. Hate is a very strong word. Although it is true that NuLab are clearly unpopular right now. But I don’t think that viewing everything NuLab does as bad and everything Conservative does as good is the way to go. Actually the Conservative party goes along with quite a lot of NuLab policy.

    I would caution you to consider your decisions very carefully. Because you don’t know these people do you? You are very keen to say that so-and-so is this kind of person and such-and-such has this character or is like that. And you don’t really know do you? Are you intimate with these men? And for how long?

    All any of us know is what we see that they do. And that’s not everything. We of course have to make a judgement on the information we have. But I would caution anyone to vote for the party whose policies you agree with the most (and be aware they might change or disolve once they are in power). As it is I have not been impressed with any of the Conservative policies or intentions (such as they are), they are mostly unworkable or insignificant or merely add to NuLab actions as if it was a competition as to who can outdo each other.

    I think tribal voting has had it’s day.

  34. Well I do hate them, because they have ruined the country. However, I realise I was a little hasty, so let me modify my previous statement.

    If as a direct consequence of me taking a bullet the government would immediately call a General Election, I would do it. It would be worth the pain to help the country. Absolutely, one hundred per cent yes.

    You can aim for an arm or a leg, guys.

  35. I can only assume that you are very young, Angela. However, come the general election I’m sure that you won’t be the only staunch supporter of the Conservative party. My guess is that there will be very many who feel as strongly as you do that they have just had enough of Labour and it is time for a change.

  36. Don’t know what tribe you seem to think I belong to Jaq. what tribe would that be? Your remark about my age is wrong as well. Would you like to take a bet on the tribal thing? £100?

    So you don’t think Labour have ruined the country, are taking away our civil liberties, are strangling us with political correctness and ridiculous regulations, have totally betrayed our armed forces as well as the Ghurkas and have screwed the economy by hugely irresponsible overspending? And you don’t believe that Tony Blair, Gordon, Mandelson and Campbell destroyed the country’s faith in politicians by drowning us in spin, smears and lies and intercernine in-fighting? OK!

    I do believe those things and I don’t believe that David Cameron would ever behave so shamefully.

  37. You don’t think the government are hated? You should have attended the meeting I went to during the London Mayor’s Election of mostly Labour supporters. The people there feel far more strongly than I do. They all felt totally betrayed. (the abolition of the 10p. tax band).

  38. Jaq I feel very passionately that the present government have been an absolute disaster for this country, the economy and our national prestige. The present Prime Minister was not elected by the country and he is a walking tragedy. WE NEED A NATIONAL ELECTION.

    If taking a bullet meant that there would BE a national election, I would do it gladly, I would beg them to shoot me. That is how strongly I feel.

    Passionate feelings are not the prerogative of teenagers, nor is passionate love for your country or love of an ideal. Unlikely though the scenario would be, I would do it gladly, because the thought of the damage that Gordon Brown and his cowardly imps of Satan could do in the time remaining before they HAVE to call an election, makes me feel physically sick.

  39. Hi Mel, babe? If only! If Sarah Palin can be considered an intellectual then there is much to be said for being one 😀
    My birthday was more of the same I’m afraid – just being Mum 🙂 I think I might celebrate my birthday with a friend later in the month 😉

    lol

    Jaq x

  40. I finished Carswell and Hannan’s The Plan: … this morning and am so excited by its reasoning that I daren’t have any other stimulant today. The book is a wonderful expose of what is wrong with Britain today and more importantly it offers all (or most) of the answers in how to put it right. If a new government would only take this as a manifesto, Britain would rise phoenix-like from the ashes of top down bureaucracy, inefficiency and lack of accountability and become an exciting and truly democratic nation again. And the great joy is that it can be done – in a year!

  41. Well, FHE, you are doing better at the speed reading test than I. Give me a clue: which answers did it miss and why?

  42. I have just downloaded the book for a fiver off Lulu

    It is spectacularly good – it reads like Daniel’s speeches – dicisive and crystal clear

    I do not agree with every word eg
    1. getting rid of PACE – the thinking copper accepts that police interview techniques before PACE were an affront to the very idea that a person was innocent until proven guilty – too many bully boys in the police even today!
    2. local authorities are not a great intstitution – the reason they had more control imposed was precisely because they were useless with money and corrupt – remember the scandels!Perhaps we need parish councils back so every group of about 3000 people has representation and their reps know most of their voters by sight and many by name?
    3. As a solicitor I can see the writers do not entirely understand the judiciary and use some examples that are not representative of the whole in order to make a dubious point so be wary very wary of this

    However on the wider issues, the book has much to commend it

    For a fiver it makes an excellent and stimulating read

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