1731 Britain's Got Talent and Corrupted Politicians

The weather has become the best of the best, blue sky, hot sun and a cooling breeze. Several days are promised with more to come over the rest often summer. On Friday morning, Friday, I concentrated on the planting and with the two new long and wide containers and all the available pots I found a home for all the plants purchased two days before. I then cleaned the patio flagstones and chip pieces, cleaned the drains and swept the garage area floor. Everything is almost ready to paint the walls in stages around the plants, but before then the kitchen is to be tackled. With lots of cricket, the fine weather and preparation for departure I am unlikely to start of the walls before the next trip and it will require a major effort to sort out the kitchen but I am set on a sort out an rearrange which will be of use if the end of self aware consciousness comes sooner than later.

I rested over the lunch time I enjoyed a kipper, then two pieces of white fish and half a melon and coffee. I finished off the garage and washed the kitchen floor. It was then time to prepare for the evening’s cricket at the riverside. I took with me three rolls filled with coleslaw and luncheon meat, a pecan twist, coffee and cold water. For the 20-20 and larger crowds additional security is employed both outside and inside the stadium. The is a nuisance but acceptable as long as it does not interfere with the enjoyment of the event. The first annoyance is that a decision was taken to close use of my usual car park close the entrance for members until the other two parks were full. This can mean being trapped inside a park for sometime. However a new exit was in use which enabled an even quicker getaway than usual as we had out own traffic line whereas by the usual and to join in with those existing from the next car park to mine.

I got myself an end seat on the balcony of the Member’s lounge to enjoy my early evening meal and read the local paper. I then went for a walk about, meeting a former colleague who I had not seen for over a decade. He is not a member and been brought along by someone who is, so there was only brief opportunity to talk about cricket and the publication of the expenses of one of the two Member’s of Parliament for South Tyneside.

The less said about the game, again, the better. Durham had a disastrous start after winning the toss and electing to bat this time. Smith and Blackwell were out for ducks and Collingwood for 9 after the openers had a bright and positive start. With the score 55 for 5 the game was over, or was it? A spirited end pushed the score to 144 and then Durham’s bowlers contained the opponents Leicestershire so that although they retained their wickets they were behind the run rate needing ten off the last over. The decision was taken for Paul Collingwood, the Captain of England’s one day side to bowl the last over. He was hit for six off the penultimate ball and the opponents scored the wining run off the last ball. What a disaster, The crowd was the best ever except for an international although this also had mixed consequences It appeared that a lot of free tickets or reduced tickets had been passed to Durham University who turned out in number and became a drunken noisy rabble taking little interest in the game. There was even a streaker which disrupted the concentration of the players. This resulted in the security stewards being told off by their boss and they started to stop anyone standing to enjoy the game from the walkways around. Irritating. I was making my way to the gents when this occurred just before the end of the game. I had found a seat in the sun behind the wicket.

I started to watch a film but became tired and went to bed. The combination of exercise and fresh air meant that I slept well for the great part of nine hours only rising once. This meant a late start for the day, I had in mind to buy a panama type hat and set off to Newcastle mid morning. There were crowds everywhere and Newcastle was impossible. There was a canvas version at Marks and Spencer’s for sixteen pounds but only the design was different from my Slazenger. However in BHS I found a panama which with a sale discount of a fifth only cost £8. It is an extra large size which means not suitable for very windy conditions but other comfortable. I look naff in hats but with being overweight I look naff anyway and with the hot sun forecast I now have a choice for different weather conditions, functions and moods.

For the past eight weeks or so and every night except one over the past week my evenings, apart from the cricket have revolved around Britain’s Got Talent. I am not fan of putting up for public ridicule people who cannot sing or perform but who seek publicity or of eccentric acts put into the semi finals in order create publicity and balance. It is interesting that although 200 acts went through for semi final consideration that the successful 40 were all featured in the audition programmes and therefore many of the 200 under consideration never performed on the TV shows.

The semi finals produced some disappointing performances and half a dozen acts which did not make the final ten might have achieved similar performances to those in the final but, and it is a big but, all merited their place and reflected the innate common sense, fairness and good judgement of the British public. Hopefully UK politicians will note and fear what is to come

Such was the excellence and range of performances that it is impossible to predict how the British will vote. The dark horses could be the father and son comic dancers called Stavros Flatley, an over weight Greek restaurateur and his over weight son who pranced around the stage with bare bellies with a take off Irish dancing and Michael Flatley in particular. I thought their semi final performance was not as good as the first but their performance this evening showed genuine dancing ability. Their honesty about their limitations appears natural. A similar nice act was 2 Grand, a recently widowed grandfather whose voice has become shaky and his Granddaughter who had a good voice but nothing spectacular. The were endearing and merited a place in the final but were not expected to go further. In a similar category I would put schoolboy Aidan, a self taught dancer similar to last year’s winner who produced an electrifying performance of singing in the rain to out shone the then twelve year old girl Farrer with a mature operative voice.

An indicator of what has happened in the past, the first winner was Paul Potts and man with an operatic voice who had gone on to make a great career including performing in the USA as well as having a successful album. Similarly although 12 year old Farrer did not win and chose to be signed up by a classical record company rather than the commercially minded Simon Cowell, she has had great success while continuing to develop both as a school girl and singer with a voice which needs to be trained. One can foresee a healthy professional career for her although whether she will be become as great as her voice at twelve suggests remains to be seen, probably by others in a decade and little more. The young dancer who won last year has appeared in the West End and released a DVD and will have some form of career although it could be short as the number of male dancers who become household names are few, Wayne Sleep, Michael Flatley. Returning to Aidan given he was self taught practicing in his bedroom he merited the final appearance.

How far those behind the programme assist some with ideas and others not, I have suspicions, and that it depends on commercial potential. In some instances there is only room for one commercial success at the present time.

This was so with the decision not to support the girl violinist and to support the saxophonist, giving him top of the billing last night and which out him into third position. He is nice guy with a family who has struggled to make it for two decades. His image is that of a busker on the London underground and his appeals for public sympathy became something of a whine. The violinist on the other hand was exceptionally talented and visually appealing and I did not understand the put down she received from Simon except that h the quarter from last year playing similar slimed down instruments have gone on to have worldwide success and an album. On Sunday morning I learnt that the saxophonist was already signed to Simon and had an album as well as featuring on other records and accompanying major live acts on the concert circuit. This leaves a nasty taste Simon Watch it.

There were two school age singers Hollie was barely out of primary school and in the semi final broke down but gathered herself and then won the hearts of everyone by successfully continuing. She gave an exceptional performance in the circumstances and I am not sure if the professional stage life is for her or if her voice will also stand the test of time. Shaheen Jafarhholi goes to stage school and therefore already had the background to perform in public. His voice has been compared to that of Michael Jackson at a similar age, and I was surprised he did not reach the last three. He should have a professional career.

Shaun Smith is also a likeable 17 year old who appeared to be an adjusted A level student who also plays Rugby whose pop voice suggests he would have also reached he final stages of the X Factor and may have a career if he is signed up and gets the right record. There is a question mark though as to whether he is significantly different from 100 others.

This brings me to the two Street dance groups, both black and difficult to separate until the final. Flawless from North London produced their third flawless performance, bold, imaginative and energetic. Diversity comes from Dagenham and Leytonstone and Essex, three sets of brothers and four of their friends. They include an I.T> systems engineer, a bathroom installer and one in telesales. The choreographer, Ashley Banjo is a physics university student. I thought their act was brilliant and agreed with Amanda Holden that they had “ blown Flawless out of the water. They were the outstanding act and Simon Cowell said that were the only act to get his ten out of ten.

Susan Boyle was outstanding in her audition performance and fully justified the tens of millions around the world who watched her performance on You Tube singing If I had a dream and which led to interviews on major talk shows in the USA. Simon Cowell is now second to President Obama in terms of being a household name in the USA. However Susan appeared a bundle of nerves in the semi final and looked like a scared rabbit caught up in the headlights. There were rumours that she was considering withdrawing from the show and then she might be asked to leave because of outbursts and reactions to the pressures. On the night she performed the original song again and sang it much better with more passion and intensity, According to the Wikipedia the group Diversity won the audience vote with 24.9% Susan came second and the saxophonist third.

The reference to learning difficulties reminds that on my way to Newcastle a mother brought her son onto the train who had a severe condition and was prone to shout, swear and attention seek. She clearly could not cope and resented having what she regarded as a problem and an embarrassment. One wondered why she subjected herself to the situation without help as clearly what happened was not unusual. It was a very difficult situation for the other passengers. My thoughts were with the mother and with her son but there was nothing I or anyone could do,

I started to watch the film again after the show, it is called casino. I became tired again and went to bed and sleep although waking up early on Sunday morning. The subject of the morning remained that of public manipulation by thee media and politicians

1730 I buy a car but the rest the day does not go well

Yesterday summer came to Britain, but in my case there were two icy breezes and a very dark haunting cloud reminding of bloody times. I must begin with the events in Korea in the early 1950‘s when I and everyone else was beginning go recover form the fear and horror of World War 2. Then as now I was preoccupied with my own experience with one fundamental difference, then I was coping with becoming an adolescent whereas now it is with the prospect of death and old age infirmity and the impact of what is happening in affect children and grand children and subsequent generations. In the early 1950’s stalemate was reached as Russia and China lined up behind North Korea and the USA and Europe behind the South and eventually a peace was signed with respected the demarcation zone with was nevertheless heavily fortified with armies and their weapons by both sides.

