Here’s A Nice Little Song To Take Us Into The Weekend

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Glastonbury

Former UUP Peer Appears In Court

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UUP

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass has appeared in court on an assault charge.

The former UUP peer, 75, of Park Lane, Dungannon, County Tyrone, is accused of assaulting a man on 7 June 2012, in what is understood to be a road-rage incident.

Representing himself at Dungannon Magistrates Court, Lord Maginnis said he wanted the justice minister to give evidence in the case.

He said the charge was based on “conspiracy and corruption”.

A hearing has been set for 19 August. Lord Maginnis said he will have legal representation for the hearing.

Ken Maginnis is the former UUP MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. He was MP from 1983-2001. He was also a UDR major and former member of the B Specials.

We Don’t Need No Education

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Belfast Telegraph

The Belfast Telegraph has been getting on it’s high horse in recent days on the subject of integrated education. It’s editor Ed Curran has sought to lecture parents who send their children to Catholic schools. The key question in education is are parents allowed to send their children to a school of their own choice? Or will they be forced to send them to a School the Government tells them. It wasn’t so long ago the Belfast Telegraph was running a campaign to save local Grammar Schools. It seems to Mr Curran that middle class parents are entitled to send their offspring to a school of their own choice. Yet Catholic parents are not allowed to choice a Catholic School for their offspring. Most parents want what is best for their children. The only people who fully support integrated education are in the APNI. The DUP have been making friendly noises towards integrated education in recent times but many see this as dishonest. Others such as the dregs of humanity that used to make up the Workers Party give support to the integrated education movement.

Well At Least Somebody Is Doing Well

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Queen of England

The Queen of England has been handed an five per cent pay raise the day after £11.5bn of Government spending cuts were announced.

The Treasury will pay out a Sovereign Grant of £37.89m, up from £36.1m from the previous year.

While the Unemployed who have lost there jobs will have to wait a week until they can claim jobseekers allowance. And people who cannot speak English will have to learn the language in order to claim benefits.

DUP Health Minister Loses Court Case

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DUP

The Court of Appeal has rejected a move by Edwin Poots to stop Gay couples in the North adopting children. Edwin Poots had challenged an earlier High Court decision, which ruled the current adoption ban was unlawful. The Court of Appeal ruling has been welcomed by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and Gay rights groups.

Nutters

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DUP, UUP

According to UUP leader Mike Nesbitt that’s what DUP MLA Jimmy Spratt called those who are opposed to the peace centre at Long Kesh. Mr Spratt made his alleged remark at a OFMDFM committee meeting today. Mr Nesbitt who has taken umbrage at the comment and gone running to his friends in the local media.

The Truth Hurts

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SDLP

Doctor Alasdair McDonnell has called the DUP bigots in the House Of Commons. This is true as far as most people who don’t vote DUP are concerned. When it comes to bigotry they leave most people cold.The SDLP leader has hit the nail on the head and should not be apologizing to anybody least of all a little guttersnipe like Jeffrey Donaldson. Well done to Doctor McDonnell for pointing out the facts when it comes to the DUP. Maybe if more people treated the DUP as the enemy instead of sucking up to them constantly Irish Nationalism would be in better shape in the North.

Some Of My Favourite Blogs

Bangordub’s Blog is great:
http://bangordub.wordpress.com/author/bangordub/

FJH’s is mighty fine too:
http://fitzjameshorselooksattheworld.wordpress.com/

Enda Does Good Work:
http://endgameinulster.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

Seamus is one of the good guys:
http://ansionnachfionn.com

FC Our Friend Down Under:
http://footballcliches.wordpress.com

Tory Taliban On The March

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Tory

The right wing of the Tory has published it’s own version of the Queen’s Speech including 40 bills:
1) Face Coverings (Prohibition) – Bill to prohibit the wearing of certain face coverings; and for connected purposes.

2) National Service – Bill to provide a system of national service for young persons; and for connected purposes.

3) European Communities Act 1972 (Repeal) – Bill to repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and related legislation; and for connected purposes.

4) Young Offenders (Parental Responsibility) – Bill to make provision for the parents of young offenders to be legally responsible for their actions.

5) Foreign National Offenders (Exclusion from the United Kingdom) – Bill to make provision to exclude from the United Kingdom foreign nationals found guilty of a criminal offence committed in the United Kingdom.

6) Asylum Seekers (Return to Nearest Safe Country) – Bill to facilitate the transfer of asylum seekers to the safe country nearest their country of origin.

7) Prisoners (Completion of Custodial Sentences) – Bill to require prisoners to serve in prison the full custodial sentence handed down by the court.

8) Fishing Grounds and Territorial Waters (Repatriation) – Bill to make provision for the Government to designate certain fishing grounds and territorial waters as sovereign territory of the United Kingdom outside the control of the Common Fisheries Policy.

9) School Governing Bodies (Adverse Weather Conditions) – Bill to require school governing bodies and headteachers to make provision to keep schools open in adverse weather conditions.

10) Capital Punishment – Bill to allow for capital punishment for certain offences.

