MPs on England’s demise

Players disgraced the England shirt

If I were a Member of Parliament I could happily sign this Early Day Motion from Roger Godsiff (Labour, Birmingham Sparbrook and Small Heath):

That this House congratulates Croatia and Russia on qualifying for the European Football Championships from Group E; acknowledges that the Croatian team which beat England were far superior in technical ability, skill and commitment than the insipid and inept England team; notes that £747 million was spent on the new Wembley Stadium but the match was played on a surface similar to those used by Sunday footballers on council pitches; thanks the efforts of the Israeli and part-time players of Andorra in trying to help England by doing their very best against Russia; commiserates with the fans who have spent large amounts of their hard earned money following England during these championships; believes that the over-paid, over-pampered and over-hyped English prima donnas from the Premiership who took the field against Croatia disgraced the England shirt once worn by legends such as Stanley Matthews, Duncan Edwards, Bobby Moore, Nobby Stiles and Bobby Charlton; and recognises that they will no doubt be consoled by the thought that while they are watching the European Championships from their luxurious holiday destinations their celebrity lifestyles will be protected by them still receiving their vastly inflated wages, provided by Sky and Setanta television money, from clubs in a Premiership League which is nothing more than a money making machine for players, agents and entrepreneurial club owners which does very little for promoting the well-being of football in England either at the grass roots or international level.

David Amess (Conservative Southend West) has a similar Early Day Motion which captures the public mood:

That this House calls on the Football Association to re-examine the organisation of the country’s national sport, paying particular regard to the salaries of football players and their managers; and further calls on the Association to look at the ticket prices for Premier League and international matches on the basis of affordability and value for money.

The trouble is, when politicians start to talk in the same terms as their constituents, it all invariably turns to dust!

There is no news today!

Well, at least until the F.A. have finished their meeting.

I guess most English football fans were feeling like me yesterday evening - relieved.

Thankful that we won’t have to send that team with that coach to the Euro finals next year, where surely even bigger embarrassments would be waiting. In a game where we needed at the very least a draw, we contrived to arrange a sinking exit on a rain soaked Wembley pitch still carrying the hashmarks and divots of an American football game a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps a few gargantuan guards, tackles, and safeties may have helped England’s hapless efforts and a quarterback may have generalled a more adequate game plan than the inept scheme on offer last night.

In the most important game of his managerial career Steve McClaren decided to risk all with a virtual rookie international goalkeeper who repaid the faith in him by playing Santa in November. Attack is normally the best form of defence, well it would have been better than our back four’s calamitous efforts, however the 4-5-1 formation simply invited the Croats to come and have a go, and boy did they! Having failed to stop the onslaught in the opening twenty minutes we changed to a 4-4-2 for the second half and began to make amends after the very fortunate penalty (some referees may not have noticed such a shifty shirt pull) Beckham’s glorious cross and Crouch’s sublime finish ought to have heralded a period of 11 men behind the ball as we held on for the single point that we needed. But no, McClaren allowed the team to carry on flooding into the Croatian half exposing our weak defence once again, and we paid the price.

Quite frankly we simply didn’t deserve to go to the finals.

So the hot money is now on a sacking, the clever money on a reorganisation of the English game. How do we make winners of the national team?

Do we introduce quotas on foreign players in the Premiership, or is that too protectionist? Do we force more money into the lower levels of the game and improve coaching methods? Should they stop dithering over the F.A. Coaching centre?

How would you turn around England’s fortunes?

Update 09.45

McClaren, at home in Yarm (according to BBC Radio 5 Live) has confirmed that he has been sacked, and please stop talking about giving the job to Shearer, he hasn’t even managed a sweet shop yet!

Update 13.50

He was in the South-East all of the time - shows how little you can trust the BBC sometimes.

Today’s good news

There is always some balance

Guido Fawkes is reporting that Gordon Brown will not be at England’s match against Croatia tomorrow night.

Than God for that, whenever he attends English games, be it football or rugby he jinxes us!

The Annual North East Economic Forum

Banging the drum for the region.

