Speeding cash cow

Government plans to introduce a two tier speeding penalty system are being proposed, with drivers hitting the faster band being charged 6 points and £100 fine.

I guess that if they take 6 points from you, it is unlikely you're going to be speeding again in a hurry, so best the government financially milks it the first time...

But the Government is planning to drop a previous proposal to introduce a lower fixed penalty, of two points and a £40 fine, for driving only a few miles per hour over the limit.

I don't recall this proposal, possibly because I'm so cycnical I would have ignored it the moment I saw it. Only a fool would believe such short term headline proposals.

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety welcomed the Government’s retreat from the idea of a lower penalty.

Rob Gifford, the council’s director, said: “Lowering the penalty for any speeding offence would encourage drivers to take more chances.”

He also called for police to be given more discretion to enforce even minor breaches of the limit. Under current Association of Chief Police Officer guidelines, drivers are given an allowance of 10 per cent plus 1 mph over the limit. This means they will not be fined at speeds lower than 35mph on a 30mph road, 46mph on a 40mph road and 79mph on a 70mph road. Mr Gifford said: “Police need the flexibility to enforce any breach of the limit, even 1mph over it.”

Who is this numpty and why the bloody heck is he allowed to give advice to Parliament? Anybody advocating the enforcement of speed limits breaches of 1mph is off their rocker. The reason it's 10% plus 1mph is because this is the widely accepted margine of accuracy in speedometers. Now doubt, he'll next be advocating fining car manufacturers on an ad-hoc basis if cars that break speed limits are proved to report within the speed limit...

FIA Impartiality

Let's see if it is so and whether Renault get charged $100M as well.

Somehow I very much doubt they will get fined anywhere near the same amount...

WI Talking Sense

Not too often I agree with the Women's Institute, though after slow clapping Blair, they infinitely went up in my estimation. However, the Hampshire WI have approved their backing to a campaign to seek licencing of brothels.

Whilst generally more legislation is a bad thing, this is an area with zero legislation beyond criminalisation. Making something illegal doesn't make it go away. Licences will provide a basis to make the industry safer for both traders and punters, whilst at the same time uncriminalising those who solicit and providing the Exchequer a means to take its cut from this vastly lucrative business.

The WI wholeheartedly have my support for this campaign.

Yet More Government Website Waste

A self-assessment health website. Are we really that helpless that we do not know when we're in bad health? And if we do, what business of the government's is it to ensure that we're leading healthy lives? Taxes you say! Bollocks I say; my fags'n'booze contributions will have paid for many treatments by the time something serious happens to me.

So one aim of this system is to increase the amount of truth revealed by patients when seeking consultation. This is understandable, I have no doubt there will be an ever increasing need to increase levels of truth given by patients to doctors. What else will arise but a breakdown in what patients are willing to reveal to doctors, when faced with the government's recent ludicrous proposals regarding non-treatment of fatty boozer-smokers and other such participants of unindoctrinated free living?

Seems more likely to me that the government know that people will be telling porkies when visiting the doctor, so to combat this, they are to provide a friendly system to gather your truth. What better way to later tell you that you are ineligible to treatment than holding up self-contributed evidence against you.

I'd advise all to steer a wide berth around this website when it goes live.

8.5% of Scottish Population on Legal Drugs?

According to the BBC if the assumption is that one daily dose reaches just one person, which I doubt it does.

The rates also rose with levels of social deprivation.

So social deprivation in Scotland has risen four-fold in 15 years then? I find this hard to believe, but would not be suprised with NuLab controlling most of the country.

The article gives a couple of opinions that suggest that the cause of increased incidence of mental illness is as a direct result to increased social deprivation (whatever this is exactly, is anybody's guess!). I find this hard to believe. The problems have likely been there all along, but either identifying them or the willingness to identify them hasn't been as great as it is today. I'd hedge my bets on the latter.

Prescription drugs are an often overlooked and most dangerous tool in the state's arsenal to keep us in subservience to the state.

Lord Levy, Shut Your Trap

I had hoped we'd seen the back of this chap for a while when TB left, but as we all know Hope didn't escape Pandora's Box...

Ignoring his views, the second part of this article grate me:

Lord Levy said the "cash-for-honours" affair had damaged the political "system".

No, you and your cronies damaged the political system by walking too close to the line of the law.

"It caused me personally a great deal of hassle and aggravation and my family.

Sorry about this, how silly of us not to take your considerations into account above those of the law of our humble country.

The 2012 Stadium

A focal point of the Olympic development:



Futuristic inspirational design:



Grand stage to host global sporting event:



But what's this? The final design, realeased today by the 2012 organisers:



A fucking Party Ring biscuit??!!

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