Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
The Polish/Scottish Saturday School
The Polish /Scottish Saturday School aims to develop and strengthen a feeling of national pride and awareness . The school aims to increase the pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Polish history and culture , not only through traditional teaching , but also through participating in a variety of national celebrations and festivals .
One such special occasion was the 219th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the 3rd May .The older pupils under the direction of their History teacher Mr Lukasz Paprocki prepared a moving presentation, on the background of historical occurrences accompanied by poems.
Amongst the invited guests was the prospective Parliamentary candidate Mr Jim Ferguson , who stressed the importance of our school within the Polish community in Inverness.
We are grateful to the children and their teachers who worked hard to prepare for this national occasion.
We thank all our guests for sharing in our celebrations.
I was invited by Ms Zosia Fraser to attend this special event which encouraged Polish young people to understand their Polish history and culture and maintain their national pride and awareness, although many miles from home.
Jim Ferguson
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Jim Ferguson’s concern over housing in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
“Liberal Democrats have announced they will add VAT to new build houses. Home building industry body Homes for Scotland, whose membership provides 95% of all homes built for sale in Scotland as well as an increasingly significant proportion of affordable housing, today unsurprisingly slammed Liberal Democrat proposals to add VAT to new build homes if elected to Government and so do I.
We are in desperate need of social and “truly affordable” housing for rental with 10,000 people on the Highland Council Housing Waiting List.
Those on local average earnings have little chance of accessing mortgages since the Banking crisis.
Most work locally and need housing in the areas where they work. Spiralling petrol and diesel costs make it even more difficult for those on lower incomes who live in rural areas, hence my concern on this issue.
Members of the public have made clear their dismay over Labour Government’s failure to control immigration.
Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrat comments, recently broadcast, have incensed the electorate when stating Inverness and other areas need more migrants! Gordon Brown’s Labour “open borders” policy has been a complete failure. Massive increases in migration have resulted in overstretched Public Services. The increased cost of the Benefits System underpinning the policy could have major economic consequences.
If migrants are to be welcomed, we must ensure crucial infrastructure is in place, including jobs, education, health and housing and naturally the ability to cope with the diversity of languages involved which is particularly difficult in rural areas.
We need to develop Tourism further as it is a principal Highlands industry and vital for local economy creating crucial meaningful jobs and provide the necessary homes for these people.
We need a common sense approach to address Highlands problems.
Jim Ferguson
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Press Release 21st April 2010
Lib Dem proposal increasing cost of new homes sheer madness
Home building industry body Homes for Scotland, whose membership provides 95% of all homes built for sale in Scotland as well as an increasingly significant proportion of affordable housing, today slammed Liberal Democrat proposals to add VAT to new build homes if elected to Government.
On the day that Tavish Scott launched the party’s manifesto in Scotland, the organisation’s Chief Executive Jonathan Fair said:
“Somehow, the Liberal Democrats seem to be unaware that Scotland, not to mention the UK as a whole, is facing its worst housing crisis since the Second World War. Not only has our industry lost up to half its workforce, development is touching an all-time low and vital First Time Buyers are struggling to find deposits of up to 25%. Any measure increasing the cost of new homes, whether in the public or private sector, is sheer madness and will simply exacerbate the problems we as a country already face.”
Ends
Enquiries to:
Jennifer Kennedy, Homes for Scotland – 0131 455 8350
Notes to Editors:
Homes for Scotland (www.homesforscotland.com) represents the country’s home building industry which, prior to the onset of the credit crunch,:
- was the largest source of private investment in Scotland and the largest user of the planning system
- built 20,000 new homes, contributed £6bn to the economy and directly impacted the employment of 100,000 people (2007 figures)
Half the industry’s directly employed jobs have already been lost and Scottish new build housing output has plummeted, presenting far-reaching and long-term social and economic consequences.
Click here to read Homes for Scotland’s “building for their future” appeal to MPs as they prepare to enter the election season.
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Invitation to join the Government of Britain
The Conservative Manifesto 2010
A country is at its best when the bonds between people are strong and when the sense of national purpose is clear. Today the challenges facing Britain are immense. Our economy is overwhelmed by debt, our social fabric is frayed and our political system has betrayed the people. But these problems can be overcome if we pull together and work together. If we remember that we are all in this together.
