UKIP Statement On Syria - Predating 'Dave's' Defeat In The Commons.

UKIP has issued the following statement on Syria: We have been in Afghanistan for longer than the first and second world wars put together and the benefits to the civilians of the country are marginally increased yet the price paid in money and blood by British troops is enormous.  There is no clear proof it was the Assad regime who used chemical weapons.  We have no idea who the rebels are - a point UKIP has been making since the start and we opposed the arming of the rebels who it has been indicated have extremist Islamic elements.
The MoD is already struggling with budget cuts and troops are being made redundant, many with very few opportunities of jobs on civvy street during this economic decline.  It, quite simply, is not our business anyway. We are not world policemen.  We saw a decade ago what happens with dodgy evidence being given to Parliament and we must not repeat the mistakes of Iraq.

Costs Incurred By Membership Of The EU.

By: Professor Tim Congdon.

Full economic and political integration of their continent – culminating in a federal ‘United States of Europe’ – has been a dream of many European politicians and opinion-formers since the early 1950s. Much has changed in Europe over the last 60 years, reflecting the integrationist process under the European Steel and Coal Community from 1952, the European Economic Community from 1957, and the European Union from 1993. Many of the changes have been for the better, including the achievement of industrial free trade and free, non-discriminatory, cross-border payments within the EU. However, the EU member nations have been reluctant to hand over fiscal powers (i.e., the powers to tax, above all) to central EU institutions. The EU is quite unlike the United States of America, which from its inception had a federal government with fiscal powers. (The powers were used largely to finance military expenditure against the USA’s main enemy at the time, which was the United Kingdom of Great Britain [and from 1801 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]!)

 Because the EU institutions, particularly the European Commission, have been thwarted on the fiscal front, they have tried to make ‘European government’ a reality by expanding a body of European ‘law’. The Commission has therefore secured the passage into law of thousands of ‘directives’ and ‘regulations’, by a process which is not only massively interventionist, but also undemocratic. The result has been a heavy burden of regulation which has checked economic growth across the EU. The following analysis is chapter 2 in the 2013 edition of my publication, How much does the European Union cost Britain?, for the UK Independence Party. My estimate is that the plethora of directives and regulations in the so-called acquis communautaire has reduced our national output by over 5%.

The regulatory burden of the acquis is the most important single cost to Britain of our EU membership.

Life With A Purpose: Matthew Heimbach Says ...

'To justify one’s actions and even existence, you must have a purpose. As a Christian, my purpose is to help others, fight for my folk, and worship my God. A coal miner works hard to feed his family, puts his life on the line to help provide a comfortable life for others, and provides a necessary service through his commitment. Any number of professions or groups have purpose, all except one. The Left has no purpose other than to destroy: Destroy the family, destroy tradition, destroy the sanctity of life, and destroy the white race, if it is good then it is something that leftists want to destroy.'

HS2 'A Grand Folly.'

HS2 'A Grand Folly' Says Business Group

The Institute of Directors said a survey of its members found just 27% felt it represented 

good value for money while 70% said the project would have no impact on the productivity of their business. 
News Bulletin - Ukip.

PS. The figure is now EIGHTY billion!

When Will We Ever Learn?

NHS recruits thousands of doctors from Third World... while limits on places deny UK students chance to study medicine

While some of Britain's brightest students are unable to get on medical courses at home, the Health Service is hiring a third of its doctors from abroad. Mail.

Syria - What The Scriptures Tell Us!

'He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.' Proverbs 26:17.

Ordination.

'The five reasons why left wingers are pure evil'.

http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2013/07/the-five-reasons-why-left-wingers-are-pure-evil/#axzz2dNrff43i

Learning Geography.

Have you ever wondered why it is an absolute must for schoolchildren to know every last detail about oxbow lakes but possess no knowledge whatsoever about the location of nations and cities?

On this topic, my daughter-in-law told me that back in the day, at least she had to learn the Motorways of the UK for her 'A' Level - a start, I suppose.

The Only Type Of Church Which Works.

