Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Policies 21-27 Please Use

I have been lobbying for years and here are some more of my policies that I have either lobbied directly or through www.writetothem.com or via Consultations:

21. BBC could useful improve daytime TV by coverning more festivals like for instance the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Book and Politics festivals.  If the BBC would offer a package deal to people or groups that are engaged in culture, theatre, dance, politics, books, arts etc such as a package fee plus BBC made DVD of their production and a promis of a daytime slot on a BBC channel during the daytime, then TV would be improved across daytime tv rather than just coverage of the festival per se.  There are festivals and cultural and arts activities across the UK that could usefully be aired as daytime TV with reciprocal benefit.  At the moment daytime TV is the same programs shown during the day and repeated early evening and the schedule is then repeated every six months: this is tedious and programing is tired being shown so much.  This does not have to be the way forward and programming could usefully be revisited to events and coverage across the UK especially for festivals like Edinburgh Festival which is open to a global audience and impact and is currently an untapped resource by the BBC or any TV channel.  Glastonbury and Belladrum are captured so why not all Festivals and cultural events or more of them for a purpose - to take out the repeats on daytime TV scheduling.

22.1 The Monarchy could usefully be changed to a Committee of Monarchs in the event of Queen Elizabeth's reign ending.  No one person should be able to do all the work the Queen currently does and for so long.  A Committee of the heir only of each monarchy of the UK or a family representative in the event that the heir does not want to do it, or is to young or too old would suffice.  Everyone could either be specialist or generalist or do both as issues that a Monarchy has as their duties to their subjects.  To be on the Committee you would probably need to be age 14 (when you can actually do work) to probably age 75 and for a period only of 25 years before handing on to someone else.  All the hangers on would be dispensed with and would revert to ordinary people as would the members of the Committee but they would be supported financially by Government and facilitate modern history.  Much of the pomp and ceremony could go too and modernise the monarchy for the 21st century.  So either an heir of a King or Queen of the UK or the high probability of such a person being so would sit on the Monarchy Committee. 

22.2  There is a need to look at the Scottish Interregnum x 2.  The Scots are hiding their history behind this word.  The Interregnum related to the reign of King John Balliol and King Edward Balliol but not King Robert the Bruce - yet King John and King Robert were cousins.  There must be a reason for this and I have a couple of haunches, but consider it would be worth investigating, so am going to try as I have unravelled a couple of bits of mystery in relation to the Jermy/Balliol pedigree of Suffolk and Norfolk which identifies Princess Ellin Balliol's marriage to Sir John Jermy in the 13th Century and could prove to be fascinating if not also informative : Just saying ...

The mysteries on the Jermy Pedigree are being solved - firstly the marriage of Sir William Jermy to Anne Langford of Devon is important.  The clue is that Thomas Bretherton gave two parts dowry to his brother-in-law (Sir William Jermy) and one part to his wife - unravelled by implication as Thomas Bretherton's sister or half sister which is significant as Thomas Bretherton is the half brother of Edward II, ie the 17th child out of 20 children of Edward I and therefore second surviving son. Edward I married twice, Eleanor of Castile and Margaret of France.  If Anne is from the first marriage then she is sister to Edward II. If Anne is from the second marriage there is another mystery: is Margaret on her second marriage in which case Anne would be a step sister to Edward II or is she via the marriage to Edward I and therefore a half sister to Edward II / sister to Thomas Bretherton.  Further Thomas Bretherton is born in 1300 and lives till 1338.  This causes some dating problems with the pedigree as the question arises at what age did he give the dowry to the Jermy family.  This is important because Princess Ellin Balliol marries after Sir William Jermy and Anne Langford to their child Sir John Jermy - query is when.  The reason why this is important is because King John Balliol was forced under duress to adbdicate in 1296 (and died in 1314) and if she is the heir or her brother Edward Balliol is the heir they should have held the throne of Scotland if born before 1296 or 1299. (King Edward Balliol did hold the throne of Scotland but not in 1296 and died without issue, which again should have meant Princess Ellin was heir).  King Robert the Bruce is coronated in 1299.  By all accounts Robert the Bruce was a despicable character, when the 13 stood for the Crown of Scotland he was doing deals with three heirs against John II Ballioll who was eventually selected on the premis of primogeniture.  Robert the Bruce then sided with the English Edward I against King John Balliol and the Scots ensuring he was forced to abdicate - not nice.  He also murdered John Comyn the husband of Eleanor Balliol, King John Balliol's sister establishing that Princess Ellin, as daughter, and Eleanor as sister of John Balliol are two different people: there was some confusion over this issue now clarified. As stated, the marriage of Sir John Jermy to Princess Ellin Balliol led to the birth of John Jermy who was also knighted.  This mystery is significant as through birth he should have been a prince not a knight, as knighthoods are conferred.   (The Jermy family are knights from 1221 to the 17th Century so who has been conferring and why?).  This marriage is significant to my "haunches" as to what the interregnum is about which hides Scottish history twice - King John Balliol and his son King Edward Balliol.  So is the reaason potentially for hiding the Jermy family pedigree and its link to the Scots and English Crowns because Edward II may have been gay or is it a birth issue.  Thomas Bretherton is not to be confused with Thomas of Lancaster who was one of the wealthiest men in England with estates in Salisbury, Derby, Lincoln, Lancaster and Leicester who was cousin to Edward II.  Therefore for the Scots to claim that King John Balliol was "emptycoat" is not quite true as his daughter has married into a wealthy family - so the issue of the interregnum TWICE may not be about wealth or money  it may be about whether Prince Edward Balliol and/or Princess Ellin Balliol were born before 1296 as they should have succeeded if they did at 1296 effectively if Princess Ellin putting the Scots Crown on an English head potentially linked to the Crown of England, via Prince Thomas Bretherton.  Either way, it is not quite certain yet whether it is Sir John Jermy, father of Sir William Jermy who is provicded the dowry or Sir William Jermy's son, Sir John Jermy who receives the dowry - me and my brother are in dispute on this fact at the moment and he might be more right than me.  Just saying...

I said the information was fascinating:  King John Balliol's genealogy goes back to the first King of Norway Harald Fairhair with a brother Bloodaxe.  He is linked to the Kings of Sweden and Iceland and had an estate in Picardy in France around Calais and died at Helicourt.  His wife was Queen Devorgilla of Galloway who also had estates and was linked genealogy wise to Eleanor of Castile of France.  (She also was born on January 28 like me!!!!)  If married into the English Crown and Edward I his genealogy is linked to King Britain who had sons Lontrine, Albastran, and Cambrai and as a consequence Scots are required to do fealty and hommage to the English Crown.  Edward I also is linked to King Arthur and goes back to Ely and Saul.  This is according to two letters written in the 12 Century :  Pope Boniface to Edward I claiming the rights to Scotland for King John Balliol; and the response by Edward I to Pope Boniface as above.  Wikipedia also refers to kings of Wales and Jerusalem etc but I have not as yet checked them out.