I have been away most of the day at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead attending the 3rd Annual North-East Economic Forum , hosted by Sovereign Strategy and sponsored by a number of leading companies. It is a usefull and influential meeting of minds between public and private sector operators, businessmen, educators, and politicians, all with the common purpose of promoting economic growth and regeneration for our proud region. Strategic planning is based upon forums such as these and aims and objectives to achieve growth and prosperity for the North East are formulated for the future at these meetings .

NEEF is a Not-for-Profit organisation. The North East Economic Forum was established in 2005 as a vehicle for continued debate on the growth and regeneration of the North - East as a region. The Forum brings together the regions key stakeholders from national and local government, industry and the voluntary sector with representatives from trade unions, the regions universities and stakeholder groups such a the CBI.

The event was organised and hosted by Sovereign Strategy which was established in response to a growing need by public and private corporations, to deal with the increasing complexity of national and international public policy, and communications in a global environment. Sovereign Strategy has strong connections with South Tyneside through it’s founder and Executive Chairman, former MEP Alan Donnelly, and it’s Chief Executive/Deputy Chairman Iain Malcolm.

Having run into their website a few days ago I decided to register for the event as a “digital media consultant” under the name of Curly’s Corner Shop, just to see if they minded me coming along and causing some mischief - lo and behold the requisite papers arrived in the post - time to find a decent looking old school tie!

My main interest today was to listen to what Opposition Leader David Cameron had to say as the main pre-noon speaker. Cameron was accompanied by Michael Bates, the former Langbaurgh MP (1992-97), incredibly he could remember our last meeting in St. Peter’s Church Hall, South Shields just a few months ago, I was impressed! Whilst Cameron made some criticisms of the Chancellor’s screw up on Capital Gains tax, and the Northern Rock crisis, as well as the unrelenting bureaucracy and red tape tying up enterprise, he did not come to the North East to go Labour bashing. In a light hearted speech he tried to set out some of his vision about how an incoming Conservative administration would help enterprise and regeneration in the region. He spoke of smaller government, improved transport infrastructures, innovations, education, and skills, and hinted at cuts in taxes and regulation. It wasn’t a top heavy policy led performance, more a reminder that he does care for a region which has one of the fastest growing economies in the UK, and that he intends to ensure that government does not “get in the way” of enterprise and development.

Hugh Morgan Williams in the question and answer session asked about Cameron’s intentions on regulations on business, Cameron considered that they were a bigger problem than taxes! John Wright of the Federation of Small Businesses asked “Dave” for his opinions on crime committed against small businesses, strangely the Opposition Leader rambled on about CGT and “white collar crime” - I think he’d missed the point of Mr. Wright’s question. Cameron Scott of Tynedale Council was concerned about the current comprehensive spending review and the effects on local government, Cameron was not minded to talk about committing a future Conservative government to spending plans without George Osborne present. On the Barnett Formula, which is causing so much unrest between English and Scottish parliamentarians he promised that it would be considered as part of the party’s policy review programme.

Finally, to demonstrate his commitment to the North East, David Cameron reminded the audience that the Conservative Party would be holding it’s half annual Spring Meeting at The Sage in Gateshead next year.

All in all it was worthwhile, but not heavyweight. The afternoon session included appearances by Lib- Dem Nick Clegg MP and Labour Party Chairman Hazel Blears MP, unfortunately I was unable to stay for the duration, having to collect my children from school.

However it is worth saying a thank you to the organisers for bringing together such a diverse and varied set of people in an annual effort to boost the region’s profile and to set an agenda for growth and prosperity for the coming year. It is good to realise that people from all of our differing political parties, voluntary organisations, public and private enterprises can work together with a common purpose.

Whilst I was there, I was also able to engage with other local blogger and Labour Cllr. Ernest Gibson, and yes- he’s shocked at the price of fish!

Apologies for the quality of the photographs they were taken from the back of a poorly lit conference hall at iso 400 on a small pocket digital camera, which normally produces a large amount of noise in these conditions.

Click the pictures to enlarge.

Environment Agency’s “race card” lunacy

English girl refused job because she is the wrong type of white!

