Time for Thrifty Government

David Cameron has outlined his vision of the next thrifty Conservative Government.

Addressing the Conservative spring forum in Cheltenham Mr Cameron spoke of a new age of austerity.

Tough decisions will have to be made to get the British economy, facing it's deepest crisis since the Second World War, back on the road to recovery.

Mr Cameron summarised Labour's decade of economic failure to the assembled delegates: "The highest borrowing in peacetime history.

"The deepest recession since the war.

"Labour are spent.

"The money has run out."

He outlined Conservative plans to get the economy back on track: "Over the next few years, we will have to take some incredibly tough decisions on taxation, spending, borrowing – things that really affect people's lives.

"Everybody knows that Labour's Debt Crisis means public spending cuts.

"And instead of putting them off, Labour should be making them today.

"Here's how they could start – by reversing those extensions of the state that do more harm than good and which Britain would be better off without."

"Yes if we win the election, we may not see the full fruits of our labours in the lifetime of our Government.

"But if we stick together and tackle this crisis our children and grandchildren will thank us for what we did for them and for our country."

It's going to be one hell of a slog.

Hold onto your hats folks are remember that just as Rome wasn't built in a day, it's going to take years of hard graft to reverse Labour's fiscal incompetence.

Who says history doesn't repeat itself?

Dorries Pursues Legal Action

A Conservative MP who was the target of a scurrilous Labour smear campaign has announced she is taking legal action against the culprit.

Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, was mentioned in malicious emails composed by former Number 10 spin doctor Damian McBride.

McBride - nicknamed McPoison by the tabloid press - sent the emails to fellow Labour sympathiser Derek Draper as material for a new pro-Labour website he was planning.

Ms Dorries, a former nurse and political blogger, managed to secure a personal apology for McBride's actions from his former boss, Gordon Brown, at PMQs on Wednesday.

McBride's emails also included malicious allegations about recently bereaved Conservative Leader David Cameron and his Shadow Chancellor George Osborne.

Details of the smear campaign emerged when leading political blogger Guido Fawkes published excerpts.

Baton Victim: G20 Police Were Looking for Trouble

A woman filmed being assaulted by a G20 police officer claims the police "were there for a fight".

Nicola Fisher, an animal rights supporter from Brighton, told Sky News that the Metropolitan Police officer, a sergeant from the Belgravia station, had pushed her so she instinctively pushed him back.

She asked the officer "what do you think you're doing, hitting a fucking woman?" before he assaulted her.



Video footage clearly shows that the sergeant hit Miss Fisher's face with the back of his hand before striking out at her legs with his baton.

Miss Fisher had been attending a vigil for newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, who died in the protests after being assaulted by another Met police officer.

She described her injuries to Sky News: "Almost straight away there was a big welt there and they lasted for over a week. The one at the top of my left leg was seven inches across and three inches down and the circumference of my leg at that place is 18 inches so it was nearly half my leg.

"It obviously was a case of assault and battery and if it hadn't been a police officer then the person probably would be looking at possibly a jail sentence.

"I thought they were there to protect us and from my experience of that day they were there for a fight."

The Evening Standard very helpfully provided a second photograph of the sergeant involved, which clearly shows his collar number as AB42.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating this incident as well as the Tomlinson case.

Labour Stalwart Mahon Quits Party

Former MP Alice Mahon has expressed her dismay with Government policy by resigning from the Labour Party.

Mrs Mahon, 71, left Westminster in 2005 after almost 20-years as the MP for Halifax. A traditional left-winger and Eurosceptic, Mrs Mahon frequently crossed swords with the whips for rebelling against the Government.

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Mrs Mahon explained why she'd taken the decision to end 50-years of steadfast Labour membership.

Speaking of the recent Downing Street "smeargate" scandal, she said: "My stepdaughter Rachel said to me: 'How could they do that to people like David Cameron and his wife Samantha when they had recently lost their son Ivan? What kind of people think it would be a good idea to smear them?'

