Sailing The Seas Of A World Gone Mad

Walk With Me Lets Talk

The selfishness of a few

		Wednesday, 11 June 08 - 12:19 PM (GMT) By Kath B in General

Hello Dear Readers, well its been a long time!

and its rather a pity I have to post under such rubbish circumstances!!

It was bought to my attention (thanks An Englishman) that some one is stealing my bandwidth and as a result my Terapad had been taken off line, So as I dont have the time to administer here as once I did, I am affraid I have had to resort to taking off all the art work.

Is it not a pity that a few spoil it for the many.

In Other news number one son has been home from tour in Kossavo and now has a medal   what a proud mum I am.

My job is crappy I hate it and am looking for other work whilst on holiday this week, It has got to the point where i dont even want to get up in the mornings!! TIME FOR CHANGE. i think so.

Things have changed quite a lot I lost someone dear to me and cant seem to get myself back on track, but i will. I think the weight of crap at work and other stuff is making it harder to deal with. But i will survive (to steal the Gloria Gaynor Sentiment) thats what I am a survivor.

Well regards to all

X x X

Well......

		Wednesday, 23 January 08 - 08:17 AM (GMT) By Kath B in General

Well Christmas has come and gone..........I haven't posted for some weeks and haven't posted regularly for some time, I have been working two jobs and spending my time chasing my tail trying to get real life orderly and manageable.

This will be my last post (possibly ever) as from Monday I start work in one place full time. It is a prospect I am really looking forward too, and hope it will prove to be a good move.

So I have been cutting various things from the pages here as I wont have time to manage them any more and have recently come to the belief that too much personal info on line is a dangerous thing!

The remaining pages will remain open, and I may find time to pop back periodically, but it is doubtful.

So if you have been a regular visitor over the months THANK YOU. I have appreciated every comment I have received even the rude ones. After all my aim has always been to promote debate.

So th

A Politically Correct Christmas Story

		Wednesday, 19 December 07 - 08:11 AM (GMT) By Kath B in stupidity and fun sillyness

DRC fighting imperils rare gorillas: conservationists

		Tuesday, 04 December 07 - 08:27 AM (GMT) By Kath B in And The Moral Is....

The thing that worries me about the piece below is that we are systematically destroying this (and many other species) Gorillas are so close to us in the evolutionary scale that we are duty bound to protect these incredible animals. I have always had a great respect for Gorillas and it really is dreadful what is being done to them in Rwanda. Diane Fossie spent, and gave her life to protect these majestic creatures; yet despite this sacrifice the situation is still as bad as ever. It is heart breaking.

Fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has isolated rare mountain gorillas, leaving their state unknown and welfare uncared for in three months, an animal charity charged Monday.

The raging clashes between forces loyal to ex-general Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese army have barred rangers from accessing the gorillas in Virunga National Park to check for injuries or sickness, Wildlife Direct said in a joint statement by five nongovernmental organisations.

"For three months now we have been totally unable to do our job due to the senseless fighting," Norbert Mushenzi, director of park services for the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), said in the statement.

The group said fresh artillery clashes around the primates' habitats Sunday and Monday posed "a severe threat to the mountain gorillas," already depopulated this year.

"The situation is absolutely chaotic. There is a war going on around the mountain gorillas. We need the fighting to stop, and we need to know about the welfare of these animals," charged Wildlife Direct chief Emmanuel de Merode.

Ten mountain gorillas have been killed and two have gone missing in the park since January. These deaths, some blamed on Nkunda's men, have sparked outrage among conservationists.

After two were killed and eaten in January, the renegade troops pledged to halt the killings in a meeting with Virunga park officials mediated by the United Nations and Congolese army, but the deal fell apart.

Local and foreign militias as well as Congolese soldiers, poachers and illegal miners regularly cross this area of the park, one of Africa's largest.

The mountain gorillas are a major tourist attraction in the Virunga park -- where there are only 72 habituated gorillas -- but poaching of wildlife there is endemic.

The conservationists said the clashes have blocked veterinarians from reaching the the primates to deal with common flu-like diseases.

"The biggest threats to free-ranging mountain gorillas include injuries from poacher's snares, flu-like respiratory disease which can be fatal in infants, and communicable infectious diseases such as measles and tuberculosis," said Lucy Spelman of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project.

