A Short Stay in Switzerland

I've just spent the last hour-and-a-half transfixed by the BBC's take on Dr Anne Turner's battle with supranuclear palsy, which culminated in her brave decision to end her own life.

Anne, played by Julie Walters, was struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband when she began noticing a few problems with her own health. The first sign that something was wrong was when her balance and coordination began to falter - she'd trip over and drop things more than usual. As the illness progressed her speech slurred and she developed an inability to swallow properly.

Having seen the protracted death of her husband in similar circumstances, the last thing Anne wanted was to experience a slow and painful demise - not just for her, but for her family and friends' sakes too.

Early in her illness, with her mind still sharp, she weighed up the prognosis and decided it would be best to end her life with a degree of quality. Convincing her children wasn't easy, but as her illness progressed they came to the realisation that their mother was right.

Their minds were set and they flew to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, where Anne received a fatal dose of drugs and gently drifted to sleep surrounded by her loved ones.

A very emotional story.

It's just a shame that UK law didn't afford Anne the luxury of dying with dignity in familiar surroundings.

I'm sure this will rekindle the debate on physician assisted suicide in cases of terminal illness. Rightly so.

Labour Peers on the Take

A shocking investigation by the Sunday Times shows that Labour peers are prepared to accept cash to amend legislation passing through the House of Lords.

In a sting operation by the newspaper four Labour lords - including two former ministers - offered undercover reporters amendments in exchange for cash payments. The reporters were posing as representatives of an overseas retail chain, seeking exemption from the Business Rates Supplements Bill.

The peers involved, openly named in today's Sunday Times, are Lord Truscott of St James's, Lord Taylor of Blackburn, Lord Moonie and Lord Snape of Wednesbury.

The newspaper reports that two of the peers were caught on tape admitting that they had previously swung legislation in their clients' favour.

According to the article Lord Taylor claimed he had already changed the law to help his client Experian. He agreed a £120,000 annual retainer with the undercover reporter, telling him: "I will work within the rules, but the rules are meant to be bent sometimes."

Lord Truscott agreed to help for £72,000, Lord Moonie - Dr Lewis Moonie, formerly a junior minister at the Ministry of Defence - £30,000 per year and Lord Snape £24,000.

Baroness Royall, leader of the House of Lords, issued a statement yesterday saying: "I am deeply concerned about these allegations. I have spoken to the members who are the subject of them and I shall be pursuing these matters with the utmost vigour."

How reassuring that the Labour Party is going to investigate its own wrongdoing.

Squandered Legacies and Gloomy Horizons

There now follows a Party Political Broadcast on behalf of the Labour Party.


From the mouths of babes...

Now for Something Cheerful

Apologies if my last post left you a little depressed, but here's a ray of sunshine that will lighten the mood.

Over at YouTube Karaoke (where I have 3 volunteer editors now) I received a request to include a recently released song called 'Good Morning Sun' by Canadian songstress Andi. I hadn't heard about Andi's work before but I'm sure we're all going to hear lots about it in future. Good Morning Sun is a well blended mix of catchy pop melody, fun lyrics and quirky music video that'll have you tapping along in no time at all.

Probably best to watch the video to see exactly what I mean.



Good, eh? (in my best Canadian accent)

It's Official - UK in Recession

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics earlier today show that the UK's GDP fell by 1.5 % in the last quarter, finally confirming the nation's place in recession.

The latest fall - more severe than expected - sent sterling tumbling to a 24-year low against the dollar, with £1 buying little more than $1.35. The FTSE 100 also plunged below the critical 4000 mark, with shares losing an average of 2 % of their value yesterday. Unemployment currently stands at 1.92 million - it's highest level since the mid-nineties - and is expected to reach almost 3 million by 2010.

Overall the economy is in its worst shape since 1980.

Ouch.

Ten Classic Bushisms

Love him or loathe him there's no denying that George W. Bush has displayed impressive linguistic skills during his time as US President.

On the eve of the 43rd President's last day in office I thought I'd remind you of some classic Bush soundbites. Here's ten of the very best:

• "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?"
• "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."
• "For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times."
• "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
• "I'm telling you there's an enemy that would like to attack America, Americans, again. There just is. That's the reality of the world. And I wish him all the very best."
• "They misunderestimated me."
• "And they have no disregard for human life." (About the brutality of Afghan fighters)
  
• "There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead."
• "As governor of Texas, I have set high standards for our public schools, and I have met those standards."
• "It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."

What a character.

I'll actually quite miss him.

