A result ... but not a good one
Lord Tebbit - a man I respect, hugely - has strongly condemned David Cameron for failing to prevent the EU from raising its budget by nearly three per cent. He accused the Prime Minister of a 'Vichy-style' cave-in. I'd like to couch my criticism in slightly less inflammatory language, but with the same strength of feeling. To be fair to the Prime Minister, his efforts saw that budget increase reduced from six per cent to 2.9 per cent, which will cost the UK about an extra £400 million. But, this is still too much, especially as the UK is struggling to make huge savings in every department to get our economy back on track. Add to this the fact that more than 3,000 regulations we enact in Parliament come from Europe, and you will understand why I and many of my Conservative colleagues are uneasy. How much longer will this rudderless ship drfit on before it hits the rocks, which it wll do, as sure as eggs are eggs? This country needs leadership like never before and I am confident that David Cameron is the man to make tough and difficult decisions. Let's tackle this whole EU debacle before we sink with it.
Posted on 29 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Time to stand our ground
With the Prime Minister settling in at an EU summit, I and many others will be watching to see whether he can successfully stand up to pressures to raise the EU's budget by nearly six per cent. To me, this is totally unacceptable, and it must be fought. You only have to look around the EU to see the financial situation of countries like Greece, Spain and Ireland to know that the EU fantasy is just that, a fantasy. We need to wake up, dismantle this nightmarish bureaucracy and re-organise Europe so that we all trade together, but respect each other's sovereignty and history.
Posted on 28 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Tough on crime
I have to say that I am distinctly uneasy about our plans for prison reform. In an attempt to cut costs and re-offending rates, thousands of criminals who should be sent to prison will not be. And this from a Conservative - albeit in coalition - government. I have heard the argument that too many short term prisoners re-offend within weeks of release, so there must be another solution. What is not stated is that nearly all those short term prisoners are in jail because the alternative - some form of punishment in the community - has no effect! There is no doubt in my mind that prison does work, however the whole judicial system needs a radical overhaul. Sentencing acts as no deterrent, prison routine is soft, the prison officers are demoralised and all too often criminals re-offend as there's nothing in place to catch them as they fall out the prison door at the end of their sentence. Now's our chance to really tackle this growing problem. It needs leadership, not management. And, frankly, dodging this serious issue further will not do what we were elected to do: protect the public.
Posted on 25 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Football madness
Our national game has become more and more remote from its core supporters over recent years as multi-million pound television deals have showered wealth on premier division clubs never before dreamt of. Players are paid obscene amounts of money to kick a ball around, while ticket prices have risen inexorably, often beyond the means of many supporters. The madness surrounding this skilful game was again highlighted only the other day by the charade over Wayne Rooney's contract, which will now see him earning about £200,000 a week. Rooney's sheer arrogance and greed shone through the negotiating process and I don't understand why Sir Alex Ferguson, a bright and most able manager, didn't let him go. What's so sad about our national game is that it's lost what everything needs to flourish - respect. And I can't help wondering what Rooney's team mates are thinking. Overpaid footballers do not win competitions, which was all too clearly demonstrated in the World Cup. In Rooney's case, I suspect it will end in tears and tantrums and football will be all the poorer for it.
Posted on 24 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Cyber Wars
Cyber terrorism heads the list of threats we didn’t know we needed to worry about. Today the Government established a National Cyber Security Agency to underline just how important it is. The problem is that cyber attacks could potentially disable our infrastructure and our defences – without us suspecting a thing. The Chinese are said to be focusing vast resources on the matter. Already, GCHQ reports intercepting more than 1,000 ‘intrusions’ a week.
Cyber warfare’s potency was underlined by the recent attack on the Iranian nuclear programme by a computer ‘worm’ called Stuxnet. Specifically designed to take over and disrupt industrial control systems, the worm apparently has a particular affinity for Siemens systems – which just happen to be used by the Iranians to run their nuclear reprocessing and power plants. Symantec, the computer security firm says that so far, 60% of Iran’s computers are affected. Speculation is still rife about who unleashed this worm – with Israel being the prime suspect – but it is certainly accepted as being the first, real cyber weapon.
Posted on 20 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Defence review
I sat and listened carefully to the Prime Minister this afternoon. He was impressive and statesmanlike. He reminded us all that we inherited a terrible mess, and not just a financial one. But let's not fool ourselves, these cuts are going to devastate our armed services. Mr Cameron said the defence budget will 'meet the NATO two per cent of GDP target for defence spending throughout the next four years'. I would argue that is not enough, but I appreciate that our vast deficit is so high that it is in effect a threat to our national security. And it's not until we resolve this mess will we be able to rebuild our precious armed services. What a terrible situation.
Posted on 19 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Here we go again
If I hear what I read in today's Daily Telegraph at 1530 this afternoon, I shall be astonished. And the bad news will be presented by the Prime Minister himself. This is odd in itself when Liam Fox is the Defence Secretary. According to the paper, one of the two aircraft carriers could be sold after only three years. What's more she will never have any planes to fly off her. And our surface fleet - already pitifully small and ineffective - will be reduced from 24 to 19 ships. The army's to lose 7,000 soldiers and 100 tanks, while the RAF will see two bases closed and see its personnel reduced by 5,000. Our Government is blaming the black hole we inherited from Labour, which committed us to defence projects we could not afford and left us with a staggering defence liability of £38 billion. Of course, I accept this point, but cannot agree with the cuts as suggested. Defence is a country's top priority and should be maintained at a reasonable level, whatever the economic climate. Why is the health and overseas aid budget protected, for example? Both could and should be cut. The point is we have commitments around an increasingly dangerous world, not least to NATO. And, don't forget the Falkland Islands. With no planes to fly off our aircraft carriers for some years, theres is little we could do to mount an operation to regain the islands if, God forbid, they were invaded again. Politicians have made mistakes with defence in the past on repeated occasions, and always regretted them. Now, we are about to do the same thing again. It really is astonishing.