Andrea Williams Speaking.

St John's Fellowship - THIS TUESDAY

Andrea Williams will be speaking at the bi-monthly meeting at St John's Fellowship on Tuesday 3rd September.  Please come along and hear her speak about the work of the Christian Legal Centre if you are in the area!

Date: Tuesday 3rd September
Time: 7.30pm
Location: St John the Evangelist, Lower Church Road, Burgess Hill RH15 9AA
Parking will be available outside the church.     Christian Concern.

UKIP Member? - Vote Jonathan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu4-7H0a1H4&feature=youtu.be
(Amusing and well worth a look.)

UKIP Demands An Honest Debate On Wind Power.

Following the revelation recently in The Daily Telegraph that the Department of Energy and Climate Change is seeking to suppress the publication of a study into the damage done by wind farms, UKIP is calling for an honest debate on the subject.
Renewable subsidies are adding huge amounts of money to the energy bills of ordinary people who are feeling the economic squeeze already. UKIP believes that huge amounts of money being paid to landowners, such as the Prime Minister's father in law, Sir Reginald Sheffield, for wind farms to be erected on their land paid for by ordinary people is immoral and further more than wind farms are ineffective, unsightly and damaging.
The government should clearly publish their findings so that we can have an honest debate on energy policy in Britain. UKIP wants a sensible energy policy built around making Britain competitive and protecting our green belt simultaneously. 

PS. My late father  used to work as a financial assistant to Sir Reginald.

Eurozone For Greece? - Total Idiocy. Even ....

 ... Angela Merkel has said that Greece should never have been allowed into the struggling Eurozone.

Philippines - Persecution.

Two Christian villages in Midsayap, Cotabato, Mindanao, were attacked by the Muslim Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on July 29 and 31. Reynaldo Aloro, a village leader who ran for help when he saw the raiders, was caught and killed.

More than 70 armed men used four boats to reach the villages and ransack homes, taking belongings such as rice, clothing and utensils. The attackers also took all the animals from the village, including goats, pigs and more than 300 ducks.
The villagers now walk to their farms by day and stay at an evacuation centre at night for fear of more attacks. The BIFF continually harass and threaten Christians as part of their campaign for a pure Islamic state.
(Source: Voice of the Martyrs USA)

• Pray that the Lord will comfort those who are mourning the loss of life and the loss of property and that He will protect and provide for them.
• Pray that God would lead members of the BIFF to repentance. Release Int.

Stop HS2.

Every day comes another body blow to the prospects of HS2 ever being built. This grand white elephant has in recent days had to suffer from reports from the Institute of Economic Affairs, which foretold a doubling of costs, the Treasury which said much the same, and today we have the happy sight of the former Chancellor who signed off the project, Alistair Darling admitting that the project should be still born. Read more...

Er ... No .... AND Who Said That The Fruit Was An Apple?

Austin Mitchell On Syria.

I listened yesterday on Radio Humberside to Labour politician Austin Mitchell who firmly suggested non-intervention in Syria.
He spoke intelligently and well. After Frank Field, he is probably the Labour MP who speaks most sense most often.
I would also wish him a rapid recovery following his heart surgery last month.

Love Jesus.

Evil: Thomas Sowell On 'Troubled Youth'.

Thomas Sowell.
When teenage thugs are called “troubled youth” by people on the political left, that tells us more about the mindset of the left than about these young hoodlums.
Seldom is there a speck of evidence that the thugs are troubled, and often there is ample evidence they are in fact enjoying themselves, as they create trouble and dangers for others.

Why, then, the built-in excuse, when juvenile hoodlums are called “troubled youth” and mass murderers are just assumed to be “insane”?

