Nutts about drugs

The sacking of Professor David Nutt as Government chief drugs adviser was criticised by an unholy alliance of Guardianistas and Brown-bashers, the former seeing it as giving support to liberalising drugs policy, the latter as more evidence that the government are unwilling to tolerate dissent or criticism.

But, once you look into it more closely, Prof. Nutt’s message is as much anti-alcohol as pro-drug.

I heard a radio interview with him yesterday in which he said that if he had his way alcohol would be a Class B controlled drug. He also refused to be drawn on whether the harm caused by ecstasy, proportionate to the number of users and the frequency of use, was less or more than that caused by alcohol. The interviewer, to be fair, did press him on that particular point and he waffled and prevaricated, but he wasn’t asked the vital question as to whether he consumed alcohol himself.

He also said that “parents should be aware that the drug that is by far the most likely to harm their children is alcohol” – without adding the essential caveat that any drug can only harm you if you actually use it. Obviously parents don’t want their offspring either pissed on Diamond White or stoned on skunk, but I would imagine the vast majority would prefer them to have a glass or two of wine or beer rather than a daily joint.

It’s often said, by Prof. Nutt and others, that alcohol is more dangerous than many illegal drugs. It always seems to me that they are clouding the issue by confusing the overall effect on society with the effect on individuals. Obviously, given the prevalence of alcohol in society, it is not surprising that more people in total experience harmful effects. But is it true that it is more dangerous on a proportionate basis? I really don’t think so.

For a start, many people consume alcohol as much (if not more) for the taste as for the effect. I’m not aware that you can say that for any other drug. And, more importantly, alcohol can be consumed in moderation through an adult lifetime without any adverse health effects, and even with some small benefits. Other drugs such as cannabis, ecstasy, LSD and cocaine must be judged against the same yardstick.

In the final analysis, Nutt is not a hero of rationality and free speech, he is just, at heart, another Righteous bansturbator.

Edit 01/11/09: There's a very interesting commentary on the issue here from Frank Davis: A Plague on Both Their Houses.

How to alienate your customers

At a time when scarcely a day goes by that we don’t hear of another soldier dying in Afghanistan, the insensitivity of Kent licensee Bernice Walsh is beyond belief:

Landlady Bernice Walsh, of The Windmill, in Weald, Kent, told former RAF serviceman David Marchant that people could buy poppies ‘somewhere else’ when he asked her permission to leave a poppy tray in her pub.

She sounds like the kind of person who really believes in making her pub part of the community:

Another villager, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s a shame because people in the village want to support her, but she keeps rubbing people up the wrong way.

“We need a pub - it was closed for six months and then she came and everyone was really pleased about it, but immediately she banned dogs and it's a village pub and people like to take their dogs in so it’s upset an awful lot of people.”

She should remember that the community doesn’t need her, but she needs them. And Remembrance is not about the glorification of war but about the courage and sacrifice of the ordinary soldier. I wonder how long it will be before the Windmill gets a new licensee...

First quenched

It takes a special kind of genius to file for bankruptcy when the overall business sector in which you operate is seeing increased sales, but that is what First Quench, owners of Threshers and other various off-licences, have achieved. This came on the day when it was reported that off-trade beer sales had grown by 4.4%. They have experienced the fate of many mid-market operators in other sectors – caught between the supermarkets, the hard discounters, the specialists and the convenience of the local corner store. Maybe it’s not a good idea to give alcohol licences to newsagents, but that is the reality of the market in which First Quench had to operate and they never really came to terms with it. Their stores were always about the most expensive for any product on offer, and someone else always had a wider range of everything they sold, so there was never a compelling reason for anyone to shop there. I suspect this will mark the beginning of the end for the old-fashioned off-licence.

You may also like to answer the poll on the left about where you buy alcohol in the off-trade - remember that you can choose more than one option.

Critical mass

York is a major historic city with a thriving tourist trade, and as such you would expect it to have a good number of busy pubs. But it always seems to me that, even taking that into account, York seems to support considerably more pubs than you might think, and certainly more proportionately than comparable cities such as Chester, with several new ones opening up in recent years. A recent CAMRA mini-guide showed well over 60 establishments serving independently-brewed cask beer within and just outside the city walls. It seems to me there is a “critical mass” factor at work here, where the existence of good pubs encourages an interest in beer and pubgoing creates a virtuous circle that leads other pubs to thrive.

You can see something along the same lines in the South Manchester suburb of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, which is a prosperous and somewhat “yuppified” area (typical of many city suburbs across the country) where a lot of new bars have opened up and there are probably more than twice as many on-licences as there once were. A lot of these places, such as the Bar, the Marble Beer House and Dulcimer, do offer something interesting on the beer front, but they aren’t by any means exclusively or indeed mainly used by beer buffs.

In contrast, it often seems that failure breeds failure. Some of Manchester’s more down-market suburbs such as Levenshulme have lost more than half their pubs. If nobody else in your circle goes to pubs, then you won’t either. As Chris Maclean says here:

Worse still is the idea that you can profit from another’s demise. People believe that if their nearest competitor is destroyed in this process somehow they’ll be able to mop up the additional business. How wrong can they be? A closed pub seems to blight the area. It seems to me that, if you drive through an area, if one pub is shut then the others nearby are struggling.

This becomes very relevant when we consider the oft-heard suggestion that the decline in pubgoing means that a lot more pubs need to close to give the others a chance to survive. It isn’t anywhere near as simple as that.

It is certainly true that, if the demand for pubgoing falls, then over time the number of pubs will fall too. In fact the closure of pubs tends to lag considerably behind the fall in demand, so you end up with a number of struggling pubs with few customers which in itself can be somewhat offputting. It is also impossible to consider this subject without reiterating the point that if you introduce an external legislative constraint that makes pubs significantly less appealing to half their customers, the results are fairly predictable.

But, on the other hand, it doesn't necessarily follow that, if you reduce the number of pubs, it makes the others stronger. The decision to visit a pub is very much dependent on a specific combination of location and circumstance, and if you alter one factor it may well sway the whole decision. People visit pubs for a vast range of reasons about which it’s difficult to generalise, and it’s all too easy for commentators to assume that others’ motivation tends to be the same as their own. Probably making a deliberate decision to go to the pub in preference to other leisure options only accounts for a minority of visits.

