Interviews for Jurors?

It had to come. Finally we stumble across a jury panel who generally do not have a clue about the legal process in this country. Because of the lack of safeguards and checks they get allocated one of the most high profile cases in recent months.  The mainstream media has been full of Chris Huhne and his wife Vicki Price for at least the past year.

This jury comprising eight women and four men of which only two were white.  At least twice, the court finished early because a jury member had a 'religious observance' to keep.  Now pardon me but in this country we fit our 'religious observance' around our civic duties.  I am astonished that the judge allowed this to stand and that is probably part of the problem.

We have allowed our tolerance and apathy to superceed our common sense.  From what I read most of these people had little idea about formal attire so that the solemnity of the occasion was not respected.  Clearly their knowledge and respect of our court system was minimal. It is not entirely their fault. We have allowed this lack of respect for our country to develop. The incomers have been encouraged to disrespect our systems, our traditions and our customs.

The politicians and the judiciary have gradually given up so much of what we valued that yesterday's farce was inevitable.  May I respectfully suggest that potential jurors arrive early and are then subject to a swift interview to ascertain suitability.  If they are dressed incorrectly or do not understand the procedure or cannot understand English then they can be dismissed and struck off the juror eligibility list.  I would also fine them but that might then become complex.

In my entire life I have only been called once for jury service. I am of course not what they want.  It is much more likely that I will judge events on the evidence and not on what the courts want the verdict to be. I would also raise the age of eligibility to 25.  Too many of the victims of our modern education system cannot choose a breakfast cereal never mind reach a legal conclusion!

If our politicians and judiciary want to prevent a repeat of yesterday they must narrow the criteria for eligibility for jury service and enforce our traditional values. We only have ourselves to blame.

Once again...the NHS!

I am trying to uncover the real hideous aspects of the NHS. You see I personally owe the NHS my life. It is now twelve years since they removed my large bowel and ten years since they replaced it with an internal pouch (the worst decision of my life by the way). During my extensive period in hospital I learned how to play 'the game'.

My advantage was that I could speak good English, I was educated and articulate so I could communicate my problems to almost anyone.  At that time the very first foreign nurses were being introduced into the system.  Some of them came in as agency 'nurses' who were needed to cope with the 'midnight shift'.  They soon realised that this particular old guy would not tolerate sub standard care.

That is the crux of the matter. I was able and capable to gain their respect. Today thirteen years later, when my mother needed care I realised that the NHS had been flooded by foreign staff at every level.  Don't get me wrong we probably need them because British doctors/nurses have probably gone into the private sector.

The trouble is that most elderly people speak with a heavy regional accent. They simply cannot communicate with a foreign nurse. The foreign nurse speaks 'English' but not the regional English (Scottish GRN) that our elderly speak. I don't think that the foreign staff can understand the elderly who never expected that they would need an interpreter!

So in every aspect of our governmental life, foreigners are allocated  a translator (at huge cost) who ensure that these incomers get a fair deal.  May I pose the question that why are the very people who have paid into the system all their lives being denied an interpreter now that the NHS by and large is being run by foreigners who cannot understand regional accents?

If a nurse has limited English (good enough to communicate at grammar level)  who is checking to ensure that the old granny is being represented at her desperate level.  The answer is that nobody has even thought about it! We have set up a system that caters for almost every dialect/language from almost any part of the world, I know because I used to book them on behalf of the Court Service but nobody thinks that it is important for our elderly and our regional accents to be protected.

Our elderly need protected against the over reliance on foreign nursing staff. It is a problem which merits a lot of attention but our elderly are not a priority for the Coalition, our politicians or our NHS trusts. The elderly of this country are only important as long as they can communicate...think on because one day it will be your turn!

Parenting Classes at Public Expense

So parenting classes are the order of the day at taxpayer's expense just like everything else. I have to  admit our politicians are consistent. They continually ignore public opinion and common sense and more often than not renege on their promises. I well remember in the run up to the last election how often David Cameron promised to support married couples.

