When is Gordon Brown ever going to be straight with us?

As usual Gordon Brown is all mouth and no action. On Saturday during his visit to Helmand he promised an "extra" 200 more troops - roadside bomb specialists. As usual with him - a complete lack of communication with the military experts. His announcement had not been clarified with the MOD. The "extra" 200 personnel will replace 200 support troops being sent home - no doubt exhausted from their efforts and in dire need of a rest. When is Gordon Brown finally going to stop this nonsense. He is all spin and photo opportunity and no substance. It is an absolute bloody disgrace. Our troops deserve better.

A Peerage for Michael Martin - you have got to be kidding

Once again a completely useless member of the Labour Party gets a gong. The worst speaker we have ever had in the House of Commons - Gorbals Mick - is to be elevated to the Lords, with no doubt more perks and a bigger pension. Labour really have no shame. They "reform" piecemeal the House of Lords, shedding many of the hereditary peers but stuffing the upper house full of their placemen. Some reform - Gorbals Mick is absolutely the worst sort of person to be in the Lords.

Our farcical Education System

Once again, record numbers of GCSE pass results. Hundreds of students getting ten or more GCSE A* grades. The Government states the education system is not being dumbed down - but come on, we all know it is. When I was a grammar school girl only the most gifted of my school colleagues took ten or more 'O' levels - pupils generally destined for Oxbridge. Nowadays all and sundry achieve high passes and I, like the majority of people in this country, do not believe that pupils now are brighter than in previous decades. The Government may have pumped more money into the education system, but sadly the system itself has not improved. More students than ever leave school being unable to read or write properly. Subjects such as physics, chemistry and biology are not being taught as separate subjects in many schools and the number of pupils taking what are perceived to be difficult subjects is falling. Worthless subjects such as media studies and sociology are no doubt on the increase - but what use are they to future employers? During my previous career I would often be sent C.V.'s. The majority of people sending them could not spell, had only the most basic grasp of comprehension and grammar and yet would often claim to have twelve or more GCSE's Grade A or A*. It was extremely difficult to gauge how intelligent these applicants really were. I recently read a very interesting article by Chris Woodhead, a man who certainly knows what he is talking about. His article confirmed that the headmaster of one of Britain's top public schools asked all this sixth formers (who were likely to have a GCSE Grade A* in English) to undertake a further literacy test. Clearly the headmaster also had similar issues relating to his pupils' actual ability. But why should this be? I am sure twenty years or so ago the headmaster would have had no such problems. This Government really should try and sort the education system out for once and for all. A huge number of people simply have no confidence in it any more.

The outrageous lack of proper defence spending

Following on from my blog on Sunday concerning the lack of equipment for the military I urge you to read Allan Mallinson's article in the Telegraph today entitled "The Army is too small to fight all of the battles facing Britain". Will Gordon Brown do the right thing and increase military spending to an acceptable level as far as the Armed Forces are concerned? I doubt it - but in the meantime I only hope the new Chief of the General Staff Sir David Richards is as vocal and outspoken as his predecessor Sir Richard Dannatt who I am sure will be sorely missed.

Was there a trade deal?

Was there a trade deal made with Libya in exchange for the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi? Although the Government denies this we will probably never know. Labour have told so many lies during their administration that no one now believes a word they say anyway.

Another suppression of the truth

How many times since Labour came to power have crucial reports been delayed or suppressed because the conclusions reached are critical of the Government? The internal Ministry of Defence "Gray Report" dealing with equipment issues, accuses the MOD of "harming our ability to conduct difficult current operations". This is what the majority of people in this country have long suspected. At a time when our troops are laying down their lives fighting a questionable war in Afghanistan the Government should for once in their lives do the right thing. The full publication of this report should not be delayed. The Government should get the report out into the open and listen to and act upon the advice of senior military personnel (who unlike the Government know what they are talking about). The problem of course is that there are no heavyweight former military commanders amongst the Labour ranks. That coupled with a list of completely useless Secretaries of State for Defence (of which the current incumbent is by far the worst) has left us in the mess we are now in. Have the decency Gordon Brown to do the right thing for once.

Alan Duncan - the worst sort of Conservative

How dare Alan Duncan say that being a Member of Parliament is like living on rations. I and I am sure a huge number of people in this country would be very happy to live on an M.P.'s salary (without the expenses). When so many people are currently unemployed and struggling in extremely difficult circumstances, it is crass and extremely insensitive of Mr Duncan to make such comments. David Cameron is absolutely right in making him apologise publicly. But I think the trouble is that the House of Commons has too many M.P.'s (of all parties) who think like Mr Duncan. My hope is that in the run up to the next general election we really do get a decent influx of Conservative prospective parliamentary candidates who are ordinary "normal" people. We need more M.P.s like the wonderful Eric Pickles and less of the likes of Mr Duncan.