Clarke Returns to Tory Frontbench

Former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke is set to return to the Shadow Cabinet as Conservative Leader David Cameron prepares to shuffle the Party deck.

Mr Clarke, MP for Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire for almost 40 years, is set to go head-to-head with slimy Lord Mandelson as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

But the promotion of Mr Clarke is set to cause tension in some quarters of the Conservative Party because of his rose tinted outlook on the European Union. Senior figures have allegedly warned Mr Cameron of the split that could arise from the appointment, but it looks like the Tory Leader is ready to take that gamble.

As talented as Ken is, I'm not sure I'd want to upset the apple cart at a time when the Party is climbing in the polls.

Tyne Tees Television at 50

It is fifty years since Tyne Tees Television first graced the airwaves of the North East of England.

The station went live at 5 pm on 15th January 1959, with the opening show from the iconic City Road studios featuring then-prime minister Harold Macmillan. Tyne Tees quickly endeared itself to the North East television audience, allowing them to hear friendly local accents for the first time instead of snooty RP on 'the other side'.

The last fifty years has seen Tyne Tees produce some absolute gems for the ITV network and further afield too. Their back catalogue includes all of ITV's Catherine Cookson adaptations, children's drama 'Super Gran' (a childhood favourite of mine), children's magazine show 'Gimme 5', the 'Crosswits' and 'Chain Letters' quiz shows, the '100 Greatest' series (for Channel 4), music show 'The Tube' and more recently 'A History of Tyneside' starring local lads Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.


You'd be forgiven for not remembering some of those programmes, because Tyne Tees' network output has been seriously eroded in favour of the larger ITV plc regions. Despite that decline in network airtime Tyne Tees could always be relied upon to deliver the highest standard of regional programming. I've said it before and I'll say it again - viewers like to see local news delivered by friendly local faces.

Sadly ITV plc's moves to cull huge numbers of Tyne Tees staff and merge the Tyne Tees and Border newsrooms will see their award winning regional news programming less local and more diluted than ever.

At the start of December 2008 I wrote to ITV asking them if they had anything planned to celebrate Tyne Tees' milestone. Predictably they didn't even bother to respond, so it looks like the short North East Tonight inserts are all we're getting. I thought they might have at least provided some special local branding (break bumpers and idents) for the week.

Thankfully someone on YouTube (2007TopGearDog) has taken the initiative to prepare a special montage of Three Rivers Fantasy, similar to that produced officially in 1999 to celebrate Tyne Tees' 40th anniversary.



Fingers crossed Tyne Tees will see its sixtieth birthday, but with the ruthless economies of ITV plc it's not looking too hopeful.

Rooting for Pigs

This time last year I wrote about the 'Fowl Treatment' suffered by chickens reared in cramped and squalid conditions.

I cited the Hugh's Chicken Run TV programme, in which flamboyant celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall experienced first hand the high stress and mortality of intensive poultry farming. Jamie Oliver continued the campaign with his programme Jamie's Fowl Dinners, illustrating the difference in quality between free range and caged poultry and eggs. If you didn't read my 'Fowl Treatment' article last year I recommend you do so for further insight.

The RSPCA has just launched its 'Rooting for Pigs' campaign, which aims to raise consumer awareness of pig welfare and the labelling of pork products.

About 160 million pigs are reared for meat annually in the EU - most of them in conditions the public would find unacceptable.

Pigs are often reared in barren surroundings where their movement is severely restricted and the ground stony and uneven. As pigs are highly intelligent and inquisitive creatures their dull surroundings are a constant source of boredom, which makes them more likely to become aggressive and bite each other (particularly their tails). Walking around on uneven ground causes foot and joint injuries making the pigs lame. There are also welfare issues associated with tail docking, teeth clipping and the castration without anaesthetic of young male piglets.

A recent RSPCA survey shows that only 2% of those questioned understood the meaning of terms like 'outdoor bred' and 'free range', which regularly occur on the packaging of pork products. This uncertainty isn't surprising given there are no industry-wide agreed definitions when it comes to pork labelling.

Jamie Oliver will be leading the debate on pig welfare in his programme Jamie Saves our Bacon - due to be aired as part of Channel 4's Great British Food Fortnight on 29th January.

Jamie said: "I very much support the RSPCA's 'Rooting For Pigs' campaign as I think that the public needs clearer labelling when it comes to meat, particularly pork and bacon as the variation in pig welfare across Europe and the world is so diverse."

If it's anything like Fowl Dinners it'll be a real eye opener and I encourage you to tune in.