Over the next fifty years North Korea became more and more entrenched as the vanguard of a communist dictatorship while South Korea became an economic miracle in Asia as the capitalist nations and enterprises did everything they could to encourage the population from having sympathy with the northern neighbours. As first, the Soviet union was dismantled, and then China appeared to embrace western capitalism, North Korea became more isolated and fearing implosion, no doubt aided by external interests, commenced to strut a stance with the development of nuclear weaponry and fermenting trouble elsewhere, looking for allies and hankering for the opportunity to invade and take control of what it perceives as its greatest threat, South Korea. However one wonders what China really thinks and if the west would do more than mutter tut tut if China annexed North Korea in the immediate future.

North Korea might think, and did Cuba that the USA with its popular new Democratic President could be challenged as they might has expressed the kind of tough right wing posturing which has been the characteristic of the Bushes and Regan’s of this world. Like most people outside the higher echelons of government and military and intelligence services, I have no idea if the present posturing is only that or something more sinister and dangerous. At the moment I hope it is no more than a temporary storm, but my gut reaction tells me it is worse.

For the greater part of the past five years if I have not written a minimum of a thousand words and on average over two there is a sense of failure, even if I been fully involved in matters of greater priority or personal interest. I have been less concerned with falling behind targets for the main project work because of the need to reduce costs and resolve problems about space and work organisation. I am confident that it is only a lull and that I will switch back to concentrated and prolonged working when autumn comes

Over recent weeks I have been torn between wanting to record experience through words and immerse myself in the experience. Although I took my film and still camera to Brighton, Hove and Worthing, I decided against using it, because I hoped I would be visiting again and because I was more involved in the present than remembering previous experience. The photograph is a quick way to record experience and then use it to remember and attempt to translate feelings and impressions, reactions and interactions into words. But the camera like to notebooks creates distance between me and the immediate experience. I am back to being the outsider, observing, witnessing but not participating as others seem to be able to do.

Yesterday as with the previous days I was much engaged in activity which took me out and about and there was one great moment which adds security and continuity. On Thursday of next week I will have a colour red replacement Suzuki Wagon. It was still available when I rang the car sales garage and the red Suzuki Wagon was still available. Having checked the location before departure it was only a 15 minutes drive and a couple of miles, perhaps three via the Tyne River Runnel at Jarrow Until the second Tunnel is built it can take half an hour to get through during the morning and evening rush hours. I had not been able to find my MOT certificate after all so had to go first for a duplicate which cost £10.

There was no problem getting through the tunnel late morning paying the £1.20 fee the other end with the money thrown in to a basket device. The road is the A19 and which connects with the A 1 from Newcastle a little way along. It was a mile, if that, along the dual carriage straight road to the junction of the road from Newcastle which continues to the coast at Whitley Bay. Here there is a fifth road where after the entrance to the Travel Lodge on the left and the Silverlink shopping centre in the right there are six to eight large car dealerships stretching on either side of the road for half a mile. At the far end of this road the Newcastle Building Society has built its new headquarters. An extraordinary building in terms of size and I do not understand why a building society requires so many staff. It is puzzling. Almost after joining the fifth road there is a travel lodge on one side and a shopping centre on the other with a large multiplex cinema at one end. I could see the red Wagon and a silver grey model. The silver grey was more discrete looking and £500 less and with a slighter larger engine at 1.3. However it has 26000 miles against 18000 and the red has an air conditioning system in addition to the fan blowing cold air. After looking at both vehicles I took the red for a test drive and then stopped at the quiet end of the shopping centre car park to properly explore and work everything out including the radio disk player, cooling system, removal of the head rests to get a flat surface in the rear, the condition of the spare tyre which looked unused, the petrol cap and the under the bonnet. As I intimated yesterday I have always tended to keep in a groove if I like the experience and the advantage of this car is that within a few minutes I felt at home despite a different layout for the controls and an information screen. I collect the vehicle a week’s time.

The day had not started well. The Epsom combined scanner and printer announcing that a service is required. This is an automatic notice which occurs after a period of use and can be over ridden. I managed this last time but have forgotten how I did so. The problem is that fixing an individual printer costs £25 and in the grand scheme of things was worth while but because it is combined with a scanner the charge is £40 and become questionable, especially if there is a problem obtaining reimbursement for the stock of ink cartridges. I had no inclination to sort out the problem and it was allocated a place in the queue

Then worse was to happen as the door of washing machine will not open. It happened once before recently and initiated a second cycle and the door opened after this. On Thursday evening it did not. Another sort out required and which if it needs to be replaced will require taking up the kitchen floor. I have in mind to take the opportunity to remove the fridge and replace with the tumble dryer although I will then need a table for the television. I will tackle this next week although of the brilliant weather as forecasted continues I will go to the cricket and if necessary go to a laundrette.. Fortunately I know where one continues to exist.

As a consolation I managed to find plant containers which matched by existing ones. I had not realises how warm it had to become till going on walk about. I parked the car at the supermarket and then walked to the post office. I could not remember if I had bought the original containers from the supermarket, Wilkinsons’ on B and Q After drawing a blank at the supermarket I walked through the garden‘s adjacent to St Mary’s Church, into the deserted Market Square and over to the store where I found similar units in stock. By the time I returned for the second time to the car I was perspiring in the close heat. I only wanted a few items at the supermarket, but decided to get the extra planting compost. I planned to cover for the weekend with cricket on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. I forgot the milk. I also forgot to obtain reimbursement of the parking charge which necessitated a third return up stairs, thankful for the lifts although I did use the slow moving platform for one journey down.

It is evident that the Telegraph has saved some of the worst Tory expenses offenders until the run up to the Euro elections next week. Any Questions on Thursday evening was much consumed with the matter although the programme was about the European Elections the expenses of British and European Parliament members was the overriding subject of interest, much to the consternation of some. I was alarmed by what the Prime Minister had to say which was in effect there was need for a system which would ensure that Members of the House of Commons were not able to make the same mistakes. Some mistakes. Shame on you Gordon. You have lost my respect and In suspect that of any you have left with the majority of the British Government

1729 Parliamentary Goodies and minor misadventures

As I have got older and partly because of changed circumstances I have found it more difficult to cope with challenges, the distress of others, unexpected disappointments and especially my physical condition and any form of ill health. My reactions tends to be more conservative with a small c and cautious about taking risks.

I set off on bank holiday Monday to investigate the possibility of buying a new car under the government scrappage scheme. My interest was the latest Fiat Panda 1.2 which under the scrappage scheme was £5300 instead of £7300. It took me nearly an hour to find Springfield Motors which I thought was in Gateshead near Saltwell Park. I had bought a sausage and pickle sandwich and pecan twist to eat in the Park after checking out whether Panda would suit my physical size and have the same storage capacity in the rear. It had the same length specifications but not the height. By the time I found the garage I was hungry and had a picnic in the car.

My first mistake was to forget how to get to Saltwell park and the Old Durham Road and I found myself in two cul-de-sac areas after turning left having missed the correct turning and had to reverse tracks in order to take the right road which brought me to one end of the Park and then into the Old Durham Road. At this point I did not know whether to turn left or right. I went left and travelling a couple of miles and then came back and travelled a mile and then returned to where I had started and asked one couple passing by and then again some one attending to their vehicle outside of their house. Neither knew where the garage was but the second got me on to the Durham Road (new). I turned left towards Gateshead centre but what had been a garage a little way further along was closed down and become derelict. I managed to turn the car round and drove for another couple of miles until reaching the next township community and turned round again and this time continued unto Gateshead and as I was on the fly over I saw the show rooms in two buildings off the other side. It was necessary for me to continue to the end of the fly over as I missed the first junction and had to make a major detour through the town centre getting to when I started at the major roundabout leading to South Shields and Sunderland and with the fly over above. A little parallel to the fly over there is a road towards Heworth and then a second into the local community and then the road back up to the fly over. I gambled and took the latter and the showrooms were on the left.

I could not see a Panda in either show room areas but later found a motorbility adapted model which I tried and then an assistant took me to see the standard model, the only one in stock, coloured yellow at the back in a parking lot. I just did not feel comfortable. It was an in between car, taller than the average saloon but significantly less head room. The issue which convinced this was not the car for is that while the rear bench seat folds over with simplicity it is not flush to the boot floor. I then enquired if the ever had second hand Wagon’s available and was told there was one at the far end of the used car section. It took two attempts to find the keys and then the mileage was not showing as a light bulb needed to be replaced. It was said to only have 25000 with the cost £3995 first registered in 2003. This evening when I checked the dealer’s site it was showing for £3445, £500 less and we had talked in terms of trade in for my existing vehicle. Being a later model than my own it had a different dash board system. I liked the interior trim and that the rear seats were easier to lower. However there was what appeared to be rust on the door hinges and on the wheel wing nuts. The dealer’s site gives the mileage at 25000 exact whereas other vehicles have the precise mileage. It is also coloured silver which along with yellow is the least attractive colour although yellow has become fashionable with some young people.

On Wednesday my attention turned to the patio plants and some masonry paint as the outside and garage walls require redoing. Unfortunately there were no plants available at B and Q which I assumed meant they had all been sold over the holiday.

I decided to head for Sunderland going along the coast road, to Seaburn and then would decided to go either to the Sunderland B and Q or a garden centre between Sunderland and Washington which I had used from time to tine when living at Seaburn and which was on the way to Durham Cricket ground. I wanted to see what Wilson’s’ of Whitburn and a couple of other stores in Fulwell had to offer. The original store is as the name suggests is located at Whitburn but parking there, as at the main store now in Sunderland Town Centre makes going for plants a problems As I passed the Whitburn store on the left they had a fine selection of plants so I turned the car around and was able to park close by in a back Lane.

