Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Brown's bunting


Hidden at the back of the big constitutional reform speech today, or more to the point in the document that accompanies it, "The Governance of Britain" (I suppose we can be thankful for small mercies, under Blair it would have been A Brighter future for Brighter Country), is this little gem,

"While there are a number of reasons why the Union Flag may not be as widely flown in the UK as other national flags are abroad, regulations on the use of the flag may be playing some role. The Government has already removed many of the previous restrictions on flag flying by private citizens. But at present there are only 18 fixed days each year on which the Union Flag may be flown on Government buildings in England. These restrictions are clearly tighter than those used in many other countries.
The Government will therefore consult on altering the current guidance that prohibits the flying of the Union Flag from Government buildings for more than 18 set days in the year".

Colour me unimpressed. Here it sits on page 58 out of 63 (a journalist friend told me, "Always read Government documents from the back to front. Much more interesting stuff that way round") and what is it for?

Gee thanks Gordo. So you support the break up of the country; whilst refusing for party reasons to ameoliorate the anomoly that is the West Lothian Question thus allowing Scottish and Welsh MPs with power over England on vast areas of policy whilst English MPs have no equall say in Scotland or Wales; slash spending on healthcare in England whilst maintaining it in Scotland and Wales, but that's all right 'cos the Treasury will be allowed to fly the Union flag on more days than it does now.

Looking a few further pages up, this looks like a can of worms

From 2008 all schools will teach:
• Social and Moral Responsibility: learning self-confidence and socially and morally responsible behaviour both in and beyond the classroom, both towards those in authority and each other;
• Community Involvement: learning about and becoming helpfully involved in the life and concerns of their communities, including learning through community involvement and service;
• Political Literacy: learning about the institutions, problems and practices of our democracy and how to make themselves effective in the life of the nation, locally, regionally and nationally through skills and values as well as knowledge; and
• Identity and Diversity: Living Together in the UK: learning about the
diverse ethnic, religious and cultural nature of the UK.


Don't know about you but that looks like one socially engineered politically correct syllabus if I ever saw one. How many monsters will live in its small print? Given that Gordon talks about the four nations of the UK, what are these regions he keeps on mentioning, they have no historic, cultural or democratic existance, they exist only in the mind of bureaucracts and EU backed bureacrats at that.

2 comments:

The Aunt said...

Given that the other day I was trying to explain politics to a 40-year old born and bred Brit who had no idea what the legislative structure of Britain's own political houses is, I'm right behind Brown on the political literacy.

I doggedly trust people to vote correctly as a matter of faith, but after my last trip home, I despair of their competence to either analyse or decide.

Anonymous said...

Every time I hear the word "diversity" I want to be violently sick. Must be a reaction to 6 years of indoctrination in NuLab's Civil Service.

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