So do you think I could have a Norwegian gene - Battleaxe instead of Bloodaxe!!  Unfortunately the pedigree has to go on the balance of probabilities in that regard albeit Scots can do "primogentiure" or "presumptive heir".  The pedigree informs that under Royal Licence in 1838 (so Queen Victoria) the estates of the Jermy family were swindled away by a Judge Preston and there was a murder.  The heir was a gardener Thomas Jermy and the pedigree informs the Gunton line is the true line.  As a consequence of the swindle and the high esteem the Jermy family were held in Norfolk and Suffolk, all names and derivatives of Jermy - Jermyn, Jarmin, Germany etc changed their names to Jermy and also married each other because they did not know who the heir was.  This is a genealogy nightmare and one that means that my mother's maiden name Jermy is mythical concerning the Jermy Pedigree for the time being anyway, but she was born in Norfolk.  (Not to detract from her mother's genealogy (Cole) which is also interesting as it leads to Guernsey, and an Amos Woolcock Whicker, a Headmaster of St Peter Port's Boys School, which must have been great fun as he was a classics scholar apparently and goes back to Marie Seigal). Such fun.  

23.  I had an idea about self-driving cars - the technology is available for cars to self-drive now.  With satnav and possibly technology on road signs, cars could self drive.  But I was thinking, cars are now not able to bump into each other with sensing technology.  Whilst a human can still bump into a car or perhaps a train could bump into a car or inanimate object, self sensing technology means that a car cannot bump into another car or human or inanimate object.  Only one car could be on a motorway or road at any one time and could not bump into front, side or back as the technology can slow down and stop a vehicle in the event of an accident.  Satnavs can pre-programme cars to drive one way, ie forward - no two cars could occupy the same spot.

24.1 China has been topical and I was interested in the Cities and their trees as there is a problem of air pollution in Chinese cities.  I was thinking, the rain forests and deserts must be on the planet for a reason.  Is it necessary for the "rain" forest to have trees and do trees create rain and the absence of trees create deserts.  Just saying.  Therefore in Chinese cities is the water the real problem: it goes up into the air which is seriously polluted and comes back down into the waterways and rivers and is affecting the trees cycle in the cities.  So is the answer - clean your water by water cleansing plants.  There are some types of trees such as Leylandii I am informed, that are better at purifying the air than others - so more conifers in cities, plants on flat roofs and balconies etc.  Anywhere you can plant a tree, do so - it might make it rain though!

24.2 There may be a problem with the Hinchley Point Nuclear plant deal.  I checked out the Official Journal of the European Union concerning this deal.  The last report logged in the bottom section informed there was "insufficient" information and a "risk" associated with this project.  The report informed that the area had been assessed on the basis of welfare, poverty, employment, property and housing but did not appear to have done environmental concerns - why?  Is Mark Carney and George Osborne doing misconduct in public office by proferring this deal to the Chinese and involving the French when the OJ informs there is risk associated with this deal and the project does not appear to have got its publication code as good to go yet?  A wee bit concerned there is a rush to do a deal with the Chinese - without going through the proper channels / due diligence that is usually associated with a construction project of this size.  My concerns are not against the Chinese per se - just want to see proper and correct approach adopted to handing out projects - we may have a referendum but we are still members of Europe - what would the sanctions be if improper approach occurs?

25.  I had an idea about insurance - people buy travel insurance when they go abroad, by plane, by rail, by coach and if I am going overnight to London I tend to spend the £1 buying the insurance for the return trip and it has never been necessary to make a claim so far.  I don't begrudge the £1 to have peace of mind and am willing to pay the money.  But what about all the day to day trips I make in a car, by local bus, by local train, or ferry as well as cheap flights.  I willingly pay for insurance for flights.  So what about an across the board travel product for everyday use which could usefully pay for upkeep and maintaining and creating new roads, rail travel, flights, ferries, transport in rural areas etc.  Makes a lot of sense if everyone spent £10 or £20 or so a year on a domestic travel policy for everyday use and frequency of use across all travel sectors - plus peace of mind.

26.1  I have said about employment issues and an umbrella act for mismanagement legislation already.  But I have noted that their is a lack of mental health lawyers in Scotland with only a handful of solicitors practising especially under the Scottish Legal Aid Scheme such that practices are lax and illegality is occurring at solicitor level as a consequence.  Broadening the scope of employment, human rights and insurance lawyers into the mental health sector would improve the service across Scotland.  For instance a cross department issue is the Mental Health legislation and the Disability Discrimination Act and Insurance law.  People with mental health disability do have contractual and statutory sick pay rights which could keep their employment open if "reasonable adjustment" was processed immediately when someone comes under mental health legislation.  Insurers should assess risk and process a reasonable adjustment contractual or statutory sick pay issue which could ensure some flexibility within the scope of the employment contract or if the risk assessment determined the contract as a fatal determination then compensation could be paid out to the employee, worker or self-employed person.  This would be a specific anti-poverty measure and prevent people going onto welfare benefits as too often that is the outcome of being sectioned under mental health legislation.  Also Mental Health legislation needs to encompass issues of (a) misdiagnosis; (b) not being diagnosed; (c) wrongful diagnosis; (d) and forced medication contrary to a persons freewill and independence.  Currently the legislation has to process a person for mental disability and cannot not process them where they do not concur with diagnosis or can't get a diagnosis.  This quite often is contrary to human rights and things like right to liberty, right to life, right to freedom of expression, right to family and private life and may also impact on right to a fair trial/hearing.  There is also a problem in mental health with jurisprudence - people can be "hidden" from society by being sectioned under mental health legislation and the system can be abused by organised crime and corruption and by other public bodies who do not wish to deal with the causative issues that are associated with a particular person.  People can also be "parked" on medication and can also be "invisible" to society.  Therefore there is a case in Scotland and probably the rest of the UK for mental health to come under an umbrella of Employment law, Human Rights and Insurance law to widen the number of lawyers practising in the area and also practising via the Scottish Legal Aid Board and for an upgrading of training and skills within mental health as a CPD practise development issue.  Ideally all solicitors should have to do Scottish Legal Aid Board work, or, a percentage of pro bono cases, to have a licence to practise law in Scotland / UK, especially as trainees and paralegals need to learn their craft somehow and there are sometimes lax periods in law for some firms especially the larger firms and quality needs to be engineered into the system of law somehow.  I am also concerned that some Scottish Legal Aid Solicitors refuse to represent clients and I don't quite get that - only if you have a "conflict of interest" should you be able to refuse to represent a client if you are required to do SLAB work aka UK too, especially if you are being touted as available for client work by public bodies.  Something needs to shift in Scotland as sadly I can report the legal profession are found wanting in Scotland big time.

26.2  There is already common law for (a) wrongful dismissal; and (b) unfair dismissal.  There is need for either common law or legislation for DEFAMATION BY DISMISSAL.  This blog is an example of it - see previous posts.

27. I lobbied on this one years ago. A person in the military let me know that a serious employment issue is that military members who play musical instruments that are deemed to be weapons, ie Bagpipes possibly also drums and Bugle and maybe others, are paid less than military personnel who play musical instruments. This seems to me grossly unfair and if it has not been rectified since I last lobbied on the issue, asap would be good.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Policies 16-20 Please use

16.          Need for a Mismanagement Act as an umbrella act for all discrimination and human rights abuses.  Import Fifa methodology from Swiss.

17.          Soldiers re Iraq - intelligence issue: I perceive it would be unjust to process the 1500 soldier cases prior to processing my request for Parliamentary Sovereignty and Public Inquiry which went in under Danny Alexander ex-MP and also Drew Hendry MP who has failed to respond to any correspondence via www.writetothem.com - why?

