Help I'm A Prisoner - I'll Vote Me Out Of Here!

I have always been of the view (somewhat naively it now seems) that if someone commits an unlawful act against the society in which we live, they forfeit the right to be a part of our society for a specified period of time set by a Court of Law - they are ‘banged up’

While I can accept - to a point - there might be an argument in favour of having certain ‘distractions’ within a prison  (like flushing toilets, exercise areas and the odd communal television) I am not in agreement that a custodial sentence should entitle you to the same individual rights you enjoyed before being sentenced; I believe prisons should be seen as a deterrent and a punishment - not as Premier Inns with added security.

However, it seems I am now politically incorrect.

The Ministry of Silly Interfering Decisions, (otherwise known as the European Court For Human Rights) has decreed that we, as a nation, must obey a stupid EU court ruling allowing all prisoners within  the UK prison system the right to vote.

No, I am not referring to those expensive phone votes during programmes like X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing, but to a proper vote that elects the very government that maintains the laws that put them all away in the first place.

Of course, our government is saying it is unable to oppose such European madness, so it looks like the next logical move could be to allow conmen, thieves and sexual deviants to stand for Parliament!

Merde!!.... that’s one idea that’s already too late!

Eruption And Disruption - It's 'Plane' Crazy!

So who really is running the asylum?

Six days after our planes were grounded, airports are still closed and an estimated 150,000 UK travellers are stranded abroad, unable to get home.

The cause, as we all know by now, is an erupting volcano in Iceland.

I am finding it really hard to comprehend that such chaos has been caused by one relatively small natural occurrence and it seems I am not alone.

Yesterday, Willie Walsh the CEO of British Airways flew on one of his planes to test whether any damage would really be caused by the dust cloud i.e. is the situation really as dangerous as we are being led to believe?

He returned in one piece - I am sure much to the annoyance of many of his recently striking cabin crews - convinced the disruption to air travel and his company's revenues was not justified.

Which brings me back to the original question: who is responsible for making the initial decision?

It seems it was not made by our own government but taken somewhere in Europe where, as we all know, they are true professionals in inventing silly rules and regulations.

But this is not a piece of stupidity about the straightness of a banana, it is far more disruptive and for many, financially disastrous.

The contradictory updates have been almost a work of farce: Scotland and Northern Ireland can fly now.... oh no they can't....all airports will open tomorrow.....oh no they won't ....but they might..... errrr not... etc. etc.

I guess, in one sense, the regulators and health and safety obsessives can claim a massive success; no planes will come crashing out of the skies as they haven't been able to leave the ground in the first place - it's the equivalent of making sure there are no motoring accidents by removing the wheels from cars!

If this decision was taken in Brussels, then it should not be too long before UKIP start spouting on about being a classic example of what our future has in store as part of a United States Of Europe!

Personally, I would rather take my chances with the volcano!

EU The Heck Is Catherine Ashton?

Mention the name Catherine Ashton and you could be forgiven for receiving a blank stare in response.

From today, though, all that is likely to change, for she is not only a little known (outside of the political world) Baroness who had been working as the Trade Commissioner for the EU but she has just been named as the person who will be its newly created foreign affairs supremo.

In a similarly surprising move, EU leaders have chosen the Belgian Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy to be the first permanent European Council President.

Of course, there had been much lobbying for the above post to be awarded to one Anthony Blair, (our ex PM but now multi-millionaire after dinner speaker) and for the foreign supremo role to go to Blair's protege David Miliband (our own Foreign Secretary) but thankfully, the EU's 27 leaders have shown they have a greater vision.

All credit must go to them for turning their collective back on 'celebrity politics' in favour of people who will be able to negotiate with the world on a fresh footing and relatively untarnished by their immediate history.

The EU has taken a lot of criticism in the past but, just maybe, it is now starting to show it could be a good deal for all of us after all!

The jury is still out!!