Some politicians say: ‘give us your vote and we will sort out all your problems’. We say: real change comes not from government alone. Real change comes when the people are inspired and mobilised, when millions of us are fired up to play a part in the nation’s future.
Yes this is ambitious. Yes it is optimistic. But in the end all the Acts of Parliament, all the new measures, all the new policy initiatives, are just politicians’ words without you and your involvement.
How will we deal with the debt crisis unless we understand that we are all in this together? How will we raise responsible children unless every adult plays their part? How will we revitalise communities unless people stop asking ‘who will fix this?’ and start asking ‘what can I do?’ Britain will change for the better when we all elect to take part, to take responsibility – if we all come together. Collective strength will overpower our problems.
Only together can we can get rid of this government and, eventually, its debt. Only
Together can we get the economy moving. Only together can we protect the NHS. Improve our schools. Mend our broken society. Together we can even make politics and politicians work better. And if we can do that, we can do anything. Yes, together we can do anything.
So my invitation today is this: join us, to form a new kind of government for Britain.
Read the Conservative Manifesto 2010
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Audio of the Conservative Manifesto 2010
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Gordon Brown’s record – Conservative “Vote for Me” campaign
Michael Gove has launched a new poster campaign putting Gordon Brown’s record at the heart of the election campaign.
These posters arrive alongside a new analysis of Labour’s time in power, and you can view both by clicking the links below.
Speaking at the launch, Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove said:
“Gordon Brown is asking people to vote him in for another five years but he and his tired Government will just make things worse.”
“He has doubled our national debt and squandered billions of pounds selling off Britain’s gold at rock bottom prices. He has taken billions out of our pensions system and doubled the tax rate for the poorest workers. He has let down our young people by causing record youth unemployment, and overseen an increase in the gap between the rich and poor. And he has let 80,000 criminals out of prison early, leading to 1,500 crimes being committed by people who should have been behind bars.”
“We can’t go on like this. The choice at this election is five more years of Gordon Brown’s tired government making things worse or David Cameron and the Conservatives with the energy, leadership and values to get the country moving.”
… and here are some other things Gordon Brown did…
Cut the Defence Budget at a time of war – and got caught out denying it!
Gordon Brown misled the Chilcot Inquiry, Parliament and the public when he claimed that ‘the defence budget has been rising every year since 1997’
(Hansard, 10 March 2010, Col. 291).
He was later forced to admit that ‘I do accept that in one or two years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms’
(Hansard, 17 March 2010).
Figures from the Ministry of Defence show that the defence budget actually fell year-on-year in real terms on four occasions since 1997 – in 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2007.
(Channel 4 News Factcheck, 10 March 2010).
Taxed jobs as we were emerging from recession.
Last December, Gordon Brown’s Government announced a tax on jobs – a 0.5 per cent rise in the rate of National Insurance Contributions for both employees and employers. This comes on top of the
rise in NICs announced in the 2008 PBR, meaning a total planned rise of 1 per cent. This is a tax on all businesses and on every person earning over £20,000.
The Federation of Small Businesses has estimated that this could mean up to 57,000 jobs are lost. (FSB,
Press Release, 24 March 2010)
Increased spending on quangos by £10 billion.
The cost of unelected and poorly accountable government bodies has soared by almost £10 billion under Gordon Brown. In his first year as Prime Minister, total expenditure on so-called
“executive non-departmental public bodies” rose from £37.0 billion to £43.0 billion in 2007-08 – a 16 per cent rise
(Cabinet Office, Public Bodies 2007, p.10; Public Bodies 2008, p.10).
Figures for 2008-09 revealed quango expenditure rose by another £3.5 billion to £46.5 billion – a 7 per cent rise
(Cabinet Office, Public Bodies 2009, p.6) making a mockery of his claims to deliver a new politics.
Brought boom and bust to the NHS – which led to NHS cuts.
Despite massively increasing spending, Gordon Brown has been guilty of a ‘boom and bust’ approach to the NHS finances, forcing NHS Trusts into cuts and wasteful short-term spending. Between 2005 and 2007, 14,500 jobs were cut from the NHS as Trusts struggled to recover from deficits
(NHS Information Centre, NHS Staff 1998-2008, 25 March 2009).