Sneaky Windows Security Alert Trojan

I've spent several hours today trying to overcome some nasty trojan, which has been eating away at both my PC and piece of mind.

The cyber critter, which goes by the name of Trojan.Virantix.B, is particularly devious in the sense that it imitates a Windows Security Alert. It also causes your anti-spyware to kick in, which throws up a serious of malicious prompts fooling you into installing more nastiness to your machine. All this causes your PC to grind to a frustrating halt and total unresponsiveness.

It was almost fatal for my PC, because I was within an inch of throwing it out of the window. I'm about due a replacement anyway.

Do be sure to keep your anti-virus and anti-spyware up-to-date.

Harry Home Video Makes Headlines

Prince Harry made a personal video three years ago in which he referred to one friend as a "Paki" and joked that another looked like a "raghead".

This has been deemed so newsworthy that the News of the World - shining beacon of morality that it is - has dedicated its entire front page to the issue.

Yawn.

Predictably every man and has dog has come out to wag their finger in disapproval at the third in line to the throne.

Harry's comments were nothing more than a few carelessly chosen words between friends. The News of the World has seized on them and contorted them to sell a few more copies of their scummy rag. I think that says a lot more about them than anything else.

I'm not going to say any more because I think you can probably deduce my opinion.

Email Snooping

New rules from March will compel internet service providers to keep track of every email sent in the UK.

Details of the time, date, sender and recipient will be held on record for at least a year under the latest European Commission rules to erode British civil liberties.

The data will be accessible to public bodies mentioned in the highly criticised Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) of 2000 - invasive legislation designed to combat the threat of terrorism, which has previously been abused by local authorities to spy on the recycling and school attendance habits of their residents.

Shami Chakrabati, director of Liberty, said: "The thing we have to worry about is what happens next because the government is already mooting plans not just to leave this stuff with the providers but to create a central government database where they hold all the information.

"I'm afraid we just don't trust any government or any organisation to keep that much very sensitive information about us all and to keep it safe."

Concern has been voiced about the practicalities of hoarding such voluminous amounts of data. It is estimated that 3 billion emails are sent each day in the UK, a large proportion of which are worthless spam.

Dr Richard Clayton, a University of Cambridge security expert, said: "There's going to be a record of every single e-mail which arrived addressed to you and all the e-mails you sent out via your ISP.

"There are much better things to do to spend our billions on than snooping on everybody in the country just on the off-chance that they're a criminal."

As you'd expect the Home Office are extolling the virtues of the new rules, citing national security as their prime concern (scaremongering, if you prefer).

A Home Office statement said: "It (the new measures) will allow investigators to identify suspects, examine their contacts, establish relationships between conspirators and place them in a specific location at a certain time.

"Implementing the EC directive will enable UK law enforcement to benefit fully from historical communications data in increasingly complex investigations and will enhance our national security."

No doubt I'll hear the same old cries of "Tom, if you've got nothing to hide what are you worried about?" I'm worried about the lackadaisical attitude this Government has to the security of personal data. I'm worried about the next wave of invasive legislation they're going to sneak under the radar of the overwhelmingly law abiding population.

It saddens me that some people value their fundamental civil rights so little - rights that millions of people have died in defence of across the globe - that they'd simply roll over and allow the state to do whatever it wanted. I'm worried about the way the UK is heading down the pan full stop.

Thankfully it's not too late yet - despite the best efforts of Labour.

EU've Got to be Joking

The controversial Treaty of Lisbon is set to give the EU unrestricted access to British oil and gas reserves.

That's the stark warning today from the Conservatives and UKIP.

Included in the Treaty are proposals to create a combined Anglo-Dutch fuel reserve, which could be tapped into when supplies were short in eastern European states.

The over-reliance on non-European supplies was highlighted only last week when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered national gas distributor Gazprom to turn off the taps to Ukraine. The chilling effect of limited Russian supplies was felt as far west as Austria.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: "Brussels has already stolen our fish. Now they want our oil and gas. These are vital resources to Britain and we demand that the British Government vetoes these proposals. This shows how vital it is that the UK holds a referendum on our future in the European Union."

Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is right to say that the EU needs to help eastern Europe with its energy security. But giving the EU control over our national energy reserves is totally the wrong way to go about it.

"This is a regretful example of how the renamed EU constitution would give the EU too much power over our national affairs and why so important a treaty should be put to the British people to decide in a referendum.

"What we really need is a proper free market in energy in the EU. The EU already has the power it needs to achieve that."