The advantage of the Shields B and Q is that I could buy in stages to ensure I did not over buy but having travelled some six miles I had to guess. The store had three packs of hanging basket plants each with 6 different plants for £3.99 and at a similar price a different set of six for patio containers. I was able to get two more hanging basket packs at the Seaburn store and instead of the three packs for containers which I would use in the handing baskets under cover in the garage above the kitchen widow I bought four in total so now have one over. I also bought some trailing Lobelia and some red and some White Geraniums. This was a significance change from last year when the baskets had overflowed with Trailing Petunias, some white, some yellow and some a mixture with a Geranium in the middle. Last year’s Geraniums had survived the winter after being replanted in pots as the baskets were converted for the use of bulbs.

I then decided to take the plants home but I was almost back when I remembered the paint and when to the Shields B and Q for my second visit. I learnt from a sales assistant that they had a problem with their plants although precisely what was not explained. I was told this after asking the assistant if manufacturers made masonry paint in a light blue shade as they only stocked while, red and magnolia yellow. The Sunderland store had a much wider range. So it was back to Sunderland after all.

There are four aisle of paints and wood and metal treatments and of course I went up and down three before getting to the correct one where there was a fine selection of masonry paint and a wide range of shades but not light blue. In the end after debating and considering and checking the possibility of a gloss, I went for a salmon pink. I also checked out the plants and could not resist some deep blue petunias which I put at the centre of my four main baskets. There was also some spiky red Sylvia which I have used in the three window ledge containers. I have over provided of course and will need to get one or two more containers.

White at B and Q I also investigated something to tackle the flies who enter via the kitchen back door into the garage, and with a hot summer promised, mosquito’s could also become a problem at dusk. There were three options which included an in and out door unit and an indoor unit. There was also a pack of three units which are plugged direct into sockets. All three emit a blue light which attracts the insects onto an electric grid when they are killed and drop into a collecting tray. The final purchase was two packs of light kitchen or garden gloves with 100 either hand use for a modest £2.40 a pack. The Sunderland store also has customer use toilets and a small cafe with a settee and magazine. I resisted the selections of cakes and other snacks but enjoyed a cup of tea. On all purchases I received a 10% discount on Wednesday for being an elder. On return I sorted out the baskets, although having discovered one more basket packet I will replace the container set tomorrow, some time as well as finishing the planting if I can get matching containers.

It was only in the evening that I discovered there is a red Suzuki with 18000 miles available at a dealership across the river and an asking price of £4995. This confirms my queries about the silver model at Springfield’s. I will ring tomorrow to find out if it is still available and not sold over the holiday and if still available go over, after obtaining a copy of my MOT test on the existing vehicle which I cannot find. I must also collect other information once I have decide if I am paying cash or a mixture of cash and credit. In the early hours before going to bed I found the MOT misplaced in a wrong pile of papers. Perhaps this is a good omen

I have enjoyed a home made curry over the past two days, making use of the remaining tined vegetable and roast chicken from Sunday. I had a tin of mild curry for one day and made up the curry with powder on the second. Yesterday at the cricket I took three rolls filled with coleslaw and smoked salmon, and the pecan twist. Today for lunch I made a quick salami and olive omelette. There was melon, a banana and grapes for fruit over the two days.

The less said about the cricket the better. On the journey there, there were three areas of exceptionally dark and low lying cloud which opened up in hail stones or a torrent. Given that the journey is no more than ten to fifteen miles and takes less than getting to Newcastle by private car, I had not expected the cricket ground to have escaped but it had and, more is the pity. Last year this same contest ended in virtual darkness with Durham playing on despite losing wickets in order to win on the formula for such occasions called Duckworth Lewis after the person, persons who devised it. Durham won the toss and decided to bat second which has the merit of knowing the run rate to win, but has risks if the wicket is good and there are no interruptions for rain. Durham‘s bowlers failed to contain Derbyshire who amassed 175 for their six wickets while Durham after losing quick wickets struggled with the run rate and surrendered giving the visitors a handsome victory. Because of the uncertain weather I found myself a seat on the first row of the balcony in the Member’s Lounge where I enjoyed her conversation with Members either side and behind. On arrival I entered the stairs to the first floor Member’s lounge at the same time as five young ladies which I speculated were the dancers. However no dancers emerged and there was no grand entrance or fireworks. Instead there was a competition to sit in a comfortable settee under a fake palm tree just over the boundary rope. However this was on the far side of he ground with the wicket close to the Member’s and sponsors stand and seating. The crowd was better than last year and a lot would have been put off travelling because of the weather. The interesting match will be on Sunday the first held in an afternoon and the weather forecast is presently good.

The Daily Telegraph has commenced to identify model Members of Parliament in relation to their expense claims in relation to the second home allowance including 9 who made no claim at all.

021 Adam Alfriye Conservative salary 64766
022 Geoffrey Robinson Labour 64766
023 Martin Salter Labour 64766
024 Philip Dunne Conservative 64766
025 David Howarth Liberal Democrat 64766
026 Sarah Tether Liberal Democrat Brent East 64766
027 Rob Wilson Conservative Reading East 64766
028 Lynn Featherstone Liberal Democrat
Hornsey and Wood Green 64766
029 Glenda Jackson Labour Highgate
and Hampstead 64766




The following 11 did claim some expenses but are included on the list of goodies re the second home allowance

030 Anne Widdicombe, Conservative Claimed £9000, then £3000 then £404 and £858 a total of £12700in addition to her salary

031 Anne Milton Conservative was not in Parliament until 1005/6 when she claimed 11493 and then 13544 but did not claim for 2007/2008

032 Kelvin Hopkins Labour claim £296, £519,£1256, £1242 less than £3000 in four years

033 Theresa May Conservative O, £4878 £5939 £4288

034 Ed Miliband Labour Energy Minister salary 146866 claimed sum between £7000 and £7500 for three years

035 Alan Williams Labour Swansea East £4521 £6151 £7073 £5221

036 Rob Marris Labour Wolverhampton 10562 9967 11111 11973

037 Richard Benyon Conservative Newbury 5776 1098 and 0

038 Fiona McTaggart Labour Slough 827 3280 1901 3392

039 Gordon Marsden Labour Blackpool 9351 7828 9010 9739

040 Grant Shapps Welwyn Labour NA 2134 3244 7269.

In this first list of those which the Telegraph states are beyond approach regarding the second home allowance there are 7 Conservatives 10 Labour and 3 Liberal Democrat.

In order to maintain a balance between those meriting further investigation. I will continue next the first twenty Conservative There are new types of allegations and further second home allowance allegations in the Telegraph over the weekend and so far this week. The Prime Minister made a media announcement which alarmed me as much as the North Koreans and their nuclear posturing and threats to South Korea. This is a challenge to President Obama as with President Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Now the ball is the court of China.

1728 Political Shenanigans, Summer in Sunderland and a bitter frost in Newcastle, Hildalgo and The Executioner

The latest accusations in the Daily Telegraph are that Members of the Cabinet hired accountants at the Tax Payers expense to control, some would say limit, the amount of tax which they had to pay. There is also the accusation that the tax payers paid for media training and for media gadgets which by implications had uses in terms of party political matters and personal uses. Two major Tory figures Sir Nicholas Winterton and his wife, Anne announced that they would be standing down at the General Election. Question had previously been asked about their use of Tax payer’s money in ration to property purchases and death duties.

The issue of the expenses of Members of Parliament has centred on the provision of the two home allowance and its misuse. Members of Parliament should either be paid a salary which covers the provision of two homes when the need for a second home is clearly established or should have a second home provided for them provided for them. It should not apply to Members who already have a home in Greater London and represent a constituency. Everyone else is able to get to work, including those who work shifts such as late night, weekends and early mornings.

One of the problems is where Members of Parliament do not live in Greater London or in the constituency they represent. This is a problem if they are married and have a family with work and school commitments which means that partners and children should not be expected to uproot themselves at crucial periods in their respective lives. There is an argument for Members not standing in a constituency which is so far away from their home that they cannot attend properly to their duties which appear to be divided between constituency work and Parliamentary, and under out system, work as part of the Government or in a Shadow Government capacity if a member of a major Political Party.

I would suggest that the first loyalty of a Member of Parliament is to their constituents, and not as a Member of the Government, as a Member of Parliament or as a Member of a Political Party. Their duty on election is to represent all their constituents taking up issues between their constituents and the Government, issues involving local government and issues involving others. There is a need for a staff and an office in every constituency to do this, the number of staff depends on the average volumes of requests for help and contemporary staffing conditions and it is logical that these staff also work and live close to the constituency. They will need to filter referrals which can be dealt with elsewhere in the first instance. Has a matter which involves a local authority gone through appropriate local authority processes? This is an argument for having constituency of the same population size and for varying local staffing levels where the constituency covers a large geographic but sparsely populated area.

Members also have a duty to represent the collective and organisational interests of constituents and this will involve not just the local authority or local authorities, health matters and other official bodies, such as religious organisations, trade interest and voluntary organisations. This may or may not be related to legislation and policies under consideration. The Member of Parliament needs local based staff to establish the extent to which individual representations truly reflect opinion within the constituency. He has a duty to represent local opinion accurately and fairly. This should be the basis of the lower house. The Member will want to engage in publicity about the matters of local concerns and should be trained and provided with assistance in relation to the media.

The second function of the elected Member of Parliament to the Lower House is to hold the executive to account and to participate in the creation of new legislation. There is too much legislation passed, much of it trying to correct the problems of earlier legislation. There is too little evaluation of thee effectiveness of legislation, removing the unworkable and the out of date. It is said that 75 percent of all legislation is now passed in Europe rather than by the Parliaments of individual nations. If this is so then their there is need for fewer Members of Parliament in relation to this role but for the national parliament to review more closely the legislation passed by their European colleagues.

