Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Darling's Pre-Budget Fiasco

The pre-budget report is the most ill-thought through, botched and misguided piece of economic mumbo jumbo, I have ever seen. It will fail on every count. It also ignores completely the natural corrective forces of free markets.

When demand crashes, cash-flow becomes king and profit is for another day. To survive stocks must be moved almost at any cost to keep the cash flowing. This leads to a natural reduction on prices to a level that re-ignites consumer interest and increases demand. That is the beginning of a revival.

The government should have concentrated on measures designed to reduce costs to business like a reduction in fuel costs that impact throughout the economy, making goods cheaper and therefore improving profit margins.

The only other thing it had to do was stabalise the banks and make them lend.

Tax cuts funded by higher debt make no sense at all. There is not an ounce of savoir faire or common sense in anything Mr. Darling announced today. All he has achieved is more pain tomorrow. Pathetic

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Why Poverty Matters














On a sugar plantation in Brazil a worker gets approximately £5/day for cutting 4 tons of cane in hot, suffocating, humid, snake infested conditions. This is slave labour in all but name and there are millions working long hours for less all over the World.

Who amongst us could work in these conditions and who would want to for such meagre reward?

If one wants to increase global demand and boost economic growth, then the first thing one needs to do, is start paying a fair price for labour, thereby increasing the purchasing power of the poor.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Genesis

In Chapter One the material vegetable and animal kingdoms were all created during the six days (each day being a thousand years). It took seven thousand years including the day of rest for the completion of creation.


Genesis Ch. 2.


Here it states that there is no tree, herb, etc. upon the Earth "The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth" and "there was no man to till the ground". St. Paul said God is a spirit and must be worshipped in the spirit. Spirits of course cannot till the ground.


It is only in the last few decades that we have come to understand with the aid of modern science, how the Earth was transformed from a ball of molten syrup to a crusty volcanic maelstrom to the fertile planet we now inhabit. The authors of Genesis already knew this.

Surely a superstitious scientifically uninformed mind would have come up with a much more primitive interpretation of creation than this?

In Ch.2. v 7 it says:


And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

In my mind this statement reveals an understanding of natural evolution (from dust to dust) but also says that man initially existed in spirit form. The concept of evolution on the one hand and spiritual existence on the other would appear to be a contradiction in terms to both evolutionists and theists but thousands of years later we are still searching for the answers.

Is it that the ancient mind uncluttered by scientific knowledge and the need for scientific explanation could more easily grasp and accept the possibility of incredible concepts ? To this day the finest brains in history have not been able to prove or disprove the assumption of their so called ancient and primitive forebears.

Food for thought!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Tsunami Coming


The sub-prime mortgage crisis is a ripple in a pond compared to the gathering tsunami about to be unleashed as a result of worldwide food shortages. One hundred million people are now facing the risk of starvation and food riots are breaking out in numerous countries with serious consequences for everyone. It is now that those who in the past, have not understood the meaning of the term “global village,” will come to realise its significance.

Countries like India are cutting back on the export of certain commodities to ensure sufficient food for their own population. Other countries will inevitably follow suit. This will lead to even more dramatic increases in food prices and increasing shortages for everyone.

I have always believed that “globalisation” was a false and dangerous concept, the ultimate pursuit of fool’s gold by greedy corporate and political pirates, chasing an elusive treasure of ever lower manufacturing costs and higher profits. As a consequence we have let our fields lie fallow, taken our manufacturing overseas and sold our utilities to the highest bidder.

In short we are no longer independent but dependent on others and circumstances elsewhere for food, and energy. This grotesque lack of vision, this vacuum of wisdom has meant we are now all sailing in a single ship instead of a convoy of many. When it sinks we all go down

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Chinese Complicity In Zimbabwe

I was disgusted to see Chinese and North Korean “advisors,” sitting in the stadium supporting the Mugabe regime at the 28th anniversary of Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain. In his speech attacking Britain and Brown, Robert Mugabe made one of the most hypocritically ludicrous speeches ever heard. It would have been hilarious were it not so tragic.

China and North Korea continue to arm Mugabe’s bestial regime, knowing full well that the military hardware will be used to oppress his own citizens. The Chinese and North Korea governments have revealed the true depth of their disdain for human rights and democracy. They have demonstrated to the World a total absence of any sense of morality or integrity.

They have shown there is no gutter too disgusting into which they will not stoop, to gain economic and political influence or advantage, irrespective of the misery and cost in human lives. They have shown their true colours and they have proven beyond doubt that they are untrustworthy of support at any level. They are complicit in the crimes committed by Robort Mugabe against his own people and they should be condemned by all humanitarian governments and organisations for so doing.


