UKIP IS NOW A CONTENDER

ELECTION IN MAY 2015!

Nigel Farage - Leader of UKIP

There is much talk about the forthcoming General Election in just five months' time and having heard so much from the main Parties, I decided to take a look at what UKIP has to offer, under the leadership of Nigel Farage, and was pleasantly surprised by the seriousness of their policies and their conviction that British tax-payers' money is best spent at Home instead of being squandered on EU luxuries.  I am now convinced of UKIP's ability to take on the greatest challenge faced by any British political party since WW2.

Take a look at the UKIP website for yourselves at:  http://www.ukip.org/policies_for_people

See if you agree with my views, that this youngest Political Party will grow in stature, and will mature quickly to grab this big opportunity to show the Nation who they really are!  Fruitcakes or some sterner stuff with strength, endurance and great intelligence to take our country to prosperity.

There is a great need today to slim down government expenditure to repair the economy and to save Britain from paying £billions each week on interests alone for our insurmountable national debt, a debt created by Labour but doubled by the Conservative-Lib.Dem Coalition.  That leaves the only other Party - UKIP to take up the reins of government at next year's General Election.
What will a UKIP Government do for us?  Their answers are in their website:  Policies for People: To protect jobs and increase prosperity, which entails much more than the few I list below:

UKIP with their many sensible, down-to-earth candidates will never allow those austerity measures that make the rich richer, and the poor more dependent on Food Banks, nor would UKIP's sensible candidates let the upheaval of the bedroom tax cause so much heartache for re-locators.  Moving into a new home should always be a joyful event!

At the next General Election in May, we the people will be able to take part in the reparation, by voting for UKIP, the only Party sensible enough to turn the UK economy around - not by higher taxation but with due diligence to reviewing all legislation and the regulations from the EU (they issued 3,600 new laws since 2010) and remove those which hamper British prosperity and competitiveness.

To withdraw our membership from the EU will save us over £11 billion a year, and judging by the surprise £1.7 billion demanded from Britain for the recent imperceptible growth, it's any body's guess what price will be levied in the future!  On leaving the EU, UKIP would seek to re-occupy the UK's vacant seat at the World Trade Organisation to continue our 'most favoured nation' status in trade with the EU, under the WTO rules.

UKIP is totally focused on repairing this Nation's economy by abolishing the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Department for Energy and Climate Change; scrap subsidies for wind farms and solar arrays, but support a diverse energy market including coal, nuclear, shale gas, geo-thermal, tidal, solar, conventional gas and oil; scrapping green taxes and the costly unjustifiable HS2 project; and cutting the foreign aid budget by £9 billion a year.

With these savings, UKIP will be able to increase the Personal Allowance to a full-time minimum wage earning (approximately £13,500 by next election) and be able to introduce an income tax rate of 35p on £42,285 to £55,000, thereafter 40p rate becomes payable.  The Inheritance Tax will be abolished and a Treasury Commission will be set up to design a Turnover Tax, so big businesses will pay a tax proportionate to their UK turnover.

Take a moment if you would, to read about UKIP's aspiration for the British people's prosperity at:
http://www.ukip.org/policies_for_people and you will find the youngest political Party in the UK, whose manifesto will be crammed with fresh ideas, appealing to most British tax-payers looking for a way out of today's "spend your kids' inheritance" culture. It's refreshing to find a party not afraid to cut government spending but also keen to keep all the basic British values.  UKIP will make a lean, mean, and cost-effective government, worth at least one term of office, to bring our economy back from the brink.

Numerous policies are embraced by UKIP to counter any proposed cuts and for leaving the EU: such as reinstating British territorial waters, and requiring foreign trawlers to apply for and purchase fishing permits to fish British waters;  students from the EU will pay the same fee rates as International students; and businesses will be able to discriminate in favour of young British workers.