"This situation is very frustrating," she added in the statement.

Only about 700 critically endangered mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them in the mountain forests of Rwanda, Uganda and the eastern DRC.

There are 1,100 rangers protecting five national parks -- four of which are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites -- in eastern DRC. Some 150 rangers have been killed while on duty in the past decade.

Rangers with rare skills on how to deal with the gorillas have been left homeless, and thus need help to resume tracking the primates when fighting died off.

"At this point, we need to provide humanitarian assistance to the rangers who are in the worse-hit sectors," said Lucy Fauveau of the Zoological Society of London.

Since the end of August, heavy clashes have swept the troubled eastern Congolese province of Nord-Kivu, pitting some 4,000 insurgents loyal to the former general against more than 20,000 government troops.

The United States recently urged Nkunda -- a Congolese Tutsi who claims to be protecting his community against Rwandan Hutus -- to surrender and go into exile to avoid a bloody showdown with the army.

(source yahoo news)

 

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Good Grief

		Monday, 26 November 07 - 08:25 AM (GMT) By Kath B in Politics

in the wake of HM Customs and revenues most recent cock-up (losing peoples personal details!) I received ever such a nice apology letter from them (can anyone detect the ringing note of insincerity in my voice?) saying they were so sorry they apologised unreservedly , and that the police had no reason to suspect the disc's had fallen into the wrong hands!! "OH well thats OK then!" NOT .

What makes me particularly cross about this is the fact that the government think by making HM Customs and Revenue apologise thats all OK then. Well "I'm sorry" does not cut it, this is the government who want to introduce identity cards!! well thats going to be F****NG safe then eh? I shall always trust them with MY personal details! NOT. what is wrong with this Government they truly are twats there is Alasdair Darling (sacked twice from Tony Blurghs various shambolic governments ) now heading the treasury with all the ineptitude of a small garden Gnome. Seriously England WAKE UP and smell the stench of miss-management. If any of us carried on with such ineptitude at our employment we would be SACKED. Has anyone else spotted the fact we now have a PM we didn't even VOTE for?????? or is it just me ! Hmmmmmmmm.

 

And so we go on.......

		Tuesday, 20 November 07 - 08:20 AM (GMT) By Kath B in Politics

Another Govenment department cocks up.......when will the madness end?

(report from BBC Watchdog)

19th November 2007

Identity fraud is the fastest growing crime in the UK, and Watchdog has uncovered some breaches in security at this Government department.

Nine years ago, the Inland Revenue sent Eric Tizzard’s tax rebate to a wrong address in Brighton. It was cashed by someone else. Then Eric began receiving letters from debt collection agencies for bills he hadn’t run up - all connected to this address in Brighton.

It turned out someone had stolen his identity and managed to fool the Government too, because false information was now mixed into his file.

Once he realised, Eric asked the Inland Revenue to correct his records and send him a copy. But the document with all the details of his working life got sent to a complete stranger.

Gina Newman was horrified in April when she discovered that the Inland Revenue had given her National Insurance (NI) number to someone with a similar name, Georgia Newman, nine years ago. They’ve been using the same number ever since.

The government had all of their details jumbled into one file - an error with massive implications. Both women’s benefits and tax had been totally mixed up. Georgia’s due around £8,000 in overpaid taxes, but she’s been told rebates only go back six years - leaving her nearly £3,000 short.

In 2005, official figures revealed there were almost 2,000 reported cases of NI numbers being used by more than one person.

Now there’s been another security breach at the Inland Revenue. It’s just admitted to losing a CD containing the confidential details of 15,500 people, and Gina was one of them.

Paul Gray, chairman of the Inland Revenue, says: “We take the security of customer information very seriously, and our priority is to protect the data of all our customers. If problems do occur we make every effort to put the situation right as soon as we can. In the cases mentioned, we have written to all customers concerned and where appropriate have put in place measures to check customers’ records for any fraudulent activity. We would like to apologise again to the individual customers mentioned on your programme and to anyone who has been affected.”

 

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Also this.......how much more can our troops take of this neglect and mistreatment?!