He has not done so because it would have been the right thing to do but when your whole aim is to 'change' society in accordance with the wishes of the puppet masters then you will not be allowed to support marriage as it is the bedrock of our society.

The decline of our society almost began when young, uneducated, girls from poor families were encouraged to bring unwanted babies into the world because the government rewarded them with benefits and accommodation. It condemned most of them to a life at the lower end of the social scale but no matter because they did not need to work for a living.

The consequences on society however have been catastrophic. We have spawned a sub culture where children are arriving at primary school not only unable to communicate but not potty trained either! The sub culture is now almost third and fourth generation with a host of thirty year old grannies and rarely a father in sight!

It is really about time that we found a government willing to reverse the trend and stop giving these feckless parents all that they need apart from a sense of responsibility. I agree with the parenting classes but they should be a punishment for proven neglect and compulsory. Failure to comply should mean loss of benefits and their children. It is time to get tough...for the sake of the children if nothing else.

Care for the Elderly

The debate about the care for the elderly in this country continues. There is little doubt that many of our elderly live in appalling circumstances considering the so called democracy which is supposed to support them. These are the people who have worked and paid taxes for most of their life. In the main they have reared families and 'done their bit' for their country never realising that when their turn to receive support arrived they would be abandoned in favour of 'poppy growers' in Afghanistan and black kids from the 'Horn' of Africa.

Once again our despicable politicians were all over the BBC this morning promising support for almost every useless cause in the world except of course our own elderly. David Cameron is on a high profile tour of Afghanistan promising foreign aid to that benighted country even long after the troops have left. Will he never learn? Afghanistan will always be Afghanistan and no amount of bribery will change it.

He was followed by Baroness Amos promising further aid to the kids from the Horn of Africa. Another utterly useless cause which happens in cycles largely down to their inclement climate and ignorance of the people. Our money will not change that! Contraception might change it, more modern agricultural methods might change it but that is down to them and their governments.

Here at home our elderly are our concern and one thing is for sure...we will all get there. If we don't stop wasting money on useless causes elsewhere and start investing in a welfare system which supports the vulnerable at home then we will all regret it. Foreign Aid and our contribution to the toxic European Union is a modern scandal when more money is desperately needed at home. I just don't know why the electorate keep voting for more of the same. You can shut your eyes and stick your fingers in your ears but it won't go away!

Is it just me....?

Should the government be held responsible for laying on transport at taxpayer expense to lift the very many ex-pats who appear to have been living and working in Libya supporting the Ghaddafi regime? Surely these people made an informed choice when they decided to go and take the gruesome despots cash in return for services rendered?

Everyone knows Ghaddafi's track record of unstable behaviour so in my book if you take the cash you take the risk. After all the minute that they made their decision to work in Libya they became part of the problem. I just hope that these people paid well over the odds for the government sponsored flights and Royal Navy accommodation because most of them could probably afford it. I can think of no other reason for working in Libya.

We are fast becoming a nation of greedy whingers with little moral compass. We have far too many grabbing money from anywhere and on any pretence regardless of the merits of their salary. I suppose that this stems from the Political Class and The Bonus Class but the nation is suffering as a result. When are we going to see some moral leadership?

A Good Debate

Today I was steered towards a programme on Fairness, Justice and the Big Society which was broadcast by the BBC. The steering came from the Guido Fawkes blog who was commentating on one of the contributors to the programme. The facilitator guiding the audience through a myriad of discussion points was an American called Michael Sandel. He is a former Harvard lecturer in philosophy and his skill at bringing out the best from his audience was consummate.

The audience was a cross section of the British people and the ideas, opinions, reasoning and articulation was a credit to them all. How can a nation produce such intelligent young people and still breed the type of scum generally screened on 'The Jeremy Kyle Show'?

What did come out of the programee was that David Cameron has still not got his message across to the very people who he needs to support him. He really has quite a lot of convincing to do because unless he can convince this audience and people like them that he has serious intentions of changing our society then he will never succeed.

If you want to see the programme you can find it here .