tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post5311942321437953069..comments2024-03-02T02:56:21.007+00:00Comments on ......SHOT BY BOTH SIDES: Walking homeKerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02377996092374137641noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-53741984230728004322008-12-03T23:14:00.000+00:002008-12-03T23:14:00.000+00:00"As I walked home from the railway station tonight...<I>"As I walked home from the railway station tonight...." </I><BR/><BR/>You're lucky, Kerry. Any idea what proportion of your constituents can walk home from Temple Meads... or can catch a bus direct from the station?Pete Goodwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07115478143080295370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-50199768472481633602008-11-28T23:38:00.000+00:002008-11-28T23:38:00.000+00:00That's a very good question.That's a very good question.Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377996092374137641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-49471233397523647822008-11-28T23:17:00.000+00:002008-11-28T23:17:00.000+00:00According to squirrels.org it's illegal to poison ...According to squirrels.org it's illegal to poison squirrels in Minnesota. Is that less or more libertarian than the UK?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-35928175181761364092008-11-28T22:09:00.000+00:002008-11-28T22:09:00.000+00:00It's not every day I get accused of being an 104 y...It's not every day I get accused of being an 104 year old squirrel killer.Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377996092374137641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-66249307140697590802008-11-28T21:56:00.000+00:002008-11-28T21:56:00.000+00:00And still rising.....http://www.independent.co.uk/...And still rising.....<BR/><BR/>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/more-than-3600-new-offences-under-labour-918053.html<BR/><BR/>3600 plusThe Grime Reaperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457094892305046410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-33899670674186048362008-11-28T21:48:00.000+00:002008-11-28T21:48:00.000+00:00Kerry,Could I sell it perhaps?NahKerry,<BR/><BR/>Could I sell it perhaps?<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-400939/3-000-new-criminal-offences-created-Tony-Blair-came-power.html" REL="nofollow">Nah</A>Old Holbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164491045068093627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-76244207682623285442008-11-28T21:46:00.000+00:002008-11-28T21:46:00.000+00:00I assume you're referring to the Grey Squirrel...I assume you're referring to the Grey Squirrels (Prohibition of Importation & Keeping) Order 1937, which made it an offence to release live-trapped grey squirrels. I was not in Parliament then.Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377996092374137641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-69488161573796423452008-11-28T21:28:00.000+00:002008-11-28T21:28:00.000+00:00Ok, I'll playI've just caught a grey squirrel. I d...Ok, I'll play<BR/><BR/>I've just caught a grey squirrel. I didn't mean to. It was in a sack in the shed that I moved. I think it's hibernating.<BR/><BR/>New Labour have introduced a law that says I must kill it. I will be prosecuted if I simply let it go. I am not ALLOWED to let it go.<BR/><BR/>So Kerry. I want YOU, who made the law that said all 60,000,000 of us who might find a grey squirrel must kill it, to tell me the best way to kill it.<BR/><BR/>I have six children and I want to understand the rule of law, so they have to watch me kill a squirrel. As you demand. They want me to let it go, but alas, that is illegal, so it must die. Otherwise their father is a criminal. And must submit his DNA, his photo, his fingerprints, his address.<BR/><BR/>So Kerry, my kids are watching. What do you, as the person who made the rule, recommend? <BR/><BR/>(PS. One of my kids reckons we should eat it)Old Holbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164491045068093627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-56365202171390245202008-11-28T20:33:00.000+00:002008-11-28T20:33:00.000+00:00I'm not here to defend the Government.I just like ...I'm not here to defend the Government.<BR/><BR/>I just like asking questions of people's views. Others are more than free to pick mine apart - and as will be obvious from earlier posts - this happens a lot.<BR/><BR/>If I make a statement I'm prepared to defend it. I don't think it's the number of laws that are important - what's important is whether those laws are good or bad.<BR/><BR/>It's a little disingenuous therefore for OH to criticise the fact that we have '26,000 new laws' and then talk about using one of them.LDNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01644458953430709918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-33474083588502587422008-11-28T20:26:00.000+00:002008-11-28T20:26:00.000+00:00Hi N.L. I'm just an on looker out here like thousa...Hi N.L. I'm just an on looker out here like thousands of others,<BR/><BR/>O.H. is a little sharp but does put quantity into his reply,<BR/><BR/>so can I ask you why have we got 26000 more laws in this country?<BR/>Thankyou.Billy Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05528179460481009497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-83531610011631734882008-11-28T20:05:00.000+00:002008-11-28T20:05:00.000+00:00While I remember - OH criticised the '26,000 new l...While I remember - OH criticised the '26,000 new laws' Labour introduced in an earlier post, and then threatened to put in an FoI request.