"I was sickened by that - that is not the Labour Party that I joined all those years ago.''

In her resignation letter to Halifax Constituency Labour Party, she said: "This has been a difficult decision to take as I feel I was almost born into the Labour Party. However, I can no longer be a member of a party that at the leadership level has betrayed many of the values and principles that inspired me as a teenager to join.''

Mrs Mahon is also said to be furious about the provisions of the Government's Welfare Reform Bill and the "despicable'' treatment of former Labour prospective Parliamentary candidate Janet Oosthuysen. Ms Oosthuysen, who battled hard to win selection, was axed by Labour's National Executive Committee after accepting a police caution when her former partner's car was damaged.

A final word to Mrs Mahon: "My final reason for leaving the party is because it is no longer democratic."

Ain't that the truth?

Ian Tomlinson: Second Post-Mortem Results

Ian Tomlinson - the innocent bystander who died shortly after being assaulted by police at the G20 summit protests - died of an abdominal haemorrhage.

That's according to the results of a second post-mortem examination.

Mr Tomlinson was making his way home from work on the day of the protests when he got caught up in the police cordon. After an apparently one-sided altercation a police officer struck Mr Tomlinson with his baton and pushed him to the ground.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPPC), which ordered a second examination of Mr Tomlinson's body, is investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

This afternoon's results signify further bad news for the Metropolitan Police, with the real possibility that Mr Tomlinson's death resulted from the trauma of his assault moments earlier.

Why Can't Brown Say Sorry?

The Conservatives are continuing to demand a personal apology from the Prime Minister for malicious emails distributed by his former adviser.

Damian McBride was forced to resign his Downing Street position after the "inappropriate and juvenile" emails he sent to fellow New Labour mouthpiece Derek Draper were leaked to leading political blogger Guido Fawkes. The emails suggested several malicious rumours designed to damage leading Opposition politicians in the run up to the next General Election.

Yesterday the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, sent handwritten letters expressing his "deep regret" to the politicians at the butt of McBride's overactive imagination. Mr Brown also wrote to Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell asking him to review the Westminster Special Adviser's Code of Conduct to ensure there are no repeats of McBride's scurrilous publications.

Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries was one of the Opposition politicians targeted in the McBride smear campaign. Ms Dorries remains less than convinced at the sincerity of Mr Brown's letter.

Speaking in a Sky News interview, Ms Dorries said: "When you look at the letter, this is not a letter which has been spontaneously written. This is not a letter which comes from the heart in terms of apologising and genuinely being concerned for the hurt or damage caused.

"I think this has been done because what we're going to see unfold over the next few days is the extent to which the Prime Minister has been damaged by what has happened via his office.

"I think this (the letter) is more to save the Prime Minister and his office than to apologise for what has happened."

Attention has now shifted to the role of Cabinet Office Minister Tom Watson in the email plot. Watson worked closely with McBride at the hub of the Downing Street spin machine.

In a recent blog article Ms Dorries said: "The Prime Minister can state he didn't know what was happening and we can choose whether or not to believe him. However, who would believe that the Cabinet Minister, Tom Watson, whose desk was right next door to Damian McBride's, and who was I have been told, mentioned in the emails, didn't know?"

I don't think anyone could believe that.

The answer to the question above is that Gordon Brown can't utter the word "sorry" because he's an arrogant man and to do so would further align him with McBride's actions.

Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave

Damian McBride has been forced to resign as Gordon Brown's top truth bender after the contents of his vivid imagination were made public.

McBride, recently nicknamed McPoison in the tabloid press, was forced out of Number 10 when it emerged that he and fellow New Labour scab Derek Draper had been plotting to smear several leading Opposition politicians.

One of McBride's emails to Draper was obtained by Tory leaning blogger Paul Staines (AKA Guido Fawkes) and the rest, just like McBride himself, is history.

In a statement released yesterday McBride said: "I have already apologised for the inappropriate and juvenile content of my e-mails, and the offence they have caused"

In a statement next week, McBride is likely to say: "Would you like fries with that sir?"