The evidence is that because of the growing role of Government in our lives through the use of electronics, and data storage and retrieval, and the emphasis upon Political Parties and their organisation, that the role of back bench Members of Parliament has been diminished especially as the government tends to exercise control over the appointment of those who serve on Committees of the House of Commons. This needs to be changed. The involvement of Back Benchers in legislation and Government policies and decisions also requires staff and an office and these should be provided at Westminster. Members of Parliament, almost all, are members of Political parties. I do not support the Tax Payer making any contribution for the day to day expenses of Political Parties. There is a different case for ensuring that private money is not used to buy seats at elections, but this does not mean that the Tax Payer should fund Political parties at election. Tax payer money should be used to ensure everyone has the opportunity to vote and that voting arrangements are fair and not open to corruption. I had intended to comment further about other aspects of the second allowance system and continue the analysis of what individual Members of Parliament have done.

However so much else has been happening that if I do not mention I will forget. First the weather. It has been glorious for two days. As hot as usually experienced in high summer. It has been possible to be out in shirts and trousers without other clothing. I have therefore moved quickly to switching to the inner jacket of my main Winter’s coat, together with its sleeves. I need this with its inside and outside pockets.

This has been an important sporting weekend. Jenson Button won the Monet Carlo Brand Prix. This is usually the most boring of the races unless it rains. The drivers like it because the circuit requires great driving skill and is in a fashionable and glamorous place. Boring however it remains. Jenson Button won and his team partner came second for the third time this season. Even if Jenson fails to score any points in a race he would remain ahead in the as champion driver and then he would could only be overtaken in the next race if he failed again and both races were run by his closet rival, his partner. There is then another huge gap so the third place would have to win all three races and Jenson score only two points or less for him to lose his position. He is not unassailable but his performance has been remarkable.

England trounces the West Indies in the first One day game, although it was officially the second as the first was washed out. The game finished early but large sections of the crowd had got drunk or found other ways to entertain themselves. Durham played Notts today in the first of the 20 20 domestic completion games this season. Notts started badly and then put on 103 runs for the fifth wicket, scoring 163 runs for six wickets which is about 8 runs an over. Durham then had a disastrous start losing two wickets for six runs and four wickets for 27 runs. There was then a fifth wicket partnership of 101, a great coincidence. Durham then collapsed while getting the remaining runs and needed one off the last ball with their last wicket pair. Claydon was the hero scoring a four. Durham should have won more easily but a win is a win and they have won all three of their most recent one day games. Durham play Notts again tomorrow evening, this time at the Riverside and I shall be there, weather permitting.

On Sunday the main sporting event was the last matches in the premiership and which of Sunderland Hull, Newcastle and the Boro went down with West Bromwich. If Sunderland or Hull won their matches they were safe and Newcastle had to win to have a good chance of survival while a win for Boro and they would have an outside chance. All four teams lost and therefore Newcastle for the first time in sixteen years and the Boro for the first time in eleven years, were relegated. However before this happened it was an afternoon of great emotion. Boro equalised after being one down and their position was always the weakest of the four. They went out with a whimper and question marks are being asked about Steve Gibson one of the most loyal and effective Chairman who devoted a great deal of his money and his life to the development of the club and also regarding Gareth Southgate, a young manager who is yet to prove his worth. They are bound to lose their International players and their future even in the Championship must be in question.

It was reported that Newcastle had chances to take the lead and then to level the score after Aston Villa took the lead at home. When the news reached the Stadium of Light there was delirium bordering on ecstasy. For close on two decades Newcastle as lauded it over Sunderland especially when Sunderland were in the third division or when Newcastle was vying for the Premiership or playing in Europe. They had the bigger stadium and the high profile managers of Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer. They had more high profile players, notably Michael Owen. The difference between the two clubs was however on the field of play where both were rubbish for most if not all the season, but the difference was between the Newcastle owner Mike Ashley may he rot in hell etc is the view of most Newcastle fans, and Nial Quinn the brilliant former player and now Chairman of the Club. Sunderland appeared to be the only team to put up any kind of fight in the last game and came back from being a goal down 1.1 and from being 3.1 down to 3.2. Chelsea who brought their first team with the exception of Frank Lampard were a class act and several notches above Sunderland. They scored two great goal. Although Sunderland lost and saved their place in the Premiership for next season, the great joy was the confirmation that Newcastle had be relegated. The crowd went off home singing in the sunshine and this continued on the bus home.

According to the clock I had just missed the bus on arriving at the station but it did not pass by on the other side for a further five minutes. It then arrived quickly. After the fiasco of the last take the bus trip to the match, I went direct to the High Street stop and was surprised how few individuals there were waiting and that when the bus came after only a short wait it was nearly empty. Everyone had gone to the stop nearest to the stadium and the bus filled up with as many standing as sitting. It was a very happy journey and there were cheers of derision when a few Newcastle shirts were seen as we entered South Shields. The police were in the process of arresting two youth, barely young men close to the former Azda as I reach the area. I suspect this was as much the consequence of drinking quantities of alcohol in the sunshine than anything else.

I saw two films over the past couple of days. Hidalgo pleased with two fine actors Viggo Mortinson, a cowboy and the army despatch rider who delivered the authority for the Wounded Knee massacre. His secret is that he had a native American mother. Omar Sharif replays his Lawrence of Arabia role, this time as an aging head of a race whose passion is breeding horses and winning with his entry in a 3000 miles across desert race to the ocean. Hearing about the boast that the Cowboy is best rider in the world he sends an emissary to invite him to be a competitor in the race. He meets two individuals who are to have a major influence on the outcome of his visit. The first is an Englishwoman who is also a competitor but in league with a relation and rival to the Sheik and who willing to do anything to win including killing the horses of leading rivals as well as their riders.

He also meets the daughter of the Sheik who wants to break with traditions and from a forced marriage for political reasons. She is kidnapped as a way to blackmail the Sheik to give up his horse and the secrets breeding such animals. The Cowboy who under threat because of being found in a misleading comprising situation with the daughter is sent to rescue her and he then triumphs over various obstacles to winning the race.

The film is beautiful photographed and with excellent acting progresses beyond the usual fare. The conversations between the cowboy and the daughter appear authentic about both trying to breakout from the social and traditional confines of their cultures. While is social intimacy and adult conversation about life there is no romance. Their destinies are different. He returns to the USA where following his ordeal in the desert he has accepted his native American background and culture. He releases his horse back to the remaining wilderness and the company of other wild horses..

The second film was very different. A 1970 spy film with George Peppard and Joan Collins called the Executioner. The story has the makings of a good film such as “the Spy Who Came in from the Cold with Richard Burton and TV series Smiley’s People. The Spy suspects treachery when a ring he controls in a Russia state is killed or are missing and in particular he suspects a colleagues with whom he has a vendetta as the man steals his lover who becomes his wife. Although he still loves the woman, he has a new girlfriend who is able to gain access to closed records of previous situations which have caused concern and where the common denominator is the colleague who seduced his lover. When the spy is contacted by a friend who appears to confirm that the man is a traitor he kills him and with the help of the friend dumps the body in the channel from a light plane. When he is captured by the Russians they convince him that the friend was innocent. Later he learns that the man was a double agent and that his superiors knew and had been feeding him false or misleading information for years. They want to promote Peppard but he feels the whole basis of his beliefs and work has been undermined. They could have stopped the destruction of his colleagues and friends in the Russian state. My problem with the film is George Peppard and Joan Collins who are George Peppard and Joan Collins.

I enjoyed my roast chicken and tined vegetables so much on Sunday that I had a chicken salad for the evening meal after the match and a bottle of Peroni. There was strawberries and melon I enjoyed a sausage sandwich with Branson pickle out in the sunshine on Monday and a prawn salad in the evening with melon. There was smoked salmon on toast as treat at tea time. I also had a Pecan flake pastry twist in the sunshine.

1727 Honourable Members have got talent but are no longer Idols

It is very difficult to form an object assessment of the extent to which Member of the House of Commons, 648 in total have committed acts which if committed by anyone else would lead to a criminal prosecution, or although with the rule was strictly not within the intention or spirit of the rules, whether they were approved by the claims office or not, were genuine mistakes or misunderstandings of the system committed by the Member of Parliament directly or by a Member of their staff. On Sunday morning one newspaper suggested that just over half the existing Members of Parliament will not be standing or will be defeated at the next election. While the Party Leaders are taking action, their first task is damage limitation in order to protect the Party from electoral disaster and to have the quality of Members who will have both public confidence and be able to be effective Ministers and Shadow Ministers. How will we be able to decide with confidence if they have made the right decisions in our individual and the country’s best interest?

One way is for all the constituency is able to question and have a say in whether the existing Member should be standing and for this to be introduced in a formal and systematic way. This would take time to arrange, will involve legislation and preparation. It should also apply to any new candidate who has been a Member of Parliament before the current reforms. This is not practical especially with the momentum for a General Election sooner than later but each Party could and should institute arrangements now. It is noteworthy that while the Conservative Leadership has been pushing this approach the Labour Party appears to be relying on more traditional methods. The evidence is that Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, has become a willing prisoner to the existing system and procedures of his party and this has good and bad consequence. The results are like to be more consistency and therefore fair outcomes, but the impact is likely to give the initiative to Conservatives as the Party of action and change. This has taken away the prospect of the Liberal Democrats becoming the main beneficiaries as the Conservatives are likely to hold their vote and the Liberal Democrats and other Parties pick up votes from the Labour Party who will be the most damaged by the revelations. With the prospect of such major changes to be followed by significant constitutional changes I have been asking myself, what has happened justify this and are the glaring misuses quoted in media valid a are we being swept in one direction by the media?