And since 2004, the number of beds in the NHS has been cut by 21,500 – the equivalent of 12 per cent
(Department of Health, Bed availability and occupancy 2008-09, 30 September 2009).
Accident and Emergency departments and maternity units up and down the country have faced or are facing cuts and closures. And things are only set to get worse, as one of Gordon Brown’s own health advisers said that ‘the days of the District General Hospital are over’
(Professor Sir Ara Darzi, NHS London, A Framework for Action, 11 July 2007).
Let truancy rise to record levels.
In 1998, Gordon Brown’s Treasury set a target to reduce truancy rates to 0.5 per cent
(HM Treasury, Comprehensive Spending Review, Public Service Agreements 1999-2000, December 1998).
But the figure now stands at 1.05 per cent – up 44 per cent since 1996/7, well in excess of the Government’s target, and at a record high. 67,000 pupils skip school without permission every day
(DCSF, Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2008/09, 25 March 2010).
Paid couples more to live apart than together.
The tax credit system penalises parents who live together, giving families a financial incentive to split up.
The IFS has highlighted the fact that a couple with children earning £20,000 between them could be more than £5,000 better off in terms of benefits and tax credits if they split up.
(The Sunday Times, 4 March 2007).
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Family breakdown a symptom of the sickness in Britain UK
What happens when a nation obsoletes the traditional family structure?
Can a nation survive without strong families? You need to know the answer to this question, because strong marriages and families in Britain are devolving to unprecedented levels. But if we reach back into antiquity, there is one powerful empire that does offer a precedent—a chilling one. But things in modern Britain are different, right?
On February 14, the UK Office for National Statistics reported that the percentage of Britons getting married for a second time is falling, but not because marriages are lasting any longer. Marriages are still breaking up at record rates. It is just that now fewer people are choosing to remarry following a divorce.
Cohabitation is the new trend. And Britain is a world leader.
My mistake. Cohabitation is actually the old “new trend.” The new new trend is single mothers who have never lived with a man at all choosing to live alone on state benefits. According to new research by sociologist Geoff Dench, these premeditated single mothers believe they have no need for a spouse and that their children have no need for a father.
Of the one in four mothers who currently live without a man in their house, half have made the conscious determination to live alone.
How dangerously ignorant.
The increasingly rapid breakdown of the traditional family is an ominous indicator because it coincides with several other uncomfortable facts. Besides leading Europe in crazy “families,” Britain also leads in rates of obesity, public drunkenness, drug use, and sexually transmitted infections. It is also a leader in illiteracy, crime, teenage pregnancy and, well, brand awareness.
Is it any wonder that Britain is also the leader in family breakdown?
Yet when faced with this list of disturbing accomplishments, it is amazing how blind many people are to the looming social and national disaster facing the country.
History shows that once national family life breaks down, societies are on the downhill slide. “[T]he strength of any nation depends on the strength of its families,” Gerald Flurry wrote in the March 2009 Trumpet. “Family is the rock-solid foundation on which a country’s superstructure is erected. That was the case for both America and Britain.” Note the past tense.
Strong families were also the concrete foundation of the Roman Empire during its heyday. “Back then, when people talked about Rome falling, they were scoffed at and scorned,” noted Mr. Flurry. “When Seneca, the famous Roman, warned that Rome would fall—even telling people why it would fall—the people ignored him. In the words of Seneca, one of the foundational reasons Rome would fall was the fact that ‘they divorce in order to remarry. They marry in order to divorce.’”
Seneca warned that family breakdown would destroy the Roman Empire—and it did! And it is destroying Britain (and America) today.
In his masterpiece, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbons identified five major causes that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. First on the list was breakdown of the family. The other factors included increased taxation, an insatiable craving for pleasure, an unsustainable buildup of armaments, and the decay of religion.
Doesn’t Rome before the fall sound like today’s United Kingdom? The looming disaster is hard to miss.
Some few in Britain acknowledge something is wrong. But there is a conspicuous—and ominous—lack of drive for action. Even those politicians who publicly endorse the idea of supporting traditional families have shown through decades of inaction that they don’t have the will to stop the downhill slide and make the controversial changes necessary to get families back on track.