Bahahaha.

Arrested for Honesty

An honest student was arrested for the theft of a mobile phone he was handing in at a police station.

A-level student Paul Leceister, 18, was celebrating his birthday when he saw the handset lying on the pavement. He picked up the phone and called the last dialled number to inform the owner's friend that he would be handing it in to the police.

Paul was arrested for "theft by finding" and was fingerprinted, DNA sampled and locked in the cells for four hours before his release.

He told the Sunday Express: "I thought I was doing the right thing and had it thrown back in my face. I wouldn't go to the police in future. All I was doing was the honest thing. It was a shocking experience."

Paul's father Vinnie is understandably outraged by his son's arrest, telling the newspaper: "It should never have happened. Paul's mum and I brought him up the right way. They should give him an apology."

Chief Superintendent Ian Pilling of Merseyside Police said: "We are reviewing the circumstances of the arrest."

It has been a really bad week for the police with one of them convicted of killing a schoolgirl with his woeful driving skills and another being investigated for his part in the death of an innocent man at the G20 protests.

It's unfortunate that these police-critical stories have all come along at once, because some of you will be under the mistaken impression that I'm on some sort of anti-police crusade. I'm not. I do however believe that the law applies to everyone and should not be exploited by virtue of public office.

Re-Elected from the Grave

Voters in the Missouri town of Winfield have re-elected their popular mayor for a fourth term, several weeks after he dropped dead of a heart attack.

Mayor Harry Stonebraker died at the age of 69 in March, shortly after the ballot papers were printed and distributed to absentee voters.

Despite his untimely death he managed to secure an overwhelming 90% of the vote.

Lincoln County Clerk Elaine Luck likened the outcome to Missouri's US Senate race in 2000, which was won by Democrat Mel Carnahan who had died in a plane crash weeks earlier.

"I figured he'd win because he seemed to get even more popular after he died, just like Carnahan," she was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

The runner up will now serve as mayor until a special election next year.

Police Death Driver Guilty

A Northumbria Police officer has been found guilty of causing the death by dangerous driving of a Newcastle schoolgirl.

The jury at Newcastle Crown Court heard how PC John Dougal, 41, accelerated to 94 mph moments before his marked police vehicle struck and fatally injured Hayley Adamson, 16, as she crossed the city's Denton Road.

Dougal was attempting to catch a suspect vehicle, which had earlier been flagged by the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system in his powerful Volvo estate. He was travelling without blue lights and siren because he didn't want to alert the driver to his presence.

In a sickening twist of fate it later transpired that the driver being followed by Dougal had done absolutely nothing wrong.

It took the jury of eight women and four men just an hour and a half to reach its unanimous verdict.

Judge David Hodson said: "You will be remanded in custody and you must appreciate that the inevitable outcome of a conviction of an offence of this nature is an immediate sentence of custody."

He added: "I am sure everybody who has sat through this case will be acutely conscious of the grief there has been to the Adamson family."

Dougal will be sentenced on 1st May 2009.

G20 Protester Death Hastened By Police

A Metropolitan Police officer strikes Ian Tomlinson.

The man who died in last week's G20 protests in the City of London was assaulted by a police officer in the moments leading to his fatal heart attack.

Ian Tomlinson, 47, was making his way home from work at a nearby newsagents last Wednesday evening when the officer gave him an apparently unprovoked shove in the back causing him to tumble to the pavement.

Mr Tomlinson was not connected with the G20 protests that day.

Photographer Anna Branthwaite said: "I can remember seeing Ian Tomlinson. He was rushed from behind by a riot officer with a helmet and shield two or three minutes before he collapsed."

The Guardian today released video footage of the assault, which seems to cast doubt on an earlier City of London Police statement that Mr Tomlinson had died of entirely natural causes.

The video shows Mr Tomlinson walking slowly with his back to the police and hands in his pockets. Moments later an officer enters the right of shot, striking Mr Tomlinson's legs with his baton and shoving him to the ground.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) are investigating the events leading to Mr Tomlinson's death.