As an example, if someone regularly walks to a pub in their village, and that pub closes, the odds are he’ll stop going to the pub entirely rather than use whatever means available to go three miles to the pub in the next village. Even if he does occasionally go to the other pub, he’s unlikely to go there anywhere near as often. In contrast, if the petrol station closed in his village, he would drive three miles to the nearest one rather than stop driving. And even if there are other pubs easily accessible, there may be very good reasons why the customers of one closed pub won’t use those that remain.

Many of the pubs that have closed have been ones on free-standing sites in the middle of extensive areas of housing, where there are no other pubs nearby, which from a narrow rational view of demand you might have expected to have a secure future.

This strongly suggests that simply culling the number of pubs will not guarantee the survival and prosperity of those that remain. What is more important is encouraging the interest and attitude of mind that leads people to visit pubs.

(this post is a revised and expanded version of my response to this blog post by Jesusjohn)

.. AND WHAT ABOUT THESE CHIIIILDREN ...?

So next time the Govt tells you it's for the sake of the chiiiildren .... you will know they only mean the nice middle class ones and not these who don't seem to matter at all.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091027/tuk-children-of-prisoners-overlooked-6323e80.html

Eating the whole barn

One of the few recent success stories in the pub dining market has been the rise of Whitbread’s Taybarns all-you-can eat concept, typically converted from former Brewer’s Fayre outlets. They are now serving over 10,000 people a week in some of the busier branches and there are plans to open 30 more next year. Predictably, the food snobs are outraged, claiming it will lead to binge eating. “The irony is that if you give people complete and unadulterated choice they eat a narrower range of food simply because they can - you can eat burgers every day if you like” says Professor Martin Caraher, professor of food and health policy at City University London. Ah yes, we can’t be giving the plebs freedom of choice, they have to be told to eat what’s good for them. You’ll eat that lentil salad whether you like it or not!

While undoubtedly to some extent the format will appeal to gluttons, in reality, as I have argued before, people have for various reasons become more choosy with their food and are increasingly frustrated by the conventional combinations dictated to them by standard menus. The key appeal of all-you-can-eat is not so much quantity as freedom of choice. Indeed, given the excessive portion sizes in many conventional eateries, it’s likely that some of the customers of all-you-can-eat venues actually value the fact that they only need to select as much as they want, and they don’t end up being embarrassed by leaving substantial quantities on their plate, so in fact end up eating less, not more. This point is reinforced in this article where Whitbread manager Simon Ewins says Taybarns orders the same amount of chips for 8,000 meals a week as the previous pub ordered for 2,000. Probably a lot of those chips with the 2,000 meals were left on the plate.

Taybarns may not be a gourmet’s paradise, but I suspect it’s here to stay. However, might we see in the future the all-you-can-eat concept attracting the same kind of Righteous indignation that all-you-can-drink does?

HATE THE PARENTS PUNISH THE CHILD

Great job Yvette Cooper. You hate underclass parents so you take tough measures to punish their children just because you think this will get you a few more votes.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091026/tuk-benefits-reforms-family-friendly-6323e80.html

You disgust me! Who do you think will end up in greater poverty thanks to this new policy? And, I might add, where exactly are the fucking jobs for these parents coming from? "Family friendly" indeed. The country isn't fucking McDonalds and it isn't a theme park!

So now we have it confirmed that politicians have no sense of hunor. The state scroungers in Parliament that get paid too much, and steal more of your hard earned tax than any single parent family, have no brains or intellect either. God - how did this country get to scrape the barrel so low.

REVEALED - POLITICIANS HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOUR

So now we know although it wasn't a hard guess - politicians obviously have trouble seeing the funny side of British Comedy.

I've just read this http://bastardoldholborn.blogspot.com/2009/10/nothing-to-hideeverything-to-fear.html on Old Holborn's blog and it made me shiver. They may not like comedian Mark Thomas' humour but that doesn't make him a "domestic extremist" . What, exactly, is one of those when it's at home anyway?

When a man can be held up as some sort of danger to the UK just because those in power don't see the funny side of his jokes, then we have very serious opression. Gulp!

Welcome to Alcohol Alley

There has been a bout of predictable hand-wringing in the media in response to this Manchester Evening News report about the “alcohol alley” of Moston Lane in North Manchester, where apparently there are 22 outlets selling alcohol in a 1.4 mile stretch. The Sun and Daily Mail have both got in on the act. But surely that is typical of any urban high street – along a shorter stretch of leafy Heaton Moor Road, and the adjacent Shaw Road, in Stockport, there are maybe 4 pubs, a social club, 5 café-bars, 5 off-licences and 5 restaurants, giving roughly the same concentration. And the existence of off-licences is a reflection of demand, it doesn’t create it out of thin air.

I have to say I’m not entirely happy about the granting of alcohol licences to every two-bit newsagent, where supervision is inevitably going to be less firm than in supermarkets or specialist shops, but on the other hand we don’t want to head towards the Scandinavian model of queueing up like social outcasts at a grim outlet of the state-controlled alcohol monopoly. And isn’t the fact that three pubs on Moston Lane have closed down likely to have much more to do with the smoking ban, which has scythed through urban locals across the country? What a ridiculous comment from Bob Hill of the residents’ association that this signifies “a shift from sociable drinking to boozing in the streets” – how much of the off-trade alcohol is actually drunk on the streets as opposed to in people’s houses?

STATE STEALS LESS THAN PERFECT 10 COUPLE'S KIDS

I just can't believe how we are moving forward as a society. I am absolutely disgusted by this :

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091022/tuk-seven-fat-family-children-in-care-6323e80.html

When will this persecution of people's lifestyles stop?

This sort of move will create more votes for the BNP. Why doesn't the country's leaders recognise how damaging this sort of action is to society?

I'm depressed. There is no hope. I suggest we all start looking at which country we should emigrate to. Britain has been brought to her knees and her people enslaved by civil servants.

What pubs are really about

Every Saturday, the Daily Telegraph Weekend section has an article about a featured pub. Those written by Adrian Tierney-Jones, as is today’s about the Hunters Inn in North Devon, are generally very good, and concentrate on what the pub is really like. But, unfortunately, some of the other writers spend most of the piece describing the menu and only as an afterthought may mention what beers are on the bar and say something about the character of the place.