On the home front, UKIP will protect our Green Belt; planning and building regulations for Brownfield sites will be simplified as also for vacant commercial property.  VAT on old property renovation will be relaxed, and for the redevelopment of Brownfield sites, their new homes' first sale will be exempt from stamp duty.

To prioritize Education and Skills, UKIP will introduce an option for students to take an Apprenticeship Qualification instead of the four non-core GCSEs which can, if wished, be continued at A-Level.  Subject to academic performance UKIP will remove tuition fees for students taking approved degrees in science, medicine, technology, engineering, or mathematics on condition that they live, work and pay tax in the UK for at least five years after the completion of their degrees.  UKIP will scrap the target of 50% of school leavers going to university.

UKIP is adamant that NHS will be free at the point of delivery and need, but visitors and migrants, until they have paid NI for five years, must have NHS-approved Private Health Insurance as a condition of entry to the UK, saving £2 billion a year, £200 million of which will be allocated to hospital car parking.  And hurrah! UKIP will maintain the pensioner BUS PASS!  I am 75 and I certainly need mine!

In honouring the Military Covenant, UKIP will guarantee those who have served in the Armed Forces for more than 12 years, a job in the Police or Border Force, or Prison Service.  They will receive a Veterans' Service Card for after-service or mental health care.

UKIP seemed to have considered every important topic from Transport, Childcare and Welfare, Border control, Immigration, Culture, Law and Order, Democracy and Constitution, and more; the policies for their manifesto even include such items as making crime for non-payment of BBC Licence Fee to come under civil offences; and the law will be rigorously enforced against illegal 'culture' practices such as FGM, forced marriages, and so-called 'honour killings'; but recognising that the unifying British culture is open to anyone of whatever ethnic or religious background that identify with Britain and British values.

With so much on offer, UKIP certainly deserves our support for the opportunity to carry out those well-thought out proposals.  I am willing to give the devil his due, so why not also to UKIP? After all, the three main Parties have had their chance to prove themselves in the last three decades, and with the debt spiralling out of control, desperate measures are now called for, such as those proposed by UKIP.  I am in favour of giving UKIP a chance to use their practical and common sense approach, and with a lot more middle management and workers joining the UKIP's aspiration to prosper, they have a better chance to succeed than re-electing the Tory back to power to continue paying vast sums to the EU as well as perpetuating the merry-go-round fiasco of re-organising the Health Service that had benefitted only the retiring consultants rather the sick and the elderly.


Nigel Farage, sitting beside Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt at Question Time on BBC1, calmly let Russell Brand heckle him as "the Dude at the end of the table - a pound shop Enoch Powell, and we've got to watch him!"  I am afraid Russell Brand's ranting made a spectacle of himself and showed us what a level-headed leader is Nigel Farage, whose composure will take UKIP right up to the top to lead this country to true prosperity by simply being British.  

SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!

MARCH AND APRIL WHISTLED AWAY...

For many people, who had been adversely affected by Britain's inclement weather that flooded thousands of homes and turned many business ventures into negative equity, damage costs are still rising as they rented and salvaged whatever they could save.  Costs to the Nation are into £millions; many are looking for ways to alleviate their burden; and others are trying to muster enough strength to re-build their lives or their livelihood, from scratch.  
Our thoughts are with you, wishing you success in all your efforts!

Hopefully, Government grants and aid, will speed up the repairs and compensation for those who have lost everything.   Many charities have set up food banks all around the country, giving a lifeline to the homeless, the unemployed and disabled, especially for the sick and elderly, whose health had been damaged by strong winds and disease-causing damp in their homes.  We wish you a speedy recovery and good humour to enjoy the best of our summer.

A bunch of brilliant colours

At last the weather is showing signs of warming up and drying out, and the countryside becoming more beautiful every day; the trees are greening and the flowers are brilliantly colourful, even the bluebells are a deep azure, the most vibrant violet blue I have seen in many years.