They must not be allowed to get away with it and I now totally support a boycott of the Beijing Olympics and Chinese products until such time as they change their ways.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Politics, Business And Development

One of the most important lessons that I have learned in my life is that all systems are only as good as the people who run them. The fault with all systems is the fallibility of human nature. Corruption, mismanagement, incompetence, patronage, nepotism and self interest are the weak link in all systems. It is therefore not a question of systems but who is implementing them and how.

Socialism, capitalism, communism, dictatorships, royalty are all meritorious ideas in their own way, and each if implemented with the common interest at heart, rather than self interest, can enrich nations and peoples. However the opposite is also true. Each can have disastrous consequences when integrity is overtaken by greed, corruption, self ambition and so on.

For any system to succeed, the people who manage it must be honest, qualified, responsible, motivated, and above all accountable for their actions and decisions at all times. This can only be done by putting in place transparent monitoring tools and mechanisms. This is the key to success for any system.

Another thing I have learned is that competition is essential to progress. Without competition there is less incentive to keep improving and less need to be creative. Lack of competition encourages other human weakness such as self satisfaction and laziness and leads to stagnation. I have seen this so often in monopolies but seldom in private companies.

However, what I have seen in private companies is far too much profit being skimmed off the balance sheets to pay unjustified bonus’ and/or dividends to partners and shareholders. Without the workforce both would be paupers. So, I’m definitely in favour of the workforce having a stake in profits. I know of no better way to boost morale, productivity, competitiveness and innovation.

Likewise, whilst I do not believe in monopolies, I do believe the state is foolish to give up control of strategic service industries such as electricity, water and gas supplies, as has Great Britain for example. Like much of Europe we are more and more dependant on Russian supplies and this means we are vulnerable and no longer in control of our own destiny. However, it is extremely important to ensure that these industries are managed with the same professionalism and efficiency as private industries and although this is no easy task, I am sure it is achievable.

State monopolies often depend on political patronage and are extremely vulnerable to changes of government. They therefore tend to be unstable. They are subject to sudden policy and leadership changes depending on the government of the day and are therefore lacking in continuity resulting in inefficiency. They are also in my experience much more bureaucratic by nature than private industries and therefore lack dynamism. The same is true of all state monopolies anywhere in the world.

Lastly, I would like to suggest that developing countries with natural resources maximise their earnings potential by building partnerships with manufactures from the developed world to add value to their produce at origin in order to export them as finished goods. They must fight restrictive trade practises and value added tariffs of trading blocks like the EU by fighting fire with fire. Insist importing countries remove the tariffs on value added goods or lose the raw materials. Sell the raw materials instead to those countries who are prepared to enter into genuine free trade agreements. This is the only way to ensure sustainable and meaningful development.

Why should producer countries have to export commodities in bulk because the EU and other trading blocks impose tariffs on value added imports . It’s their produce. They invested in it, set land aside for it, grew it and nurtured it with their labour. Why therefore should a company in Belgium, Britain, Holland, Germany, France, etc., make all the profit from adding value to their produce while they make none? This is a blatant imbalance and contrary to fair trade practise.

In order to change this it will be necessary to create a new kind of partnership with the importing nations, one in which one encourages them to invest as manufacturing partners to add value at origin. This is necessary because the importing nations have the established markets. Developing countries need their markets but the developed nations need the produce. This should be the basis for a new kind of partnership in which everyone benefits equitably in a manner that reflects the reality on the ground.

Fair trade can only come about when trade is fair and everyone is a winner. Fair trade is about mutually beneficial partnerships not unequal partnerships and this is I believe the way forward for everyone, but it will take great leadership in developing countries to force the hand of the more advanced economies.
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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Iraq In Retrospect

As someone who argued strongly in favour of removing Saddam Hussein from power, I now see that his removal has come at an unacceptable cost in innocent Iraqi lives, estimated to be any number between 80,000 – 1,000,000. By contrast, around 4,500 American soldiers and 175 British soldiers have lost their lives. Figures for wounded soldiers are obviously higher but largely kept under wraps.

It was not Saddam Hussein’s WMD that concerned me. It was clear from numerous documentaries that I saw, most of Iraq’s conventional weapons were largely dated and in a state of disrepair. It was also increasingly evident that whatever WMD he might have possessed hardly posed an immediate or deadly threat to anyone. That is not to say that had he remained in power and given time, he would not have become a serious threat. He almost certainly would and that was another reason to remove him from power.