<BR/><BR/>Once again, the contradictions in his posts highlight the flaws in his argumentLDNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01644458953430709918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-83634225395930610662008-11-28T19:59:00.000+00:002008-11-28T19:59:00.000+00:00Your point is?Your point is?LDNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01644458953430709918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-76862456942837013942008-11-28T19:43:00.000+00:002008-11-28T19:43:00.000+00:00Kelvin, Northern LightsLOVE your blogsKelvin, Northern Lights<BR/><BR/>LOVE your blogsOld Holbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164491045068093627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-76147930538396785542008-11-28T19:19:00.000+00:002008-11-28T19:19:00.000+00:00Get off your bike Kerry and take a really good loo...Get off your bike Kerry and take a really good look around. Look at what led you to become a Labour MP and examine the world around you.<BR/><BR/>You seem to have found a word to hook your blog on: Libertarians. Look it up in the dictionary, dissect its principles and then try to tell me that socialism is better without choking on your muesli.<BR/><BR/>I haven't come across a blog like yours before; you just close your eyes and type tripe.Goodnight Viennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10414174735110327369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-27029808621034050572008-11-28T19:07:00.000+00:002008-11-28T19:07:00.000+00:00"Well-lit streets" Kerry? By "well lit" I assume y..."Well-lit streets" Kerry? By "well lit" I assume you mean "brightly lit".<BR/><BR/>So bright is UK streetlighting that very few of us get to see the beauty of the night sky in its true colours. Instead, a pall of dusky-peach light-pollution - skyglow - hangs above every town in the land, extending miles into the passive-consuming countryside.<BR/><BR/>Most of the sodium streetlights are very poor at rendering colour, meaning that not only do they uglify their surroundings with their horrid orangeyness, but also that they are extremely inefficient in the production of <I>useful</I> illumination. Naturalistic white-coloured lighting doesn't need to be nearly so bright in order to achieve a similar effect on drivers' reaction times.<BR/><BR/>The politician's justification for bright streetlighting is as a sop to peoples' fear of crime. The Home Office give contradictory advice to householders, who are told [rightly, in my view] that less is more, as over-bright lighting is wasteful and creates shadow behind the glare. But they still assert "brightly-lit streets cut crime". This view is informed primarily by one very dodgy piece of meta-analysis, which has been comprehensively debunked.<BR/><BR/>From UK Parliamentary Select Committee Science & Technology 7th Report:<BR/><BR/>"... the Committee notes that in the August 2003 electricity blackout in parts of North America, the feared crime wave did not materialise. Similarly, in 1998, Auckland was victim to a black out lasting several weeks. A police inspector was reported as saying "It's almost a crime-free zone. The normal levels of muggings, violence, fights, burglary and robbery have just not happened."<BR/><BR/>Sorry about the lengthy post. The <A>honed, illustrated and fully-referenced version</A> is on one of my blogs. But since someone's invoked Betjeman already, I'll end here as there with the last verse of his "Inexpensive Progress":<BR/><BR/><I>When all our roads are lighted<BR/>By concrete monsters sited<BR/>Like gallows overhead,<BR/>Bathed in the yellow vomit<BR/>Each monster belches from it,<BR/>We'll know that we are dead.</I>Ade Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10167710264665141715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-69307703353919966552008-11-28T18:55:00.000+00:002008-11-28T18:55:00.000+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ade Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10167710264665141715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-59002198763530856272008-11-28T18:24:00.000+00:002008-11-28T18:24:00.000+00:00ps. Old Holborn - does this mean that the Governme...ps. Old Holborn - does this mean that the Government should do MORE to help people?<BR/><BR/>I thought libertarians were against interventionist governments?LDNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01644458953430709918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-46977375280096024142008-11-28T18:07:00.000+00:002008-11-28T18:07:00.000+00:00OH - so are private companies going to help older ...OH - so are private companies going to help older people keep warm during the winter.<BR/><BR/>I thought we enlightened libertarians 'despised' private companies?<BR/><BR/>OH can't answer this fundamental flaw in his own logic.LDNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01644458953430709918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-51062905786101585072008-11-28T17:42:00.000+00:002008-11-28T17:42:00.000+00:00Some people on here talk such a load of rubbish it...Some people on here talk such a load of rubbish it's unbelieveable. <BR/><BR/>And Old Holborn talks utter crap. He can't put together a serious arguement if he tried. He thinks using swear words helps his cause and he is so boring.<BR/><BR/>I am glad he said "SHUT UP" he just should have been looking in the mirror at the time.Kelvin Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06314262501601373562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-4630905045573046732008-11-28T17:39:00.000+00:002008-11-28T17:39:00.000+00:00Kerry any update on Phil Woolas speech on Radio 4 ...Kerry any update on Phil Woolas speech on Radio 4 this morning?<BR/><BR/>Listen again.<BR/><BR/>http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7753000/7753799.stm<BR/><BR/>He found about the arrest from the media yet can deny any ministerial interference?