At least as far back as the 18th century, the left has struggled to avoid facing the plain fact of evil – that some people simply choose to do things that they know to be wrong when they do them. Every kind of excuse, from poverty to an unhappy childhood, is used by the left to explain and excuse evil.
All the people who have come out of poverty or unhappy childhoods, or both, and become decent and productive human beings are ignored. So are the evils committed by people raised in wealth and privilege, including kings, conquerors and slaveowners.
Why has evil been such a hard concept for many on the left to accept? The basic agenda of the left is to change external conditions. But what if the problem is internal? What if the real problem is the cussedness of human beings?
Rousseau denied this in the 18th century, and the left has been denying it ever since. Why? Self-preservation.
If the things the left wants to control – institutions and government policy – are not the most important factors in the world’s problems, then what role is there for the left?
What if it is things like the family, the culture and the traditions that make a more positive difference than the bright new government “solutions” the left is constantly coming up with? What if seeking “the root causes of crime” is not nearly as effective as locking up criminals? The hard facts show that the murder rate was going down for decades under the old traditional practices so disdained by the left intelligentsia, before the bright new ideas of the left went into effect in the 1960s – after which crime and violence skyrocketed.
What happened when old-fashioned ideas about sex were replaced in the 1960s by the bright new ideas of the left that were introduced into the schools as “sex education” that was supposed to reduce teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases?
Both teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases had been going down for years. But that trend suddenly reversed in the 1960s and hit new highs.
One of the oldest and most dogmatic of the crusades of the left has been disarmament, both of individuals and of nations. Again, the focus of the left has been on the externals – the weapons in this case.
If weapons were the problem, then gun control laws at home and international disarmament agreements abroad might be the answer. But if evil people who care no more for laws or treaties than they do for other people’s lives are the problem, then disarmament means making decent, law-abiding people more vulnerable to evil people.
Since belief in disarmament has been a major feature of the left since the 18th century, in countries around the world, you might think that by now there would be lots of evidence to substantiate their beliefs.
But evidence on whether gun control laws actually reduce crime rates in general, or murder rates in particular, is seldom mentioned by gun control advocates. It is just assumed in passing that of course tighter gun control laws will reduce murders.
But the hard facts do not back up that assumption. That is why it is the critics of gun control who rely heavily on empirical evidence, as in books like “More Guns, Less Crime” by John Lott and “Guns and Violence” by Joyce Lee Malcolm.
National disarmament has an even worse record. Both Britain and America neglected their military forces between the two World Wars, while Germany and Japan armed to the teeth. Many British and American soldiers paid with their lives for their countries’ initially inadequate military equipment in World War II.

But what are mere facts compared to the heady vision of the left?
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/07/the-see-no-evil-left/#ZswQOMYG7KK4aWJo.99

Cameron Fails To Scam Parliament Into Attacking Syria.

Hatred Of The Centre Right Is Irrational.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/243544/why-left-hates-conservatives-dennis-prager

Capitalism - The Best Argument Against?

Net Migration.

The Government's attempt to slash net migration has suffered a serious setback today after official figures revealed the first increase in more than a year because too few people left Britain.
Home Secretary Theresa May and Prime Minister David Cameron want to reduce the difference between those leaving and entering the UK from non-EU countries to less than 100,000 before 2015.
But the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed a net flow of 176,000 migrants came to the UK in the year to December 2012, up from 153,000 in the year to September 2012, ending five consecutive quarters of decline.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2405654/Government-embarrassed-UK-net-migration-emigrate.html#ixzz2dQ8b4sQ0

Yet even reducing net immigration is a scam as explained many times on this Blog.
Only if all the people arriving were immediately useful to a vastly overcrowded UK with heavy unemployment, overburdened social services of every type, a shortage of school places and housing, would this have any merit.
Only if those arriving were bringing in needed skills and those leaving were emigrating to avoid penury would this kind of thinking have either balance or value.
By and large, those leaving are people with a large disposable income or, at the other end of the scale, are part of the brain drain which is the consequence of our socialist-inspired disincentivising of our most able citizens.

UKIP Election Choices: 'Fair And Designed To Be Fair.'

When the new Ukip procedure for selecting candidates to fight for MEP seats was challenged in the High Court yesterday by somebody who didn't make the top 60 - the judge vindicated it all by stating it was: 'Fair And Designed To Be Fair.'