I was in favour of removing Saddam Hussein’s regime on moral grounds but war was a last resort. I believed and still believe that in a globalised world that pretends also, to be civilised, murderous dictatorships are intolerable and must be dealt with by the international community under international law. We cannot call ourselves “civilised” whilst we continue to tolerate the intolerable. That is as they say, a no brainer. I thought much more could have and should have been done to force Saddam Hussein out without recourse to war. However, to achieve this it was vital for the entire international community to stand as one in condemning Saddam Hussein’s regime and to enforce the necessary measures to neutralise him. Self interest and political expediency and/or skulduggery by some of the major players was always going to make this virtually impossible. Seeing the divisions in the international camp served only to embolden Saddam Hussein and make it less likely that he would go quietly.

The UN Charter prohibits interference in the internal affairs of member states by other member states. Thus regimes such as those of Saddam Hussein and Robert Mugabe, to name but two, are legitimised by the international community when they take their seats in World forums; making us all complicit in their crimes against humanity. This is a morally reprehensible cop out by the international community. The UN Charter and those of other World bodies such as the IMF, World bank, etc., must be amended to allow for the expulsion of rogue governments on a majority vote. Whilst there is no serious penalty for criminal behaviour against their own citizens, rogue regimes will continue to feel they have carte blanche to do what they like in their own countries. Robert Mugabe continues to thumb his nose at the international community and the dreadful suffering of millions of Zimbabweans continues unabated. Is this the behaviour of a civilised World? You make the judgement.

So, in this respect the UN was and is not equipped or tooled to deal effectively with criminal governments. No wonder then that the U.S. and others decided to act unilaterally to remove Saddam Hussein. The UN was and is impotent when it comes to dealing with rogue governments. This impotence is bound to encourage unilateral action in times of international tension and crisis. America and its allies took matters into their own hands because there was a general unwillingness by the rest of the international community to do the right thing, take the bull by the horns and remove a tyrannical criminal from power.

It is not enough on its own to simply freeze the overseas assets of murderous regimes but I will grant that it is useful as part of a package of wide ranging measures which would include a World travel ban on all members of any governments that abuse human rights or break international law. No country no matter how large or powerful can take on all the nations of the planet. Part of the purpose of enacting an array of punitive measures against rogue regimes (including expulsion from the UN, IMF WB, etc.) is to encourage an internal reaction by more moderate elements within the countries in question to take steps to remove the offending persons from power, without recourse to international military action.

In the case of Iraq however and given the inevitable failure of a concerted international effort to remove Saddam Hussein, the UN should have given Saddam Hussein an ultimatum to step down and go into exile within 48 hours, irrespective of whether or not he possessed WMD. In the event of compliance he would be given immunity from prosecution. Failure to comply would result in his forced removal from power by any means necessary and prosecution at the International Court at the Hague for crimes against humanity. Had this come from the UN, rather than the U.S., it might have given him more pause for thought.

I agree that to give immunity to a man like Saddam Hussein does not seem like justice and it is not, but at least it would have saved the lives of at least 80,000 people and quite probably ten times that figure and that was a price worth paying.

All this raises the question though, given the lack of moral backbone and integrity within the UN and its membership, why should we the people have any faith in any political institution that allows millions of people to be murdered, tortured and raped at the hands of their own governments. If that is not criminal, reprehensible and uncivilised, then pigs really can fly and I’m a generous Dutchman. As long as expediency rather than morality reigns supreme, the vast majority of people around the globe will continue to view our political institutions with deep seated suspicion and outright contempt and rightly so.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Nothingness


The Steven Hawking documentary in two parts on the Theory of Everything was fascinating and dealt with amongst other things, the latest thinking on String Theory. Hawking’s main obstacle to establishing a theory of everything has been explaining the weakness of gravity. M-theory could provide the answers.

However what struck me was his belief that the universe evolved from nothing, rather like a bubble one blows through a hoop from a mixture of soapy water. Now I’m no genius, but I have enormous difficulty with this idea.

If it were possible for something to materialise out of nothing once, then why shouldn’t such a phenomenon occur twice or a billions times? In the history of the Earth there is not a single recorded incident of something materialising from nothing. Not even Jesus was able to do that. He needed water to make wine and one fish and a loaf to feed the five thousand.

Therefore, with the best will in the World and all due respect, I believe Steven Hawking is clutching at straws in this regard.