Writer Melanie Phillips suggests things are to a state now that the government should give dowries to men who get married for the first time. This would “increase their worth to women” and “send a powerful signal that men are not worthless creeps but are essential to family life.”
Wow. How the British man has fallen since the feminist revolution—to think that state-funded dowries are needed to show that men are not worthless in family life, of all things!
A real man should have his own career and be able to provide for his own—before getting married. And he should be the solid core of that marriage and family for the rest of his life!
Yet according to some, British family life is not in crisis. “[T]his country has never been broken by anyone or anything,” said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “[F]or all the challenges, I don’t believe Britain is broken—I think it’s the best country in the world. I believe in Britain.”
Sounds just like something Seneca’s countrymen might have said.
All the while, nationwide collapse is thundering closer as the bulkheads snap under the pressure. The evidence is clear. A host of studies have shown that stable families result in children who are less prone to violent crime, better educated, less likely to take drugs, healthier physically, healthier mentally, and less likely to have teenage pregnancies.
Why do we have children today who publicly harass and denigrate their teachers, calling them fat and obese? Why does London have a higher crime rate than Istanbul? Why do government officials feel the need to hand out morning-after pills to 11-year-olds? Why are British girls having up to four abortions by their 18th birthday?
Because there has been a serious breakdown, of one kind or another, in those children’s families.
And because nothing is changing, Britain as a nation will—just like its families—fall apart. History provides no examples of societies that can remain viable without viable families. Even the mighty Roman Empire fell.
It is cause and effect.
God says that when you break His laws on marriage and family life, He will send curses as correction. Through the Prophet Jeremiah, God says, “For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right” (Jeremiah 23:10).
In this verse, God says there is a direct connection between marriages and escalating national problems. The phrase “their course is evil” implies aggressively running after evil ways like runners in a race. As Melanie Phillips points out, British society is totally geared toward not only promoting single motherhood, but towards denigrating fathers. Britain is steaming full-speed ahead contrary to God’s laws.
Therefore curses are inevitable.
Jeremiah says the land will mourn and the pleasant places will be ruined. Britain is suffering intense natural disasters. Over the past few years it has suffered devastating crop failures and cattle diseases. Flooding has taken huge tolls. Severe snowstorms have blanketed the nation. Economically, its place as the world’s financial capital is gone, the pound is under attack, and the nation is on the brink of financial collapse.
The phrase “their force is not right” implies a failure in military action. The Hebrew word for “force” means valor, victory, mastery, might, mighty (act, power), power, strength. It’s a military word. God warns us that national sins destroy military might. Today, British troops are worn down and short on equipment. Troops are heading home from failures in Iraq and will probably come home from a failure in Afghanistan soon as well. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Daily Mail lamented that if Argentina were to take the Falklands, the bitter truth is that Britain doesn’t even have the resources to send a task force to retake the islands. That is a far cry from the nation that once boasted the world’s largest empire backed by its most powerful navy.
But that is the thing with curses; eventually they result in destruction. Family breakdown in Britain is breaking the nation. And worse is yet to come. If you don’t believe it, just ask Rome—or the now largely vanished British Empire.
No matter ones Religious belief or lack of it this article is pertinent and relevant in many ways.
The facts speak for themselves.
Jim Ferguson
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Political correctness is damaging our society and must be stopped UK
To arms!
You probably haven’t seen this story before, but you’ve seen a dozen like it – overzealous, over-the-top prosecution of law-abiding person by authorities which chase politically correct agendas rather than target criminals.
Jim Railton is an auctioneer. He was given a lot to sell – a little wooden cabinet with some 19th century eggs in it. It was valued at £30. He put it up for sale.
He was arrested and treated like a criminal – he is now charged with two offences relating to the sale of bird eggs under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (an Act some 90 years younger than the eggs…). As Jim says,
“in retrospect, we should have just smashed the eggs. They are antique birds eggs, and all of common species, and had old paper copperplate hand-written labels on them. It was a little oak chest, which we judged to be circa 1900.