Regrettably, much of the writing about pubs that you come across in the mainstream media seems to make the assumption that serving meals is the primary purpose of pubs – a view that is also the fundamental premise of the Good Pub Guide. This is not another rant about pubs “going over to food” – of course pub food is here to stay and some of it can be very good. But surely the key purpose of pubs is to provide somewhere for people to meet and socialise, lubricated by a few drinks, and this is something we should never lose sight of. Fortunately a recent pub crawl around Stockport Market Place showed the tradition of a good night in the pub to be alive and well in a number of establishments, in particular the Boar’s Head and the Arden Arms.

And the recent Channel 4 documentary underlined the point – what the former regulars of the Red Lion at Longden Common missed was not the meals out but the sociability of the pub.

Minimum doubts

A question mark has been raised over the Scottish government’s plans to introduce minimum alcohol pricing by a European court ruling that minimum tobacco pricing breaches competition rules. Hopefully they will realise how misguided and fraught with unintended consequences the plan is before it comes to fruition, but to see it thrown out in court would certainly provide a delicious moment of Schadenfreude.

BRITAIN'S POLITICAL SHAME

This is the first chance I've had all day to write up my thoughts on the Question Time programme last night. I didn't want to use a photo of Nick Griffin because, quite simply, I'm sick of the sight of his face after seeing it all week plastered over every newspaper and TV screen. Baroness Warsi is much more attractive, and for me, the best speaker last night.

She is sharp and witty and she has an incisive mind. She'd also done her homework and it was certainly news to me that so many Asian people stood by our side during two world wars. I guess the more educated amongst you probably already knew.

I felt Griffin was set up but then the BBC was never going to make it easy for him. Within minutes I was cringing and squirming in my seat. Car crash TV without a doubt and strangely compelling. I honestly turned on the telly with an open mind to watch and I had no preconceptions. I wanted to hear what he had to say and I wanted to believe that he wasn't really racist. He talked crap, not very intelligently, and his comment that "The Klu Klux Clan is a fine organisation" was all I needed to hear to persuade me that the new BNP is much the same as the old one. Only one of his policies seemed to make sense and that was to keep the Olympics in Athens - their place of origin. I've never understood why, when we are so skint as a country, that we are ploughing so much wasteful money into the 2012 event. Why should it matter if it's held here or not? I understand some houses have been demolished to make room for this - and I'm guessing they are mostly white working/underclass who have been moved on. The Londoners among you can probably put me right on this but I'd be interested to know.

Certainly if the games were held in Athens, then China's residents wouldn't have been kicked out of their homes to make way for the event there last year. Anyway, I digress slightly.

The BNP is, unfortunately, gaining the support of mostly white underclass who politicians have ignored and, let's be honest, a lot of bloggers have slagged off. They feel excluded and discriminated against and they see Griffin as the only person who cares about their rights and their plight. Labour is more to blame for the shameless way the party has halted social mobility for these people effectively trapping them without hope of escape - ever.

When one of these families - very much in the minority - has a Baby P case, the majority are tarred with the same brush and knee-jerk reactionary laws are made against them. They are told they are bad parents, they are benefit cheats, and that they are the scum of the earth. Chavs. One such chav, who gave a three year old child a cigarette to smoke, was debated the week before on QT. One person in the audience said it was a good job he had been found out because it would probably end up as another baby P case. This was an asumption based on two things - he smoked and he was a chav. That's why this class of people is so angry and see hope in a scumbag like Griffin. They have no one else. Politicians don't even knock on their doors at election time. They don't think they are worth the effort of reaching.

The BNP can be beaten but we need our main stream politicians to get their heads out of their arses, for want of a better phrase. When I look at the likes of Peter Hain, I just know that won't happen. He doesn't want to make anyhting right. He just wants to condemn, continue to condemn, and say "because I don't like it, you can't do it." Sorry Peter, if you want dignity to return to our people then I suggest you stop looking down your nose at those less fortunate then yourself who you clearly despise.

My initial reaction was that Griffin was such an idiot that he would lose votes and his EU seat. Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be the case. The news this evening was reporting how people stopped him in the street to shake his hand and how there has been a surge in support for the BNP.

We need more than ever for our main stream politicians to show us they have some talent, some compassion, and they are prepared to listen to make changes that people want.

I know the smoking ban is leading some people to the BNP. By just amending this, a lot of those disaffected and disenfranchised smokers would return to their old parties. There is no reason why they should at present. I would say that voters who have been turned away from their traditinal voting habits because of the smoking ban should vote UKIP. That is a party of hope. It isn't racist. It does knock on the doors of the underclass, the lords, ethnic peoples, and the empirical Britons. It is a party for all and our best hope of squeezing the BNP out.

I am glad Griffin was on, however, because I felt it was time we had the racism debate - a taboo subject for too long - and I felt the air had been cleared. Politcians need to take a very serious look at what is happening in the political process. It isn't about their own personal careers - take note Mr Camoron with your all women shortlist of favourites and the pets you are flying into safe seats - it is about the service they should be giving the British people. Our British people and not Griffin's "British" people. I'm not sure he even knows himself what he means.

Labour MP Diane Abbott hit the nail on the head when she said on This Week - after Question Time - that when Mandleson, Brown, and Blair created New Labour to attract the middle class vote, they were warned it could lose them their core vote. Mandy said these core suporters had no where else to go and so it didn't matter that the Party had abandoned them. Well, Mr Mandleson, are you listening and are you watching? They have found somewhere else to go. This is yet another example of the grave damage you and your party have done to the UK. I hope that you are proud of yourselves. I am sure that when we the voters kick you out, the last place you will want to live is in this hellhole you have helped to create.

COURT FILE

MAN GREW CANNABIS TO HELP WITH CASH CRISIS

Police who searched Mervyn Berridge’s Gainsborough home found two cannabis plants growing in an airing cupboard, a court heard.

Lincoln magistrates were told that he grew them under lights but he had no intention of using the plants which he had been given to grow to help him out of a financial tight-spot,

Berridge (46) of Pilham Court, Riseholme Road, Gainsborough, admitted cultivating cannabis on October 2.

Tony Freitas, repsenting, said Berridge was left with three grown up children after his wife left and he had a lot of things to cope with.

“He was being chased by debt recovery companies and was approached by someone who said this was a way he could make some money. He stupidly accepted and took two plants,” Mr Freitas said.

“He doesn’t use cannabis himself, and he is very anti-drug, but he took these on the basis of making a few easy pounds. It was an act of sheer desperation.”

Magistrates adjourned the case until November 5 for the preparation of pre-sentence reports.