11) Government Departments (Amalgamation of Scotland Office, Wales Office and Northern Ireland Office) – Bill to make provision for the amalgamation of the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Offices.

12) Residential Roads (Adoption by Local Highways Authority) – Bill to require the handover of residential roads built by developers to local highways authorities within certain time periods; and for connected purposes.

13) Equality and Diversity (Reform) – Bill to prohibit the use of affirmative and positive action in recruitment and appointment processes; to amend the Equality Act 2010 to remove the special provision for political parties in relation to the selection of candidates; and for connected purposes.

14) Sentencing Escalator – Bill to provide that a criminal reconvicted for an offence on a second or further occasion receives a longer sentence than for the first such offence.

15) Leasehold Reform (Amendment) – Bill to amend the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 in relation to the permitted signatories of notices; and for connected purposes.

16) BBC Licence Fee (Civil Debt) – Bill to make provision to decriminalise the non-payment of the BBC licence fee.

17) Smoking (Private Members’ Clubs) – Bill to make provision to allow smoking in a separate ventilated room in a private members’ club if a majority of the members of the club so decide.

18) Margaret Thatcher Day – Bill to make provision that the annual Bank Holiday Monday in late August be known as Margaret Thatcher Day.

19) Department of Energy and Climate Change (Abolition) – Bill to make provision for the abolition of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and for its functions to be absorbed into the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

20) Married Couples (Tax Allowance) – Bill to make provision for a tax allowance for married couples.

21) Foreign Aid Ring-Fencing (Abolition) – Bill to make provision for foreign aid and development not to be linked to a specific percentage of Gross National Income, but to be set yearly, by Parliament, in relation to need.

22) Charitable Status for Religious Institutions – Bill to make provision for a presumption that religious institutions meet the public benefit test for charitable status.

23) Same Sex Marriage (Referendum) – Bill to make provision for a referendum on whether same sex marriage should be allowed.

24) Wind Farm Subsidies (Abolition) – Bill to make provision for the cessation of subsidies for the development of wind farms.

25) Withdrawal from the European Convention of Human Rights and Removal of Alleged Terrorists – Bill to make provision for an application to the Council of Europe to withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights and to deport alleged terrorists subject to approval by the British courts.

26) Romanian and Bulgarian Accession (Labour Restriction) – Bill to make provision for restrictions on the residence in the UK of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals to continue.

27) BBC Privatisation – Bill to make provision for the privatisation of the British Broadcasting Corporation by providing shares in the Corporation to all licence fee payers.

28) Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Abolition) – Bill to make provision for the abolition of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and its responsibilities to be allocated to other Departments of State.

29) Prime Minister (Replacement) – Bill to make provision for the appointment of a Prime Minister in the event that a Prime Minister is temporarily or permanently incapacitated.

30) United Kingdom (Withdrawal from the European Union) – Bill to make provision for the Government to give notice under Article 50 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; and for connected purposes.

31) Asylum (Time Limit) – Bill to require that asylum claims in the United Kingdom be lodged within three months of the claimant’s arrival in the United Kingdom; and that persons who have already entered the United Kingdom and wish to make an asylum claim must do so within three months of the passing of this Act.

32) Benefit Entitlement (Restriction) – Bill to make provision to restrict the entitlement of non-UK Citizens from the European Union and the European Economic Area to taxpayer-funded benefits.

33) Illegal Immigrants (Criminal Sanctions) – Bill to make provision for criminal sanctions against those who have entered the UK illegally or who have remained in the UK without legal authority.

34) Sexual Impropriety in Employment – Bill to require that claims by employees alleging sexual impropriety be limited to cases where the alleged misconduct is contrary to the criminal law and has been reported to the police.

35) Collection of Nationality Data – Bill to require the collection and publication of information relating to the nationality of those in receipt of benefits and of those to whom national insurance numbers are issued. 36) Foreign Nationals (Access to Public Services) – Bill to restrict access by foreign nationals to United Kingdom public services for which no charge is made.

37) House of Lords (Maximum Membership) – Bill to provide for a maximum limit on the number of Peers entitled to vote in the House of Lords, and to provide for a moratorium on new appointments.

38) Control of Offshore Wind Turbines – Bill to restrict the height, number, location and subsidies of wind turbines situated offshore within 20 miles of the coast.

39) Employment Opportunities – Bill to introduce more freedom, flexibility and opportunity for those seeking employment in the public and private sectors; and for connected purposes.

40) EU Membership (Audit of Costs and Benefits) – Bill to require an independent audit of the benefits and costs of UK membership of the European Union.

William Hague’s Sexuality Baffles The World

William Hague’s sexuality still baffles the world. Many people ask me is he gay or not? I honestly don’t know the messages are so mixed. Yes he is married but so was Oscar Wilde and he even had kids. And then there was that young guy he shared a hotel room with. Who he later employed as a advisor even though he wasn’t qualified for the job. Some might say it is none of my business but I am not the one who is living a lie. It is all so confusing one thing that isn’t confusing though is William Hague’s recent intervention in the Scottish Independence debate. Even though it is none of his business and he doesn’t even have a vote in the referendum.