WHAT 'WHIGS' & 'TORIES' STOOD FOR IN THE 17th CENTURY - IS THERE ANY REAL DIFFERENCE TODAY?

I though this article published in the 'Chronicle of Britain and Ireland' is interesting.

England 1679
"New names for old faces can now be heard mentioned in the houses of parliament with the advent of tags for adherents of different political philosophies.'Whigs' and 'Tories' - both terms of abuse - denote government supporters and opponents. Broadly, the Whigs form the court party; they back the established church and the monarchy, and their instincts are conservative. The Tories are broadly anti-government and support the Roman Catholic Duke of York. 

The word 'Tory' was originally used to describe a particular unpleasant type of Irish robber. A 'Whig', on the other hand, is a Scottish outlaw, covenanter and sanctimonious prig.

Political commentators go further. "A 'Tory' is a creature with a large forehead, prodigious mouth and no brains," says one pamphleteer. A 'Whig' "has principles like chaos" and "prays for the kind with more reservations than the honest man" says another.

The 'Whigs' were a major political party from 1679-1832 that held liberal principles and favoured reforms and later became the Liberal Party. In later use the term was used to refer to conservative members of the Liberal party.

The article therefore seems quite apt when considering our political parties today. It might also be considered appropriate for Labour MP Dennis Skinner to refer to the Tories in a statement he uttered in Parliament by saying - "50% of those on the benches opposite are criminals". After the Speaker had asked him to withdraw his remark, the quick-witted Member for Bolsover responded: "50% of those on the benches opposite aren't criminals".

BEWARE OF ESTIMATED EON ENERGY BILLS THAT HAVE ARRIVED JUST PRIOR TO PRICE RISES

I have just received my energy bill from EON (both gas and electricity) that has strangely arrived 3-WEEKS EARLY.

The bill's early arrival and the fact that it has been estimated I think is very significant.

With EON price rises of around 9% due to be implemented this month (on 18th January?) it seems to me that EON, in their wisdom, are at least trying to pull a fast one or they could even be committing a deliberate act of fraud or deception.

My reasoning is this:

1) Many customers will probably be delighted to find that their bills are lower than they anticipated. Some people may not even realise it is an estimated bill and will take it as accurate and pay it.

2) With many people finding they are short of money after Christmas, they could realise the bill is lower than it should be, and pay it now thinking that they will be saving money.

3) Those that pay it could be in for a major shock when they receive their next bill because the difference in energy units used will be corrected - presumably by their meters being read between now and the raising of the next bill ... but    THE DIFFERENCE WILL. PRESUMABLY, BE CHARGED AT THE NEW, INCREASED RATES, when they certainly shouldn't be.

If you are a subscriber to EON .. then you should take the precaution of taking a meter reading yourself - or of you are unable to reach your meter - call EON and insist that they send a meter reader out to do this for you ...and then ... insist on a revised bill.

WHAT IS THE PRICE OF DEMOCRACY?WE ARE NOT AS DEMOCRATIC AS YOU MIGHT THINK.

A COLLEAGUE attempted to use the HM Government petitions facility that is supposed to allow the public to petition the Government over issues that displease them and that affect all of us in some way. It is meant to provide the means to influence changes to anything we do not agree or find distasteful over the way our country is run. 

Surely, I would have thought this would be a logical and appropriate way to lobby the Government to let them know that we, the public, are largely not happy by the imprisonment of a long serving member of the SAS, Sgt DANNY NIGHTINGALE? 

But we thought wrong. Having approached the Government agency via the correct and appropriate channels ... this is their response. 

THIS IS NOTHING SHORT OF A COP OUT THAT EFFECTIVELY STIFLES PUBLICPROTECTS OF THIS KIND.

Your e-petition "Release Sgt Danny Nightingale" hasn't been accepted.

E-petitions will not be accepted if they:

• contain information which may be protected by an injunction or court order

• contain material that is potentially confidential, commercially sensitive or which may cause personal distress or loss

• include the names of individuals if they have been accused of a crime or information that may identify them

• include the names of individual officials who work for public bodies, unless they are part of the senior management of those organisations

• include the names of family members of elected representatives, eg MPs, or officials who work for public bodies

If you'd like to submit a new e-petition, please read the site's terms and conditions which explain the rules in detail.
Thanks,
HM Government e-petitions http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/

A WARNING TO DRIVERS

This is another of these concerning emails I have received that apparently has been publihsed by the Metropolitan Police. It should be taken seriously.