(from inthenews.co.uk)

Troops hit by wages error

British servicemen fighting in Afghanistan have seen their pay incorrectly docked by a faulty computerised system, according to new reports.

The Daily Telegraph claims around 300 troops have been hit by errors in the new Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system.

The £269 million payment software was introduced to synchronise the forces' £6 billion annual wage bill, but miscalculations have left the servicemen - including Special Boat Service (SBS) troops operating in Afghanistan - with incomplete pay checks.

The SBS commandos have since raised their grievance to Admiral Lord Boyce, the former head of the armed forces, during his recent visit to Afghanistan.

"It must be a worry for those not getting the pay they have expected because their mortgages might be in danger or they might not be able to pay bills," Lord Boyce told the newspaper.

"That might play on people's minds and affect operational efficiency," he added, calling the error "very unsatisfactory".

The Telegraph claims the affected SBS troops have been forced to rely on a welfare fund set up by friends of their unit.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman commented: "We are aware that there have been some issues with the rollout of JPA. We would like to apologise to any individuals who may have been inconvenienced."

He added that troops hit by the computer error can contact their pay office to resolve the issue and receive a wages advance if necessary.

The servicemen's wives are able to do the same should their husbands be on active operations, he explained.

Below the Daily Telegraphs original article.

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Troops lose out in wages glitch

By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent

Special Forces fighting in Afghanistan are among hundreds of troops whose pay is incorrectly docked by a new computerised system, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

Members of the Special Boat Service who fight the Taliban daily are being short-changed by more than £400 a month and some face defaulting on mortgage payments.

They are among 300 servicemen affected by faults in the £269 million Joint Personnel Administration system introduced to harmonise the £6 billion annual Forces wages.

Some SBS troops, who are recruited almost exclusively from the Royal Marines, are having to rely on help from a welfare fund set up by friends of the unit.

SBS commandos complained to Adml Lord Boyce, the former head of the Armed Forces, during his recent visit to Afghanistan.

"It must be a worry for those not getting the pay they have expected because their mortgages might be in danger or they might not be able to pay bills," Lord Boyce said.

"That might play on people's minds and affect operational efficiency." It was "very unsatisfactory".

A commando said he had spoken to a senior officer about the problem but was told he was in the same position. "The thing that annoys me it that we put our lives on line but I have spent half a day sorting out something I should not have to do on leave."

An MoD spokesman admitted "issues" with JPA. "We would like to apologise to any individuals who may have been inconvenienced."

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I just Bet they would like to appologise ......dosent really help the servicemen concerned though now does it?!

BRITISH SOLDIERS AT CHRISTMAS

		Tuesday, 13 November 07 - 08:41 PM (GMT) By Kath B in Family.

It may be a bit early for Christmas, but i felt this was important to share, I am very lucky my son will be home for Christmas this year but next year.............well................ who knows!

 BRITISH SOLDIERS AT CHRISTMAS

ITS CHRISTMAS DAY ALL IS SECURE

IT WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
HE LIVED ALL ALONE
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE
NO TINSEL NO PRESENTS NOT EVEN A TREE
NO STOCKING BY THE MANTLE JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES AWARDS OF ALL KINDS
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT IT WAS DARK AND DREARY
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING SILENT ALONE
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER
NOT HOW I PICTURED A LONE BRITISH SOLDIER
WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO THE FLOOR FOR A BED

I REALISED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT
SOON ROUND THE WORLD THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY

THEY ALL ENJOY FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE
I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY ALONE
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME

THE VERY THOUGH BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE
'SANTA DON'T CRY THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM I DON'T ASK FOR MORE
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY. MY CORPS'

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT I CONTINUED TO WEEP

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SAT AND SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHTS CHILL
I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD DARK NIGHT
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOUR SO WILLING TO FIGHT

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE
WHISPERED 'CARRY ON SANTA ITS CHRISTMAS DAY ALL IS SECURE'
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT
'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT'
THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN BY A PEACE KEEPING SOLDIER STATIONED OVERSEAS.