The legal issues:

The legal doctrine of Equity requires:

1. First in time prevails;
2. In the interests of justice.

I have:

1 Parliamentary Sovereignty request and public inquiry request on my 3 litigation cases in the English courts over a 20 year period plus my research on the Woolf Reforms via Birbeck College, London as well as intelligence issues concerning an American lawyer David Shapiro – Bill Clinton as I believe the Iraq War is a decoy war as the invasion occurred to the UK/European judicial systems which are substantively undermined in the public domain via a Japanese concept (Alternative
Dispute Resolution) processed by Jews-Scots-Americans, a Jewish plot and "enemy within". My practical to the theory via my dissertation is the case LDM v Masons and Professor Richard Susskind OBE, the IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice who is a British spy and substantively corrupt and involved in organised crime via the Masons and subsequent S J Berwin & Co cases x 2 and is perceived to be operational in Inverness area at the moment and up to no good.

2. Regulation request to impact in the whole of the EU public domain institutions especially the judicial and legal systems re my research on Woolf etc.

3. Request for an Appeal of my last cases before Sir Robert Owen QC who was substantially corrupt and it is perceived Dr Lindsay Farmer is operational behind the scenes. This judge is also responsible for the recent Russian poisoning case and the Russians affirm he is not up to standard too.

Intelligence issue.

These cases must be processed first in time, as they establish an "invasion" which knocked over the judiciary and enabled "compromise" of legal rights, thereby lowering standards in society.  The issue is that Justice was dispensed with via “Access to Justice” which processed mediation as access to justice when it is actually access from justice and access to compromise – not the same thing and is fraudulent misrepresentation.

My perception is that there is secondly a need to process Tony Blair ex-PM as the second issue as misconduct in public office. The reason being is that the war is deemed "unjust", therefore it is necessary to process the PM first to establish the facts prior to processing 1500 soldiers who must be deemed to be "ordered" to act or are on a frolic of their own. In order to be seen as a professional and elite force, they must be processed because this war IS deemed "UNJUST". Malcolm Kendell Smith, a conscientious objector, also needs to be pardoned or recognised for his bravery and resoluteness in some way.

Also soldiers should not be going bankrupt with lawyers chasing the cases. It is necessary to hear the cases due to article 6 of the Human Rights Act and a right to a fair trial - some will be found to be
professional and elite and some won't but we need to deal with these cases legally due to the need for the historical record and need to be preventative in future. Concerning soldiers they should be covered by insurance per se or via public liability insurance or some form of insurance dealing with risk as soldiers - they should not be going bankrupt - why is this an issue.

Class actions might be a way forward - soldiers take orders - need to be visible as issue "Unjust".

Military are also trained to be elite and professional in UK as public force therefore issue of ethics and morals which requires jurisprudence. Also accountable, responsible and transparent if
"ordered", otherwise misconduct in public office may apply. Military are a "public" fighting force in UK - not mercenaries (private armies).

Soldiers should not be processed by the Courts first, need for my issues to be dealt with as "intelligence" and thereafter Blair – see blog - discuss direct not covertly.

18           If you are a UK citizen of Europe and living on benefits in the UK, you can actually go to a Member State in Europe to live for up to 5 weeks and still claim benefits in the UK including keeping your housing benefit.  If the above premis is correct concerning the UK benefit system then, I believe the policy should be extended in two ways:  (a) that it should be possible for any EU citizen to move to any Member State from their host Member State for a period of up to 6 months for the purpose of looking for or seeking work in their destination Member State.  (b) But that the host Member State should pay the welfare benefits of the EU citizen to the destination Member State for the duration of upto 6 months and thereafter if no work paid or unpaid is achieved the destination Member State should be able to send the person back to their host Member State.

That is to say, if an EU citizen of the UK wants to live and work in Spain they can rely on the UK to pay their benefits whilst they live in Spain seeking work for upto 6 months and if they fail to achieve work, Spain can send them back to the UK and/or place them on their own benefits structure in Spain.   Likewise if a German wants to work in the UK, Germany should pay for the EU Citizen to stay in the UK whilst Germany pays the benefits for up to 6 months and should they fail to locate work paid or unpaid, then they be returned by the UK to Germany or retained on the UK benefits system.

The small change / improvement to the European benefits system would mean that everyone could move around as per the spirit and letter of the free movement policy of the EU, but that the problems associated with doing so would be restricted via the host Member State for upto 6 months and thereafter a decision would be made by the destination Member State.        

19.1        Just read the article in the Sunday Mail 14/2/16 entitled "SNP ready to put us all in the red - Nation in debt for the first time in 300 years".

The article informs that by 24/2/16 John Swinney's 2016/17 Budget intends to borrow substantial sums of money from the UK National Government's Loan Fund, and possibly from commercial banking or issue its own bonds. The sum highlighted in the article is £316 million comprising £263 million in health capital projects; an extra £97 million in housing and an extra £50 million on infrastructure projects. DONT BORROW A PENNY - Tighten your belts instead

How - try these - and at least do the paper exercise and publish results of any stats/evaluation:

19.2.      All private rented accommodation in every local authority (believed to be 32), put on a local authority property register in order to be rented privately. (a) all property be rent assessed - PER PROPERTY, not Per Person - ie if four people living in house and the rent is £1000 a month - 4 x £250 not 4 x £1000, ie unjust enrichment of £3000 - this would particularly assist HMO property and be anti-poverty and students. Homeless should not be placed in substandard housing and pay luxury rents from housing benefit - if you pay a luxury rent you should live in a luxury apartment  (b) Scrap all management fees with the exceptions of properties with lifts and/or concierge services. (c) property assess each property to bring the property up to a given standard prior to rental (i) safety - fire checked with fire doors, alarms and exit strategies; (ii) wind and water tight - roofs and windows: salvage and recycling, end of line, sales and new all acceptable; (iii) rewired and replumbed especially beneficial for older properties which may even still have lead piping - possibly grants available; (iv) hygenic - kitchens and bathrooms; and (v) external spaces maintenance, heating and furnishings if furnished. (d) Contracts - Landlord-Local Authority and Landlord - Tenant - with the scrapping of potential management fees wording should be expressly placed in tenants agreement to maintain the property and external spaces - ie grass cutting and lightbulb changing.

19.3.      By lowering the private rental costs for tenants - this will have a significant effect. Firstly the tenants will have more of their income available to spend in the local economy - as currently private rents are probably on the too high side. They are likely to do things like SPEND - on cars, hobbies, lifestyle choices - eating out, clothes, having kids, getting married, holidays, furnishing (especially if the Landlord upgrades the property!!). This is VAT, Corporate Tax, Tax on Intangibles to the Treasury.  It is also jobs.

19.4.      By upgrading the housing stock, especially where the property is substandard - will have an impact on health and wellbeing – is anti-poverty and means that rents are affordable and reasonably priced.   There is a serious issue of "unjust enrichment" concerning current housing policy in the private rented sector in relation to Landlords.   Social Policy should be focus on the many not the few - or Movement for Improvement!

19.5.1    By lowering the rents and doing a carrot and stick to upgrading housing stock in the private rental market where folks are on housing benefit via welfare reforms - this would have a significant impact on the deficit and also on the local authority budget.