I am much in agreement with Dizzy on this story in the Mail on Sunday, it’s just absolute lunacy, pettiness beyond belief. Quite illustrative of some of the departmental policies being pursued by bureaucratic boffins who are wildly out of touch with the real world.

If she had been white Welsh, white Irish, or white Scottish her application would have been considered. Is it any wonder that the lunatic fringes on the far right make a song and dance when highly paid civil servants provide them with ready made excuses?

Leave Act of Settlement alone

Pressure on PM over Peter Phillips engagement

Brendan Carlin and Jonathan Petre writing in The Times today appear to be supporting calls for the repeal of the 1701 Act of Settlement which forbids heirs to the Throne either becoming or marrying adherants of the Roman Catholic faith. However they conveniently miss the most central point in the Act’s intentions, which, as Archbishop Cranmer reminds us, is to prevent a Roman Catholic becoming King and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

The more important question for these quasi legal journalists to pursue ought to be whether to disestablish the Church of England from the apparatus of State.

Britain is under water, let’s build more houses!

It’s O.K. to build on the flood plains

While the heart of England lies under up to nine feet of water, rivers continue to rise, hundreds of thousands have no running fresh water, and we set up refuge centres for English ‘refugees’, Labour’s Housing Minister Yvette Cooper decided yesterday was a good day to announce that we shouldn’t play politics with the floods and it’s O.K. to build new houses on the flood plains!

Well done Mrs. Balls, that’s just what the people in Tewksbury were dying to hear! 

The day that dare not speak it’s name

Are we afraid to celebrate being English?

It seems that I make this plea on an annual basis after looking around this town and borough and consider the wasted opportunities to mark a special day in the calendar for England. A couple of years ago I made an impassioned request to our leaders on South Tyneside Council to show some sign that we are proud of being English and since then we have seen the flag of St. George fluttering above the Town Hall in South Shields, but you look around and wonder why no others have bothered to follow the lead. We still see pubs and restaurants and supermarkets promoting events for St. Patrick’s Day and even Burns Night, so why the reticence to celebrate St. Georges Day, are we afraid, are we embarrassed to mark the long history, heritage, and traditions of England? What is it that prevents us from getting off our backsides to shout about St. George?

Even a search of South Tyneside Council’s website to look for events or celebrations produced little in the way of results. Of the billions of available web pages, Google can only find 126 relating to St. George’s Day celebrations, even the St. George’s Day.com site offers only a single page of events to mark the day (although it does allow you to download a desktop wallpaper.) Woodland Junior School in Tonbridge, Kent, makes the following comment;

“My wife is teacher and I work in British schools and universities. In my wife’s school which is in London, with a large number of EFL students and a small minority of white kids, kids are not allowed to discuss or celebrate St. George’s Day or wear England Football shirts during P.E. (sport) or any T-shirt with a Cross of St. George or a Union Flag. The shirts of English football teams are allowed as are the national strips of other countries. The schools reason is that overt signs of ‘Englishness’ could cause offense.”

Why on earth this should be has always managed to puzzle me (probably because here in South Tyneside we do not suffer as many problems with multi-culturalism as in other parts of England.)
Philip Johnson in the Telegraph makes a plea for a double referendum today in his fright and shock that the SNP may move Scotland towards a separation from the Union, but his other comments on the lack of English celebrations ring like a death knell for the mother of the Union.

“This is the day that dare not speak its name. If you turned up at work with a rose in your lapel it would be assumed you were on your way to a wedding. While the Welsh would feel naked on St David’s Day without their daffodils or leeks, and the Irish are happy to wander around in the middle of March wearing what looks like a handful of wilting spinach, the English would merely be embarrassed sporting their floral equivalents. A Scot reciting Scots Wha Hae or Ye Banks and Braes o’ Bonnie Doon might have a tear in his eye and a tremor in his voice; most Englishmen would have trouble remembering more than a few lines written by their greatest writer. And an invitation to celebrate both the English national day and Shakespeare in a combined replication of St Andrew’s and Burns nights would be regarded with a mixture of puzzlement and deep suspicion.

Unless Richard II is being performed somewhere tonight, there will be few extempore renditions of John of Gaunt’s speech about “This royal throne of kings, this sceptr’d isle/This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars/This other Eden, demi-paradise…This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England…” (OK. I looked it up.)”