Roy and I braved the torrential rain to visit Alan and Jan Olden's bluebell fields this year, and we were duly rewarded with a delightful show of bluebells at their best, followed by a welcoming hot tea at their beautiful home, surrounded by various animal statues, carved by Alan's own fair hand, whenever one of their trees fell.  His next project has already presented itself by a tree, knocked down in the recent storm, asking to be turned into another piece of art.

Camellia and rhododendron bushes are bursting into shocking pink and mauve flowers, against verdant green woods and hedges.  Summer is indeed a gorgeous time of the year in Great Britain!  With longer daylight hours, many of us will be spending more time tending the gardens, eating alfresco and  working up an appetite for a BBQ meat fest.

Alicia and Irena came to lunch

We continue to enjoy local theatres, such as The Maskers, in their cosy, mini-stage in Shirley, or their open-air productions held previously at Mottisfont and Hamptworth House.  Our favourite local amateur group is The RAOD, performing at the Plaza theatre in Romsey, their dramas, comedies and musicals have entertained us for decades. Occasionally we venture up to London for a musical or a play in the West End, but the shows have to be really fantastic to entice us to travel to London.

Eating out is now becoming a favourite pastime, and finding new restaurants on our doorstep is always fun.  Most enjoyable of all is being with friends and eating together, whilst catching up on each other's news.  We often have coffee mornings at elevenses, or afternoon tea with friends at home, all very pleasant indeed.    

Amelie is lovely to talk to.

Our friends, Youzhi and Jerome's little Amelie is growing up into a most delightful, intelligent and bright young lady of under two years old.  She absorbs everything like a sponge, and is a gleeful mimic of sound, action, and any new words she hears, so lovely to talk to and to sing with, especially Nursery Rhymes!

Gordon's birthday at the Waldorf Hotel 

I had a most wonderful weekend in London, to celebrate our friend, Gordon's 79th birthday, when Genevieve generously treated us to a champagne dinner at the Waldorf Hotel, in Aldwych.  We started the day with a guided tour at the busy National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, on the works of several Impressionists.

 
Being Bank Holiday weekend, Trafalgar Square was teeming with visitors, entertained by groups of street actors, musicians and acrobatic acts. The walk up the Strand to the Aldwych brought back many happy memories of the London I knew in the 1960's, when working for the Birmingham Post and Mail on Fleet Street, I spent lots of carefree lunch hours, indulging in anything London had to offer: Mrs. Levi's deportment class, an hour of French conversation, music in the park, window shopping and delights of London pubs.

Those who know us well, will wonder why we had not made a trip abroad in the last two years. Google's Blogspot writing, as well as renewed interest in digital photography, and the desire to sort out hundreds of diaries that recorded our 25 years of travels, in conjunction with thousands of photographs taken in over 80 countries, that have kept us busy, enough to take time off from our love of gallivanting the globe, in search of pastures new.  It was time well-spent to rest and reflect, and take stock of our life.

Doors and Portals by Jean Romsey

I even found time to paint three pictures to exhibit at Romsey Art Group's Spring Exhibition, The 'Doors and Portals'  was inspired by a PhotoBook, 'Pushbikes and Portals' produced by Roy, from his photo collection.  I chose to collate the second PhotoBook, entitled: 'A Pictorial Peek into Roy and Jean's Life Together', with 26 pages of photographs selected from thousands, to feature the
many activities we shared with our friends and families, in the 42 years we've been together.  Quite a task!  But what a life!

These two PhotoBooks were gifted to us by our good friends, Youzhi and Jerome at Roy's birthday. It feels so good to be able to hold a book of memories in your hand, and flick through it at any time you like.  It's not the same clicking through folders in your computer, looking at masses of thumbnail images. Thanks to our friends, I am so happy with this gift of a Photobook - it's a great idea.

I shall catch up with you again in a few weeks with more news.

