Equality?

The Police Federation wants the government to spend millions to help those who suffered trauma and stress during the Troubles and remember the past.

The Police Federation also wants to government to avoid spending millions to help those who suffered trauma and stress suring the Troubles and forget the past.

The difference? One group looking help are ex-police personnel. These people have the support of the Police Federation.

The other group looking help are the families of victims of ex-police personnel. These people do not have the support of the Police Federation.

All Change At Number 10

So it's goodbye Tony, hello Gordon. I can't say I'm sorry to see the back of Blair- I'm still trying to figure out whereabouts socialism fitted into his ideological outlook- in fact, did he even have an ideological outlook? I know he was leader of the Labour Party but, well, we know the rest.

To be fair to Brown, he seems a straight shooter. He's done a pretty good job with the UK economy in the past decade, and seems to shirk media opportunities which would compel him to tell us how he feels the hand of history on his shoulder etc.

It was interesting when he mentioned creating a government "of the talents". Some of his colleagues may balk at the idea of him handing top jobs to outsiders, but under Blair Labour wasn't very labourlike, so it'll not make any material difference if the new new government contains people who aren't party apparatchiks. In fact, a distinct lack of croneyism would be a breath of fresh air around the corridors of government.

Cameron of course is reeling- cycling to work followed by a car full of papers isn't a viable alternative to a proven track record in power. All that remains to be seen is whether Brown has as steady a set of hands now that he has the steering wheel of power under his control.

No Prosecution In The Pat Finucane Case- Quelle Surprise

So the Public Prosecution Service in its wisdom has declared that the puppet masters behind the assassination of Pat Finucane will not face justice. Why does this not come as a shock? Despite the fact that it is clearly evident that sickening collusion of the highest order played a role in this killing and many others, the plug has been pulled on justice. What have they got to hide?

Stevens found that collusion happened. The people of the north know that collusion happened. But rather than there being the full and independent inquiry and legal actions which such revelations warrant, the unaccountable British authorities have just decided to brush it under the carpet.

There's no comeback. There's no right to find out the details. That's 'democracy' for you.

The same happened at the time of the Stormontgate collapse- still the vast majority of us don't know exactly what went on there thanks to the British cover-up.

I've said time and time again that people who have nothing to hide have no reason to cover up the events of the past. If the British authorities have nothing to hide, then let them prove it by bringing the full rigour of the law to bear on cases like the Pat Finucane one. Otherwise, people like me who want to see justice for victims of the Troubles will continue to see the British Government as complicit in the continued protection of murderous scumbags.

Apologies

Apologies for the lack of posting of late- I've been pretty busy. I hope to get some more stuff on here than there has been recently. I'm also happy to consider guest article if anyone has anything they'd like to get off their chest.

Go raibh maith agaibh.

Happy Days Ahead For Loan Sharks

SDLP Regional Development Spokesperson John Dallat MLA has claimed that water charges will lead to the poorest people being blacklisted for credit when they fail to meet their water bills, if they are introduced in the North. Mr Dallat claims that this may send many people into the laps of loan sharks who charge exorbitant rates of interest and frequent operate outside the constraints of legislation. Mr Dallat stated:

“The new water company has signed a contract with a billing company which has massive powers to collect bad debt and has special measures for extracting cash from the most vulnerable.

In a society were 24% of homes experience fuel poverty it is easy to see how this condition will become water poverty. Without the ability to pay many people will be black listed for credit and will soon become the prey of loan sharks. What else can people do when there is pressure at Christmas, going back to school and so on? Certainly they will have to turn to lenders who charge very high rates of interest and that is agreed by various organisations working to address anti poverty issues.

No government department should be involved in a process which is certain to compound debt and that applies to approximately 500,000 out of a total population of 1.7 million. The review announced by the Minister Conor Murphy offers a glimmer of hope but it is only a glimmer given the short period of time available.”

Sunday Sounds On El Blogador: Johnny Cash

Scores On The Doors: Belfast City Council Restaurant Cleanliness Reports

As reported on El Blogador last October, local authorities in the UK have been working to produce reports for public consumption on the cleanliness of restaurants and food outlets in their districts.