We sell butterflies, shells, taxidermy – in fact just the type of things that come from people’s attics. To be arrested for offering to sell this little chest seems absurd, and a complete waste of police time. They have interviewed me twice, taken my fingerprints, swabbed me for DNA, had RSPB specialist inspectors visit Berwick to look at the eggs…”
Name and shame time – ridiculous attitude from the RSPB, who aggressively pursued this and caused the prosecution to come about. Even worse from Northumbria Police, who really ought to know better. Let’s presume for a moment that they were right that this is an issue (which, of course, it’s not, but play along…) – consider all the steps they could have taken before getting to this stage: (a) a friendly telephone call pointing out he’d unintentionally breached this rule; (b) a letter setting out a warning; (c) an in-person visit from a constable (we’re already in OTT territory); (d) forbidding the sale; (e) summoning him for interview. But no; our masters really want to get this guy – because he’s a law-abiding normal person who has strayed over a line – i.e. the favourite target for the authorities in modern Britain.
In the circumstances, Jim is understandably having a think about what to do next – get it all over with, or fight these ridiculous charges. Big Brother Watch has talked with him about assisting him in this unpleasantness which is of course disrupting his business and personal life; we begin by letting you know about it and calling for your help. For starters, you might like to visit their website and, if in the neighbourhood, support the business…
We are proud to support Jim in this ridiculous case. We have had some success with cases in the past and this is a prime example of the kind of overbearing, politically correct absurdity we were created to fight.
By Alex Deane
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Pope to unleash ” hell ” on Labour and the socialist liberals
Pope could give Labour Party ‘hell’
catholic leader responds to Jim Murphy’s speech appealing for religious voters’ support
By Katrine Bussey
The Pope could give Labour “hell” over its record on family matters, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland said yesterday.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien hit out in the wake of a speech by Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy in which he attempted to appeal to religious voters.
Cardinal O’Brien accused the government of making “a systematic and unrelenting attack on family values”.
With Pope Benedict XVI due to visit Scotland later this year, the churchman revealed he had told Labour Holyrood leader Iain Gray that “he could really give you hell for what you have done in our country over the past 10 years”.
Cardinal O’Brien has criticised government policies on stem cell experimentation on human embryos, civil partnerships, same-sex adoption and abortion.
He said: “There’s a whole series of measures which have been legislated for over the past 10 years which are against basic Christian standards.
“I feel on behalf of my own Church and peoples of other faiths as well, that I am entering into this daily contest, fighting for the standards by which we stand as Christians here.”
Cardinal O’Brien said he had met the Pope in Rome recently and also said he had spoken to Mr Gray about the pontiff’s visit to Scotland.
He said the Labour Party had “accepted some praise” for playing a role in attracting the Pope to Scotland.
Cardinal O’Brien continued: “I said to Iain Gray ‘when the Pope does come I hope he emphasises to you the Christian teaching when he’s here, that’s what John Paul II did when he was here’.
“And in some ways I said to him he could really give you hell for what you have done in our country over the past 10 years, demeaning family and married life and these other things that have been happening over the past 10 years.”
Mr Murphy said on Tuesday night that “faith has always been important to Labour”.
The Scottish secretary, who was delivering the Progress lecture, stated: “In the US, faith has long played a central part in politics.
“Not surprising for a country where 60% of people say that God plays an important part in their lives.
“But it’s wrong to think that it plays no role in British politics.”
Mr Murphy, a Catholic, added research from the time of the 2005 general election suggested Labour support was strongest among religious people.
The Pope was invited to the UK by Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a private audience, and earlier this month the Catholic Church confirmed Scotland would be included in the visit which is expected to take place in the autumn.
Pope Benedict XVI’s visit will be the first since predecessor John Paul II’s visit in 1982.
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Conservative policies and the future of our families
I believe that the future of our children and our families is at stake. That sounds a little dramatic but in reality I believe it to be true. Surely encouraging parents to stay together and assisting families to grow together and to actually have a safe future for our children is uppermost in the mind of every caring family across the country.
Conservatives have the unity and strength of vision to ensure that we re-capture the very essence of safe communities and ensure that Britain is a strong foundation and corner stone of happy family life. Everything revolves around the strong family unit and we as Conservatives are striving to ensure that Britain has that strength of purpose.
I believe the following video shows clearly what very ordinary families are feeling right now about Conservative policy and our stand to provide a safe future for our children and subsequent generations.
Jim Ferguson
Watch the video featuring Julie and visit the webpage listing policies for the family.
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