A HAPPY START TO THE NEW YEAR

NEW YEAR FIREWORKS FOLLOWED BY STORMS

New Year arrived with pomp and ceremony as the grand London fireworks vied with global sparklers throughout the night, under clear blue skies everywhere.  Alas! this brief respite was not a forerunner of good weather in the United Kingdom, as storms of heavy rainfall and 100 mph winds, vindicate our good wishes.


Our little kingdom of Britain had been battered by strong winds, rain and turbulent seas, continuously for two months, the wildest and windiest weather recorded in decades, a situation never faced before, in my 49 years of living in England.  There had been the occasional flooding here and there, when rainfall was exceptionally heavy, as in 2003 or 2007, but never had the ground saturation been so sodden for so long.

A mirage of tranquility

You would be forgiven to think these homes were built with exotic water features around them, but the serenity belies the turmoil faced by residents, imprisoned in their own home with no clean drinking water and no way to launder their clothes or flush their toilets.  Many had found their homes contaminated by sewage, and the flood water is posing health hazards to children and pets, if swallowed, as many areas had tested positive with fecal bacteria.

Unrelenting waves bashing Cornwall  

Everyday we hear reports of more disasters: rivers overflowing into flood plains; unprecedented flooding in towns and cities, like Winchester, Capital of Hampshire, being sandbagged to divert flood water from city centre businesses; uprooted trees landing on cars; rooftops lifting or borne away by high winds; railway lines crumbling under incessant rain and 100 mph wind swiping at everything in its path.

Paul Daniel and wife waded outdoors

Roads, bridges and river banks are collapsing under ferocious on-shore waves; electricity lines destroyed by storms are cutting off power to tens of thousands of homes, some of whom had been without any fuel since before Christmas and had to dispose of food languishing in fridges and freezers.  Many households had to abandon their flooded homes, inhabitable due to sewage seeping up the floorboards, or becoming inaccessible except by boats or wading through waist-high water levels.

Romsey bandstand reflected by flood

There is no sign what-so-ever of the flood water receding from our saturated landscape, as the Met office warned of more devastation on the way: wind gusting over 80 mph, with heavier downpour throughout the night and possibility of snow on some high ground.  Already Hambledon had been under water for 40 days and nights, Datchet near Windsor had been flooded since early January, and Jenny, Roy's sister, living in Romsey, was house-bound for a few days last month, due to flooding.

Firefighters ferrying victims

The Government is finally deploying the army to shore up flood defences up and down the country, joining forces with the fire fighters, volunteers, and hundreds of employees of the Environment Agency distributing sandbags and helping vulnerable homes to seal off flooding wherever possible.  The endurance and strength of our British flood victims deserve our admiration and full support from the Government for any help and funding required.

We wish them greater resilience in the face of so much atrocity dealt them by Nature, Global warming and Climate Change, and to a great extent, exacerbated by ill-conceived EU directives to our Environment Agency, not to dredge the many rivers that had, for centuries, been the lifeblood of Britain's infrastructure in carrying away glacial and rainwater to the sea, and supplying many counties the means for fishing, farming, irrigation, sport and navigation.

This is another example of EU blundering by autocratic officials, ensconced in their urban ivory-tower in Brussels, unfamiliar with Britain's climate and geology, and ignorant of the millennia of indigenous good practice in river management, that had balanced the usefulness of our waterways with a high degree of nature reserves required for British birds, fishery and game, that already proliferate in our green and pleasant land.

Too much tampering by too many over-paid and under-employed EU agencies from across the Channel, are destroying quality of British life that had evolved through diligent study of our own environment. Who could better administrate our rivers than our own local homegrown, resident landowners, farmers and businesses?  Just a small local environment agency in each county would surely be better than a massive, national one, located in London, but directed by distant EU mis-informed officials.

In spite of the atrocious weather, I wish you all a happy Chinese New Year of the Horse, giving you strength and sense of purpose in everything you do and whatever life throws at you.
Happy St. Valentine's Day!

I shall speak to you again soon.