The Daily Telegraph is publishing an ongoing list of the expenses of Members of Parliament without indicating any relative sense of gravity or potential cause for criminal investigation, potential sanctions by the official investigation body that has been set up or by internal Party discipline. So far just under a third of Members of the Commons have been investigated and which appear to include most if not all the household known names, the Members of Cabinet or Whips office, the Shadow Government spokespersons and Party Whips of Conservative and Liberal Democrat Members of the House of Commons.

I have decided that the only way to answer this question is to study the available information in a systematic way, commencing with Labour Party Members because a Labour Government has been in power for twelve consecutive years. I am examining the information Alphabetically and on Saturday went through the first twenty names. I tried to identify which cases I would want to investigate first before the remainder but realised that this is difficult until have undertaken a preliminary check of everyone and then formed a framework. I came to this conclusion after selecting four of the first twenty and then concluded that I might be doing an injustice to them compared to the actual position of others because the information provided was selective, only covered one component of expenses and lacked the detailed explanation of the Member in question. To achieve individual and collective fairness then each side should be able to question what the other is saying. This applies to those the Telegraph is saying little about and therefore appearing to be giving them a clean bill of health in relation to the matters reviewed. The test appears to be whether the claims are wholly within the spirit of the previous rules and do not just comply with the letter of the rules.

I am relying exclusively on the information provided by Telegraph Newspaper, and which includes their summary lists and the separate articles. The expenses investigated cover the second Home Allowance where payments can be made where they are for the benefit exclusively of the Member in order to conduct their Parliamentary duties (not their party political activities such as campaigning for which separate rules apply). It is therefore presumed that the main home and the designated home for allowance claiming is either in or near the constituency or close to the Houses of Parliament. It is ludicrous if both establishments are the same distance away from the Houses of Parliament as I shall mention two disturbing instances, but which are not untypical.

There are also problems arising from designated homes in other areas, shared purchasing or renting with others, and what happens if these properties are sold at a profit and in terms of paying capital gains tax which is required unless the home is the first home, and property primarily used by the tax payer. The Tax payer can fund rent or mortgage payments in full or in part where shared and for repairs and maintenance including maintenance inside and outside and which includes taxes and utilities. Until this week claims could also be submitted for furniture and furnishings, and for food. There are further complications if the main or second home is used as an office for constituency business in addition to the Member having an office provided at Westminster. This applies if the main home is used by staff whether the staff are members of the family or not and where it is said about 200 of the 648 employ their partners or other relatives as staff funded by the tax payer. Nor does the investigation look at travelling and subsistence while travelling, and office expenses. I begin with the four of the twenty I identified as meriting priority official investigation and then say something about the next sixteen. I wonder how many would agree with my selection?

001 John Austin is the Member of Parliament for the outer London constituency of Erith and Belverdere where he has his main home and where he also has another home 11 miles away in Southwark which he designated for allowances and which he bought for £110000 and sold for £14000 before buying new home 1.5 miles away from this for £225000 and claimed second home allowances for this. It is not known if he paid capital gains tax on the sale. He has claimed £133000 in second home expenses since 2001. He is said to have announced he was not standing at the General Election prior to the Telegraph series but date of this decision is not stated. His cases is but one of number of Members of Parliament who although living within easy commuting distance of Westminster have bought, repaired, maintained, sold at profit, second homes at the expense of the Taxpayer and where it is assumed he will retain the asset when he retires and presumably be able to switch designation to first home in order to sell it if he wishes without having to pay capital gains tax in the future.

002 Dawn Butler a Government Whip for which she is paid an additional salary and who lived in Stratford before becoming the Member for Barnet and renting a second home in Wembley which is the same distance to the House of Commons as his first home at Stratford. According to the Telegraph she had difficulty in making accurate claims, initially being paid twice for rent and when asked to return the £26000 she offered to submit other receipts to cover the amount. The Telegraph says although only elected a matter of weeks before the end of the financial year she tried to claim £4400 Food allowance, which would cover 11 months. She submitted a claim for £1500 for utilities for six months when the actual amount was £50 a month or £300 allowable. The claim was not paid. All together she is reported to have received £60000 in three years towards second home costs which many if not the majority would regard as having been unnecessary. As a new MP in the Whips Office, it is difficult to understand why her senior colleagues did not appropriately advise her what she could do, what she should do and what she should not. It is said that she has not claimed for the last year treating the Wembley establishment as her home. The position of her original first home is not stated.

003 Hazel Blears is the most well known of those meriting early official scrutiny because she is a Cabinet Member and the Prime Minister has said her conduct is wholly unacceptable. She designated her constituency home bought with her husband in 1997 as her second home in and the London home as her main home. Four months later she sold her London first home and made a profit of £45000. She told the income tax that this had been her first home and therefore was not liable for capital gains tax. She has now sent the taxman a cheque for the tax but still pockets the rest of the profit. She had claimed expenses in march 2004 for the Salford home, including a TV and a mattress for £1500. In December of the same year she bought a new London home claiming £1000 a month mortgage relief having declared it her second home and declared her Salford home as her main home again. She then bought a new TV and a Bed for the new London Home claiming a further £1800. She does not deny intent but insists what she did was within the rules and agreed by the Fees Office.

004 Chris Bryant. According to the Telegraph In 2002 Mr Bryant bought a flat in West London said to be valued at £400000, but designated his constituency property as the second home qualifying for the allowance. He attempted to claim three times the annual allowance when he purchased the constituency nominated home - £58000 for a property costing under £100000. He was allowed £20000 in the first year. He then made the West London flat his second home. This means he was free to sell the constituency home if he lost the seat or resigns, and pocket any profit without being required to pay any capital gains tax. He then sold the West London flat for a property closer to Westminster for £477000 three months later, having received some £3600 in taxpayer support. The new flat is said to have been purchased for £64000 also in West London but closer to Westminster and Mr Bryant received financial help from the taxpayer towards stamp duty £6400, £1000 a month mortgage and £6000 a year from ground rent and service charges. In all he has claimed £92000 since 2004.

005 Ian Austin where the salary as assistant Chief Whip is £89522, changed designation of home so as to be able to claim for new purchase, Claimed near maximum and query whether some purchases strictly within the rules and intentions

006 Hilary Armstrong Intention for Labour Party to buy computer at her tax payer funded home could compromise position and the Claims office suggested a flip in property designation to get round this potential problem otherwise her second home claims were reasonable and comparatively low.

007 Vera Baird Solicitor General salary £125602 the only thing raised was a rejected attempt to buy Christmas decorations and that she designated her London flat as her main home in order to claim for her constituency and larger home to get the larger allowances claim.

008 Ed Balls and 009 Yvette Cooper Salary each £141866. They were previously involved with a referral to Standards Commissioner because they had designated their Landon Family home as second home, sold and moved into a larger home but paid capital gains tax in full. Their new home is valued at £650000. They only claim the maximum of one additional home allowance although they are entitled to two allowances under previous rules.

010 Margaret Beckett Salary varied between £100000 and £140000. She spent £80000 on her former family home in her constituency where there were no rent or mortgage payments as second home after moving into Grace and Favour accommodation and she occupied grace and favour apartment at Admiralty House, where there are Income Tax implications and rented out her for London flat during this period.

011 Liz Blackman. Main home Nottingham constituency, Has one bedroom London flat for which she pays rent of £12000/£13000 a month and bought domestic items at end of each financial year to get as close to the maximum second home allowance as possible. a practice which applies is to other Members according to Telegraph. Claimed for food allowance of £250 to £350 a month. You only eat once!

012 Tony Blair raised two re-mortgages on his constituency second home which totalled £400000 after the initial mortgage of £30000. The first re-mortgage was for repairs and improvements but the second appears to have been to raise the deposit on his £3.65 million London main home for when he left Downing Street. He only claimed interest on buying and repairing the property. In addition to flats in Bristol one of which has been sold he has bought a £4 house in Bucks and spent £800000 buying a news house backing on to the London Home to create one property. He is said to have so far earned over £10 million since leaving the office of Prime Minister. The paper does not say what happened to the constituency home.

013 Ben Bradshaw is a Minister with a salary of £100,000 who switched the designation if his second home after entering into a civil partnership and being eligible for grants at this second home grants with mortgage reimbursement starting at an average of £1000 but rising to £1500 compared with under £700 for his former designated second home. The position is that if you buy a home with someone where you are not married/have a civil partnership, you can only claim half the mortgage. In the new situation Bradshaw paid the whole mortgage and was reimbursed accordingly.

014 Kevin Brennan moved from the North London home he was buying with his brother to a one bedroom flat closer to Westminster obtaining the maximum allowance for stamp duty and mortgage repayments. The raised concerns are the purchase of items delivered to his family home which he claims were for use at the designated second home and being allowed a claim for beds for his children rejected as not within the rules for others. It is not known what has happened to buying interest in the home bought with his brother, for which the tax payer contributed.

015 Gordon Brown Prime Minister salary £194 250 Mr Brown decided not use his grace and favour Flat at 11 Downing Street while Chancellor of the Exchequer but designated a flat in Westminster as the second home and not the constituency home. However as soon as Mr Blair announced his retirement Mr Brown designated his Constituency Home as the second home. The position of his Westminster home is not known since moving into 10 Downing Street.

016 Nick Brown claimed £18000 for food over four years without the need for receipts out of a total claim of £87000 over the four years

017 Russell Brown. The issued raised was the attempt to obtain reimbursement of the full cost of modernising the bathroom of rented accommodation. He was advised that the maximum was £3500 although he is reported to have stated that other colleagues were repaid more. The terms of the renting included the requirement to meet the cost of nay major repairs or improvements.

018 Andy Burnham, a Government Minister singled out by the Telegraph because of protracted eight month bid to use a special but out payment from rented property towards the purchase and equipping of a new designated home. The low cost designated London home was bought out by a company who offered tenants the right to stay at commercial rents or gave them a transfer to new property payment, which in his instance came to £18000. He paid this into the fees office but then engaged in the correspondence to be able to use the amount additional to other allowances and £16600 eventually paid toward the new property, and said to be in addition to the standard allowance. Mr Alexander has pointed out that in the period of review he has claimed £40000 less than the maximum available.