CHRISTMAS WILL BE COMING SOON AND SOME CREDIT IS DUE TO OUR BRITISH SERVICE 
MEN AND WOMEN FOR OUR BEING ABLE TO CELEBRATE THESE FESTIVITIES.
LET’S TRY IN THIS SMALL WAY TO PAY A TINY BIT BACK OF WHAT WE OWE!

Another Genius Plan!

		Wednesday, 07 November 07 - 08:05 AM (GMT) By Kath B in Politics

So now we are going to turn under achiveing Children into criminals! What a brillient plan! (NOT) now i am a great believer in education and staying at school, but as a kid in school i really struggled because of my dyslexia! I couldent wait to get out of school and stop feeling like a faliure, i hated school i hated feeling useless.

So now the govenment is going to introduce a rise in the school leaving age, thank god it wont effect my children Emily, would be fine but poor Michael would go insane! And what will they do if the struggling children who hate school and find it impossable decide to rebel?

Well obviously they will fine them, slap anti social behaviour orders on them AND best of all GIVE THEM CRIMINAL RECORDS *CLAP CLAP CLAP* OH yes brillent well done Ed Balls (= BOLLOCKS) and Gordon Brown lets make under achiving kids with problems criminals so they will never get a job, lets alienate them further from society and victimise them so their behaviour decreses further into rebelion and anger! DO these people have brains at all???????

Why dont they just bring back national service for boys and introduce it for girls ...far more effective in solving young peoples unemployment figues, and teaching them self esteem responsibility and self reliance!

God how much further down can this govenment drag the UK! When will these people get a grip on reality !?! God help us all!!!

(Below a piece from Yahoo News outlining this crap new policy)

 

Plans to raise the education or training leaving age have been put at the top of the government's legislative programme.

An Education and Skills Bill was given top billing in the Queen's speech on Tuesday, with ministers committed to increasing the minimum compulsory age to 17 in 2013 and 18 in 2015.

"My government is committed to raising educational standards and giving everyone the chance to reach their full potential," the Queen told MPs and peers.

"A bill will be introduced to ensure young people stay in education or training until age 18 and to provide new rights to skills training for adults."

The Bill will place duties on young people to participate, parents to ensure that they do so and employers to release them for training.

It will also require local authorities to keep up-to-date registers of all those who should be in school, college or an apprenticeship, and to provide training for those with special educational needs.

Schools secretary Ed Balls has promised a "robust regime" to enforce the law, with on-the-spot fines and anti-social behaviour orders for those failing to comply. However he has made clear that there will be no custodial sentences.

Balls has hailed the move as "the biggest educational reform in the last 50 years".

In other measures, designed to implement the Leitch reforms of further education, the Bill will create a new legal entitlement for adults to free training in basic literacy and numeracy skills.

It could also pave the way for a training levy on business in some sectors of economy, where employers want it and there are skills shortages.

Ministers also promised draft legislation on apprenticeships, to consider what further legal steps might be necessary to regulate and promote the training schemes and guarantee places for all who want them, pending the results of a review due in January next year.

Meanwhile the Sale of Student Loans Bill was also included in the government's legislative agenda.

The Bill will allow ministers to sell £6bn of assets in a move first announced in the Budget earlier this year. However it will have no effect on students' borrowing and repayments.

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The Royal British Leigon's Poppy Appeal.

		Wednesday, 31 October 07 - 08:12 AM (GMT) By Kath B in Family.

Every year I always post about the Royal British Leigon's Poppy Appeal, it is a very worth while charity and one I have always supported from a very early age.

I thought this year i might post about why it started and then move on to the work they do today and why they are so important to service men and women alike.

The first donations for artificial poppies were given in Britain on 11^th November 1921, inspired by John McCrae's 1915 poem 'In Flanders' Fields'.

Some of the bloodiest fighting of World War I took place in the Flanders and Picardy regions of Northern France. In the aftermath of the war's total devastation the only thing which would grow on the land was the poppy. McCrae, a doctor serving there with the Canadian Armed Forces, wrote these verses about what he saw:

In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders' fields.

Moina Michael, an American War Secretary with the YMCA, was moved by McCrae's work to write: And now the torch and Poppy red, wear in honour of our dead.

She bought red poppies and sold them to her friends to raise money for Servicemen in need. Her French colleague, Madame Guerin, proposed the making of artificial poppies and their sale to help ex-Servicemen and their dependants.

