tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post6916864832826392925..comments2024-03-20T16:27:56.522+00:00Comments on Norfolk Blogger: So spectacularly wrong on so many levelsNich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-38027879083235516082009-03-21T12:27:00.000+00:002009-03-21T12:27:00.000+00:00What struck me about Mandy's comment, "We're not j...What struck me about Mandy's comment, "We're not just throwing about money willy nilly" on the BBC1 News, given that he is a former European Commissioner, is that this is precisely what the government is about to do in relation to prisoners votes and the European Election.<BR/><BR/>I heard Mandy's comment as I waited to see <A HREF="http://jailhouselawyersblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/jailhouselawyers-tv-interview.html" REL="nofollow">this</A> item on BBC1 Look North. You will note that Tim Iredale stated that no Minister was available to be interviewed. As the Minister responsible for this fiasco is Jack Straw, why wasn't he available to respond to pertinent questions? It wasn't good enough to merely re-issue the well worn pathetic excuse that "Prisoner voting rights is a sensitive and complex issue".<BR/><BR/>The position is this, if the government does not pull its finger out and allow the 80,000+ EU citizens behind bars to vote in the European Election on 4 June 2009, then prisoner compensation claims for loss of this right will be between £30-£60M.<BR/><BR/>Therefore, I would argue that even though Mandy was referring to the car industry, the principle is the same in the prisoners votes case. This would be throwing money about totally unnecessarily when all the government has to do is its duty and abide by the European Convention and ECtHR decision and give prisoners the human rights they are clearly entitled to under law.jailhouselawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03795278184797990706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-26807640636569708712009-03-21T08:53:00.000+00:002009-03-21T08:53:00.000+00:00I thought Liberals knew that a) the bulk of the ca...I thought Liberals knew that a) the bulk of the cars being produced are inefficient as hell and no good for the planet, b) for the first seven to ten years, the embedded carbon costs of even marginally more efficient cars will make things worse, not better, and c) artificially propping up industries on their way out would be a massive waste of our money and d) we could use the same money far far more effectively to kickstart future success stories.<BR/><BR/>Looks like Merkelism rules, though. And Mandelson probably will "shit up" and listen to the Germans - <A HREF="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5904540.ece" REL="nofollow">they floated this insane scrappage scheme last weekend</A>.James Mackenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07707473889170111139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-25634734346567161012009-03-20T23:16:00.000+00:002009-03-20T23:16:00.000+00:00I mean why would anyone take any lessons from new ...I mean why would anyone take any lessons from new Labour or Mandelson.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com