Nothing can be made from nothing. 0 = 0. I defy anyone to take nothing and make something. I would suggest, it’s never been done and if it has been done then why can’t we do it all the time? Everything we have ever seen has been made from something, including I would suggest, the universe(s).

If that is true, then a state of nothingness never existed.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Dangerous Games

The recurring theme of power politics down the ages is that all wars are caused by a handful of unscrupulous, misguided, egotistical, shortsighted leaders who as always, create an agenda (largely out of old habits as well as for their own purposes) into which we the ordinary people are inextricably drawn.

These few people, be it Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Robert Mugabe or more recently Putin and Bush and their respective acolytes, gradually through the use of media spin and government propaganda, enslave the minds of ordinary people (Russians, Americans or indeed ordinary peoples anywhere and everywhere) making them believe that the one is a threat to the other.

Before long all Russians are suspicious of all Americans, and visa versa, when in truth all ordinary Russians and Americans really want is to be friends, get along and raise their families in peace and security like everyone else. The Putins and Bushes of this World want nothing more than to demonstrate their power and play with their military toys. They are like kids in the playground trying to prove who is the toughest. Only they are not kids and it is not a school playground. Nor are they playing with toy guns. They are playing with lethal weapons and the real lives of millions of ordinary people. Their truly miniscule imaginations and lack of true wisdom is reflected in their gigantic egos which fills the limited space between their ears.

Instead of using their combined wealth and power to solve the divides between nations, tackle poverty, eradicate disease and build bridges between peoples and cultures, they choose instead to prepare for war by creating unecessary threats and false enemies. This is the evil and blind insanity of many of our respective political leaders.

It's time that we the people of the world called a halt to their dangerous little power games. It's time that we the ordinary people of the world made it crystal clear that we are simply not interested in their playground antics. We want only to live in friendship and peace with each other. I and most of my fellow countrymen and woman have nothing against ordinary Russsians, Americans, Africans, Asians or Arabs but we detest many of their politicians just as much as we detest our own.

Thank you Harry



Harry Patch is 109 years old and is apparently the last living veteran of World War I. The Poet Luareate today read a poem composed for him in his honour. The two war generations were indeed a special breed, the like of which we may never see again. Today's youngsters seem totally unaware of the debt we all owe to Mr. Harry Patch and his contempories and this is a scandalous neglect of our educational and social system.

Today's binge drinking, knife carrying, gun toting yobs don't know they have been born. Good people like Mr. Harry Patch and indeed my parents put their lives on the line for all the following generations and how do we repay them? We deny them dignity and proper health care in their old age. We even deny them respect. We don't deserve the sacrifice they made.

Well, I just want to add my thanks and deepest respect to this wonderful gentleman and all those who fought and died for our freedom. Thank you sir.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/last_tommy_gallery_03.shtml

Letter from the Kremlin

Office of The President
Kremlin
Red Square
Moscow
Russia

08/03/2008


Dear Prime Minister,

It is true that Russia and Britain have had differences in the recent past. I mean that spy camera in the rock trick was frankly amateurish but gave me slight chuckle. Then we had minor misunderstanding regarding Litvinenko. How are the two British policemen who tested positive for that polonium – 210 by the way? Incredible coincidence, no?

How silly Prime Minister to attach responsibility to Kremlin. You know the rules, total deniability. You could never make it stick, maybe in 1800s but now your country is little and Russia is World leader. We have oil and the gas and you have cheap Danish lager and very thirsty, how do you call them? Ah yes, yobbos. Abramovitch , he keep me informed. He very happy as now exclusive importer of cheap Danish lager!

But I digress Prime Minister. We have been watching your control techniques of population. You have learned well from old KGB strategy. As you are finding out it takes time. In Russia we were quicker because we had no elections so no consequences for leadership. We control media so no problem for arresting political oppositions and no how do you say....ah! yes, no worries about ridiculous human rights violations.

In Britain not so easy yet but am impressed by stealth tactics employed by your government to achieve same ends. You have done well to, how do you say, dumb down population and create political apathy. Very important step in process of population control.

Allow you to pass even more control measures with only minor protest from stupid bloggers and like. Soon you can censor them too when you have your people on inside. Easy to remove articles opposing party then but you still have some work to do. I am not happy about criticisms of my leadership and people calling me a megalomaniac and such bad things. I hope you will stop this soon if you want gas from Mother Russia and your oil don’t forget is soon running out.

I have meeting now with my new President Medvedev . That was good trick no, to choose puppet for President? The Russians they love me. Who is the big daddy now?

I will write again soon. We have much to discuss. Keep up the good work Comrade.