While driving on a rural end of the roadway on Thursday morning, I saw an infant car seat on the side of the road with a blanket draped over it. For whatever reason, I did not stop, even though I had all kinds of thoughts running through my head. But when I got to my destination, I called the Police and they were going to check it out. But, this is what the Police advised even before they went out there to check.

"There are several things to be aware of. Gangs and thieves are now plotting different ways to get a person (mostly women) to stop their vehicle and get out of the car".

"There is a gang initiation reported by the local Police where gangs are placing a car seat by the road, with a fake baby in it, waiting for a woman, of course, to stop and check on the abandoned baby. Note that the location of this car seat is usually beside a wooded or grassy (field) area and the person -- woman -- will be dragged into the woods, beaten, raped and usually left for dead. If it's a man, they're usually beaten and robbed and maybe left for dead, too".
DO NOT STOP FOR ANY REASON. DIAL 9-9-9 AND REPORT WHAT YOU SAW BUT DON'T EVEN SLOW DOWN.

IF YOU ARE DRIVING AT NIGHT AND EGGS ARE THROWN AT YOUR WINDSCREEN, DO NOT STOP TO CHECK THE CAR, DO NOT OPERATE THE WIPER AND DO NOT SPRAY ANY WATER BECAUSE EGGS MIXED WITH WATER BECOME MILKY AND BLOCK YOUR VISION UP TO 92.5% AND YOU ARE THEN FORCED TO STOP BESIDE THE ROAD AND BECOME A VICTIM OF THESE CRIMINALS.

THIS IS A NEW TECHNIQUE USED BY GANGS, SO PLEASE INFORM YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES. THESE ARE DESPERATE TIMES AND THESE ARE UNSAVOURY INDIVIDUALS WHO WILL TAKE DESPERATE MEASURES TO GET WHAT THEY WANT.
This is a new tactic being used. Please be safe.

THE BANKS CONTINUE TO RUN ROUGH-SHOD OVER CUSTOMERS RECLAIMING PPI

To say that I am sick and tired of the attitude of banks, particularly over their appalling treatment of customers trying to reclaim wrongly sold PPI, would be a gross understatement. 

I speak from experience but I know tens of thousands of others are probably being subjected to a similar lack of respect. In my case, the finger is being firmly pointed at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).  

When they opened a branch in my neck of the woods many years ago I was one of the first to open an account with them. Compared to my experiences with Barclays, the RBS were like a breath of fresh air, and they continued to be until this whole issue of irregularities occurred over the selling of PPI. Until then, my experiences with RBS had been extremely good. I found the staff to be friendly, knowledgeable and efficient. I had no complaints. And then, under the leadership of Fred Goodwin things started to go wrong ... very wrong. Staff came and went and the levels of service fell. I hardly ever visited the bank without a member of staff trying to sell me a new 'product'. When I extended my meagre business overdraft at my manager's suggestion to something more substantial I was informed that PPI was a compulsory part of the agreement. I didn't argue; after all I trusted and got on exceptionally well with the business advisor assigned to my account. Little did I know then that  when I later needed to claim on the payment protection insurance, I was promptly told by RBS that as a self-employed person I did not qualify. Up until then, with the bank never being in any doubt about my self-employed status, they had continued taking hundreds of pounds from me in premium payments over a period of several years.

When the miss-selling of PPI made the headlines I realised that I was entitled to a refund, now amounting to several thousands of pounds. At the start of this year I instigated a claim and by the start of May I received an offer as a 'goodwill gesture'. I completed the documentation accepting the offer and posted the form back to RBS same day. Even though I was angered by their reference to a legitimate refund of money I was entitled to get back being referred to as a 'goodwill gesture' I was, at that time, prepared to ignore it. When the refund hadn't arrived a month or so later I phoned the RBS helpline and was told very quickly by some disinterested individual in the Manchester call centre that my acceptance documents had been lost in the post. There was not even a hint of 'may have' been lost in the post but a definitive pronouncement that appeared to be uttered as a well-rehearsed line he had used a thousand times before to other hapless victims. 

WHY I CAN NEVER TRUST THE BANKS!