PS. UKIP were awarded costs!

400,000 Foreign Nationals Taking Benefits.

The number of foreign nationals claiming benefits such as Jobseeker’s Allowance has jumped by 40 per cent in just four years to more than 400,000, new government figures have disclosed. Telegraph.

CS lewis On Mud Pies.

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses

Homosexual Agenda - Fallout Is Far-Reaching.

http://global.christianpost.com/news/freedom-another-casualty-of-the-gay-agenda-103184/

Egypt: Michael Nazir-Ali Explains.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGn5V4bPND0&feature=youtu.be  
(Sound required.)

Endangered Species.

Saga Thinking.

A Populus poll run for the Saga group reveal that the over 50’s, the group most likely to vote are committed to the idea of having a say on our membership of the European Union, with large majorities in favour of a vote in every region of the country.  On average 73% want a vote, with 76% in East Anglia and 64% of Scots. When it comes to voting to leave 45% say out now and only 33% committed to remaining  part of the EU.

NO UKIP - By Order!

Westminster's snobs and robots declare war on UKIP, writes Michael Heaver.

Pretty soon they'll have to put a sign above the doors of the Houses of Parliament: "Must have studied PPE at Oxbridge, be worth at least £500,000 and led a life of little consequence or excitement."

Why do our political class look, feel and sound much the same? Not just because they largely follow the same doctrine of status-quo social democracy built on British decline and increasing national debt. It's also because the individuals themselves are grey matter, headhunted and promised protection and advancement in return for grovelling obedience . In other words, political robots with the words "Made in Westminster" stamped on their foreheads.
Read more here

Fracking? - It's A No-Brainer!

http://www.ukip.org/newsroom/blog/entry/fracking-can-deliver-uk-energy-security-and-lower-fuel-bills

Contentment.

Cameron Backs Down.

Apparently, many tory MPs are in open revolt over 'Dave's' plans to invade or attack Syria and he has had to draw his horns back in.
Interesting innit, that Nigel Farage knew what the right course was instinctively?

The A64.

The A64 from York To Scarborough is an utter disgrace and needs a complete new upgrade - with many major roads the same.
Is it really more environmentally friendly to have mega queues of slow-moving or stopped vehicles belching out pollutants than to have a free run with far fewer emissions?

SPEND HS2 MONIES ON ROAD IMPROVEMENTS!

Farage SPOT On!

Nigel Farage has warned Britain cannot go to war with Syria "on a whim,"  stating "horrible though it is, there is nothing the British military can do to make things better."

In a sensational interview on the state-run TV channel Russia Today, the UK Independence Party leader slammed calls for intervention over the escalating crisis, and warned Britain's "keenness" for involvement "could lead to something far bigger."
READ: Hans Blix Warns Obama 'US Is Not World Police'
Having already dismissed William Hague's concerns as a mere "whim" in a UKIP statement, Farage said British intervention would lead to "a row that goes on for decades."
"From the very start it's been the British Government, particularly in the shape of William Hague and indeed David Cameron himself, who throughout the entire international community have been the keenest to get involved in Syria," Farage said on RT on Tuesday.  Huff Post.

Guatemala.

Guatemalan President Names Jesus Christ Lord of Guatemala
  By Jessica Martinez

The President of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, declared Jesus Christ as the Lord of the country last week during their first national prayer breakfast. Christian News.

We Insure Cars - Why Not Our Nation?

We gladly pay insurance premiums for our cars, why not our country's security?We are being lied to – again – about the Reserve Army, writes a former senior military officer for UKIP. Under a supposedly-Conservative led government, our regular army is being reduced to 82,000 men and women, probably its lowest peacetime level per head of our population since 1688.