Sincerely,

Prime Minister (President) Putin

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Back to Africa















The rain battered the tin roof like a demented drummer endlessly stuck on the same rhythm, constant and deafening but somehow hypnotic. The tropical storm bought relief from the heat and dust of the last few days. Jack lay in bed feeling secure, protected from the elements like a baby in its mother's womb. A massive drum roll of thunder played overhead, followed by a bright flash of lightening that lit up the night sky, as though God had briefly lit some monumental torch, to better see his way through the driving rain. Jack sighed and drifted off into unconcerned sleep.

Balthazar woke him at 7 o'clock with a cup of tea as he did every day. That early morning cuppa, somehow made all the difference, providing the necessary fuel to kick start the metabolism. He rose and walked nude into the bathroom. He hated pyjamas. Wearing pyjamas in bed was like wearing a three piece suit to the office, stifling and unnecessary. Thank God, he no longer had to do that. Hell, he thought, bed was the only place where one could be truly free anymore. Working in Africa had its advantages and no pyjamas or suits, were two of them. Yes he was back, back where he belonged, away from the spin and bullshit of London, Paris or New York. God it felt good.

Showered and refreshed, he walked out onto the balcony and looked out over the rooftops and streets of the town and on across the lake, to the hills on the other side. It was a sight that never tired him. Anywhere else on Earth, he thought to himself, you'd have to be a millionaire to enjoy a view like this. He sat down at the table and dug heartily into papaya, eggs and bacon and the best Arabica coffee in the world. He sat back, lost in his thoughts and lit a cigarette, which he inhaled slowly and deeply between sips of coffee.

Bujumbura, like Africa itself, was a tapestry of paradoxes, a simple, pretentious, ugly and yet attractive place. There were no skyscrapers here, just the two storied, largely white painted, flat roofed buildings typical of many towns and cities in Africa, Asia or South America. There weren't even any traffic lights, except the one unblinking set in the Avenue de la Paix, testament to a brief but disastrous flirtation with sophistry.

The uneven pavements that lead one down the main streets, gave way intermittently to hollows and humps of compressed red earth which were constantly re-sculptured by the endless stamp of feet, the stinging chisel of tropical rain and the dehydrating heat, of the equatorial sun. The whole place was in a constant state of repair and disrepair.

Embedded in the surrounding hills overlooking Lake Tanganyika and the Ruzizi Plain were the elegant and spacious houses rented by diplomats, NGOs', technical assistants and successful entrepreneurs. Reflecting in the sunlight out to the north east, were the tin roofs of the poorer shanty dwellers. Scattered everywhere was the fertile green canopy of banana trees, date palms, avocado, mango and papaya trees, whose fruits swelled the market stalls in the town centre and the breakfast tables of rich and poor alike.

The ample gardens of the well to do expatriates were awash with the colour of hibiscus and bougainvillea plants, the scent of moon flowers and yesterday today and tomorrow shrubs. Down below the network of tarmac roads in and around the town centre, gave way to rutted gravel tracks as they headed into the dusty Asian and African quarters, where even weeds struggled to get a grip in the hard trampled barren earth. Yes, Bujumbura had the alluring scent and charm of Africa writ large in every pot holed boulevard and paint flaking wall of its being.

Thanks to the rain, the hills on the opposite shoreline, some 10-15 kms away, were clearly visible. They rose almost vertically out of the lake to 12,000 feet above sea level at the highest point. At their base lay the Zairian town of Uvira, a sprawling African township with it's mix of slum dwellings, traders shops, pot holed roads and the inevitable army barracks. Getting there though was another matter. Crossing the border inevitably meant paying the officials, an unofficial tariff! The fact that your paper work was in order was an irrelevance. The immigration and customs officers could always invent a "new regulation when it suited them.

The then favourite when all else had failed to extract the required bribe, was the "mandatory AIDS certificate" showing that one was not infected. Short of armed robbery any means would do. Unpleasant though this was, it was inevitable given the fact that government officials were seldom paid. They were left to "eek out" their living any way they could. As a result they created their own rules and tariffs with impunity and wily imagination. They were good at it too. If only their noteworthy initiative, could have been put to better use.

This was one aspect of Africa that Jack found hard to stomach and Zaire was perhaps the most anarchic country in Africa, pressing Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone hard for this dubious honour.

To be fair there were other countries in Africa that he would never consider visiting either, under any circumstances. The Americans found Somalia particularly unwelcoming when the U.S. army paid a short visit a few years previously. If the American military could not hack it, Jack thought it was probably advisable to give the place a wide berth.