The latest issues regarding certain banks rigging the Libor rate should not come as a shock to most people particularly in view of previous wrong-doing that has shaken our trust in the banking institutions. 

I know from personal experience of the type of things they get up to. At the time of my divorce from my first wife during the 1980s, amidst the turmoil that usually accompanies a marriage breakup there was however just one thing my ex-wife and myself did agree about. 

At that time I had an unsecured overdraft for my business account with Barclays that, as far as I was concerned had never been an issue either for the bank or myself. Suddenly, out of the blue I received a High Court writ from the bank demanding immediate repayment of the overdraft. There had been no previous discussion, no letter from the bank - just this unannounced writ. I telephoned Barclays London office to demand a reason for what I considered to be grossly underhanded tactics and was merely told that they wanted their money back. I won't repeat my reaction but let's just say I was more than a little angry by their attitude and their proposed court action. 

Subsequently my former wife and me were called to a meeting with a business manager at our local Barclays business centre whereupon we were pressured in an attempt to force us to agree to a second charge being placed on our matrimonial home. My ex-wife and I both refused to sign the charge papers that Barclays had already prepared because neither of deemed it necessary and, as it was, the overdraft was not for an overly large sum. However, under duress I agreed to convert this to a loan on a normal monthly repayment basis.

When it came to selling the matrimonial home following our divorce, we were confronted with a second charge on the property in favour of Barclays Bank. We both knew full well that we had never signed the second charge documents that Barclays had produced and advised our respective solicitors accordingly. My solicitor immediately wrote to Barclays with an allegation of fraud. This is exactly what it was because my former wife concurred with me that the signatures that appeared on the Barclays document were certainly not ours but had been copied from other documents by somebody in an attempt to make them look like ours. They weren't even very convincing forgeries!

When Barclays received the communication from my lawyers they responded by telephoning me. I was told by the caller, who refused to give his name, that he was speaking from the bank's head office. I was told in no uncertain terms that if I refused to withdraw the fraud allegation 'I would never work again'. I responded by asking whether I should take this threat as an indication that 'some personal harm would be done to me, or whether they intended somehow to put me out of business?'  The man responded by stating 'That will be for you to find out, if you refuse to withdraw your allegation'. I was left feeling totally stunned and from that day on I have never trusted the banks.

THE SILENT MAJORITY

I received this email today that has been written by a 72-year old citizen of Great Britain. I make no apologies for publishing on this blog because I believe the contents are extremely poignant and whta this gentleman has stated reflects the views of so many people. I have edited the layout from the original to fit the layout more appropriately in order to make it easier to read.

To David Cameron (Prime Minister) & Ed Milliband (Leader of the Opposition) ...

You BOTH worry me! (In fact both of your Political parties worry the hell out of me!!

Over the last three years I find myself becoming more and more fearful of the pair of you and between you are turning this country into a place that I no longer feel at home in, or feel a part of! I watch you in parliament and no not just the two of you but every politician that I see stands up in parliament sneering at each other rand acting like children!!! (..And if you were my children I would be ashamed of you all ... What an example to set!)

Although you would like us all to believe that you are putting the needs of this country at the forefront NEITHER of you are doing that you seem more interested in "one-upmanship "in scoring off each other & denigrating each other to the detriment of this country & its people!!! 

It seems to be all about YOU as individuals and not about what you can DO for this country!

It is fast becoming a place that I do not recognize as the place I always thought was the best place in the world to be!!!

But no longer!!!

You are not listening to the people of this country!!!

And here in Great Britain your counterparts are afflicted with the same disease - is it endemic in all politicians?

I am watching the deterioration of living standards in this country (and according to you on a world stage we are doing better than most countries ... REALLY???)... And yet the gap is widening between the "haves" and the "have-nots”. I see our homeless on the streets our hospitals under-funded and understaffed our health system is an absolute mess and a disgrace ... And yet I see multi-millions of dollars being sent off shore in aid to other countries before attending to this country's needs!

I see the "selling off of water rights to foreign interests WHY...?

Especially when you go to great lengths to tell us that water is a finite resource & supposedly we must ALL be careful with how we use it so that we ensure we have it for the future

A Carbon Tax (which you KNOW is just another tax) which will make NO appreciable difference to carbon emissions AT ALL!

A tax which in spite of all your arguments FOR it you are doing alone when other major countries will NOT & DO NOT embrace it or believe in it !