Posted on 19 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Binyam Mohamed
Binyam Mohamed, the Guantanamo Bay detainee who is suing the Government for alleged complicity in his torture, has been granted indefinite rule to remain in Britain. He clearly sees no conflict between his desire to stay here - home to MI5, MI6, the Attorney General, the Home Office and the Foreign Office, all of whom he is blaming for his mistreatment - and his demands for financial recompense. Indeed, it was only a firm ruling by Mr Justice Cooke which allowed us, the paying public, to know what was going on at all. Mohamed’s lawyers – clearly a talented bunch – argued that publicising the Ethiopian’s right to stay amounted to inhumane and degrading treatment. I am delighted to say that the judge disagreed, saying it is ‘plainly a matter of public interest.’ It is.
Posted on 16 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Out of the dark
I doubt anyone has remained unmoved by the extraordinary rescue of the 33 miners trapped half a mile underground in Chile. It is a testament to man's will to survive that these men have been extricated alive and seemingly well. It's a 'good news' story which has rightly dominated the press and media for weeks. I was always get a lift at stories like these because it reinforces my view that the human spirit can never be crushed.
Posted on 15 October 2010 by Richard Drax
EU budget
I was one of several MPs who signed up to an amendment submitted by my colleague Douglas Carswell MP to instigate a cut in the EU budget which has grown to £115 billion. On the Wednesday when MPs voted I was in my constituency, so by default abstained. If everyone else is cutting back, why should we increase the amount of money we give to the EU? This uncontrollable quango lurches on, seemingly unstoppable. I trust our MEPs will stand up for our country and will watch with interest whether they do or not. The EU does not work and never will, and the sooner we stop fooling ourselves that it will the better.
Posted on 15 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Linda Norgrove's death
Until very recently, western women in Afghanistan were thought to be safer than their male counterparts. Of course, everything is relative - female allied pilots are trained not to expect any mercy - but generally, a woman was considered untouchable, so long as she observed the basic rules. I remember veteran war correspondent, Christina Lamb, writing about how she had sidestepped many tricky situations by keeping her head down and her burqa firmly in place. So it is sad and chilling to understand that with the abduction and subsequent death of aid worker Linda Norgrove, all bets are off. She had devoted her life to working in the harshest of conditions with the most desperate people on earth, yet her sheer humanity was not enough to protect her. Her Taliban captors moved her almost daily and for the NATO forces to have tracked her down was an extraordinary piece of intelligence work. What followed was a tragedy - it appears that she had managed to give her guards the slip, only to be killed by an American grenade as the US Navy Seals cleared rooms on entering the compound. I do not blame the Seals - terrible things happen in the fog of war - I blame the Taliban. My heart goes out to the parents of this brave and selfless woman.
Posted on 14 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Police cleared
I have to say that I am concerned by the case of Mark Saunders, who was shot by police in his home in London. Having served as a soldier, I am familiar with fire arms, so I feel I can speak with some experience. First, Mr Saunders was armed with a shotgun, not a rifle. The killing range of the former is a matter of yards and with armed police very much in control at the scene there was no immediate threat to members of the public. Second, Mr Saunder's wife was not allowed to speak to her husband on the phone, despite asking for her. Third, Mr Saunders was drunk and confused. I would have thought that someone in charge of the operation would have instructed armed officers to wait this one out, rather than shoot. Don't get me wrong, I am an avid supporter of the police, but they can't be above criticism, and the fatal outcome of this siege worries me. I very much hope that officers study this case carefully and learn from it. There are times when shooting a gunman is regrettably necessary, but I'm not sure this was one of them.
Posted on 8 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Reality check
How many children should we have? This interesting question has taken centre stage after Jeremy Hunt's said that parents were ultimately responsible for this decision. I agree with him, totally, although Mr Hunt's views have been hijacked by the hysterical Left, as one would expect. I am sure Mr Hunt was referring to couples who, despite their predicament, go on having children in the knowledge the State will pick up the tab. He was not referring to those who have children and then through no fault of theirs fall on hard times and end up on the State. This is not some class issue, but common sense.
Posted on 8 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Gender bias
Good 'old' Labour, back to what they do best, which is to engineer everything; this time jobs for the girls. Even Jack Straw opposes this, saying '... what it means is that of the 18 or 19 people in the shadow cabinet, probably a dozen are capable of being in the Cabinet and half a dozen are not'. First Labour has chosen the wrong leader, and now the wrong leader is selecting a Cabinet which won't be up to the job, at least according to Mr Straw, and he should know. So, the politically correct brigade have got their hands back on the reins, which can only be good news for our Party, but not such good news for the country, which needs a robust and coherrent Opposition.
Posted on 8 October 2010 by Richard Drax
Equality madness
The sad thing about this Equality Act is that somewhere in there, hidden in the verbiage, lies an ounce of common sense. What's regrettable is that this common sense does not need legislation to ensure fair play in the office, or anywhere else for that matter. The fact is we are not 'equal' and never will be, however hard people like Harriet Harman try to manipulate the human race. And all this legislation does is cause more resentment and anguish, not least among employers, who already feel a persecuted race. Commons sense, please, not Socialism at its worst.
Posted on 4 October 2010 by Richard Drax