19.5.2    It would be possible to take a two tier approach to this issue concerning the public sector housing - those folks who are working could pay a market rent for their council or housing association property, whilst having a base level of rent for people on welfare benefits and working poor - this would assist local authorities who need certainty in their budgets and forecasts - so a base level plus market rent for public housing would be competitive with the private rental market and be seen to be fair. ie a one bedroom property is currently £500 as a private market rent; a public rent of a similar 1 bedroom property is £300 pm. This should be two tier - £300 if welfare and £500 if the person is working above the level of that deemed working poor in the public sector. Ie both Private and Public rents should be the same where people are working and if below a certain level the working poor in private rented property should get assistance as they currently do. This small change would facilitate more funds to the local authority for infrastructure projects such as dualling the A9.

(a) If you earn above the poverty threshold (which the Joseph Rowantree Foundation calculator says is approx £17,500) so say £20,000 then you should have to pay market rent for your home if in public ownership.

(b) If you earn below the poverty threshold or are on welfare benefits you should have to pay rent at a basic level set by the Council or Housing Association on a per house basis, not individual rent.


Unjust enrichment needs to be back in the limelight as a Government policy and loopholes closed as a consequence of it or new policies created.  Unjust enrichment is a legal term of art.

19.6.      If the Landlords are upgrading their properties in order to rent their properties this would provide local jobs via labouring, trades and supplies which would attract PAYE or Self Employed Tax; VAT; Corporate Tax and Tax on Intangibles.

19.7.      By freeing up money at Local Authority level this could assist jobs in the public sector via the Council and Third Sector funding and thereby provide PAYE with folks spending and VAT, Corporate Tax and Tax on intangibles. Education policy and nursery places etc.

19.8.      Concerning 6 above other local authority issues could facilitate the Landlord such as amenities, better parks, streetlighting, roads and potholes, drainage, gritting etc. Schools and Youth facilities could ensure somewhere to go, computers, library books etc. Nursery places etc.

19.9.      By the Local Authority doing "best value or best quality" any infrastructure projects such as dualling the A9 could be budgeted for without borrowing against the capital sum. Health projects could be better focused to issues that are necessary especially if Council services have funds - such as integrated care packages for older people who need more than 15 minute/30 minute visits, facilitate hospital discharge by upgrading or offering downsizing or swaps - ie no home with an upstairs should have a Stena Lift - this goes against disability issues because if the power is cut the person would effectively be trapped upstairs or downstairs. If you need a Stena lift then you need to downsize or swap or move house to something more appropriate if you cannot live on the ground floor of your home effectively, ie bedroom and toilet. If you cannot access the top floor of your house due to disability (then you don't need the house) then the Council should at least offer a swap option, a new house with concierge facility potential designed around the disability. This policy alone would facilitate many families moving in the area and would also mean that you may not need to build 50,000 new houses – you may just need to build smaller ground level housing to accommodate people who are disabled and need to downsize, possibly releasing funds to themselves to enable a better quality of life and/or to their families to assist them.

19.10.    There is an issue in the Press and also raised by me as a late response to the SNAP consultation via the SHRC - discrimination in housing. I dont know if this has been stopped but two years into SNAP it should have been: advertising "no DSS"; "No pets"; "No smokers" - this is discrimination. All a landlord should require is the rent and for it to be paid on time with minimum disruption to the property.  Therefore to have a DSS tenant is the best option you can get as your rent is guaranteed and always on time. A 1 bedroom private rent flat with a DSS tenant is approx £500 which is £3000 on a 6 month tenancy  and £6000 per year and £30,000 over 5 years. DSS tenants tend to stay put hence they are the best option. As such, if they smoke or have pets - so what. If the carpet gets soiled or the walls go yellow – as Landlord you are supposed to maintain the property - so a lick of paint or a new carpet is not going to break the bank if you are getting between £3000 and £30,000 over a five year period and you upgrade one during that time - it is something you should be doing anyway. If there is rent assessment - this issue could be stopped as well as notifying the Press that it is not acceptable to publish obviously discriminatory/prejudicial or biased information.

19.11.    Currently you can rent 1 room of a house you live in up to a value of £4000 + without incurring tax. This could be stopped and all rental property whether solely let or HMO or a person rents out a room in their own home could be taxed. There is negligible difference to letting out a 1 bedroom property at £4000+ a year and letting out a room in your house for the same sum - so why make a tax difference: if you let out 2 rooms you have to pay tax on both rooms!

19.12.    Elderly people may be "invisible" in their communities. My Social Policy on this sourcing from knowledge of what is occurring in England is that they have gone down the route of Ready Meals which they say assists older people who can decide when to eat at their convenience rather than being made to eat at given times. Whilst this may be a favourable issue, there is also the downside that older people are receiving a visit once a week delivering all their ready meals which are frozen, rather than every day, are given a microwave and told to reheat their food. Which may not be the most nourishing and nutritious as there dinner is processed food. As such, they may be "invisible" to their communities. The Ready Meals service may actually be expensive too. My social policy issue which I would like you to give consideration to is that older people should be visible to their communities especially in rural areas and that they should have at least one meal with the kids in the school canteen at the nearest school. They could be mini-bused in, the food is prepared in the
canteen and is nutritious and fresh, there is choice, and the dinnertime would be shared with youngsters or youth thereby ensuring they are "visible" and not isolated x 5 days a week and that any issues associated with them are picked up quickly. The kids and the older people would probably enjoy the experience and the kids could pick up on valuable knowledge sources. The older people could also assist with history projects, reading, storytelling, lifestyle advice - knitting, cooking, sewing, sports, policing, journalism, scientists/academia, army careers etc as they have their own inherent skills and could effect reciprocity and if married to children or youth could assist history projects for the elderly per se - telling their wartime experiences, careers, what it was like in the 50s, music and musical instruments etc or even just being helped by the kids re computers and mobil phones, apps etc.

If school time is going to be cut in Highland, then Friday afternoons could switch to elderly time with kids/youth with both benefitting!  The kids would be safe and the elderly would be engaged and not isolated.  Reciprocity.

19.13.    Maybe all we need to do is focus on the many not the few and tighten our belts a little. You may already have seen my social policy on Prisons - Judges need to be responsible for the public purse, which can deprive local authorities and governments of public funds if not processed correctly in the 21st Century. Non-violent prisoners should not go to jail in a 21st century system: they should be (a) fined PLUS (b) do community payback as punishment plus (c) be asset stripped under the proceeds of crime act for unjust enrichment. We are still in an 18th century model of crime and punishment.

Concerning (b) and (c) above - volunteering could facilitate drivers of mini buses and food preparation in school canteens or elderly projects.  The later could facilitate elderly projects and also the purchase of mini-buses which could benefit the whole school etc. from Community Cashback schemes where money comes from the proceeds of crime and is redistributed via the Third Sector.