FORMER JUNIOR CHEF OF THE YEAR IN COURT

Former young chef of the year Mark John Alsop narrowly escaped jail after he punched a man unconscious after a bar room brawl, a court heard.

Lincoln magistrates were told Alsop, who won the West Lindsey title in 2007, was seen on CCTV to pursue the victim and attack him three times.

Deborah Cartwright, prosecuting, said at one stage, the man was pursued by Alsop’s group and he crossed over the road several times to avoid them.

“The defendant had a disagreement with the victim in the Walkabout pub,” she said.

“Alsop punched the man outside on Silver Street. The man ran to the other side of the road.

“Alsop pursued him and punched him again.

“The victim crossed the road for the third time and got away again, and was followed by a group of males.

“The defendant then punched him again so hard, the victim fell to the floor unconscious. He lay there for several minutes until he was helped to his feet by passers by.”

Mrs Cartwright told the court that when arrested, Alsop told police that a male bumped into him on the dance floor in Walkabout and there was verbal argument.

“He says the victim pushed him so that the other male could punch him. The defendant then retaliated when he later saw the victim on Silver Street.”

Alsop (19) of Padmore Lane, Upton, Gainsborough, admitted assault on October 10.

Tony Freitas, representing, said there had been some pushing and shoving in the pub where Alsop’s group was outnumbered three to one.

“He does accept his actions were wrong. He was assaulted earlier and was angry but he accepts that retaliation is not self defence.”

Magistrates warned Alsop he could face jail but after reading pre-sentence reports, they imposed a community penalty of 250 hours of unpaid work. Alsop also has to pay £250 compensation and £85 costs.

MAN TOOK WEAPON TO CHIP SHOP AFTER ROW

An altercation in a chip shop led Darren Cook to go hom,e and fetch a baseball bat, a court heard.

Lincoln magistrates were told that police were called to reports of two men fighting on Scotter High Street but then they arrived, they found the defendant in possession of a baseball bat which was found in his jacket.

Deborah Cartwright, prosecuting, said Cook told police he had been drinking at home with a friend when they decided to go to the chippy for some food.

“His friend was involved in some sort of altercation. Cook said the chip shop owner believed he was also involved,” she said.

“He maintained that the owner took off his belt and swung it around. Cook said he was struck on the leg and he showed officers a bruise. He also said he had a bump on his head but there was no sign of this.

“He managed to get away and thereafter he went home and armed himself with the baseball bat. He didn’t intend to use it but took it as protection because he thought the chip shop owner was intimidating.”

Cook (23) of Polar Grove, Scotter, admitted possession of an offensive weapon on October 2.

Jennifer Musgrove, representing, said this offence pre-dated another matter which resulted in a suspended sentence for Cook.

“He does have a lot of personal issues and he suffers from depression. A community order would benefit him greatly,” she said.

“He felt intimidated by the people he was up against and so he carried the weapon for his own security.”

Magistrates adjourned the case until Monday afternoon for the preparation of reports before sentencing.

POLISH WORKER OVER THE LIMIT

Polish factory worker Marcin Zajac was stopped by police because his car was weaving across the road, a court heard.

Lincoln magistrates were told that officers saw his car on Trent Bridge and followed as it turned onto Bridge Street in Gainsborough.

Deborah Cartwright, prosecuting, said when police spoke to Zajac he smelled of intoxicants and analysis of his breath revealed he had 59mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Zajac (26) of Ashcroft Road, Gainsborough, admitted drink driving on October 2.

Tony Freitas, representing, said the defendant had been drinking with a friend as they worked on a car in a garage. He had three beers.

“He didn’t realise how much he had drunk and that it would put him over the limit,” Mr Freitas said.

Magistrates banned Zajac from driving for 12 months with a three month reduction if he competes a rehabilitation course. He was fined £220, orderd to pay costs of £85 and a £15 Government surcharge.

Limit cut parked

There was a rare piece of good news for licensees and pubgoers in the Irish Republic as Prime Minister Brian Cowan – the son of a County Offaly publican – announced that plans to lower the drink-drive limit from 80mg to 50mg were to be “parked”, following the threat of a back-bench revolt. Irish pubs are already reeling following the smoking ban, and this move would have led thousands more to call last orders. Given that the vast majority of accidents attributed to drink-driving are caused by drivers well over the current legal limit, it has always seemed to me that cutting the limit is a far better way of discouraging responsible people from going to the pub than of improving road safety.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN TOBACCOLAND

William Cooke over at the Tobaccoland blog puts forward a good argument on the use of medical marijuana or rather one bigot's attempt to stop people from using it for medical reasons because he personally doesn't believe it does any good.

As part of the light blogging rule I promised myself, I thought I'd link to some great stories in cyberspace and bloggers who are far more articulate on some issues than I am.

I do, actually, believe that it is time we began to take a mature look at drug use in this country. The current status quo doesn't solve anything, doesn't lead to reduced drug use, causes more harm to both drug users and victims of drug related crime, and it stands from a hysterical viewpoint. I do think it is time we had a serious debate about the future of drugs and the pros and cons of decriminalisation and even possibly, in some instances, legalisation. However, in health obsessed Britain, I doubt very much that it's going to happen.

Anyway, have a read of Tobaccoland. A great blog.

http://tobaccoland.blogspot.com/2009/10/mike-gimbel-dangerous-recovering-addict.html

BLOGGING

This image came to my attention from my Facebook friend Claire Khaw. What can I say as a blogger with 14 followers?

HISTORY IN THE MAKING TONIGHT

Oh, I am so looking forward to tonight's Question Time. It will be history in the making as the country finally matures and accepts that free speech is important and proves it by allowing one of the most hated bigots in Britain today the chance to say his piece.

I understand that one of the guests will be Baroness Varzi - an Asian with a very sharp mind and tongue. Get out of that one, Griffin, if you can. I'm sure she will make mincemeat out of you!

I'd also suggest that readers absorb this piece in today's Independent before watching the show. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-bnp-when-you-watch-question-time-tonight-1806874.html

Despite my loathing of Griffin and the BMP's political stance and white supremacy ideology, I do have to say that I admire courage in any form and that man must be brave. I mean, who, exactly, would want to be the face of that party? Certainly not me. Whoever sits in that hot seat will always be the most hated man in Britain. There must be literally millions of people who would be proud to say they punched him on the nose or worse.