<BR/><BR/>The man is lying.Old Holbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164491045068093627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-33326568227158270522008-11-28T17:28:00.000+00:002008-11-28T17:28:00.000+00:00OH, I worked for years with the elderly in this co...OH, I worked for years with the elderly in this country, visiting them in their homes and providing care, food and domestic services. Without exception, they lived in 2 or 3 bedroomed homes alone, heating the whole property but only using one or two of the rooms. <BR/><BR/>There are good provisions in place to aid those wanting to stay in their own homes and that is of course and should always be their choice. Often these were council owned homes though which could have been exchanged for more appropriate 1 bedroomed sheltered accomodation which would have been far more economical to heat and much safer for the resident to live in.<BR/><BR/>For me, seeing those elderly with wedges of cash stuffed in drawers and bags whilst they complained about heating costs was very frustrating. <BR/><BR/>Every one of us knows a pensioner who refuses to put on their heating, or wear their new winter cardigans/thermals that we have bought them.. they are full of character but stubborn and set in their ways, it is not just the fuel prices that are stopping the elderly from being warm but their own stiff upper lips. <BR/><BR/>Warm Front Grants are available to those on a low income to enable them to have better insulation and more economical heating systems. <BR/>There is also a Cold Weather allowance paid to those recieving Pension Credit and those on a low income.Ms Humphrey Cushionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16086232190929798310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-73412741893753949332008-11-28T16:26:00.000+00:002008-11-28T16:26:00.000+00:00The Government is failing to tackle winter deaths ...The Government is failing to tackle winter deaths which result from fuel poverty, Help the Aged has said.<BR/>Last winter's cold weather claimed more than 25,000 lives - the highest for four years, a report revealed yesterday.<BR/><BR/>The deaths, which came amid soaring fuel costs, were up 7 per cent on the previous year and are the highest in Europe.<BR/><BR/>The vast majority - 22,400 - were among pensioners, millions of whom are in fuel poverty, having to choose between heating and eating.<BR/><BR/>Charities said the deaths were a 'national scandal' and warned that this winter, which is forecast to be colder, would see even more deaths.<BR/><BR/>Gas costs have surged by 50 per cent in a year and electricity by a third, adding around £400 to annual bills.<BR/><BR/>A survey by Age Concern found two-thirds of pensioners are cutting back on the amount of gas and electricity they are using. On Monday, Chancellor Alistair Darling announced an extra £60 at Christmas to help with winter fuel payments for pensioners – but campaigners said it was not enough.<BR/>Gordon Lishman, of Age Concern, said: 'Pensioners are clearly more worried about staying warm and well this year. Yet, the impact of increased energy bills is causing thousands to risk their health by cutting back on heating.'<BR/><BR/>The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, show that between December and March, there were 25,300 more deaths in England and Wales when compared with the rest of the year.<BR/><BR/>Winter deaths are often as a result of heart attacks, strokes, bronchial and other conditions and may occur several days after exposure to the cold. <BR/><BR/>and now to put it into perspective, as thousands were dying from poverty in Britain <BR/><BR/>Brown announces India aid package <BR/><BR/>Gordon Brown has announced a new aid package for nuclear, space race India, worth £825m over the next three years.<BR/><BR/>The thousands of pentioners dying at the very time of the anouncement by Brown must have been so happy to assist India space program as they made their last frozen breath!<BR/><BR/>Remember, every single penny Gordon spends is OURS.Old Holbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164491045068093627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-47662949646449883272008-11-28T16:20:00.000+00:002008-11-28T16:20:00.000+00:00Fred,Private companies could have provided all of ...Fred,<BR/><BR/>Private companies could have provided all of that for you, much, much cheaper.<BR/><BR/>Do not make the mistake of thinking that it is not your money the Government spends. It has NO other income.Old Holbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164491045068093627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-87055128244131399282008-11-28T16:17:00.000+00:002008-11-28T16:17:00.000+00:00Having spent several years living abroad, I for on...Having spent several years living abroad, I for one am delighted to be living in England. Now I can walk on a footpath not a dirt road, see where I am going while I walk, not have to wade through puddles walking through streets which have no drainage, put toilet paper down my loos as we have mains sewage, have my bins emptied for me, drink the water straight from my taps, report crime if I am misfortunate, turn on a TV and see a variety of viewpoints, see a doctor without worrying about the cost, educate my children for free and to a great standard, get help if I am in dire straights.. I am thankful to be here, it´s a shame so many of you cannot see how lucky you are too.Ms Humphrey Cushionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16086232190929798310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-22771434463778094572008-11-28T16:13:00.000+00:002008-11-28T16:13:00.000+00:00It's interesting that you walk home. I thought mos...It's interesting that you walk home. I thought most MP's got taxi's everywhere so as not to mix with people who might want to tell you their veiws.benesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04227753739320253664noreply@blogger.com