The Daily Telegraph wrote at length about Minister 019 Douglas Alexander but I do not understand what was the problem. The Minister’s designated home in his constituency was so badly damaged by fire that he had to live nearby for six months while the first was repaired and redecorated. His home was a yards away from property rented by the terrorists who attacked Glasgow Airport. Prior to the fire Mr Alexander had received £30000 for improvements but these are not listed. Mr Alexander was given help towards the temporary home and repaid approximately £2000 when his contents insurance was settled although he had found that he had been under insured overall.

020 Hilary Benn Claimed only £10000 a year on his second home allowance and had no queries raised by the Telegraph and is therefore the star goody of the twenty according to the Telegraph.

On Friday evening I watched the amazing two hour final result show of American Idol with the two contestants singing three songs each the night before. Simon in particular supported by the three other judges proclaimed Adam Lambert a creative International Star, but after nearly 100 million votes Chris Allen the evangelic Christian won. I suspect he received the majority of votes from the fellow evangelist Christian who came third and was not in the final. Chris is the talented musician from next door, who also plays the piano and guitar, while Adam came across as worldly, ambitious and highly professional. The amazing aspect was not the result but number if guest stars who performed with the final thirteen including Rod Stewart, Smokey Robinson and Cyndi Lauper and then Brian May of Queen.

Sussex beat Somerset at Taunton in the televised Quarter Final of the Friend‘s provident Trophy and have a home tie for the semi Final. I might get to see them play in the Final at Lords yet.

I managed to complete twenty completed sets registrations before deciding I wanted to work on the information about individual expense claims of Members of Parliament.

I am still struggling with the second level Chess having failed to achieve a run of more than thirty five wins over recent weeks, but have completed 1000 games of Hearts with only one loss.

I cleared the patio container of bulbs setting off to dry until next Autumn. I will take a look at what is offer at the B and Q garden centre on Wednesday morning when I can claim a 10% reduction.

On Friday I enjoyed a bacon roll at the Ship and Royal before doing a little shop at Azda for fruit and breads. I bought the Telegraph and had a good read which prompted the present research.

Jenson Button has top spot on the Monaco Grand Prix and which is usually the most boring of the races, yet prized because of the glamour and location. There is virtually nowhere on the circuit where one can overtake safely you rely on rain, driver or vehicle failure in in order to advance up the field. There is what has become the first of the one matches between England and the West Indies, at Bristol, another ground I have not visited and then after a roast chicken dinner I shall be going to Sunderland for the final match of the season against Chelsea which the team is expected to lose and where as much attention will be paid to the other results. It is coincidence but the four teams facing relegation with West Brom are all on the East Coast/riversides, Newcastle, Sunderland, the Boro and Hull, Tyne, Wear, Tees and Humber.

I have been over eating overall. I enjoyed a smoked mackerel salad and two pieces of white fish baked on Friday and Saturday a salmon steak salad and a pork stir fry, baking the meat in strips before cutting up and mixing in. There was melon, bananas and strawberries, all to the good as was a bowl of cereal. The problem was a croissant and three puff pastry fruit filled cakes as well s small carton of mixed olives. There was also a roll with soup. With fine weather promised I will try to make amends

1726 The Unloved and the Gentleman's Club as Inspector Gently visits the Shoreline South Shields

Although there has been more significant developments arising from the continued analysis of expenses of Members of the House of Commons by Telegraph Newspapers I begin with The Unloved, a film shown on Channel Four on Sunday but which I delayed viewing until Friday, written by Samantha Morton and Tony Grisoni and Directed by the writer on the basis of her own experience of being in care. It is one the most important works not just about the reality of being in care for child but how children perceive the world and their difficulty to communicate what they experience, especially to strangers with whom they do not have an ongoing relationship.

An eleven year old girl is brought up by her father because her mother recognises she is unable to be a good mother or a wife. Today sentences were announced in relation to the mother of baby Peter, and the two men with whom the mother associated and where it is believed at least one was responsible for the murder/manslaughter of the child. Coinciding with the sentencing the second report on the independent Child Protection published its findings. Before commenting on what is a scandal more serious than the misuse of expenses by what appears to be the majority of Members of the House of Commons, a point was made in a news reports that basic problem was that social workers were unable to distinguish parents, and mother‘s in particular who with intense help could become effective in the child of their children and those where any child was at grave risk and should be removed at the earliest available opportunity. Again I will comment further on this real issue which requires training, supervised practice and experience, and where mistakes will still be made.

What The Unloved brilliantly portrays is that however inadequate or bad are the parents, the child continues to love them, want to be with them and blames themselves for being in care. The films communicates that the child can be in as great at risk in care as in the community with one or both parents or other relatives. There is rarely an immediate happy outcome but at least the child is alive. The film contains a series of realistic situations.

The child wants to be with her mother an expresses this to her social worker and a care review and they funk the truth, however well intentioned, and the child after making several unsuccessful attempts, calls on the mother early one morning shortly after Christmas, and pleads to stay. The mother has to go to work and gives the child money for the bus back to the children’s home. The child has had to face the reality of her situation and one feels that for better or more likely worse she will attempt to adjust to the life in care.

The precipitating incident for the placement in the residential home is a beating from her father who is played by Robert Carlyle. He is unemployed spending his time drinking and smoking and when she loses the £5 he has given her to get him cigarettes he losses his temper as she cannot explain what has happened. All children, especially children who have become or feel alone tend to withdraw within themselves, day dream, and can quickly lose their sense of time and a message or an errand and the find it difficult to communicate what has happened.

What was exceptional is that both the mother and the father are not portrayed as devils, and it is the father who tries to explain in a way which child could understand, but not necessarily accept, why she cannot live with her mother.

The social workers and the care staff at the home are also portrayed as people who care, and who try and take time to listen and to communicate but they exist in a different dimension from her experience and they operate by frameworks, procedures, forms, and the pressure of the child being one of several. One advise that she is available to contact at anytime should the need arise, but we and the child know that these are well meant words but which mean little in practice.

The other major achievement of the film is to show the reality of being an eleven year old in a home with lots of older children, many with more experience of aspects of life than adults. She is told she will share a bedroom with a stroppy sixteen year old who despite resenting having to share, attempts to befriend the child and takes her out shopping, although this ends with both in police custody as the older girl is caught stealing. The child then finds the older girl sniffing lighter fuel from a can. We are not told the back story of this girl but the cause of her behaviour becomes apparent as one of the staff members is shown to be having sexual relations with her and on a second occasion against her wishes. Other staff in the home have suspicions and eventually confront the staff member, a senior officer the outcome is left in the air.

The issues raised in the Baby Peter case are sadly not new. When I participated in a child care inquiry in 1980 drafting the majority report, we identified 100 incidents where had the professionals been more careful. communicated more with each other and shared information then the child in question may have been saved. There were two root problems in relation to the social service department, the lack of appropriate child care training, especially of child care law with its duty to put the protection of children above all else, and a well intentioned misunderstanding that while the law also required workers to do all they could prevent children entering care and remaining in care this was secondary to child life protection. Unfortunately since then we have also learnt of the horrors of children being placed in care, in foster homes and residential care homes. This is a dilemma which all social workers however diligent, well supervised, trained and experienced have to face. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

It is also the week when the decades of criminality and brutality which included rape and torture by hundred of Catholic priests nuns and monks was effectively covered up by the church hierarchy and which held to individual clergy continued to commit further crimes. It was no accident that the report was issued in the same week as the new Archbishop of Westminster was installed.

The underlying issue in all these situations is that once a problem has been identified instead of being honest and transparent about the situation, researching the causes and being open minded about the solutions, being prepared to try out various options, being prepared to constantly review and change again until we get it right or it rights itself, we divide behind positions and policies, beliefs and tribal loyalties which are frequently themselves creations in oder to achieve power, position, and personal wealth. However just as social worker should treat what parents with caution anything said by parents and others when there is evidence of inadequacy, neglect and harm, so to we now need to be cautions about what any of the existing Party Political Leaders have to say unless they can demonstrate that they have taken action to expel the worst offenders in their parties. It will be evident to the Party Leaders that not to require less offenders to stand down could result in them losing what may have been regarded as a safe seat. The tricks several are getting up to now only reinforces the revulsion of the general public.

In the past I used to think that my views were out of kilter with the majority, but reflecting thinking opinion. Because of my personal experience and having worked at all levels in local government with the consequential contact with local and some national politicians and national civil servants, I have remained confident of having a specialist and accurate understanding and knowledge in general and a detailed knowledge and understanding of aspects. Now I find that my reactions are the reactions of the majority to the present political crisis and likely outcome.

I understand the decision was taken by the BBC not only to concentrate Question Time on Thursday night on the expenses issue and its ramifications, but to bring forward as from 10.40 pm to 9 pm, the traditional time for BBC news, and the slight boozy late night political chat show, This week, was moved from 11.40 to 10.40, to follow the news at 10. I do not know how many stayed watching for two hours and forty minutes all three programmes about politics but I would not be surprised if the number who did has risen exponentially over those who did so previously.

My understanding has been that the standard format is to have politicians from the main three political parties, one neutral and one maverick and that the audience, whether selected or self selected tended to be divided on a similar basis between supporters of the three main political parties and a few others. If this was so last week and again last night then talk of revolution has been accurate. Long standing politicians used to being listened and respected are not being heckled and stood up to with their usual arguments shredded. Poor Ben Bradshaw who has spent his time arguing and voting within the system for change found himself in the same position as the others, William Hague and Vince Cable. All three are honourable men with fine records against whom no allegations of wrongdoing have been levelled, but in an Election called to morrow and taking place within a month even their respective political futures must be in question. I do not believe anyone knows what the outcome would be and this is why the European elections and County Council elections will be the first test.