Explosive drinking

In contrast to the tendentious nonsense spouted the other week by Strathclyde chief constable Stephen House that you were less likely to experience violence by going to the pub than by staying at home, Emma Reynolds of Tesco has stated that drinking in the pub is potentially more explosive than doing so at home. She sort of has a point, in that most examples of alcohol-related violence occur in or near licensed premises, and you’re unlikely to come to much harm sitting in front of the fire with a couple of bottles.

But, in reality, the risks involved in going to the pub are pretty small too, especially if you choose your venue sensibly. I struggle to recall when I last saw anything “kicking off” in a pub, and I’m quite often in pubs late Friday or Saturday nights. The biggest risk is probably being involved in a road accident on your way home, especially if you’ve had a bit to drink and are walking.

All this business of saying drinking in the pub is better than at home, or vice versa, is really a false opposition cooked up by the anti-drink lobby to try to divide and rule, and sadly taken up by some defenders of pubs who really should know better. In reality, most people’s experience of drinking alcohol will cover a mixture of the two depending on circumstances.

KAPOW - WRITING WITH IMPACT

Fiction writing at it's best can be found in the book above available to buy from Nottingham Trent University, through me. £5 - bargain!

Of course, I would say it's great because one of my short stories is in it. I also know that it's crammed with the imagination of some damn talented students with contributions from award winning professional writers, who also happen to be our tutors, including Graham Joyce, David Almond, Georgina Lock, David Belbin, and Mahendra Solanki.

The new term, and my final year of study for my MA, started last week and I felt overwhelmingly inspired but at the same time terrified. We read and critiqued three pieces and I was truly amazed at the way my fellow students painted landscapes with well chosen words and methaphors. However, in two week's time it will be my turn to go under the spotlight and I'm working hard to match the standard of quality that has now been set.

I'm working on a short story about infidelity and I'm vountarily and involuntarily thinking about it all the time. It's got so deep into my head that it's physically making me sick. I'm even dreaming about it. I had a strange one the other night all about an engagement ring and the loss of two of it's four purple stones and I'm wondering where I can fit that metaphor into my story. I'm not entirely sure that this obsession is good for my health but I am almost there with it so the pain will be worth it. The resolution is bothering me a bit, though. Being an optimist about relationships, I'm trying to find a happy ending for my couple. Is love enough to forgive infidelity or does pride, self-respect, even sexism, come into the decision making process? (answers on a postcard, please, or the comments section below!)

This obsession and the amount of hard slog that I know is coming my way over the next year means there may be times when my blogging is light. If anyone wants to help me out and guest blog, get in touch. Otherwise I'll do my best to update as often as I can. I'm sure something is bound to hit the news that will have me screaming like my mate Banshee.

I'm not sure how many copies of the book are still available for sale, as it was published last summer, but if readers are interested in getting a copy, I can at least take orders. NTU students publish a similar anthology every year.

This book below is one that I wrote back in 2001 but it isn't fiction. It's local history and a damn good read as well. £5 - bargain. It's about the Lincoln riots of 1911 and the failure of the authorities to deal with three nights of violence. I think binge-drinking had a huge part to play here as well as the struggle of the working man (at least he could smoke back then!) Copies available from me.

Does it ever stop?

Scarcely a day seems to go by at present without some self-appointed “expert” from the medical profession clamouring for new curbs on alcohol. This is the latest dictatorial nonsense in today’s Guardian: Alcohol is worse than cigarettes. So why should everyone’s freedom be curbed because a 24-year-old woman in Derby died from alcoholic liver disease? And does it really matter if more than half the population are drinking more than the official guidelines, given that these figures were made up in the first place and have no scientific basis? This is what is in store for us:

Curbs on ads will have to be accompanied by restrictions on sponsorship and opening hours, minimum unit pricing, and a re-evaluation of the delusion that under-age drinking around the family table encourages responsible drinking. I would argue that every health district requires a named individual responsible for local awareness, early detection and effective support and treatment.

COURT STUFF

CHILLING WITH MATT

I've just sunk into my chair as I listen to this debut album from Matt Stevens and I'm so chilled, I could slide right off my seat.

A good beat, some fantastic guitar playing, and I'm feeling somewhere between a 1970s hippy beach party, and a Spanish siesta in searing heat, while listening to the distant echo of 1980s reggae.

For more informaiton about Matt and how to buy his debut album Echo, see here : http://www.mattstevensguitar.com/

Falling off a cliff

Despite all the hysteria in the media about “binge-drink Britain” and our “ever-growing” alcohol problems, the actual facts tell a completely different story, with alcohol consumption falling at the fastest rate for more than 60 years. Indeed, it has been falling steadily for the past five years, despite the introduction of “24-hour drinking”. So remind me again why we need mandatory codes, minimum pricing and all the rest of the panoply of anti-drink measures that are being touted. Obviously the BBPA have an axe to grind, but they are spot-on in pointing out that it doesn’t automatically follow that reducing overall consumption leads to a fall in “problem drinking” and therefore a more targeted approach is needed rather than making everyone suffer.

Cats' protection

Following his speech at the Tory Conference, I wrote to Chris Grayling to express my concern that his plans were likely to adversely affect independent craft producers of beer and cider. I specifically mentioned Robinson’s Old Tom in my letter.

To his credit, he replied very promptly. He said:

Can I reassure you of one thing, though – our plans for a tighter regime for “super-strength” beers and ciders specifically exclude exemptions for traditional craft products – so small producers should not have to worry that we will inadvertently make their lives more difficult in future.

Fair enough, but no promise to protect Old Tom there. I still think this whole plan will run into the sands over the obvious difficulty of making qualitative distinctions between alcoholic drinks of similar strength. I know Tennent’s Super is crap and Duvel is a quality craft product, but how can you enshrine that in a tax system? And, let us be honest, there are parts of the West Country where farmhouse scrumpy plays the same role in society as Tennent’s Super does in central Scotland.

PASSIVE SMOKING CAUSES 5,000,000 LIARS A YEAR

This study explains why we cannot believe the current manipulated studies used by our Govt to persecute and criminalise smokers because of outright lies that passive smoking kills millions every year.

Read it and share it and let the truth be out :

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1837975/secondhand_smoke_prevents_lung_cancer.html?cat=5

THE PERSECUTION CONTINUES

It appears that a lorry driver has been ripped off in fines and costs to the tune of £1,700 for flicking ash out of his cab window.

