Parliament – The Aged P

Good Men Shed Blood For Our Freedoms In 1644…In 1973 We Spat On Their Sacrifice…

david — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 09:14:45 +0000

A brave attempt once more by Daniel Hannan to remind us that, at a time when the monarchies of Europe were successfully suffocating their own nascent representative institutions, the attempts by Charles I and his cohorts to do the same to the English Parliament by invoking the divine right of kings was finally broken in Yorkshire in the summer of 1644. The Battle of Marston Moor did not end the English Civil War between King and Parliament but it fatally weakened the Royalist forces.

As Hannan points out, although there were bumps along the way, the sovereignty of Parliament as the source of authority remained unchallenged for well over three hundred years until 1973.

Parliament remained sovereign until 1 January 1973, when Sections 2 and 3 of the 1972 European Communities Act came into effect, giving EU law primacy over British law

For centuries the idea that our freedom was deeply embedded in our past was part of the warp and weft of the upbringing of each English generation

Some of the men who won the day at Marston Moor would have pointed at Henry VIII’s break with Rome, others at Magna Carta. Yet others would have gone back still further, to the folkright of Anglo-Saxon common law that had constrained kings before 1066.

Today that key aspect of our history is largely ignored. To his credit Hannan has vividly brought it back to life with his book “How We Invented Freedom & Why It Matters”

The pity is, however, that he still feels that the shame of 1973 can be resolved by negotiation within the confines of the EU – which is why he stays within the Tory party and remains a loyal follower of David Cameron. Until he realises that the permanent surrender of national sovereignty is the very keystone of the EU edifice and its removal would render the whole enterprise worthless Hannan must be regarded as an interesting but essentially unreliable observer.

This Is What I Would Like A Government To Do….Am I Some Sort Of Eccentric Oddball?

david — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:25:48 +0000

Chained......

I feel I am in chains – I want a government that breaks those chains by implementing policies that might be deemed unfashionable by the media and cultural elite…

The will of Parliament should be sovereign over the the opinions of judges and external officials and/or institutions

I am easy with civil partnerships and have no desire to place a government cctv in anyone’s bedroom but to me marriage is a social compact between a man and a woman buttressed by law and tradition – and it should stay that way

Just as the police can only enter and search my home with a warrant from a court having shown some evidence of good reason so they should only be allowed to trawl my internet history in a similar manner

Illegal immigrants and foreign nationals who commit crimes should be immediately expelled from the country once they have served their sentence

Legal immigrants who wish to contribute to our society and respect it’s values should be welcomed

Border controls at seaports and airports should be effectively staffed and efficiently organised. Security should always take precedence over waiting times.

Foreign aid should not be financed by taxpayers. Instead private donation should be encouraged by tax relief incentives

Imprisonment terms for serious crimes of violence or murder should be a minimum of 20 years

It is not for the state to tell me what to eat or drink unless it impacts directly upon the rights of other people

No environmental legislation should be countenanced without a detailed and well informed cost benefit analysis

There should be a regular and transparent audit of all government expenditure and officials who cannot provide a clear expenditure trail should be disciplined

Military personnel who enter combat zones should be guaranteed the best medical treatment and a lifetime pension of full pay if they are seriously injured and their families should be similarly looked after if they are killed

People who break the law should suffer considerable inconvenience and if they continue to break the law the consequences should not be pleasant

The so called “conservative” government of David Cameron and his metropolitan elite would sneer at me for being naive while emptying my pockets to fund their feelgood fantasies. Liberals and left wingers would call me a “fascist”.

Is there any political party rooted in the present and future rather than in an idealised past and untainted by racist intolerance that would find my list fit for purpose?

h/t for Prometheus

At Last – A UK Tory MP With Cojones…And She’s A Woman..#fightlikeagirl

david — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:26:50 +0000

There appears to have been a brawl in a House of Commons bar yesterday. Guido, as usual has the details.

The police eventually arrived and took away an MP (alleged to be the Labour Party’s Eric Joyce) in handcuffs.
Several members tried to stop the fight including a Conservative female MP who placed herself in front of Mr Joyce and told him to punch her instead of anyone else..

Poor Stuart was just having a quiet pint and minding his own business and Eric headbutted him. Stuart was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Several other MPs tried to calm Mr Joyce down, including Labour whip Phil Wilson, who was hit. One woman MP, Thurrock Tory Jackie Doyle-Price, stepped bravely between Mr Joyce and the fracas.

At last a Tory MP with cojones?