The IPCC's commissioner for London, Deborah Glass, said: "Initially, we had accounts from independent witnesses who were on Cornhill, who told us that there had been no contact between the police and Mr Tomlinson when he collapsed.

"However, other witnesses who saw him in the Royal Exchange area have since told us that Mr Tomlinson did have ­contact with police officers.

"This would have been a few minutes before he collapsed. It is important that we are able to establish as far as possible whether that contact had anything to do with his death."

The yellow 'MP' helmet markings (just visible under the officer's visor in the image above) indicate that the officer involved is from the Metropolitan Police. The two dog handlers in the background are from the City of London Police.

With all the media interest in Mr Tomlinson's death I expect the Metropolitan Police to deal with the perpetrator very swiftly.

No Justice for Queue Jump Victim

Supermarket killers Antonette Richardson and Tony Virasami.

A couple have been jailed for their part in a supermarket disagreement that left an innocent shopper dying on the floor.

Despicable smack head Antonette Richardson was jailed for 18 months and ex-boyfriend Tony Virasami received four years for manslaughter.

Richardson was shopping in the Sainsbury's store in Merton when she pushed in front of Adam Prendergast to buy cigarettes at the kiosk. Mr Prendergast muttered his displeasure at Richardson, who responded by phoning Virasami for back up.

As Virasami, a convicted robber, entered the store Richardson pointed out Mr Prenderghast, but he mistakenly punched innocent bystander Tony Tripp instead of his intended target.

Father-of-one Mr Tripp, 57, from Colliers Wood, south-west London, died when the "almighty blow" caused him to fall and fracture his skull, causing bleeding on the brain.

As Mr Tripp lay seriously injured on the floor Richardson, who was tagged and on bail for shoplifting, was heard to say to Virasami: "We need to find the right guy."

Judge Geoffrey Rivlin said of Mr Tripp: "He was just minding his own business, waiting in a queue to be served at the customer services counter, when suddenly you, Mr Virasami, rushed towards him and took such a powerful swing at his head that he was immediately floored.

"You both decided to take the law into your own hands by meting out violence to this man. But Mr Virasami mistook one person for another. Mr Tripp was the wrong man, an entirely innocent bystander."

After sentencing at Southwark Crown Court Gillian Tripp, one of Mr Tripp's sisters, said: "We are really disappointed with the result, really disappointed."

I don't blame you one bit Gillian. Such a pathetic sentence is another damning indictment of what Britain has become.

Amble Hammer Attack

A woman and her disabled husband were victim to a sickening and unprovoked act of violence on their own doorstep.

The couple were returning home to the Gloster Park area of Amble on Monday night when a man approached and demanded money. When the woman refused the attacker forced his way into her home and laid into her with a hammer.

She was taken to Wansbeck General Hospital, where she received treatment for facial injuries and bruising. Her double-amputee husband was knocked from his wheelchair in the attack, but was otherwise uninjured.

DCI Rob Coulson, of Northumbria Police, said: "This is a horrendous attack on a vulnerable middle aged couple. It appears to be unplanned and opportunist. We have set up an incident room and a team of detectives are working to identify and make an early arrest of the offender.

"I'm keen to trace anyone who was in the Gloster Park area, near to Amble cemetery, at about 10pm last night or who may have seen anything suspicious at that location.

"The believed offender is described as approximately 20 years old, of slim build and was wearing a grey hooded coat with white stripe down each sleeve and may have been wearing a woolen hat. It is believed he would have been in possession of a hammer.

"Can I stress that these type of incidents are extremely rare and Northumberland is one of the safest places in the country to live. I want to reassure the people of Amble that we are doing all we can to find the person who's done this and bring them to justice."

Northumbria Police confirmed this evening that a local man and woman had been arrested in connection with the attack, so it probably won't be too long before all the good people of Amble know who they are - not that I'd condone any sort of vigilantism!

Anyone with further information is asked to contact the police on 03456 043 043, extension 61636, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.