The offence was reported by an jobsworth environmental health officer who was standing 88ft away.

The only criminal act here is the non-stop persecution of law abiding and hard working smokers who are now seen as an easy target by the Treasury which has afew coffers to fill now that lying, stealing scumbag MPs have bled the country dry.

http://freedom-2-choose.blogspot.com/2009/10/no-justice-for-smokers-anywhere.html?showComment=1255716964846#c5009339117399690876

CAN YOU JUST REPEAT THAT PLEASE....

It appears Jan Moir, the columnist who upset the gay community, see post update below, has apologised and said that she never intended to upset anyone nor did she intend to be homophobic.

Talking about the death of Boyzone Singer Stephen Gately, she said this : "Yes, anyone can die at anytime of anything"

Jan - do you reckon you could repeat that loud enough for your editors at the Mail to hear. Judging by the unchallenged hate campaign your paper is running against smokers, with yet another false and lying story about how heart attacks have gone down since the Totalitarian Blanket Smoking Ban, I think they need some sort of education.

Shall we just repeat what you said again "YES ANYONE CAN DIE AT ANY TIME OF ANYTHING ..."

Presumably you now accept that it is not just smoking that kills so please do us a favour and tell the sanctimonious Daily Mail to get off decent, law-abiding, heavily taxed and criminalised smokers' backs!

TELL A LIE OFTEN ENOUGH ....

It appears that the Daily Mail is continuing to spread lies about smokers and I can only assume it is taking Adolf Hitler's advice that propaganda can be believed if you tell a lie so often, it becomes ingrained as truth.

Thank God, therefore, for people like Chris Snowdon who analyses the pile of rubbish in this shameful rag and other newspapers that are clearly jumping on the bandwaggon to keep up with the bigotry against a minority group.

http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.com/2009/10/when-lies-so-big.html

UPDATE : It seems as if the Gay Community has rallied round after a piece appeared appeared in the Daily Mail which

they thought was homophobic. Within hours of word getting out through Facebook Statuses and Tweets, they have

managed to get the advertisers to pull their ads off the page that they find so offensive.

http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk/blog/jan-moir-ads-pulled/

I just wish that after all of the support that minority groups like homosexuals have had from the general community that

they would now show some solidarity to the minority group of smokers. Despite the fact that the same newspaper has

lied through it's teeth on heart attack rates since the smoking ban, it is not challeneged by Gays, Ethnic minorities or

anyone else except smokers and it is legal, and fashionable, these days not to give a damn what they have to say.

Why can't these powerful "minorty" groups not empathise with smokers? It seems Orwell was a very perceptive man.

Not only did he predict the Totalitarian nightmare we are now living in, he also predicted that some people would be far

more equal than others.

NIGEL EXPOSES GORDON BROWN AS A FOOL

This man just gets better. This is exactly the sort of politician we need in Parliament. Britain would benefit just by him being elected as the MP for Buckingham. How much pride we could rediscover in being British if he was PM. How much more we would know, and how much less the country would be damaged, if only he was the opposition leader.

Judging by last night's Question Time, the public love him, they hear common sense and truth in his words. It's clear to see he is a man of integrity.

Requiem for the Red Lion

Last night I watched the Channel 4 documentary called The Red Lion. This is the most common pub name in the UK and film-maker Sue Bourne travelled the length of the country to visit ten of them and talk to their regular customers. No doubt the anti-drink lobby would be aghast at some of the levels of alcohol consumption discussed, such as the Lancashire rugby player who admitted to sometimes drinking twenty pints on a Saturday, and the Kent licensee who gave the impression of being a functioning alcoholic and was treating himself to an early-morning “sharpener”. But, overall, it put across a very clear impression of the companionship and sense of community that pubs can provide.

It is very well summed up by this Guardian review, especially the poignant conclusion:

Yes, you find unhappiness in the Red Lion, and people trying to drink away their loneliness. But there's also lots of good times, companionship, cameraderie and laughter. The saddest Red Lion by far is the one in Longden Common. It was the centre of this tiny Shropshire community; everyone went on a Saturday night, unless they were ill, and they tried not to be on a Saturday. But then it closed, and with it went the village’s main point of contact. They used to do stuff together, go on holiday even; now they stay at home and watch telly. I hope they watched this at least, because it was a lovely portrait of a peculiarly British institution.

AND ABOUT TIME TOO

One can only hope that this story reported by Simon Clark over at Taking Liberties is the first step in turning around NHS punishment for smokers who will just not comply with the order to quit. http://takingliberties.squarespace.com/taking-liberties/2009/10/15/smoking-hospital-rebellion-grows.html

As a smoker since 1968, I have, obviously, felt the NHS pressure heaped up over years and I have seen hospitals move from providing a bedside ashtray, to having a smoking room, to then allowing it in the toilets, to providing an outdoor area, and to finally total exclusion and punishment for those who still persist despite hospital mistreatment.

As Simon rightly says, like it or not, people often smoke to relieve stress, and let's face it, being in hospital for any length of time is enough to drive anyone mad unless they love the drama, the smells, the sheer bloody boredom of hospital wards. It's also a comfort to those visitors with family who may be in a very bad way and even dying.

Throwing smokers outside is cruel enough, but to force them out to unsafe areas where there may be heavy traffic, or danger from assault because of the sheer isolation of the places they are forced to go, is downright inhumane.

I wouldn't want to see smoking allowed back on wards, or in the toilets, but I have never seen the harm in having an enclosed smoking room for staff, patients and visitors where no one but smokers go.

I've always understood that these NHS smoking bans were to "help" smokers to quit and fair enough. It may have worked for some who wanted to stop smoking anyway but for those who have no intention of quitting, the extra restrictions have been used as a stick to beat them with at a time when they need the most care or compassion.

I still have that image in my head of a young mum who had given birth to a still-born baby. She was in a very bad way. She had just regained consciousness following a near death experience after the birth of her dead son. She was offered drugs "to make her feel better" but all she wanted for her grief was a smoke. They wouldn't allow her to hang out of the window in her own room, or use the window in the ensuite bathroom , and they chided her for wasting the "precious" time of nurses who had far better things to do than wheel her outside and stand there while she had the audacity to smoke.