19.14.    In some public services its not about investing money into capital projects, what is needed is those who are salaried learning to work in 21st century ways and with a more professional and ethical approach.   Autonomy is necessary as my experience recently is that the services are so poor and shoddy whilst buildings are good to facilitate that the service leaves the service open to professional negligence and criminal negligence law suits - which would defeat the purpose of investment in the capital sum. It is possible to raise the standards without incurring any costs by simply ensuring that the employees are trained internally to an appropriate level and there is sufficient evaluation and monitoring of the service. Eg People are processed through mental health services and the Act requires “Care and Treatment”*.  There is over emphasis on Treatment.  Care is not picking up on “poverty” issues such as employability and whether the person is on contractual or statutory sick pay.  If either then “reasonable adjustment” under the Disability Discrimination Act should mean that an insurance policy kicks in with the employer which assesses risk so that the employee can either have a reasonable adjustment to return to work or be laid off with compensation.  This tends not to be happening.  Obvious poverty is also not being picked up such as ill-fitting clothes perhaps due to weight gain or weight loss – there is an endowments fund associated with all hospitals and they should be picking up obvious poverty issues as “unmet need” issues.   Under “Care” issues of people not fitting into the 21st century also need to be picked up when being processed by a mental health hospital.  You should not be able to spend 28 days on a mental health ward in hospital without coming out the other end having sorted out causation ad lifestyle issues concerning 21st century living but that currently is the case.  Nurses should be able to give powerpoint demonstrations on a range of topics to ensure people have knowledge that they need so as to not go round and round mental health services.  Further there is a reliance on agency, the worker, and this can cost more than the worth of an employee unnecessarily - an employee "float" may be a better option than an agency worker on the premis that Agency don't tend to provide training for their staff whereas employees access training when the employer determines its necessary. You can therefore have differing degrees of skills and training in the workforce which can highlight issues of professional negligence where there is a duty to act and there is an omittance to do the duty. What I have observed recently is that an entire hospital ward is wide open to ambulance chasing from the legal profession and that the staff are needing skills to be upgraded as they are either non-existent or not being used if they are actually available, there is no opportunity to forward think or raise standards and there is no significant evaluation or monitoring to ensure that upgrading is occurring - the service delivery in over a month's observance of an NHS hospital was either woeful or damning with a few exceptions. Further there is opportunity for volunteering to have a significant impact to make a difference - but there is no opportunity for the Third Sector to engage with the public sector to network and to facilitate involvement other than to provide some leaflets which may or may not be taken on board. In that regard, there is an endowment option with a capital sum which should provide interest to be spent for the benefit of patients and staff - how or whether this is occurring is not known but it should be being processed properly and apparently is not at this time.   Borrowing to improve as a capital investment is therefore not necessary: what is necessary is to evaluate and monitor and utilise the employees more appropriately with autonomy and to network the Third Sector to facilitate involvement possibly paid for out of endowments. Employees are salaried not paid by the hour via consultancy – therefore they can be asked to work more efficiently, effectively and economically and shown how to engage better within their organisation to include creativity and ideas. Mismanagement is an employment area needing to be identified by legislation and the need to refer to the Trade Union or Professional Body to ensure that professionalism and ethics are of a high standard. The other area needing to be identified for improvement in employment legislation is to ensure that employees; workers and non-employees (volunteers) are appropriately covered by all legislation. Human Rights legislation needs to impact across all public sector legislation and the Law Society needs to network certain areas of law together ie Employment/Human Rights/Mental Health/Insurance as there are serious gaps which render legislation in operative and will lead to professional negligence lawsuits and/or criminal prosecution.  So in conclusion - please do a stats / evaluation on the policy ideas above to see if an effective, efficient and economic benefit would be made that was significant to enable the envisaged £316 million infrastructure projects to be done without actually borrowing anything from the UK Government Loan Fund or commercial banking entities or Bonds etc. We may just need to think smarter and tighten our belts rather than borrow and get into debt for the first time in 300 years: the Scots are known to be thrifty, have mothballs in their wallets, the above should make significant cost savings and if so may facilitate all projects without the need to borrow and even improve society ...   

* Suggested topics for mental health nurses to give to bring people into 21st Century as powerpoint interation demonstrations under the heading “CARE” in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act:

(a)    Who to contact if you experience discrimination or stigma?
(b)   How to cope with a mental health disability?
(c)    How to cope with growing old?
(d)   Be polite to staff and each other on ward at all times – what is expected of you?
(e)   Warm up exercises?
(f)     How to use a computer to find out information – web and google
(g)    How to use a mobile phone
(h)   How to shop on a budget for food, clothes, goods and services
(i)      How to report a crime
(j)     How to avoid homelessness
(k)    Personal hygiene – tips
(l)      How to dress your best – the girls / male grooming
(m) How to do beneficial lifestyle choices
(n)   All about Feng Shui – decluttering your life
(o)   Wellbeing and lifestyle
(p)   Smoking Cessation – its not just a leaflet – schedule them in to the service – all knowledge is good even if they don’t stop
(q)   Volunteering as employability
(r)     Confidence building and low esteem – how to become positive and speak out
(s)    Nutrition and food balance
(t)     Seeking advice – CAB
(u)   How to say “No”
(v)    Appreciate Nature – the outside gym
(w)  How to be environmentally aware in the home, at work, in the community
(x)    How to combat loneliness and how to engage in your community, interact with others – simple body language training – the corporate world get this training!
(y)    Specific health, mental health information – diabetes and diet or how to recognise bipolar or schizophrenia, personality disorder, generic mental health issues like mood, anger, stress
(z)    Stress Management
(aa)How to live in the 21st Century – banking using an ATM, online banking
(bb)How to write a letter or do an electronic letter to your MP, Councillor, MEP, MSP or Lord – www.writetothem.com
(cc) Social Media – Facebook and Twitter and how to be responsible.
(dd) Life coaching know-how and information

19.15     Networking Citizen Advice Bureau with the Local Volunteer Service, a Foodbank service, the local Community Payback Team and a not-for-profit café in the same building at ground floor level would benefit many.  On the DLA form there is a box (or used to be a box) what are your hobbies and interests.  Many people who need DLA say things like I cannot do my hobby anymore because of my upper limb, lower limb, eyesight, concentration levels etc.  These people need to be networked to the local volunteer service for assistance to do their hobby or interest or do something else.  Some may want to volunteer too.  Befriending etc.  Networking these services in the same building, in a central location on ground floor level would benefit many and network the services in the local authority area at Third Sector level.  There needs to be greater networking of Third Sector services and would also assist anti-social behaviour and loitering as people would have places to go and feel valued as volunteering has an altruistic affect as well as assisting employability – see lacuna on the welfare reforms above.

20.  The Genome Project should replace Nato and be about “uniting” peoples where they have been dispersed.  Nato is about a “perception” of collective security – it has had its time and place and needs to be scrapped.  A Justice system is a frontline defence system and catches “enemies within”.  Justice needs to be restored as it was undermined by the Clinton administration who brought alternative dispute resolution – a Japanese concept – into global judicial systems and thereby undermined the rule of law and Justice.  Justice needs to be restored to create safe and just society.

Policies 11-15 Please use

11.  What’s happened to the Unfair Contracts Terms Act – its been hammered. Why?

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/50 which appears to be
reasonably drafted.

I then took a look at the new Act in 1999 :
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/2083/contents/made

12.          http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Action-to-reduce-reoffending-1d09.aspx  The article informs "Between 9-10,000 people serving short term sentences leave custody every year and this group accounts for the highest number of people who go on to re-offend."

I would question this statistic on two premises: why are people going to prison on short-term custodial sentences in the first instance - this has a quantifiable cost burden to the tax payer and the presumption is that if the issue is short-term why are they not being processed as a "benefit" in society. The mantra should be "CRIME DOES NOT PAY" and it costs £31,000 to keep a person in prison for a year in Scotland. Under the Welfare Reforms a person who has committed NO CRIME is processed between £5,000 to a maximum of £23,000 cap – there is therefore an apparent social justice issue - that if you commit crime with a custodial sentence in Scotland it has a value more than that of a person on welfare who have not committed any crime - people may therefore have a reason to commit crime and reoffend - such as three square meals a day, a roof over their head, a wash and lifestyle in Broadstairs Marriott! Or Carstairs Hilton!! The mantra should be if you commit a criminal offence "YOU PAY US" - (a) fines even £3 a week plus; (b) community payback as punishment plus; and (c) asset stripping via the Proceeds of Crime Act - that way the message "CRIME DOES NOT PAY - SO WHAT's THE POINT IN REOFFENDING gets through. We may not be processing crime in a 21st century way but on an 18th century model.