Angola had been at war for a decade as had Mozambique. Yes, there may have been worse countries than Zaire perhaps but Jack could see no good reason to go there for all that, if he could help it. The border was only 20 kilometres or so from Bujumbura but that was close enough for Jack. Natural diplomat though he was, he was not good at being humble when confronted by a bunch of drunken, greedy, obdurate border "officials" no matter how alluring the country on the other side.

Burundi though was another kettle of fish and there were plenty in Lake Tanganyika. It was a beautiful country of endless rolling hills, covered in a patchwork of small plots planted with maize, sorgem, beans, potatoes, bananas and other food crops. Eucalyptus trees were planted widely on the summits of the hills and along the road sides. Being one of the most densely populated countries in Africa, much of the indigenous vegetation had sadly, long since disappeared but there were still a few patches of precious, glorious equatorial forest scattered around the country.

The jewel in the crown though, was Lake Tanganyika, embedded like a priceless glittering jewel in the huge basin of the Ruzizi plain, part of the magnificent Rift Valley. The lake is the second deepest in the world and stretches southwards for 800 kilometres into Zambia. To be on the lake at the setting of the sun, is to be overwhelmed by its beauty and overpowered by the almost mystical power of Africa. The spirit is forever touched.

Breakfast was always a time of contemplation for Jack and it was always with reluctance that he sipped the last of his coffee before leaving for the office. Yes it was good to be back, very good.

Dear Mr. Cameron





By common consent this country is in a dreadful mess. Nearly three hundred thousand people are leaving it each year and this total will without a shadow of a doubt, rise in the coming years, unless there is a sea change in the socio-economic climate. I would further suggest that many of our best and brightest citizens will be among the emigrants.

Britain is a much less agreeable, less compassionate, less respectful, less educated and much more aggressive society than it was 20, 30 or forty years ago, when despite its economic failings, it was still the freest, most liberating and best democracy in the World.

People were generally polite and respectful of each other and the law. The police force was integrated into and a vital part of local communities. The “bobbies” were known by name and also knew many people in their communities by name which created a healthy discourse and information exchange. The “bobbies” had their noses to the ground and knew where to look when trouble occurred. It was a mutually rewarding partnership for both the police and communities and performed a vital social link that no amount of intrusive CCTV cameras can hope to replace or surpass.

Bobbies on the beat prevent crime. CCTV cameras simply record crime. Judging by the amount of crimes caught on CCTV, it is clear that they are obviously not an effective deterrent. They most certainly do not prevent some innocent person sitting quietly on a bench being stabbed by drink fuelled, foul mouthed yobs looking for trouble. We have all seen the CCTV coverage but it was no help to the young man in question. CCTV has recorded countless muggings, robberies and worse and although many of those responsible were later caught after the fact, the cameras were impotent when it came to preventing the crimes which is little comfort to the victims.

Police in the streets is the only deterrent that actually works. You know it. I know it. The whole country knows it and yet the legitimate wishes of the majority in this country are ignored by all of the political parties who whilst they pay lip service to the principle do not actually do anything about it in practice.

The people of this country are sick to the back teeth of the ineptitude of successive governments, failing to get to grips with policing in general and community policing in particular. We recognise that it is not the fault of ordinary policemen and women but of their cow-towing superiors who acquiesce far too meekly to their incompetent, unthinking, intellectually superficial political masters who seemingly have lost all touch with reality and common sense.

The question to you, Mr Cameron, is what if anything are you finally going to do about it and what are you going to do to roll back this horrendously intrusive surveillance state that has mushroomed to cover up the inadequacies of government policies in respect of policing and law and order? What we now have is the laziest and worst of all solutions, a burgeoning police state which is an affront to the liberty, privacy and dignity of the people of this country and why many are leaving.

Incidentally, it is also an abuse of power to install ultra-sonic "Mosquito" equipment permanently at any site, in order to deter youngsters 25 and below from hanging around certain areas. In so doing you are punishishing the innocent and the guilty alike. This goes against every principle of justice in this country. This equipment should be carried by mobile police units and used only to target trouble makers when appropriate.

It is a fundamental mistake by the people of this country to give or cede any more power to the state than is absolutely imperative because as with the atom bomb, someone, somewhere down the line will abuse it. That is already happening as I have just said in the previous paragraph. So again, I finish by asking what are you going to do about it? Your electoral success will depend on your answer to this and other questions many want answered and which I will try to extrapolate in the coming weeks and months?