That the BBC and Andrew Neill, the majority of politicians, together with the specialist commentators have at last got it, British representative Government as it has developed since World War 2 has committed suicide. Gordon Brown, presumably, and the Speaker of the House of Commons and their political and legal advisers were right to have attempted to exempt Members of Parliament and their expense claims from the Freedom of Information Act. If they had been successful, their Gentleman’s Club way of doing things would still be in being today.

Gentleman’s Club politics has ended. It has to be remembered comprises the extremes of Victorian hypocrisy with going to Holy Communion, and Mass Evensong on Sundays, having visited the Mistress or a common tart earlier in the week, gambled more than one could afford to lose at Aspinall’s or such like, a good lunch with business or other useful people at their expense, enjoyed a knock about at Question Time, quaffed a few pints or gin and tonics in one of Members Bars before going back to the Club for a meal, or out to one’s favourite posh nosh haunt, or staying in the House until the final vote of the day and back to the London home for marital’s, a smoke and drink Monday to Wednesday nights, a visit to the constituency over the weekend to see a few constituents screened by whoever deals with their correspondence back home or at Westminster and keep in touch with the leading local politicians and other contacts, although this can mostly be accomplished by phone and email, unless a major issue has blown up, perhaps once or twice a year, and the rest of the time could be devoted to making money and to play. Being a government Minister was only different in that your life was more organised for you and you had to employ or be able to use good fixers to enable continuation of your previous personal interests. Admittedly there were the odd ones, not many, whose who took their role so seriously, that they live the life which they argued for in their speeches and public appearances. They were used by the rest as their consciences.

Having lost the decision to stop publication of the details of expense claims, the reserve position was to follow the usual practice of arranging for bad news to appear when Parliament was not sitting and the political commentators were also on holiday and to try and find ways to edit the information so that the issues which have caused so much public outrage could be released in such a way as to reduce the likelihood of what has happened, happening.

Then there was the Leadership of the Daily Telegraph and the attempt to silence them and does anyone think the Speaker initiated the police prosecution without Government knowledge? However what has shaken the political establishment most has been the reaction of the public at Question Time. It is evident from the programmes last and this week that there has been a seismic shift in the attitude of the public and this in turn has changed the approach of political interviewers and commentators.

There was something sickening as the Prime Minister tried to seek some political advantage after being forced to do an about turn on the issue of the Ghurkhas’ and their families having the right to come to live in the UK if they wished after completing a term of service fighting on behalf of the people. There are also continuing questions about his inconsistency towards Ministers charged with inappropriate behaviour while in public office by the Telegraph in relation to their expenses claiming. The Telegraph also highlighted that the way some members are publishing their expense claims excludes information to prevent discovery of their property dealings. Some Members are now resorting to tricks to salvage their careers and reputations. One Labour Member admitted he did not want to stand down but would do so if his constituency continued to support him. In this respect the Government has ruled that it will be for the Party’s Star Chamber to decided. The latest ploy came from a Conservative who pleased that the witch hunt would lead to some Members Committing suicide. The public reaction was swift. Good. The Political reaction was also strong. David Cameron said it was rubbish while favourite to be an interim speaker Anne Widdecombe reminded that she had been a Samaritan Counsellor and offered Christian help while making is plain she regarded the behaviour as criminal or dishonourable or both. Two thirds of the population want an early General Election. Gordon is rapidly is the position of alienating more people than this whatever does and his Party faces meltdown.

I watched the two episode four hour mini series of Hornblower in a version of the Caine Mutiny. There were parallels with the current political crisis. The Captain in question had a brilliant record but began to show inconsistency, ruthlessness and poor judgement when under pressure. Hornblower and colleagues did their best to support but were rebuffed as his paranoia increased. Other joined in to stir the pot to suit their palettes, Justice was found in the end but the older order was determined, successfully, to it their way regardless of the evidence presented.

I also caught up with Inspector Gently which featured the Arab history of South Shields, the contribution of the seamen in World War 2 and the infamous Shoreline Club which used to occupy a place on the sea front beach side, as well as Frenchman’s Cove which is between the town centre beach and the Marsden Grotto. The story of racism was very well constructed

1725 Angels and Demons in and out of Parliament

There was a morning after feel about Parliament on Wednesday as reported in the media. It is also important to remember that the work of Government and the House continues.

At Prime Minister’s Question Time Mr Cameron was presented with an extraordinary gaff by the Prime Minister who earlier said that he was against a general election because it would lead to chaos. This would be to be only interpreted as an admission that if a General Election is held now Mr Cameron would be elected the Prime Minister with a substantial Conservative Party majority. Mr Brown then compounded the political error by trying to scare the electorate by saying what would then happen under a Conservative Government.

He was intentionally misleading because whoever wins the next General Election there will substantial increases in taxation, I except VAT to rise to 20% and for more people to find themselves paying the second rate of 40% and a higher rate of 50% to 60% for the biggest earners and for a significant reduction in public expenditure which will affect some existing service provision. A Conservative Government would also have an easy ability to translate national policies and decisions into local practice by being in control of the majority of local authorities in England but with a major swing to the Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties with a query about Northern Ireland.

The problem for Mr Brown is that he knows it is to his advantage for the election to be delayed while the position of more existing conservative Members of Parliament is exposed and he gains in strength to also exclude from standing all existing Members who have become an electoral liability. Whatever both Party leaders and their election fighting team say they will be united in trying to avoid a major swing to the BNP because of its racist and anti immigration position and a change in balance between the House of Commons and the United Kingdom Independence Party because of its anti European stance and pro England. There will be less concern about a swing to the Liberal Democrats and Green Party and concern over a situation of a stalemate, although what has happened in Scotland has positive results with less legislation because with the Scottish Nationalists do not have a majority so what they bring forward has to have either support from individual Members outside their Party structure and policies or support from Labour. In the UK this is likely to be the Conservative Party and the Labour Party depending on how many seats the Labour Party loses.

With major constitutional reform urgently needed involving radical reform of the House of Lords into an elected upper House as in the United States, disestablishment of the Church of England, and a major change in the balance between the role of the House of Commons and the Government, and possibly on the role not so much of the Monarchy as an institution but on the abolition of the use of titles within the confines of the UK so that all Knights, Barons, Viscounts, Counts, Dukes and the female equivalents would be abolished and Prince and Princess only used to the individual in immediate line of succession. My preference is for a Presidency when the Queen dies unless she automatically became the first President with no one standing against her during her ability to conduct the office. Such reforms will only be achieved if they are supported by the major political parties at present and a broad middle ground government.

There are number of key steps or developments between now and the publication of the report on the future of the Salary and expense allowance of Members of Parliament which need to be completed before a General Election takes place, unless the wish is for chaos if as I suspect the public will turn away from the Conservative Party in substantial numbers although not as much as the Labour Party which faces annihilation as everyone other than its core supporters will vote against and the majority of its core supporters will stay away.

I have an open mind about the issue of proportional representation as it is important that local people get the opportunity to directly elect their representative although I am sympathetic to the American Primary System in which the whole electorate gets the opportunity to vote for the candidates of the Parties and I am also in favour of the direct election of the Executive and then for Parliament to scrutinise the appointees of the Executive with the ability to bring in people who are not existing members of Parliament. The Prime Minister has this power, creating peerages to bring people into Parliament but his or her decision is not screened by Parliament before the individual positions are confirmed. This can have repercussions for the continuity of government. I am interested in mixed schemes where a proportion of the House is directly elected through proportional representation from Party Lists with the majority being chosen on a geographical basis, although only if this is part of a change in the balance of power and the scheme encourages rather than prevents an increase in the number of independents. The system of cross benchers in the House of Lords appears to work well and I do not see the argument against a similar balance in the House of Commons.

I have sympathy with those who believe that there should be a General Election this year, but not until the Autumn. The Telegraph has been coy about the extent and nature of its investigation into the expenses claims of Members of Parliament of the past four years. We do not know how many of the total 648 have been investigated, and how many of these have been cleared and therefore how many others remain to do. There are said to be in the order of 1 million and more individual records available which works out at approximately 1500 records per member. The editor said that 25 staff were working on the project which means that each person has 26 Members of Parliament to investigate and 39000 records to study.

This however is only the start of any investigation because for each individual identified that there is a property issue, the journalist will have to find out how many properties the Member has now or uses and where they are and what changes have been made over the past four years. Many members have a home in London, in their constituency and a family residence, which may be rented out if the family has moved into the constituency/constituency area or to London. The degree of commuting will depend on family occupation of partner, schooling of children, need to be close or to provide direct care for elderly, or disabled relatives. Some may have holiday homes or have a financial interest in the home or homes of their children and children‘s families. The issue is which property and why have tax payers funds been used to buy, maintain and furnish. Why have these homes been changed during the period when the Member sat in Parliament. Were they sold for profit and was capital gains tax paid. How were the expenses treated in relation to income tax submissions? Some of this information will not be available to the Telegraph. The rest of the media has been disadvantaged and will want to also scrutinise the information when is becomes generally available in the hope of detecting newsworthy items missed by the Telegraph or where the Telegraph has been intentionally selective for political reasons.

The Telegraph may have carried out a preliminary check on the records of everyone. Chris Mullin, for example, who like Anne Widdecombe has been mentioned as an interim speaker, was contacted by the Telegraph and asked why he claimed for only a Black and White TV Licence. He explained that he only had a black and white TV which he had owned for 33 years. This suggests he is unlikely to have inappropriately claimed for anything else. However this can only be established by a thorough check on all the information that has been submitted. It has been announced that this will be carried out by an independent body from the House of Commons and the individual political parties. This will take time.