The second point I would make is that I am aware of a statistic which may relate in some part to Scotland - that New Labour (Tony Blair ex-PM) caused 3000 pages of criminal law to be placed on the statute books. Whilst I was aware of this stat concerning England, it may be a UK wide stat. I am therefore questioning what kind of offences are causing short term custodial sentences and why did New Labour criminalise the peoples of at least England and potentially Scotland.   He increased the prison population to 80,000 and John Reid -ex MP even discussed prison ships. Can you therefore take a look at the Scottish Stats and see what exactly was put on the statute books of Scotland, thereby criminalising people in short term custodial sentences: in that regard we don't appear to be criminalising bankers! Or Tony Blair for misconduct in public office – the Iraq war was “unjust”!!!!  Concerning this exercise, if there is an issue that their being a codification exercise to remove criminal offences altogether or to non-custodial measures referred above.

My point of view is that only violent crime should mean prison.  Non-violent crime should never be custodial as there is an issue of social justice concerning people who do not commit crime. It is clear that imprisonment for short-term custodial sentences needs a rethink as 9,000-10,000 people are reoffending and therefore not getting the message to stop criminal behaviour or that certain people are being specifically targeted for certain types of behaviour and are never out of the system or are easy targets for crime stats in specific areas – possibly poverty issue too: so there is a need to look at causation and effect, an eg would be homelessness. So for instance, asking the Judiciary for their sentencing stats might indicate what is actually occurring in Society concerning short-term custodial sentences and what type of offences are causing the bulk of the 9,000-10,000 stats.

The article informs "The Justice Secretary said:

“Reoffending creates victims, damages communities, wastes potential and costs the Scottish economy around £3 billion every year.

“Tackling reoffending is a key part of this government’s justice strategy and we have already made good progress in this area. The reconviction rate in Scotland is now at its lowest level for 16 years and recorded crime is at a 41 year low. We have a vision of justice in Scotland where people are held to account for their offending and are then supported to be active and responsible members of society. "

I agree with the Justice Secretary's representation. A £3 billion spend on people who have committed a crime is to deprive people who have NOT committed a crime of £3 billion in public services. This could be funds to enhance deprived communities; alleviate poverty amongst Scottish children; roads, potholes and gritting, library books, street lighting, play parks; process the Homeless and provide affordable housing measures; enable people to access justice via the Legal Aid fund and my favourite ensure that there are adequate funds and bureaus available via the Citizen Advice Bureau service and that the service is not functioning on a shoestring in buildings that make do and mend.

13.          The Scots do not want Faslane and nuclear issue. I would therefore raise the issue for debate that Faslane be put forward for a non-proliferation treaty with the Americans and Russians and any other country involved in this issue.  It is a drain on resources for all of us concerning something we will never use. I would respectfully suggest that Faslane be turned into an International Cyber Crime Court such that there would be one jurisdiction for all licenced software and hardware, hacking would have an international response, banking and regularity management would be centralised globally when the rule of law fails, mismanagement would feature amongst multi-nationals and subsidiaries and taxation issues, and the FIFA issue concerning the Swiss system would enable criminalisation of mismanagement.  Data Protection would have one legal jurisdiction - how many of you have tried to unsubscribe membership of a website outside the UK/Europe - if you can't then your subject to that countries "host" legal jurisdiction on data protection - needs an international response.  There is a need for an international cybercrime court concerning technology somewhere in the world – I would suggest Japan as it is techy orientated and ASIMO could be a mascot; or Cern in Switzerland as it created the Web and Spider network (I think); or Faslane or Dounreay in Scotland as it is central to the world and has an ideology as a deterrant that needs replaced as not being necessary in the 21st Century and beyond and requires networking  ie the web provides the information which is no use to anyone until it is networked – Faslane deprives communities of funds and is of little or no benefit to the world other than as a deterrent, ie a burden, should or could this be turned around to maximise benefit to the world to ensure that technology is upgraded to the international level where it appears to me to be necessary. This is a significant infrastructure project because it would be removing something to create something else: it therefore needs an international conference to debate the issue as it would be hoped that all countries would come on board if it were to progress and be successful.

14.1        There is a constitutional issue at UK level  - the Access to Justice Act 1999 according to Lord Mackay in Hansard 10/12/98 that history was in the making - this Act was occurring via the Despatch Box and not the Woolsack.  I did not note at the time any constitutional authority for this to occur - therefore this Act may not actually be legal.  As such, there is a raised presumption that any subsequent Acts if made from the Despatch Box, may not be legal either including the Devolution Act. 

14.2        Secondly, Lord Straw became Lord Chancellor.  He is a politician not a judge. Where did the authority come from constitutionally that a politician could hold the office of Lord Chancellor.  Issue is separation of the powers.  Judges are unelected except the position of Lord Chancellor which has dualistic executive function in government.  The same issue affected Chris Grayling who did not even have a law degree.  And Michael Gove as current holder of the office.  I have notified the Constitutional committee – no response received.


15.          Contaminated Food – various shops in Inverness are putting “modified” before certain ingredients – Iceland.  Tesco is selling Arizona Tea with “GM” ingredient. Where did the authority come from to do this in Scotland?

Policies 6-10 Please use

6.1          We have abolished slavery in the UK,  but we have not abolished the colonies in Europe.  Which should include the Commonwealth.

6.2            If the above was abolished, then there is potential opportunity to create EU pods around the globe:

(a) istan countries, plus Nepal, Burma, Bangladesh, India etc
(b) the whole of Africa
(c) Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Pacific Islands and Australia and New Zealand etc
(d) Latin America
(e) America is currently disunited states of America - laws different in all states - so make them the same;  Possibly also the Caribbean islands; and Canada, Alaska
(f) Russia - used to be USSR
(g) Turkey, Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Syria, Iraq etc - Turkey should not become part of the current EU it should go the other way and create its own EU - call it Byzantine or Constantinople or something like that - Babylon - just saying
(h) The EU per se - without Turkey but including properly Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, Latvia, Lithuania and others etc.

We are in the 21st Century, not the 18th Century - times need to change - the Colonies are over, the Commonwealth should be independent now and networked into their localities so that they can pull their socks up together, ie Regulation immediate impact; Directive harmonisation with domestic laws over 2 years; Decision to impact on a Member (Country) don't like "State" - or Corporate Body or Person; Recommendation -guidance and persuasion of direction to go in.

The above would cost a maximum of £50 - just buy a copy of the existing EU Treaties and perhaps a copy of De Burca and remodel it to what your EU would aspire to be, ie direct effect and indirect effect etc.

Migration would probably cease on the premis people would be doing it for themselves: Movement for Improvement!

7.            Inequality, equality, unequal.  These should be specifically delineated in society.  At the moment the word inequality captures those who are unequal and it is not the same thing.

Inequality is something you do to yourself via your own subjectivity
Unequal is something others do to you via their subjectivity
Equality is being objective.