The last cut of this magnitude was after the American Revolutionary War, when it was reduced to a paper strength of about 50,000 and a real strength of probably 35,000 – but then the population of Britain was only around six and a half million.
We are told that the slack will be taken up by the reserves, principally the Territorial Army, which will be maintained at a strength of 36,000: really?
The current strength of the Territorial Army is around 3000 but of these, only 20,000 are trained and of these again only 16,000 regularly attend for training.
And although we are told that the head count is to be increased, units are still being disbanded: in North Wales, for example, a traditionally fertile area for TA service, the infantry presence is to be reduced to a single company of 150 men!
So, far from being increased, the reality is more contraction.
In addition to this, it is an inconvenient fact that a reservist needs a month of weekly two-hour training nights to achieve what a regular soldier does in one working day of eight hours.
Then we have to consider the willingness of employers to release their people and pay for replacements and the cost of recompensing individuals for disparities in pay while mobilised.
TA officers and soldiers always do well on operations when integrated with their regular counterparts – the high level of operational gallantry awards is proof of that. And they have been doing it throughout their history. But this is not the point here.
We also have to consider the rate of turn-over. Historically, TA units turn over at least 10% of their trained strength every year – often twice that – so that to maintain a force of 36,000, the actual strength would have to be nearer 42,000.

UKIP: NO To A Greek Bailout!

Greece needs to leave the Euro, not receive another bailout

Think About It!

Capitulation?

Threat to Religious Liberty? Canadian Ministry Opens Jobs to Non-Christian Applicants  By Tyler O'Neil

In a major policy change, one of Canada's largest ministries, Christian Horizons, will no longer force all job applicants to sign a "Statement of Faith" acknowledging the Gospel. The ministry announced, in partnership with the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) – a group which successfully sued them for discriminating against a homosexual worker – that they will open jobs to non-Christians. Christian News.

Try Reading Romans 6?

The Insanity Cannot Go On Forever.

New arrivals from Commonwealth countries automatically acquire voting rights on arrival in the UK   Mail.
Well. I'm not crazy and neither are the people I know. Successive governments however, are clearly a different matter altogether!

God's Love.

Taxation Scandal - The Most Expensive Flights In The World.

£2billion in 'holiday tax' just to escape Britain as those flying off are forced to pay Air Passenger Duty, VAT and insurance tax. The TaxPayers' Alliance said the tax take equates to an average of £56 for every many woman and child who flies overseas each year.

• It warns UK flight taxes are the most expensive in the world, adding hundreds of pounds to some holidays
• A family of six travelling to Spain 'will have faced an average tax bill of £187 on their flights and holiday purchases in the UK' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2403168/2billion-holiday-tax-just-escape-Britain-flying-forced-pay-Air-Passenger-Duty-VAT-insurance-tax.html#ixzz2dEKMd4lY

American Wisdom?

Poverty.

Jamie Oliver has said he finds it hard to talk about "modern-day poverty", saying many poor families in Britain do not know how to feed themselves and choose expensive options.

The TV chef, who has an estimated fortune worth £130m, said poor communities in other countries have a better grasp of f
ood, and often produce some of the most inspirational food.
The 38-year-old star cited a family he met while making one of his previous TV shows who ate unhealthy, fast food but had splashed out on a huge TV. Huff Post.

Tragically - this is very true. Many do not know how to shop either.

United Church Of God - Cultwatch Alert!

The United Church of God is a non-Christian cult that denies the Trinity, the true divinity of Christ, and requires both baptism and obedience to the commandments to be saved.  It teaches that there is a "God family" of which we can become members through keeping the Law.  Jesus is one of two divine beings, the Father being the other.  The Holy Spirit is a force, a power, and is not the 3rd person of the Trinity, and it is received only through the laying on of hands by their church members.  It also teaches that their members are obligated to keep the Sabbath and must observe seven festivals.  They cannot eat unclean meat.  This is a false religious system that teaches a false God, false Christ, and false gospel.  Stay away from it. CARM.

You Have Been Given The Opportunity.

Rightwing: Why Considered Worse Than Leftwing?

As this Blog has previously shown - of all the the significant European dictators, Franco alone was a rightist. (Portugal's Salazar - arguably.)
The BNP and EDL and what remains of the National Front are all parties of the left with a nasty agenda - and so we class them as being of the right. - Odd, innit?
I am reminded of the communist commissars who fought against Gorbachev's reforms in the USSR - astonishingly our leftist media regularly referred to them as - yes, you guessed - 'rightwingers'.