I assume that the official investigation will determine if inappropriate claims have been made and passed by the Claims payment office and then what action should be taken. I would like to see a list published naming every Members of Parliament where the investigation has shown no matters of concern in relation to the standards, procedures and systems being judged.

There should be a list where has been a clear breach and the matter should be referred to the Disciplinary system of the House of Commons, unless the new independent disciplinary system has been established. It is unlikely that the public will accept the decisions of the existing disciplinary system, although it may do so if the members have themselves all been cleared as being above reproach. A balance has to be achieved between getting quick action which satisfies the general public and applying the same standards and protections as should be available in all situation when employment and conditions of employment are involved.

Then there is question of referral for a possible criminal prosecution and in this respect there is issue of misconduct in a public office and conspiracy. I say this because after eight months the Metropolitan Police has announced the prosecution of a senior police office with these two charges following a complaint and his suspension after an investigation which has taken eight months.

This is all separate from the position of the Members of Parliament in relation to Party Discipline. The first stage of control and discipline is within the Parliamentary Party. The National Executive of the Party has a role in relation to issues of standing as Members of Parliament, for those who have been elected and those standing for the Party at an Election. There is the power to withdraw the Parliamentary Whip, and to deselect, and to expel from the Party. There is the role of Constituency Parties and their Executives both in relation to action taken by Party Officers and Executives and to action initiated by them either on their own initiative or from requests from Party members. Complaints can in fact be made by any Member of Public. This formal process has been instigated by the main political parties and will itself take time.

It also has to be said that a substantial number of Members of Parliament are qualified lawyers and that all those named or who become the subject of investigation have rights, including legal rights to representation, especially if their Contracts of Employment are an issue.

In terms of the Political Parties they have to take account of their existing rules and the political implications of taking action or not taking action.

In terms of criminal Prosecutions there are three stages. Is there evidence of an offence having been committed. In the present situation there is the issue of potential conspiracy to defraud the tax payer as statements have been made and documents revealed to indicate that individual went for official advice and received official advice about how to submit qualifying claims under the rules. The issue will be was the claimant fully open and honest about their position and the individual request and did officials sanction the claims. I believe it will be difficult to impossible to prosecute anyone who made claims with official approval in full knowledge or who made claims which were approved, or where claims were made which were also made by others who are not prosecuted.

It will appreciated that all the processes and procedures take time and internal action may have to be halted and remain pending until criminal investigations have been completed. I believe that any action will be the subject of the appeals system if the action is considered unfair.

This may explain why the actions of Cabinet Minister Hazel Blears have been described by the Prime Minister as wholly unacceptable, strengthening his condemnation on the second occasion but she remains a Members of the Cabinet. His office has also issued a statement to say that she retain his confidence as a Minister for the work she has already undertaken. This suggests that he had hoped she would accept his request to stand down or volunteer to stand down but she has instructed lawyers on the expenses issue to defend her interests. There are various issues of Parliamentary Privilege and this appears to have been at root of much of the approach previously taken by Speaker Martin who appears to have felt his duty for which he was elected by a majority of Members nine years ago, was to protect the rights and interests of Members first. And why the Conservatives had no confidence following his handling of the Damien Green Affair in particular. There has been the suggested that he leaned towards the government and was more impatient with opposition speakers and those who questioned his rulings than should be expected.

So far it has been announced that three Conservative Members have indicated their intention not to contest the next General Election. The latest was given the alternative of having the whip immediately withdrawn or standing down. Members will be financially better off is they retire at the next General Election, as well as having time to arrange an alternative occupation for themselves and alter their livings arrangements. There is a pension upon retirement and a £40000 payment to cover leaving costs. There will therefore be issues in relation to staff, their redundancy/pension entitlements and other entitlements if they retire or are defeated at a General Election or if they are forced out beforehand. Speaker Martyn is said to be able to receive a pension estimated initially at £68000 a year more than the salary of a Member Parliament and a Peerage which has an attendance and travel allowance and he will no doubt receive invitations to lecture and to write about his experience which will be very lucrative. especially in the circumstances of being asked to leave. The general public is usually fair but not at times like these and information about he ongoing financial rewards of the Speaker and Members of Parliament will not help to reduce the anger or help regain public confidence.

The Telegraph is continuing with further revelations today. I assumed that they want to concentrate next on anyone who become an official candidate for the position as Speaker. I would not be surprised if papers are also working hard on finding out similar information on sitting Members of the European Parliament and where I understand up to £200000 of expenses a year is possible. It would not be surprising if some information was also held back until just before the general release of he information previously planned for July during the Summer recess but which may now be brought forward.

As expected with the European and County Council Elections only a couple of week’s away Mr Cameron was expected to call for an immediate General Election at Prime Minister’s Question Time. It is in Mr Cameron’s and his Party’s interest for their to be an early General Election as the Opinion Polls had shown that the voters were turning to the UKIP and other presently minor parties from Labour while the Conservatives were holding a significant percentage majority over everyone else. This suggested they would hold and possibly gain seats in the European Elections and win control of councils in the County Council Elections. It would also kick into the long grass the impact of his own and the official investigation of Member’s of Parliament until after the General Election. Having gained power he could change the rules to protect his position having received a public mandate. Whatever constitutional changes were then necessary, he would be in charge of them.

I therefore have considerable sympathy with the position of the Prime Minister and his government. He has to continue to deal with the greatest set of problems since the outbreak and aftermath of World War 2. Attempting to fight a General Election with public support already at an all time low and without knowing the full extent of the expenses problem in relation to his existing members would create chaos for him. He needs time to learn the full extent of who has done what and then to be able to get rid of those who have transgressed without having to so with his trusted political allies and supporters but not being able to get rid of his main critics and rivals. With time he should be able to do this.

Over the past two day there has been some progress in practical aspects of my life. The bus and metro pass replacement arrived yesterday. As anticipated the news on the mobile phone was not good as the repair replacement argued the phone had been damaged rather than there was a fault. However a replacement was under £25 and I was pleased get a phone which I was confident in using. Today I transferred my gas and electricity to British Gas who presently service my central heating system and cooker and extended the service agreement to electricity and water. The outstanding action required is in relation to telephone account where the transfer of balance into my bank account and reduction in monthly debit has not taken place and will be tomorrow’s task of the day.

Because the weather was poor and the forecast changeable with severe showers I decided against going to the last of the Friend Provident Games yesterday. Durham could only get themselves off the bottom of the table with a win and their opponents were already guaranteed a quarter final home draw. The game was held and Durham won which omens better for the 20 20 challenge which begins this weekend but does not conclude until after the world championship has been completed during June. I telephone for my five home match pass which costs only £25. Non members can buy a similar pass for £40 or pay £15 on the day, £12 in advance for individual matches.

Instead of going to the cricket I went to see the film which is a follow up to the Da Vince Code. I enjoyed the film and the book which I bought subsequently. The film had a very serious aspect. The film, Angels and Demons, was very disappointing. Tom Hanks is not credible in his role as a serious Academic turned detective and the religious historical component about the Illuminati proved to be a gigantic red herring. The new thing on which the story is based is not the Illuminati but the particle mover which has been built in Switzerland in the multi billion project to try and establish the scientific origin of the universe and confirmation of the big bang. The crucial aspect of the film is the stealing of a vial of anti matter from the Swiss project. The Illuminati were a society of progressive thinkers interest in science as well as religion to found themselves persecuted by the Catholic Church who feared their work would destroy the faith of those who took the bible literally. The premise of the film is that Illuminati has reformed in order to use the latest scientific knowledge destroy the Catholic Church once and for all. It is presented that they first kill the Pope in time to coincide with the successful experiment to create anti matter and then blow up the cardinals while they are in conclave. In addition for some reason inexplicable reason the four preferred cardinals under consideration to become Pope and kidnapped, branded and three are killed before the fourth is rescued. There is an elaborate plot which involves a history of the Illuminati, and tour of religious centres and churches in Rome. There are lots of explosions and killings before it is revealed that the Pope has been killed by his adopted son because he had considered the work undertaken in Switzerland to confirm rather than destroy the concept of God and the Illuminati conspiracy was a means to attack science and for the individual concerned instead of being prosecuted for conspiracy to murder and kill the Pope, a Cardinal, the Head of the Swiss Guard, the head of Vatican security and of anti terrorism in Rome, three Cardinals and a dozen members of the security forces and police, is about to be proclaimed Pope! Only the brilliance of non believer Hanks and a leading female scientist at the Swiss project prevent this from happening.

I attended an afternoon performance which was attended and for once I accepted the need for some of the audience to try and explain what was beings said to their friends or partners. James Berardinelli is always fair but even he had to admit that aspects are so preposterous that you are immediate aware as the films is being shown and you are tempted to laugh at out loud. I did a couple of times. The also admits the plot is convoluted with the whole effect dumb. Limp and lifeless. I did not have the impression that there were any real people in this film. His comment that it is a film aimed viewers who are half asleep, drugged, drunk, or simply uncaring also hits the target. In order to appease the Catholic Church who refused to agree to filming within the Vatican there is a little sermon about the need for faith and science to coexist. The Spirituality and Practice duo who like good Christians see good in everything and everyone fore they see the evil, liked the Tom Hank Performance and enjoyed the mini lectures and mini sermons. I wish I could be as charitable. This was a waste of money and time but I needed the break. At least it was cheaper where I had considered going first I found out I could have slept in the car if that way inclined well in theory at least because the car park ticket if endorsed when going to the cinema is valid for 24 hours which means free car parking to return and shop if you want to leave the car, take the bus home and back the following morning.