Spy Planes and CCTV Are Not Enough.. Government Now Considering Rewarding Neighbours to Spy on Eachother

The Government is considering a plan where the public would be rewarded for spying on and reporting neighbors who may be VAT or customs cheats. Benefit cheats could also be targeted.

This informant plan would offer a reward to anybody producing hard proof , otherwise unavailable to the authorities, that a person was defrauding the Government. An example of the "proof" the government would require could be secretly taken photographs.

The payout could be as high as 30 per cent of the total amount seized. Ministers have also not ruled out allowing informants to take over a neighbour’s possessions, such as luxury cars or plasma TVs, if they had been bought with the proceeds of crime. These rewards could reach to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

After the less than successful start made by the Assets Recovery Agency, which initially cost more to run than it recovered, this is the Home Office's latest idea to target the extravagant lifestyles enjoyed by criminals. Other new powers in the plan could include the right to seize lifestyle items from thieves and burglars, such as jewellery, and laptops. Tony Blair originally suggested these powers as part of a package of policies on law and order.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said it was based on a "strikingly successful" scheme in the U.S. He continued to say that, "We are asking, is it applicable in this country, is it something that people would find acceptable and is there a workable model? "

Coaker surely must be aware what a ridiculous concept this is. Encouraging conflict and distrust among neighbours is not something the government should promote. I am the first to agree that people who are benefit, VAT, or Customs cheats should be prosecuted. However this is not the way to gather evidence. One would think that the government is able to gather enough evidence with its' spy planes and millions off CCTV cameras without encouraging neighbours to secretly photograph and spy on each other.

I would not be overly concerned about this plan moving forward though. As Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said,""Behind the spin, this is yet another government consultation, containing yet more gimmicks. This Government has a woeful record at seizing criminal assets."

The Assets Recovery Agency was described as a disaster earlier this year after the National Audit Office said it had cost £65million to run but had seized only £23million.

Perhaps if the Government spent more time focusing on doing the job at hand, rather than spending time and resources developing new (absurd) plans and agencies to do the job, they might actually accomplish something.

Gordon Brown and the £1 Billion "Cover-up"

The Government has been accused of covering up a £1 billion discrepancy in the finances for the London Olympic Games when Britain submitted its bid. The original discrepancy of the £1 billion difference however has now turned into a 6.95 Billion discrepancy with the current estimate mushrooming to 9.35 Billion in March of this year or nearly 4 times the original 2.4 Billion pound estimate.

This latest revelation is highly embarrassing to Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, who is poised to take over as prime minister from Tony Blair. When London submitted its bid, he portrayed himself as gatekeeper for the Games, saying the Government would act as "ultimate guarantor" of their final cost.

Shadow chancellor, George Osborne, accused the Government and Chancellor of "trying to cover their tracks". He said: "These startling revelations raise more questions about Gordon Brown's integrity and competence. It's taxpayers who are going to pay the price."

The most disturbing part is that Ministerial aides were told by accountants two months before the bid's submission, and 10 months before the capital knew it had been chosen to host the Games, that the estimated bill for the Olympics of £3.4 billion was significantly short of the mark.

Brown has attempted in the past months to distance himself from Blair and the various scandals and difficult situations Blair has been involved in. Gordon Brown can not distance himself from this however. It just goes to show that not only Blair, but his entire cabinet, are quite happy to lie to and manipulate the British public. Then ,when caught, they attempt to cover it up or make light of very serious situations. A source in Labour close to Gordon Brown attempts to brush off the entire issue by saying, "The Tories are really scraping the barrel if they are making an issue of this. [George] Osborne should stop playing partisan games with the Olympics."

This "minor" discrepancy of approximately 6.95 Billion pounds may not be an issue to this government, however I'm certain it will be to the taxpayers who will end up footing the bill. This government is doing what it does best, breaking promises, lying to the public and then attempting to cover the entire situation up. If you thought Gordon Brown would be any better than Blair perhaps now is the time to have second thoughts.

David Miliband Declares He Will Support Gordon Brown as the Next Prime Minister

David Miliband, Brown's most serious rival, said publicly for the first time that he will support the Chancellor. At a Labour press conference in Glasgow for the Scottish Parliament election campaign, Mr Miliband denied that he was waiting for the results to decide whether to stand. "I'll be voting for Gordon Brown as Labour leader," he said. "He's done fantastic things for the prosperity of all British people over the last 10 years and I think he's the best qualified candidate across a wider canvas. He'll bring pride to the whole of the UK and when he does I look forward to supporting him."

However Mr Miliband, who is now expected to head an environment and energy department in Brown's Cabinet, argued in a news-paper article that success in the next general election would require the party not to go back on the New Labour project, but to offer "New Labour Plus''.

What exactly is "New Labour Plus?" New Labour was filled with broken promises, airs of corruption, scandals, an increase in the "surveillance society" we now have to endure and many public services including the NHS going downhill. Does New Labour Plus mean even more of the above? Do we now have more broken promises, scandals, and even worse public services to look forward to?

"New Labour" was the country's golden child at one time, today they are nothing more than an embarrassment.

Government Votes for Complete Ban on Smoking

The Government has voted for a complete ban on smoking in pubs, clubs, restaurants and work places from summer 2007. I am a smoker. Should I dodge all the stones being thrown now? It is very popular in this day and age to vehemently state how awful smoking is and how it should be banned. But, have you considered what effect the ban will have? First, the financial effect. Smokers pay enormous taxes on every pack of cigarettes they buy. The government is already having a "cash crisis" so much so that they are suggesting untrained maternity support workers to deliver babies. What effect will the loss of the revenue from cigarette taxes have? At the very best the government will raise our taxes to compensate. Next, The British Medical Journal study of over 30,000 people over a period of 40 years showed zero incidence of higher incidence of lung or heart related disease in families of smokers. The cancer society objects to this study. Not surprising as it would invalidate every other study with regard to second hand smoke. And even assuming the British Medical Journal was wrong it is a violation of our personal liberties to ban public smoking as one could avoid smokers much the same way one avoids perfume if they are allergic. Should an office building in which one person is allergic to nuts ban all nuts? No, the person allergic to nuts should be responsible for avoiding them. Much the same way that a person who does not wish to be around smoke should not sit in the smoking section.

4 Police Officers sent to deal with 11 Year Old Boy for being Politically Incorrect

I could not believe my ears when I heard this. Apparently a little 11 year old boy received visits from not one but FOUR police officers after making 1 comment to a schoolmate. He called him Gay and apparently meant it in a harmless way. He explained he was using it to mean stupid. Now, it might not be the most politically correct thing to say but does it require 4 police officers, NO. The police claimed 11 year old George was being investigated for a "very serious" homophobic crime. George used the word "gay" in an email to a 10 yr old classmate.

This just epitomizes the problem with our government. Four police officers for 1 comment by an eleven yr old... I couldn't get 4 police officers to my house if I had been robbed! Our government is far to busy chasing after people like this 11 year old to actually deal with real crime. While they are wasting police time on this child how many serious crimes are happening in your neighborhood?

If our Government spent as much time tracking down dangerous criminals and terrorists as they did on this little boy imagine how much safer our country would be. Or they could even put a little of their resources into rescuing the hostages from Iran.