Hmm ... Well ... Er ... Maybe ... I Suppose ...

The Facebook Generation.

“Can you imagine doing ministry the last five hundred years and getting away with ‘Sorry, I don’t do books’? Can you imagine doing ministry in the next five years and getting away with ‘Sorry, I don’t do Facebook’?”
― Leonard Sweet, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival

Girl Guides: The Oath Discussed By Michael Nazir-Ali

http://www.christianconcern.com/media/bbc-radio-5live-bishop-michael-nazir-ali-takes-part-in-girl-guides-discussion

No Shame.

'I Can Resist Anything Except ...'

“A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is... A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Greece.

We Killed Him.

“Nobody's perfect. Well, there was this one guy, but we killed him....”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The European Commission is planning use of EU budget funds for the next rescue of Greece, roping Britain into future responsibility for shoring up the eurozone currency structure. Telegraph.

A Surprise For God - I Am Absolutely Certain!

According to pensions minister Steve Webb, God is a Liberal Democrat. Although the party has been languishing in single figures in the polls, he argues that, in the long term, it has the support of the Almighty.
Writing in a new book about the party’s relationship with Christianity, Mr Webb says it is clear from the Bible that God shares the Lib Dems’ core beliefs.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2401977/God-Hes-Liberal-says-Lib-Dem-minister-claims-party-support-Almighty-despite-languishing-polls.html#ixzz2d3IZqAGr
In one respect, he is right of course.
So-called liberal christians will be very much at home with the Lib Dems.
BUT his assertions that Christianity has anything to do with liberal christianity are simply laughable!
(Several hundred posts on this very Blog give the lie to his misguided claims. Indeed this Blog exists SOLELY because there are so many like Mr Webb out there!)

CS Lewis On Port.

“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
― C.S. Lewis

Syria - NO!

Dreadful as it is what is happening in Syria - we must NOT become involved.
Intervention could provoke: chaos, an even worse regime, a holocaust or even a world war. How can we possibly

know in advance? Moreover - do we even know which side is the one with the guys in the white hats?
EVERY intervention since we thrashed the Argies has not been our fight.
Again - let us take a leaf from Switzerland's book!

Girl Guides: Mel Attacks The New Bigotry.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2401899/MELANIE-PHILLIPS-An-unholy-war-Guides-ALL-fight-secular-bigots.html?ico=home^editors_choice

NO To Revenge!

One More 'Sexism' Myth.

A recent report suggests that boys get more pocket money than girls - not by much - but sufficient to suggest bias!
What utter balderdash! Firstly, in my rather extensive experience, this is simply not true. Girls do get more.
But look at the 'extras' and with hair dos, shoes, clothes et al - the young ladies leave the lads in their wake!

Just Common Sense.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2401974/Secular-UK-losing-plot-Chief-Rabbi-Lord-Sacks-warns-society-breaking-loss-faith.html

NO Overtaking!

UKIP: More Sense.

UKIP call for BBC non-payment to be made a civil not criminal offence.

HS2.

Today's Quote.

"Mr Darling is right. Peter Mandelson is right. Boris Johnson, Cheryl Gillan and Dan Hannan too. UKIP is right. It's an unusual alliance but it is now very clear that HS2 has become too expensive." Tim Montgomerie, Conservative Home.

Forgiving Others Is Not Optional.

Donna Edmunds On The Democracy Deficit.

Radical local government reform long overdue in UK, writes UKIP's Donna Edmunds.

Say the words 'democratic deficit' and most likely the European Union springs to mind. Countless scholarly articles have been written on whether or not the EU suffers from a democratic deficit, with proponents of the thesis pointing to low voter turnout and engagement as evidence of the deficit, writes Donna Edmunds.