8.            My request for Parliamentary Sovereignty and a public inquiry on organised crime and corruption concerning 3 litigations in England via Masons and S J Berwin law firms and my research on the Woolf Reforms.  I have also asked for an appeal once the Woolf Reforms are removed from the English judicial system.  I have asked for a Regulation to impact in the whole of the EU concerning my research on the Woolf Reforms to remove ADR/IDS/informal justice/mediation from all public domain institutions especially the judiciary and legal profession.

9.1          Humanitarian crisis in Europe.  This is not an immigration problem it is a humanitarian crisis.  People should be processed on temporary passports into the UK and the 6000 people in the camp at Calais who actually want to be in the UK should be moved here.  It is a tick box exercise that they are asylum seekers, refugees or economic migrants – who cares what they are they are caught up in a humanitarian crisis.  So long as they agree to be processed they should receive temporary passports and informed they will have to go back.  They should also have to work either voluntary or paid or be students as they must go back and it would be better for international development that they go back as trained people.  The money should not come from welfare benefits. It should all come out of the 0.7% GDP that we tell everyone “look at us and our international development pot”.  Charity starts at home – by processing the people here that is jobs for people here, it is funds for communities who are subject to austerity and cuts here.  By attracting international development funding for empty B&Bs or hotels, hostels or seamen missions etc that keeps money circulating in the local economy – it provides decency and assistance to people in trauma and if they are placed in rural areas and islands rather than cities will have less of an impact on public services.  Plus Theresa May is a tad racist – she sees people as asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants.  She does not see them as nurses, politicians, musicians, footballers, teachers etc etc. Nor does she see them as mums, dads, aunts and uncles, grandparents, cousins, friends etc.  The EU said the quota was 140,000 so why have we only taken 147 who actually managed to get here by putting their lives at risk.  Highland region recently took 100 that is woefully inadequate as a response.  Also IDS is giving them £36 from welfare benefits – you cannot buy a coffee and a cake in Costa for £5 a day, nor a juice and a sandwich from M&S.  If they are frugal and buy half doz eggs, some beans and potatoes they don’t have enough to heat the food with re electric or gas.  This £36 should come from the international development fund and be substantively increased, it should not come out of welfare benefits at all.  The crisis is HUMANITARIAN not immigration.  See it for what it is and process accordingly.  If Theresa May does not stop appearing to be racist and focusing on security, ie £17 milllion was spent on fences, sniffer dogs and technology for the channel tunnel rather than people, then she will have to be processed for misconduct in public office.  Our response is woeful and inadequate to a humanitarian crisis – if she had focused on spending £17m on people at Calais, the convoy blockage would have dispersed naturally.  She still has a Calais problem which will require more money, cause more upset in times of austerity.  She needs to clearly identify “cause and effect” – currently she is doing “effect” only.  That is not good enough and our standing in the international platform is affected with standards being lowered.  She may have to be processed for misconduct in public office on the appearance of racism.

9.2          The lorries could go by sea from Orkney to the Channel Tunnel via ports in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Hull, Dover etc.

9.3          The Chinese have a suitable proverb -"to move a mountain you start by taking away the little stones".

A solution could be Scotland and rural and highland areas: there is Pophail - a ghost village built in the 70s just outside Inverness and there are probably lots of pockets of villages that have declining populations and schools etc that could accommodate in small numbers these people.

For instance, the Clashnaharry Nursing Home is closed in Inverness but could accommodate 35 people - a little pebble.

A google search locates 7 substantial properties that are eyesores of Scotland, a team of architects and construction and money from the International Fund could turn them around and they could be a benefit to Scotland and a humanitarian crisis someway down the line – sticking plaster solution or big bolder.

If the UK and France can build the Channel Tunnel they surely can build a processing centre - even Battersea Dogs Home manages to rehome strays on a better methodology than we are currently treating human beings in Calais. But first you have to stop seeing a convoy of lorries and start seeing a humanitarian crisis, then you can move a mountain – charity starts at home."

The Marine Care Home is now closed down and accommodated 16 elderly residents.  I am aware that the reason for the closure was that the new integrated care model which the NHS are providers for adult services in Highland deemed this care home not fit for purpose as a care home and refused to take it over when it became a problem.

I am also aware via an article in the Inverness Courier last week or so, that there is a special needs school in the area which has 2 pupils costing £1m a year to facilitate them and that the service may not survive cost cutting measures by Highland Council.

I am also aware that the Black Isle area have set up a community action group to provide support to the elderly in their area and it would appear to me that what is needed is a new care home fit for purpose to the needs of that community.

Therefore, my thinking is that the Marine Care Home could be used by refugees and specifically to accommodate refugees with children with special needs.  That the children could be identified and actually keep this school open and that it would probably not cost anymore than it already does £1m on the premis whether you are teaching 2 pupils or 30 pupils the costs are likely to be roughly the same - wages, heating, lighting, teaching materials etc.  The International Development pot in this area could impact a new care home just by assisting some asylum seekers, refugees, economic migrants who are disabled who need  special needs school as well.

9.4          A Regulation to do (a)  140,000 quota of asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants; (b) soldiers and police wear peacekeeping fatigues or arm bands as people are unarmed; (c) relax borders.  If we don’t have nous to do it anyway, then a regulation is necessary at EU level especially for UK and Hungary.

9.5          Angela Merkhel the Nobel Peace Prize for assisting 800,000 asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants into Germany.

10.          Zero hours contracts are illegal.

The implied duty of mutual trust and confidence in a contract between employer and employee is to act in good faith.

The employer's duty is to remunerate.

The employee's duty is to be willing to work.

I am thinking that Zero Hour Contracts are illegal via the duty of the employer to remunerate. Remuneration requires you to pay something, not nothing. The law requires that something to be the minimum wage. Whether it can be argued that a basic plus commission on part-time and full-time contracts is a better way forward than zero hour contracts needs to be debated.  But the employee only requires to be willing to work, that does not necessarily mean they actually have to work.  The issue should be dealt with out of the employer’s insurance policy to reimburse all people who have been willing to work to the value of the national minimum wage.  There are 1.8 million people affected by zero hour contracts in the UK which should be scrapped and replaced with something legal, like for instance, basic plus commission style contracts.   Any tax credits already paid could be clawed back or just given as a windfall given all the distress this has caused.  Also any sums paid out of insurance claims would attract 25% PAYE tax, if spent would attract VAT, Corporate tax and tax on intangibles – so the Exchequer would benefit indirectly by providing a legal solution to this problem.


Also if the national minimum wage was lifted to the national living wage and made law this would impact on a further 1.2 million people who receive tax credits of £1300 whilst working poor and a further 12 million receiving £250 as working poor.  By stopping zero hour contracts and raising the national minimum wage to a new legal minimum 15 million people would be lifted out of relative poverty and the benefit system.  IDS doe have a point on this issue as it is the employer who is abusing the system, not the employee.  But George Osborne is only focused on the employee as the working poor and that is not acceptable and if he does not stop it then he should be processed for misconduct in public office.

Policies 1-5 - please use


1.                   Against Mansion Tax as there is no need for more infrastructure.  Instead raise more money via the Council Tax which already exists as a system and works and put in some more bands at the top end of the scale. That way the money raised by the Local Authority, not central government, can then be distributed amongst public services such as the NHS and integrated social care structures for things like community based services in mental health, district nursing and older age services can come via existing co-operation structures which provide money to the NHS. Rather than a Mansion Tax in wealthy areas going into one pot to be distributed together with the need for the implementation of specific tax raising powers and computers, valuations, etc, etc. Via the Local Authority they already know where their wealthy citizens are and how much their houses are
worth. Redistributing the bands or increasing the number of bands should not require new computers, new employees etc - we are after all supposed to be doing "AUSTERITY MEASURES".