The hospital had got rid of it's smoking room between the birth of my third and fourth child. As I stood outside on this freezing cold day, shivering in nightdress and slippers with fag in hand, this poor woman was wheeled out by a very impatient nurse who moaned she had a lot to do. The woman had blood bags attached to her arms. She looked like death, pale, and very sad. I could imagine how she was feeling but she got no sympathy from this hospital.

As she sat there, shivering and smoking and weeping silently, a priest turned up, sent by her worried parents who thought she needed the Last Rites. He was appalled by the cruelty shown to this woman who deserved compassion but the nurse was only concerned that he could now wheel her back in and she could escape the "filth" of dropped fag ends around her.

When NHS hatred of smoking patients moved up a notch, and they began to be blamed for the mess outside of hospital entrances where ashtrays were never provided, I used to wonder why the NHS had never forseen that this would happen. Now I think it did. By encouraging smokers to be "dirty" it could incite hatred against them. It heaps on the pressue and makes smokers feel ashamed. Its smoking policy is built around exclusion, isolation and mistreatment with the aim of bullying smokers to quit in the race to eradicate smoking from society once and for all.

The NHS never understood that such treatment only makes smokers not want to go to hospital at all. I certainly don't. I've always said that if I ever get seriously ill, the last place I should be taken is hospital. I will not spend my last hours being treated worse than a leper by staff who think I don't deserve to live, including those like Jane Almond Deville - the NHS anti-smoking nurse who said live on air that smokers "would just have die" if they had a serious condition but wouldn't stop.

I hope that whatever Party eventually ends up as the next government will take a serious look at this issue and how discrimination is being legalised against one minority group in all sorts of ways.

Hospital smoking bans make me sick and it was time they were reviewed.

Nanny turns into bully

This new book looks like essential reading:

The nanny state has given way to a bully state in which politicians coerce the public into submission.

A new book by controversial former MSP Brian Monteith argues that the nanny state is dead but has been replaced by a much more malevolent bully state where we are not just preached at, but forced to do what the politicians think we should.

The Bully State: The End of Tolerance charts the movement from nannying health warnings about smoking, through compulsory motor cycle helmets and seat belts, to the bully times of today, when we can be fined for smoking in our own cars and Marmite is banned in schools.

Monteith warns: “We won't lose the freedoms that we cherish by a military coup or some great cataclysmic war engulfing us, but through the gradual invasion of our private lives by the very politicians we elect to protect us – and all in the cause of looking after our health.

“Today’s politicians think us mature enough to elect them, but too immature to decide what we should eat, smoke, drink or drive. So they give officials powers to snoop on us, enter our homes, fine householders without trial for using the wrong rubbish bins, and make shopkeepers hide the cigarettes under the counter.

“This is not just some left-wing campaign. It started when New Labour and Conservative politicians decided that information and choice weren’t enough in their brave new target-setting world. Now politicians of all colours simply bully us into submission if we do things they don’t approve of.”

COUNCIL AND MP LET DOWN LINCOLN

Lincoln City Council - oops - the authority prefers the pretentious title of City Of Lincoln Council these days - has turned down an offer of a share of £180 million to build new council houses because it hasn't got the "resources" to make a bid for the money.

I'm assuming it means it can't afford the staff to make the calls, do the research, and fill in the form.

Shame. Lincoln is desperate for social housing and probably more than these http://www.lincolnshire.nhs.uk/your-health/Health-Trainers/Local-Health-Trainers/ http://tmf.lincoln.gov.uk/servedoc.asp?filename=item_3___Health_Trainers.pdf staff who have been heaped upon the city because the money was given to the council by the PCT health quango. Common sense tells me that maybe these city health trainers could be moved over to do something far more useful with their time and ultimately our money but Govt bureaucracy wouldn't allow it.

I know for sure that if you talk to families on the poorest estates in Lincoln, they will say they would much prefer to have housing for those who desperately need it rather than making sure the homeless eat their five a day and don't smoke, of course.

Then again, if The City Of Lincoln Council is really struggling to provide the resources to make this much needed bid, then maybe these kids can help them out as they did before http://www.lincoln.gov.uk/news_det.asp?art_id=12909&sec_id=3175... or maybe you have to be a health zealot these days to get any Govt money.

St Gillian of Merron, Lincoln's sanctimonious MP, really should get out more as I suggested on a previous post. If she she did, she would actually find out that the people she is expecting to vote for her again would prefer an assurance that they will have homes in future, and not fruit, and they will have shops and businesses, and not a tobacco display ban when there is no evidence that this does anything other than persecute private business because of personal ideology and bigotry.

For the good of our City of Lincoln, she must go, health quangos must go, and we must start getting our priorities right or the council staff themselves must go. We do not pay taxes just to employ staff. We are supposed to pay for a service - where is it!

Photo of Lincoln Cathedral taken from http://movementbureau.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/05/22/lincoln_cathedral.gif

I'll only be happy if boozing is banned

Well, actually it’s smoking, but there’s only a fag paper’s width between the two mindsets. A more naked example of the “get them to the camps” mentality is hard to imagine – what a vile, intolerant piece of scum Duncan Bannatyne is.

I’ll only be happy when Duncan Bannatyne is banned.

Twother or not twother?

Well, I’ve concluded my poll on whether allowing two-thirds of a pint measures of draught beer is a good idea. There were 58 responses, broken down as follows:

Good idea: 19 (33%)
Bad idea: 24 (41%)
Agnostic: 15 (26%)

So mixed opinions there, with the antis slightly shading the pros. As I’ve said before, I see no reason why the measure shouldn’t be allowed, and if it takes off I expect I’ll use it. But I suspect the innate conservatism of drinkers and licensees will prevail. We shall see...

Tax those disgusting common drinks

In today’s Times, Janice Turner accurately puts her finger on the rank snobbery that lies behind the Tories’ plans to tax “high-strength” beers and ciders:

So roll up for Grayling’s Great Deals: “Four-pack of super-strength lager UP £1.33!” “Super-strength cider — DOUBLE in price!” “Alcopops — large bottle — a soaraway £1.50 MORE!” Clearly he wanted to show command of detail, how much he’d stiff us on Special Brew to the exact threepennorth. But it conveyed what the caring Tories, with their Iain Duncan Smith understand-don’t- condemn social policy unit, can no longer say out loud: their visceral loathing of the British underclass.