The continuing saga of Ronnie Biggs

Since being freed, Ronnie Biggs seems to be making a remarkable and somewhat speedy recovery. What a turnaround in the state of his health! Useless Jack Straw made the decision to free him as we were told he was at death's door. Mr Biggs is now likely to leave hospital for a care home and his son is hoping to have him home for Christmas. Once again Jack Straw, like all his government colleagues, is completely incapable of making one correct decision.

The wonderful people of Wootton Bassett

Yet again the wonderful people of Wootton Bassett have today turned out to pay their respects to the latest soldier repatriated from Afghanistan. They surely represent the majority of the people of this country who wish to honour the service personnel who have made the final sacrifice in this terrible conflict.

The secret to losing weight

The ITV Evening News had a report this evening stating that the number of people taking prescription weight loss tablets has increased dramatically during the past year. Why is so much of OUR money being wasted by the NHS on gastric band operations and slimming tablets when the way to lose weight is quite simple. WILL POWER. Eat less food and do more exercise. Two years ago my husband decided that he had to lose weight which had gradually accumulated during the previous ten years. He very carefully considered what he was eating, cut out a number of foods and started to do more exercise. He lost three stone of weight in six months or so and has maintaned his new weight since that time. He regularly weights himself to make sure the weight is not going back on and by being careful with what he eats, is able to have some food treats from time to time. I appreciate that a small minority of people do have extreme difficulty in losing weight but surely the majority who want to lose weight can do this for themselves without having to waste valuable public resources.

The Last Tommy

What a wonderful send off for Harry Patch, our last surviving tommy. Mr Patch was a contemporary of my own grandfather who also fought at Passchendaele (Ypres Salient). No sane person wants war and armed conflict - it is always better to try to negotiate a solution than have to fight in a war, but sometimes armed conflict is unavoidable. The sacrifices made by Mr Patch and my grandfather's generation must not be forgotten - so it is vitally important that history is properly taught in schools and colleges. This government must stop what they have started - the dumbing down of the education system and go back to teaching "proper" lessons and that includes history. The lessons of history are absolutely essential to grasp and we ignore them at our peril.

Another Government U-Turn

I am hardly surprised that yet again the Government has done a U-Turn. Last week Ronnie Biggs was unrepentant and unremorseful and therefore, according to the Justice Secretary Jack Straw would not be released early and then suddenly today, whilst still unrepentant and unremorseful, he can be. This government is utterly inept - they seem not to be able to make one decision they stick to. Roll on the General Election.

A small matter of alleged food poisoning

The Llay Fish Bar at the centre of the likely cause of the e-coli outbreak was inspected on the 13th August 2008 by Environmental Health Inspectors from Wrexham Council. It received no points at all out of a possible five. Now - whilst I am not an expert in these matters I must ask the question - surely if an establishment received no points, something must be seriously wrong with it and why was it allowed to continue providing food to the general public? Whilst watching the BBC 6 o'clock news this evening, a spokesman from Wrexham Council said that the problem in closing down the establishment is that the Council would have had to go to Court to prove their case that the establishment should be closed on health grounds and to obtain the relevant Court order. It begs the question that with 0 points out of 5 - how bad does an establishment have to be before the Council WILL take action. Surely if the Environmental Health Inspectors had had the courage of their convictions they should have had no issues in applying to the Court for the necessary order. How bad must these places be before the public are properly protected?

The end of the line for Strictly but sadly not for Jay Hunt

First Jay Hunt of the BBC was happy to remove Arlene Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing. She wanted to attract a younger audience and make the programme more "sexy". She is paid from our licence fees - but we do not want any changes and we certainly do not want Arlene Phillips to be removed. Not content with that Ms Hunt, who really does NOT have her finger on the pulse AT ALL has now sacked Karen Hardy. So for me and hopefully tens of thousands of other former viewers future Saturday evenings will not be spent watching Strictly Come Dancing. If there is nothing wrong with the format of a successful television show - please BBC do not change the format and especially do not change the format when it is our money that is being spent. Why is no one at the BBC listening to the concerns of the general public? The only person who should be axed - and quickly - is Ms Hunt.

The New Oxo Cube

I can hardly believe the article I have just read in the Mail on Sunday concerning the shape of the new oxo cube, which states it is "easier to break up between the fingers". For crying out loud, how difficult is it to crumble the existing oxo cube?

Forget the flowers.....

I, like a great number of people in this country, was terribly sad to learn of the death of Sir Bobby Robson. He was a remarkable man, kind, considerate and a great ambassador for the game of football. The wonderful response from fans leaving tributes at St James' Park is entirely understandable. However, am I alone in thinking that the hugh amount of money spent on floral tributes would have been better utilised by being donated to Sir Bobby's Cancer Foundation?