The Labour Government signed Britain up to the Lisbon Treaty last year, reneging on their earlier promise to consult the British people.

I Hate to Say "I Told You So"...

... but I will anyway.

It appears, quel surprise, that a lot of this trendy left recycling mumbo jumbo is an absolute load of rubbish (in more ways than one).

Local authorities across the UK are hoarding hundreds of thousands of tons of 'recyclables' because the secondhand trash market has fallen victim to the ensuing recession. The festering bundles of waste have been stored in warehouses at a cost of £2 million to the taxpayer so far - a figure likely to double over the next few months as the trash mountain grows by almost 10,000 tons per week.

To make matters worse the waste is decaying into worthless slime, which will have to be dumped in landfill anyway. It can't be incinerated because it is damp and gives off too many greenhouse gases.

If only they'd read my articles on 'Saving the Planet' and 'Plastic Recycling Shame' they'd realise what overrated nonsense this recycling lark is anyway.

Return to Traditional Banking

I was listening to BBC Radio 4's Money Box programme earlier today and they were considering the question "are the building societies better at banking than the banks?"

To illustrate their point they took a behind the scenes look at two building societies - the Skipton BS, which I may discuss on another occasion, and Beverley BS, which is where I am going today.

The Beverley is a very small, very friendly mutual society with only two branches (Beverley and Pocklington), a handful of staff and less than 20,000 accounts. Chief executive of the Beverley, Phil Gray, told Money Box about the secret behind the society's success - traditional banking. It's nothing complicated - in fact its elegant simplicity stands the Beverley well ahead of its faltering larger rivals. The way it works is as follows:

• Beverley BS's assets come from its savers.
• It lends within its assets.
• It doesn't borrow from elsewhere.
• If it's short of assets it doesn't lend.
• It lends to people with a proven track record of saving.
• It doesn't offer 120% mortgages to people who can't afford them.

Pretty smart, huh?

I vote Phil Gray for the next Governor of the Bank of England.

New Year, New Way to Knife the Commuter

The new year has heralded inflation busting fare increases across the UK rail network.

The Train Operating Companies say the eye watering price hikes, which increase unregulated fares on the Cross Country franchise by as much as 11%, are needed for greater investment in services.

But that old chestnut sounds a bit hollow at a time when the Government is planning to cut hundreds of local station ticket offices, in an effort to force passengers towards more economical automated ticket machines. Ticket office staff are obliged to advise passengers on the cheapest and most efficient way of getting from A to B, whereas the machines offer default options that are often more expensive.

Michael Roberts, of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), told BBC Radio 4: "Fare changes this year will help pay for 265,000 extra services, all against a background which is determined by government policy to reduce the call on us as taxpayers."

He went on to say that the average increase was "just £1 or £2 per day" for most season ticket holders - or, put another way, that's between £350 and £700 per year, which would pay some one's mortgage for a month (eh, Mr Roberts?). That's an excessive increase when the economy is buoyant - let alone when people are languishing in poverty.

Does anyone really think train services are going to improve with the increased investment? I doubt it very much, given that we've been paying through the nose for years and it hasn't made an iota of difference in terms of capacity, reliability and punctuality.

Note to Emma Crosby on Sky News: Gillingham is pronounced 'Jillingham'.

Ten Years of the Euro

The single European currency celebrates its tenth birthday today, with three quarters of the British public still opposed to joining.

An ICM survey conducted for the BBC Radio 4 programme The World at One revealed that just 15% of those questioned felt that the pound's decline tipped the balance in favour of joining the euro.

The news comes as Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague - the best Conservative leader there never was - reiterates the Party's resolve never to join the euro during their time in Government.

Mr Hague, writing in today's Daily Mail, said: "Since the interest rates in the eurozone have been lower than ours for many years, it is fair to assume that, had we been in the euro all this time, Gordon Brown’s boom would have been even more unsustainable.

"And since those euro interest rates are now higher than those set by the Bank of England, it is also fair to assume that Brown’s bust would now be even more dramatic and painful.

"So for Britain, being in the euro would have made matters even worse, and our jobless totals would now be climbing even faster."

In his scathing attack on the treacherous idea of ditching the pound Mr Hague reminded people of slimy Lord Mandelson's pleas that "our aim, our goal, should be to join the single currency". He also dismissed the one-size-fits-all way that the ECB manages the economies of all the member states.

The idea of ditching the pound is nothing short of treason as far as I'm concerned. No-one should be surprised at the depths the incumbent Labour Government would stoop, or the half-truths they would tell, in order to integrate Britain even further into Europe.