Founded in 1922

In Britain, Major George Howson, a young infantry officer, formed the Disabled Society, to help disabled ex-Servicemen and women from World War I. Howson suggested to the Legion that members of the Disabled Society could make poppies and the Poppy Factory was subsequently founded in 1922.

The original poppy was designed so that workers with a disability could easily assemble it and that principle remains today. More than 70%of Poppy Factory employees have a disability or chronic illness. (for further info you can visit the Royal British Leigon's own web site .

Why is it still so significant now? well read on!

Tina's story
Last updated: 23 October 2007

Without the British Legion's support, 36-year-old Tina Thompson would have struggled to raise her son when she lost her serviceman husband

Tina's husband Mick was killed in a road accident in Cyprus on his way to work in July 2005. Mick had been in the Army since 1980, serving in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq, amongst other places, and had just been promoted to sergeant.

All this was shattered, though, when Mick died, leaving Tina and their four-month old son Aidan. Mick also left another son, Lewis, by his first wife.

Lack of MoD support

Tina received a visit from the MoD where she was told, on her doorstep, that Mick had been killed. She returned from Cyprus to the UK shortly afterwards, where she felt the MoD forgot about her. She felt that it was very much a case of "out of sight, out of mind".

She was passed from welfare officer to welfare officer, and it took almost two years for her to be given the police report into her husband's death – and this was only after considerable expense and effort on Tina's part.

Financial struggles

Tina has applied for a full war widow's pension. She already receives a small pension, but because Mick's accident took place just after the new Armed Forces Compensation Scheme was introduced her claim has been rejected – had it taken place before the new scheme her case would have been accepted.

The Legion has been supporting Tina through her tribunals. Her initial claim was supported, but the Veteran's Agency is refusing to pay the increased pension and have taken the case to a higher court. Tina is still waiting to hear if her claim will be upheld.

In the interim, she is still supporting Aidan by herself, whilst also completing a course in holistic therapy, which the Legion helped her to find.

 

and finally The Poppy Appeal 2007.

Find out how wearing a poppy this year can help young families of both the dead and wounded who served in Iraq and Afghanistan

The 2007 Poppy Appeal comes at a crucial time for The Royal British Legion. This year once again, events in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown us the very high human cost of conflict, and it is clear that that the work of The Royal British Legion is needed now more than ever.

It is just weeks since we launched our Honour the Covenant campaign, lobbying for improved conditions for the Service community and it is clear that there is much still to be done to achieve this.

Show your support

Our annual Poppy Appeal is the Legion's major fundraising campaign and our aim this year is to raise an unprecedented £27.5 million allowing us to continue the work that means so much to the thousands of serving and ex-Service people and their families who approach The Royal British Legion every year for help.

Last year the Appeal raised a record total of £26 million and yet this only accounts for a third of the £75.5 million required to carry out the Legion's work. Much of this money goes to fund Poppy Support, the Legion's range of welfare services set up to support those who have served and continue to serve in the British Armed Forces.

Poppy support

This year we have added new Poppy Support services to increase the range and breadth of ways in which are able to support the ex-Service community.

It's not just older people who benefit from Poppy Support. The Legion helps people of all ages, providing financial, social and emotional help to all those who have been affected by conflict and increasingly we see younger people coming to us for help. Beneficiaries range from children to widows, from single mothers to pensioners, in fact anyone who finds themselves in need. Some 10.5 million people – that's one in six of the UK population - are eligible to approach us for help.

The 2007 Poppy Appeal campaign highlights the following stark facts about those in need of assistance from The Royal British Legion.