Belfast City Council has now begun to publish these reports online under the moniker 'Scores On The Doors'. Their online database currently has 1,367 food businesses on it. Under the scheme, cafés, restaurants, pubs, shops and any business selling food is given a star rating to show how well they comply with food safety standards. Five stars in the highest rating and zero is the lowest.

This is how they are grouped:

Five stars- Excellent. Very high standards of food safety management. Fully compliant with food safety law.

Four stars- Very good. Good food safety management. High standard of compliance with food safety law.

Three stars- Good. Good level of legal compliance. Some more effort might be required.

Two stars- Broadly compliant. Broadly compliant with food safety law. More effort is required to meet all legal requirements.

One star- Poor. Poor level of compliance with food safety law. Much more effort is required.

No stars- Very poor. A general failure to comply with legal requirements. Little or no appreciation of food safety. Major effort is required.

Glancing through the website, which is located here, it is extremely worrying when you see how many popular eateries in Belfast fall into the 'one star' or 'no stars' categories according to council inspection. Although the site carries the disclaimer that "the hygiene rating given to premises on this web site has been based on the latest Primary Inspection carried out and as such represents the situation as found by the officer on the day of that inspection. Therefore the score may not be representative of the overall, long-term food hygiene standards of the business and should not be relied upon as a guide to food safety or food quality," as far as I'm concerned every restaurant and food outlet should have the highest standards of hygiene all of the time.

Forget about taste alone- from now on there's a more important thing to bear in mind when you're thinking about where to go for a bite to eat.

Kudos to Belfast City Council.

Accusations Of 'Out-Greening Sinn Féin': The Last Bastion Of The Idiotic

Quelle surprise, loyalists haven't taken too kindly to Margaret Ritchie's threat that funding will be cut unless the UDA decommissions.

'UPRG' spokesperson Frankie Gallagher has claimed: "You cannot out-green the greens [Sinn Féin] but you can rise above them."

Perhaps it has escaped Frankie's notice, although given the lack of political nous historically displayed by the loyalist leadership it wouldn't be surprising, but virtually the whole community despises the armed terrorist militia that is the UDA/ UFF. It has got nothing to do with nationalism, unionism or even monsterravingloonyism. I'd bet Margaret Ritchie would take exactly the same line in relation to the RIRA or CIRA if they were looking government hand-outs.

Frankie has also offered this nugget of advice to Margaret's party: "The SDLP must get back to the broadest politics of social democracy and stop standing on the precipice of the narrow politics of Irish nationalism.

"If they are republican, then be republican and move forward on the basis of inclusion, not exclusion."

Now I know the SDLP has been faring pretty badly lately in terms of election results, but the day it needs to take advice from the likes of Frankie Gallagher is the day it folds. I want the SDLP to espouse social democratic politics, in-keeping with its founding principles, and adhere to the fundamentals of republicanism- perhaps it has taken its eye off the ball in these respects. But what Gallagher fails to understand is that this does not mean handing a blank cheque to unreconstructed terrorists. To equate the two is simply ludicrous!

The UPRG's attempts to dress-up this threat from the minister as sectarianism merely proves how out of touch they are with the thinking of the vast majority of people in the north across the religious and political spectrum.

No Guns, No Cash

Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has told the UDA that if it doesn't decommission its arsenel of terror, the (frankly ridiculous) government funding it receives will be cut.

Damn right.

For too long direct rule dictators with no notion of the reality of the situation in the north handed out cash left, right and centre to barely-reconstructed terrorists.

Ms. Ritchie said: "If this funding is to continue, then the UDA have to decommission their arsenal.

"An intergral part of the transformation initiative is decommissioning.

"I have already communicated that message to them and I, as the minister, demand that they do that. The public demands that they do that."

If the UDA refuses to decommission then, to coin a phrase, the continuation of government funding shouldn't even be on the radar.

Sunday Sounds On El Blogador: The Clash