Monday, August 28, 2006

You Are State Property

Listening to odd bits of news during my week away, I had a feeling of the liberal tide being perhaps just past its height and now on the turn. The Government's continuing about-turn on multiculturalism, a growing acceptance among our rulers that the criminal justice system is biased in favour of the bad guys (although the pro-criminal lobby will argue that the problem lies with the stupid public's perception), the uber-liberal chair of the Youth Justice Board complaining that teachers can't discipline pupils - all straws in the wind.

But the tide is still pretty damn high. There was lots of media blather about "Fat Britain", as if it was anything to do with the Government whether we're fat or not. Aren't people responsible for their own eating and exercise regimes, and shouldn't the Government keep its nose out ?

Of course not. We - that is you and me - are taxed to pay for the NHS. And fat people use the NHS more - cost more. So your fatness is now of interest to the government. Your lifestyle is not your own. "We pay for you - we own you. And what's really funny is that we bought you with your own money."

(Of course there are exceptions to this. Practising sodomites can expect unlimited NHS resource to be applied to tackling the consequences of their lifestyle. Not so for smokers, say, or drinkers.)

The Government raises some £500 billion a year in tax - around 43% of GDP. You can buy a lot of people that way - and they do, in the form of the Guardian-reading, state-funded classes who, surprise, regularly vote for more state spending.

But that's not enough for our rulers.

"As the Government has become ever more obsessed with the issues of cultural diversity and alleged institutionalised racism, so contract compliance is sweeping through our civic order. All kinds of public organisations, from police authorities to charities, from Whitehall departments to quangos, are now demanding that private contractors prove their devotion to the new creed of the State. Given that spending on public sector procurement is estimated to be worth more than £100 billion a year, contract compliance can be used as a powerful tool of change."

Ha ! Thought you could avoid all that PC stuff in the private sector, did you ? Think again, little man.

And at the same time as the assault on the private sector commences, so the screw is tightened on public sector employees.

The professional firefighter's job is difficult and demands high standards. It requires fitness, intelligence, self-discipline, determination, integrity and compassion.

There are stressful and hazardous situations to be faced. The firefighter has to deal with these and provide comfort and reassurance to people who may be affected by them.


So says the Strathclyde Fire Service on its recruitment page. You might think the stressful and hazardous situations to be faced involve things that are burning. How wrong you'd be.

Four firefighters have appeared before a disciplinary hearing over their refusal to hand out leaflets at a gay pride march in Glasgow.

Another five men, who are also based at the city's Cowcaddens fire station, had their cases considered last month.

All nine will be given a written decision later in the week.

Some of the men were opposed to attending the event on religious grounds while others did not think it was part of their core duties.

However, gay rights campaigners argue that firefighters are public servants who cannot be seen to discriminate.

The firefighters were reported by superior officers after the Pride Scotia march in June for disobeying orders.


Words fail me. You can contact Strathclyde Leafleting Service here.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

All kinds of public organisations, from police authorities to charities, from Whitehall departments to quangos, are now demanding that private contractors prove their devotion to the new creed of the State

However since ALL public sector contracts have to be open to EU-wide tendering this might breach EU Law so i do hope someone sues in the ECJ since it is impossible for a German company to recruit enough West Indians when the German Govt only supplies Turks

Anonymous said...

it is impossible for a German company to recruit enough West Indians when the German Govt only supplies Turks

It works on local not national averages.

Anonymous said...

I had a feeling of the liberal tide being perhaps just past its height and now on the turn.

It would be wonderful if you were right, Laban; but it all sounded like spin to me. For example, Ruth Kelly now talks tough-ish about multi-culti, while the Commission deliberates for 18 months and then produces some anodyne report advocating multi-culti MkII.

Anonymous said...

The best thing for the Government to do on the subject of multiculturalism is to get out of the way and let the Muslim, Eastern European, etc., cultures blend into mainstream British culture.

The Government can't seem to understand that cramming so many different ways of life into our little island is bound to end in conflict.

Anonymous said...

Sam - the muslim culture isnt going to blend into British culture. The change will all be one way.

Also I noticed today the gov said that they were going to be tough on Bulgarians & Romanians entering the UK. They wont let them work! Not stopping them coming in though. I take that as a tacit nod to employers, that they can take on as many illegals as they want.

So we have a minimum wage but we will allow it be completely undermined by the black economy.

Lurker

Anonymous said...

^ On the contrary. If the Government reformed the education system to stop preaching about multiculturalism and celebrate British traditions and history, then young Muslims could gain the benefit of learning about native British culture.

Trust me, History lessons as taught at the moment try to give as little cause to celebrate as possible to Britain. Everything has to be scrutinised and criticised. Even the heroic efforts of teh RAF pilots in the Battle of Britain are put under question.

At least the Government had the sense to start giving a greater focus to the British Empire. The problem now is trying to get schools to teach at least some of the benefits of the British Empire.

(By the way, I know some of you will think that this is against my saying that the Government should keep its nose out, but the Government actually runs the national curriculum.)

staghounds said...

The firemen are in the wrong. If the fire department, or army, or private employer want to recruit at the buggers' parade, then they have a right to send their employees to do the recruiting. The employees have the right to quit.

Same if the the fireman is a Moslem who doesn't want to put out a fire at the sausage factory. Religion is a private matter.

Anonymous said...

Scottish Firemen are wrong. As this press release shows the buggers need them all the time.

This is an actual article from the LA Times…

“In retrospect, lighting the match was my big mistake. But I was only trying to retrieve the gerbil,” Eric Tomazewski told bemused doctors in the Severe Burn Unit of Salt Lake City Hospital. Tomazewski and his homosexual partner Andrew “Kiki” Farnum had been admitted for emergency treatment after a felching session had gone seriously wrong.

“I pushed a cardboard tube up his rectum and slipped Raggot, our gerbil, in.”, he explained. “As usual, Kiki shouted out ‘Armageddon’, my cue that he’d had enough. I tried to retrieve Raggot but he wouldn’t come out again, so I peered into the tube and struck a match, thinking the light might attract him.”


At a hushed press conference, a hospital spokesman described what happened next. “The match ignited a pocket of intestinal gas and a flame shot out of the tubing, igniting Mr. Tomazewski’s hair and severely burning his face. It also set fire to the gerbil’s fur and whiskers which ignited a larger pocket of gas further up the intestine, propelling the rodent out like a cannonball. Tomazewski suffered second degree burns and a broken nose from the impact of the gerbil, while Farnum suffered first and second degree burns to his anus and lower intestinal tract.