• 900,000 ex-Service people with a disability
• 180,000 ex-Service people without visitors
• 40,000 families who need our support

More reasons to give to the Poppy Appeal

• Over the last year the number of beneficiaries of our work aged 35 or under has increased by 30%. This strongly points to a growing need for our services among younger serving and ex-Service people 
• With British Service people on active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and in many other parts of the world, a large proportion of whom are currently under 30, the Legion's role of safeguarding the welfare and interests of serving and ex-Service people will be needed for many years to come
• More than 16,000 British Service men and women have been killed or injured on active service since 1945 in conflicts up to the present day, including Bosnia, the Falklands, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Poppy Appeal today

• In 2006, the Poppy Appeal raised £26 million – a third of the £75.5 million which the Legion spends carrying out its work

• Some 300,000 volunteers help to organise and collect for the Poppy Appeal each year

• Each year the Poppy Appeal distributes around 36 million poppies, 100,000 wreaths and sprays and 750,000 Little Remembrance Crosses. These items are made at the Legion's Poppy Factory in Richmond, Surrey
• Poppy protocol - A poppy can be worn at any time, but they are usually available 2 weeks before Remembrance Sunday. They are made available to broadcasters and politicians in advance, which is why they are able to wear them earlier if they choose to.

• You do not have to be a member of the Legion to become a Poppy Appeal collector or organiser. To become involved call 0800 085 5924, visit www.poppy.org or e-mail poppypeople@britishlegion.org.uk

Donating to the Poppy Appeal

The Legion urges members of the public to support the hundreds of thousands of people who need our help by wearing a poppy and making a donation to the Poppy Appeal.

• By telephone - call Free phone0845 845 1945

• By text - text the word Poppy to 85552 to receive a digital download poppy image on your mobile phone

• Online - visit the Poppy Appeal website at www.poppy.org

• In person – the Legion has thousands of street collectors and many shops, pubs and businesses have Legion collecting boxes on their premises too

• By post - send a cheque made payable to The Royal British Legion to:

The Royal British Legion
RBLVillage
Aylesford
Kent
ME20 7NX

I am so hacked off

		Tuesday, 30 October 07 - 08:30 AM (GMT) By Kath B in Politics

Good grief......... when will this Govenment wake UP and realise we are sick of them liying and then thinking saying sorry makes it ok!

In every part of the UK we all know (even the long term immigrants ) that the UK has reached breaking point in terms of immigration we just dont have the inferstructure to deal with ANY MORE and now this (source Yahoo News)

The government set off a political storm on Monday by acknowledging it had underestimated the number of foreign nationals who had come to work in the country in the last 10 years by 300,000.

The Conservatives released a letter from Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain in which he apologised for having given them wrong information.

New analysis of labour market data showed that, instead of 800,000, "there are, in total, an extra 1.1 million foreign nationals in employment in the UK since 1997," Hain wrote.

Hain's department confirmed the upwards revision which it said was due to "a more rigorous definition of foreign national workers". Between 7 and 8 percent of the 29.1 million people in work in Britain were foreign nationals, it said.

Immigration has become a hot political issue with some people fearing that the fast pace of migration has put severe strain on housing, education and health services.

Conservative work and pensions spokesman Chris Grayling called Hain's revision "an extraordinary development" that cast doubt on the government's competence.

"The fact that the government did not know the true number of overseas workers who have come to the UK in the past 10 years is profoundly worrying, and confirms fears that ministers have simply lost control of our systems for migrant workers," he said in a statement.

Liberal Democrat employment spokesman Danny Alexander said: "Getting these figures so wrong further undermines the credibility of the government's claims to be able to deliver a well-managed system for foreign workers."

CALL FOR ANNUAL LIMIT

Hain's admission came on the day that Conservative leader David Cameron called for annual limits on migration to Britain from countries outside the European Union.

A projection from the statistics office last week showed the population is set to grow from 60.6 million last year to 65 million by 2016 and 71 million by 2031, with immigration a key factor.

Policymakers say a large influx of migrants in recent years has helped boost economic growth while competition from east European workers has helped keep wage inflation in check, easing the pressure for higher interest rates.

Critics argue that immigrants are taking jobs from Britons -- although some business executives dispute this.

Employment Minister Caroline Flint said the labour market remained in very good health. "There are opportunities for British workers with nearly 660,000 vacancies waiting to be filled," she said.

Britain was one of three EU members that granted open access to workers from eight east European countries that joined the bloc in 2004, but it restricted migrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania when they joined the EU in January.

The government is expected to announce on Tuesday it will extend those restrictions.

The government is also introducing an Australian-style points-based system for migrants from outside the EU next year. It would restrict entry to those who have the skills that Britain needs.

... More items are available in my News Archive