Yet very little work has been done on why there is a similar lack of voter engagement at the other end of the scale, when it comes to our local councils. Indeed, the lack of engagement at either end shows some striking similarities. Voter turnout for both the last European and last county council elections was almost identical at 35 per cent on average and the electorate seems to know neither what MEPs nor councillors actually do.

But while UKIP are happy to call vociferously for the EU institutions to be cut back, few are willing to argue for cuts to local government - mainly because it is our councils that deliver key front line services such as education and housing allocation. This is a shame because structural reorganisation of our British local government system to make it streamlined, transparent and cheaper is long overdue.

The two-tier system currently found in 27 of our counties in which county councils, districts or boroughs and town or parish authorities all operate within one geographical area is a hangover from the municipal reforms that took place in the early 1970s. It was decided at that time to sweep away a 500+ year old system of boroughs, parishes and various other structures - and to enact a uniform two-tier system across the entirety of England.

However, in order to do this some modern geographical constructs such as the new county of Avon had to be formed. These were unpopular and in addition many urban districts did not like losing control of key services such as schools. So in 1986, unitary authorities were brought in in some places to replace the two tier system. This process was ongoing throughout the next three decades, with new unitary authorities being formed as recently as 2009; creating the piecemeal system we have today.

Calls for new unitary authorities continue to be made. In 2010, the Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles brought an end to bids by Exeter and Norwich councils to become unitary authorities - disappointing many citizens in those cities. Pickles claimed that the move would cost £40m over a six-year period. However, an impact assessment by his department showed that £39.4m would be saved in the same period and that a further £6.5m would be saved year on year in these two cities alone.

This week, councillors in Buckinghamshire created a petition calling for unitary authorities to be set up across their county. They estimate that £35m would be saved year on year if the district and county councils were to be merged into one or more unitary authorities. Claims that money would be saved are borne out by Cornwall Council, which, in 2009, was one of the last unitary authorities to be created. Councillors there report that in the first four years, £160m of savings were found thanks to the reorganised structure.

There is, though, a reason even more compelling than hard finance to look at unitary authorities. The confusion that the two-tier system creates, with citizens not knowing which of their councils has responsibility for what, creates a form of democratic deficit. This in turn makes it easy to deny true localism to communities, or even worse, to pass off as localism policies that in fact further centralise power.

Put simply, a more transparent, easily understood system makes it more likely that voters will understand what their council is up to and can more easily hold councillors to account on election day if needs be. That in turn gives greater incentive to our councillors to truly represent the views of local people.

A move to a unified structure also creates the perfect opportunity to push competencies down towards parish councils, which do tend to be truly representative of their communities and towards community groups, businesses and individuals. As budgets are squeezed, more and more local authorities are selling community assets to balance the books. The British people are getting quite a short sharp lesson in public ownership. They thought it meant an asset that was owned by the public. In fact, it means an asset that is owned by the government.

There is no reason why the reorganisation process could not be managed so that ownership of community assets and localised services was passed to parish councils and local groups as a matter of course. In short then, a move to a system of unitary authorities has much to recommend it. It saves money by eliminating unnecessary duplication in the system, increases transparency and in doing so aids the drive towards localism. What is not to like?

Donna Edmunds is director of Campaign for Unitary Authorities and a councillor on Lewes District Council, in the United Kingdom.

Read more: http://www.publicserviceeurope.com/article/3903/radical-local-government-reform-long-overdue-in-uk#ixzz2apDTAzUO

Cultwatch Alert - Moonies.

The Unification Church.
Teachings: Moon claimed to be the messiah of the Second Coming and his wife the Holy Spirit. He and his wife, called The True Parents where he is the True Father and his wife the True Mother, are the first couple to be able to bring forth children with no original sin. "The cross is the symbol of the defeat of Christianity." The Bible is considered scripture along with Moon’s work "Divine Principles." CARM.
PS. He died last year- and stayed dead!
PPS. This widespread cult uses brainwashing techniques developed first by the communists in the Korean War.
One must wonder how this cult can survive since his death must have been more than a shock to their theology.

Eyes On Jesus.