2.1          I support David Cameron's call for an English Parliament and would qualify this it could also be a new UK parliament - perhaps smaller given the reduced amount of work that would be involved if English only policies are split from UK policies. I agree there would need to be an English First Minister too. The English or UK parliament could be sited somewhere between Chester and Yorkshire.  By way of clarification – this is a line management exercise – EU Parliament, UK Parliament, 4 devolved parliaments.  At UK level policies should be “inclusive”, ie Airports.  At Devolved level policies should be “exclusive”, ie “Heathrow”.  If it is a UK wide policy then eg all airports should be looked at strategically, if devolved then specific airports to be created or networked further should be looked at. 

2.2          Also a new English only parliament could be “virtual” especially as there is a construction need to move out of the House of Commons for structural repairs.  Video Conferencing technology at Universities could be utilised to network politicians or their constituency offices could do away with second homes and have video conferencing facilities put in place.  Scheduling for question time and debates would mean that people no longer travel outside their constituencies which have an environmental impact too. 

2.3          Instead of second homes each political party could have a hotel and schedule their expenses through the reception desk, sharing taxis and computer equipment, security etc.  This would prevent expenses scandals and misconduct in public office. 

2.3.1.     The expenses scandal under Gordon Brown ex-pm still needs to be resolved.  Lord Straw had a conflict of interest when he prevented 400+ MPs being processed for misconduct in public office with a handful being prosecuted for criminality.  Lord Straw removed the word “responsibility” and added the word “transparent” – he did not have the power constitutionally to do this because he was also caught up in the expenses scandal, thereby having a conflict of interest.  So also was David Cameron and Gordon Brown per se.  All 400+ MPs including Lord Straw need to be processed for misconduct in public office.

2.3.2.     Further, when there is a scandal on this scale all MPs should have been suspended and the second place positions at the General Election should have stood forward. There has to be a reason for getting second place in a democracy and it should not be necessary to hold a bi election because an MP is caught in a scandal and has to resign.

2.4          As part of the reforms for an English only parliament, the House of Lords could be revisited as a Libdem reform and I would like to see an age bar of at least 75 being created qualified only if you have specialist knowledge and skill to go on longer. I would like to see every Lord elected on merit and once elected can only be removed on the basis of illness, criminality or misconduct or reaching age 75. I am minded under New Labour reforms that there was a banker who spoke 8
languages fluently one of which was Japanese and he was removed to be replaced with what? There is a danger of losing experienced and skilled people who have had access to the best education, work experience and lifestyles but this should not prevent selection on merit over birth. If putting an age limit on the Lords did not reduce the numbers, then some other consideration be used like for example removal after 25 years or reaching 75 which ever is earliest.

2.5.1      All members of the House of Lords be called “lay representatives” and remove the pomp and privilege of Lords and Ladies.  The House of Lords should be renamed the House of lay representatives and should remain “unelected” to balance the House of Commons and “elected” politicians. 

2.5.2.     Also £300 per day is acceptable as a lawyer in London is £500 per hour.  The standard of editing and parliamentarianism in the House of Lords is currently exceptionally good most of the time.

3. Then the Lothian question - I would give consideration to giving up the right of Scottish MPs to vote on English matters as a matter of fairness. This would mean Labour potentially losing votes outright in the UK parliament, but so be it. Fair is fair.

4.1          The Conservatives are going against the European Court of Human Rights, as a court of last resort.  I would bring in the ECHR level as the second tier in a domestic court process on appeal, thereafter if there was a need to appeal further then it would be a last resort national court jurisdiction, ie the Supreme Court.  It would mean that the European judicial circuit happens earlier in proceedings with the significant impact of ensuring that cases do not go on appeal further.  This would provide a solution to Theresa May's problem with the ECHR court. It should be very rare for
a case to go to appeal.

4.2          There is a need to bring back equality, impartiality, fairness and justice to the UK domestic court system as these were removed via the Woolf Reforms and the position in Scotland is not known via the Gill reforms.   Currently the court procedural rules in England do not provide any wording in relation to equality.  Impartiality is for expert witnesses only.  Article 6 of the Human Right Act and right to a fair trial does not feature in the CPR rules.  And Justice does not feature either.  Costs are proportionate.  There is multi and fast track in relation to expediency but the word expediency is not used.  Mediation is used which I call “contemporary equality” and should not feature in a public domain institution as it does the opposite removes the case to the private domain and gags by compromise agreements.  Justice and Compromise are two distinct issues but are currently packaged as “Access to Justice”. And Economy is featured but I cannot recall how, maybe fees.   There is a need to embed equality, impartiality, fairness and justice as the objective of the courts in a democracy to include all parties and the judge, with a specific limit on judicial subjectivity to equitable doctrine only, ie first in time prevails and interests of justice. 

4.3          There is a need to split “fairness” and a right to a fair trial under the HRA into – if a miscarriage of justice as the judge has been inadvertent, possibly through a lack of evidence, then civil appeal.  If a judge has been careless, reckless and especially deliberate, eg not citing citations of case precedent or statute law in his/her judgment or discarding evidence or overruling pleading then the judge be prosecuted for (a) perversion of the course of justice and (b) misconduct in public office, ie criminal division as jurisdiction on appeal.

5.            The Prime Minister wanted people to engage in the Big Society - something for something. 

I understand that it is possible to do permitted earnings whilst still claiming welfare benefits which is approximately £100 per week.  I would like to see people who do something for something being provided an increase in their benefits to £100, ie a potential extra £400 per month. For this they should be doing at least 4, 8, 12 hours or 16 hours plus voluntary work a month, paid at £25, £50, £75 or £100 - the maximum being £100 per week. It is the Prime Minister and Iain Duncan Smith who wanted "something for something" and to engage with the Third Sector as the Big Society. The Big Society is for corporate volunteering days, but people are paid.  The issue I am seeking to remedy is that people are volunteering and are not receiving anything whilst engaged in the welfare reforms agenda.  I am aware that if you volunteer this is recorded with DWP, so you know who people are and are gathering data already. It is quite wrong of the Prime Minister to lump people who do volunteering and engage with the Big Society with benefits and scroungers and people living off the system.  Giving folks something for volunteering by way of “increased benefit” would encourage others who are struggling on welfare to engage in society.  You could have a “basic benefit” plus the opportunity to earn an “increased benefit” or “replacement benefit” where you have recovered or recovering but are not quite job ready.  Also, some people have engaged in volunteering for many years, have really good CV/resume and cannot get paid employment meaning meaning they are "volunteer trapped".  They may have lost Disability living allowance and severe disability living allowance so need to replace these benefits whilst still claiming long term out of work benefits.  Doing something for nothing is a lacuna in the current welfare reforms that needs to be plugged.  You either get DLA/SDA or you are recovered sufficiently to do some form of volunteering or you get JSA and an opportunity to increase your benefit.  This would assist people who want to work the ability to earn their benefits to keep them out of relative poverty or absolute poverty.  Freedom of choice would mean that people who don’t want to work and just claim a basic benefit can do so too.  It would also assist people who work in rural communities and may also assist carers as they could increase their benefits as part of their caring role as volunteers for a cared for person for 16 plus hours they already do and currently receive nothing.