It was only tramp juice, hoody hooch and slag sauce that he will ramp up, not the tipples of respectable folk, the warm ales and clanking cases from the Wine Society. To make that clear, Mr Grayling added an anxious caveat about protecting “those parts of the country with traditional producers”. It was designed, one supposes, to reassure the beardy brewers of Old Scrotum’s Particular, but seemed to suggest that it is perfectly fine to get sozzled on super-strength cider as long as you do so in Somerset.

Grayling will have to clarify how that distinction will be drawn. Maybe he should exempt the products of independent family brewers. Oh, hang on, Wells & Youngs brew Kestrel Super. I can foresee a lot of trouble over this issue, as whatever may be in the minds of the policymakers, it is going to be a struggle to come up with a watertight legal distinction between Carlsberg Special and Old Tom. And even the finest minds in the party would struggle to come up with a legislative formula that could discriminate between Buckfast and Harvey’s Bristol Cream, or Glen’s Vodka and The Famous Grouse. As has often been said, “legislate in haste, repent at leisure”.

LINCOLNSHIRE POLITICS OVER THE HILL - updated

This is, apparently, in the current issue of Private Eye and was sent to me by Mark Horn from the Lincolnshire Independents and Lincolnshire First party.

I think the piece above tells you all you all you need to know about local politics. Shame he didn't ask me. I could recommend two good hotels in the centre of London from between £28 and £48 per night.

It would appear that it is not just those in Westminster who take the piss out of the tax payer.

UPDATE : 13/10/09 Tuesday.

I had a feeling that the above story was broken by my friend and colleague Richard Orange who has quite a few exposes of this sort of dirty business to his name. Richard was the one who revealed how former Lincolnshire County Council leader Jim Speechley ordered a new road to be built through a parcel of land he owned vastly increasing its value.

Back in those days, politicians who did wrong were brought to account and Speechley got jailed.

Keep up the good work, Richard. Brilliant stuff!

GUITAR VIRTUOSO'S ALBUM A MUST

One of the world's most talented and innovative guitarists is due to release a new album, Don't Panic, which is out on December 7.

Jon Gomm is no stranger to us up north and thousands of other fans across Europe. But he may be unknown to some of the readers of this blog who haven't a clue what they are missing out on.

Jon, an acoustic singer-songwriter with an incredible virtuoso guitar style, sounds as if he has a full band behind him but the originality of his talent comes from being able to make his instrument sound much more than it is.

Drums, baselines, and sparkling melodies come out all at the same time combining styles from blues and jazz to rock and pop. His emphasis is on soulful vocals and songwriting with original material influenced by the likes of Robert Johnson and Radiohead.

Don't Panic is the follow-up album to Jon's debut work, Hypertension, released in 2003 to help with the cost of gigging.

"I made the first record shortly after I'd put together a solo acoustic set and wanted to start touring. It was just a demo to get gigs. I made it a full length album because back then the gig fee was barely covering my petrol money, and I needed something to sell" he said.

The plan worked a bit too well, however, and Jon has been touring ever since, taking his unique style to prestigious festivals around Europe and a punishing tour schedule in the UK and Italy which meant the new album had to wait.

But now it is finally ready and it showcases Jon's genuine grasp of a wide range of genres from blues to jazz to rock and country which comes from his lifelong exprience as a session musician and musical academic. With songs ranging from dark laments to sweet melodies, to frenzied romps, and a few Urdu lyrics thrown in for good measure, the sound is a unique melting pot of damn good tunes.

Jon's fierce independent approach to the music industry has meant that the CD was recorded at home and is released on the label he owns which will launch other artists' work next year including a grammy award winner.

Don't Panic is available from December 7 on Performing Chimp Records, cat no: PCCDOO6. It is also available on iTunes and all digital download sites. CDs are available from Amazon and www.jongomm.com

BRILLIANT

One can only hope ....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8291235.stm

TORIES' CAREER HOPES PINNED ON LINCS

It is outrageous that people can be parachuted in to seek to represent a constituency when they know nothing about that constituency or its people.

The major political parties are breath taking in their arrogance and assumption that "they know best".

The Conservative Party in particular has a tendency to take the people of Lincolnshire for granted - they should not!

The Party structure, which relies on whips and blind obedience to the point of being idiotic, fundamentally undermines our democracy.

The career Conservative politicians who are being parachuted in to "safe seats" in Lincolnshire only represent their own and their parties interests - they do not represent the people of Lincolnshire .

We are just a means to an end.

Indeed, they hold us in complete contempt.

They know nothing about our schools, our hospitals, our roads. Why should they? They don't live here, we do.

As such, if we want our concerns to be heard in Parliament, there is no point in voting for them.

David Cameron's "Green" Conservatives do not understand why cars are essential in Lincolnshire .

Neither do the rest of his Trustafarians understand that the rest of us need to work for a living to take care of our families.

These people do not represent Lincolnshire , their world is that of the closeted privileged elite who frequent Nottinghill's trendy wine bars.

Why then should they assume that they have the right to represent the people of Lincolnshire in our nations parliament?

It is simply because they think they are better than us?

They are not.

Lincolnshire Independents - Lincolnshire First ! displaced both Labour and the Liberal Democrats to become the official opposition in the June County Council elections this year.

An affiliate, the Boston By-pass Group run Boston .

In recent years, Independents have made huge inroads into the District Councils as the public have become ever more disillusioned with the corruption and incompetence that pervades our political system.

Independents are becoming a powerful voice in Lincolnshire because we represent the people of Lincolnshire , and not a privileged London elite.

Too many politicians are in it purely for them selves, and have their snouts buried deep within the trough of expenses, benefits and privileges.

Things have to change - and they can change.

With LI-LF what we are building in Lincolnshire is a type of politics where people who live in the constituency, understand its people and its problems, represent that constituency honestly, and to the best of their ability.

They won't always get it right, but they will be doing an honest job.

More to the point, if you disagree with them, you can tell them so directly, because they live here - not in London .

In essence, our politics is local, and is based on people who serve you, and only you.

We do not believe that our democracy is enhanced by electing some career politician who will simply do his Master's bidding in London , and by sticking to the Party line to build a career will never rock the boat.

That kind of politician has no values, no principles, and is not committed to the people of Lincolnshire .

Lincolnshire Independents - Lincolnshire First ! will be looking to put up parliamentary candidates in next years General Election.

If you are interested in standing, please get in touch.

Mark. P. M. Horn, M.A., LLB(Hons), Dip. B.Admim. FSI(dip),

Barrister of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn ,

Campaign Director