I am no fan of the breaking up of the Union, but once again old institutions are under threat, history is being debunked, and the opinions of a few are drowned by the lethargy and apathy of the many, aided and abetted by a government happy to use it’s Scottish and Welsh representation to form a majority in the United Kingdom Parliament while allowing those Scottish MP’s to vote and legislate on all matters affecting the English whilst the English can have little say on those matters that affect the Scots or Welsh. There is little wonder that our celtic friends have so much to celebrate on their national days.

St. Georges Day could be seen as a day of celebrations for all things traditionally English, it offers a unique opportunity to entrepreneurs and businesses to promote English goods and services, it offers educationalists a once in a year opportunity to inform our school children of some of the more valuable lessons of English History, it offers tourism a welcome opportunity to draw visitors during the flourishing of an English springtime, it also offers our politicians the chance to promote a part of the Union that is willing to work with it’s partners to keep the marriage alive.

Perhaps we might succeed, but first there are many working in Blairite Britain that would require some re-education and training to appreciate that celebrating Englishness is no more a crime than whistling in the street;

“Cry ‘God for Harry, England and Saint George!’” King Henry V’s rallying cry does not go over very well in modern, multicultural England. Even less acceptable is Saint George’s flag, a red cross quartering a white background, which was carried prominently into battle by the Crusaders of 900 years ago in their attempts to recover the Holy Land from … persons of a certain “faith tradition.” The cross of Saint George was later taken up as the national flag of England, and is commonly flown on the saint’s name day, April 23. Such grossly insensitive displays must of course be stamped out. That, at any rate, is the opinion of Ms. Anne Owers, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons. Carrying out her inspectorial duties at Wakefield Prison in Yorkshire, Ms. Owers was distressed to see corrections officers wearing flag-of-Saint-George tiepins in support of a cancer charity. “Staff should not wear unauthorized pins,” barked Ms. Owers in her report, as they offer “clear scope for misinterpretation.” Heaven forfend that the cringing, groveling, emasculated tenants of Tony Blair’s England be “misinterpreted” as having any cultural connection whatsoever to the men who fought at Harfleur and Agincourt, Acre and Jerusalem!

I’m sure if you searched, you could find many more examples!

Sticking out like a rose between the thorns today is the Daily Telegraph, sporting a red rose in it’s banner, I’ll have to check the others now,……………(might have known, users of the Grauniad’s Comment is Free are babbling on about kebabs, that’s right donner or shish?)

Heritage site for Jarrow

Bede to be honoured.

The government has decided to back a joint partnership bid for the twin sites of St Paul, Jarrow and St. Peter, Monkwearmouth to become a World Heritage site, with all the added tourism benefits that it will bring to South Tyneside.

Curly thinks that the father of English history, the Venerable Bede, had a hugely influential role in the growth not only of Christianity within these Isles, but also the growth of education and literature. It is fitting that the sites of his monastic works should be considered for the richly deserved honour of being called a World Heritage site. I hope the partnership’s bid will prove to be successful, and if so, will only strengthen the case for the Lindisfarne Gospels to be displayed at St. Paul’s, Jarrow.

Link

The Journal

Cabinet Minister backs book bid

Miliband to press for Jarrow exhibition.

South Shields Mp and Environment Secretary David Miliband has contacted the Corner Shop expressing his continued support for efforts to exhibit the Lindisfarne Gospels in the North East. David agrees that St. Paul’s Church in Jarrow is an appropriate option to consider, he said:

“Many thanks for your email regarding the Lindisfarne Gospels.
I have written to the Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to see if all organisations concerned can work together to bring this important piece of history to the North East for local people to see at an exhibition (I will suggest St Paul’s as a local in my letter to Mrs Jowell).

I will contact you again as soon as I receive a reply.”

If you, or your friends in the North-East, agree that this is the right and correct action to take in order to see these historic artefacts displayed in their rightful place, then PLEASE take a few minutes to write or email your MP, and urge him/her to support the proposal.

You can find your MP’s email address - here