IdleTymes Blog

This issue that Gordon Brown’s got a bee in his bonnet about regarding strengthening our national identity is definitely something that needs to be addressed, but having our children swear allegiance to the Queen every morning?  I think not!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-royal – although I await with baited breath to see if the royals have the sense to put William on the throne whilst his gran is still alive to guide him – but I thought the idea was to have civic pride, to show a sense of belonging to one nation.  That being the case, shouldn’t the children be learning how to serve, protect and bring honour to their birth land?  This makes sense to me.  The average UK home is lacking in a sense of unity, in civic pride; you need look no further than the recent statement that certain members of our Armed Forces werent recommended to wear their uniform in public for evidence of this! 

In the United States school children pledge their allegiance not to their country’s president, but rather their flag – and America has to be one of the most patriotic, flag waving countries in the world.  The American people may not always bring honour their flag, and occasionally heap a pile of disgrace onto what it stands for, but overall it’s a symbol of a country that most Americans love and respect.  They bow to it, sign with it, even get it tattooed on themselves, which means that laser tattoo removal is a very popular procedure in this country! A national flag is a very simple symbol of a country and it’s something that any school could incorporate into their daily activities whilst teaching their students about what it means to be British and how as a nation we need to act in order to preserve the democratic rights we have.  There’s huge potential here for a subject that could take very little time but if taken in age appropriate stages could create informed school leavers who have  basic understanding of the UK and how its judicial and political systems work.  School leavers who know how their country works, and how they can make a difference to it.   

Pledge allegiance by all means, but just make sure it’s a pledge of loyalty and duty to the country, and not a monarch who doesn’t rule the country! 

Finally we have had progress with the website.Well I've totally finished the vet insurance pages

Should Iraqi asylum seekers who have been refused asylum be sent home?  Probably.  I don’t have a problem with the Government sending out a letter that says their case has been reviewed and as they are not being granted refugee status they must leave the UK or risk losing housing or the benefits that are helping them to buy a house.  However Sky news is reporting that this letter of rejection is also asking the asylum seekers to sign a waiver that they agree to the UK Government taking no responsibility for what happens to them once they return home.  Isn’t that the Government saying that these people are probably at risk going back to Iraq – and that being the case, isn’t that the Government saying that the there is a reason why these people are here?  In which case, why are they being sent back? 

The fact that the Government is willing to return people to Iraq knowing that they’re in danger once they do so is shocking (not surprising, but shocking), but the fact that they want to be absolved of any guilt or responsibility should something happen to these people is disgusting.   Someone needs to think seriously about the implications of what they’re doing, and if they are going to send back rejected asylum seekers, they need to do so with absolute certainty that these people are not in danger – because if they were in danger of persecution, then they ought to have been granted their asylum status. 

On a more positive note. This is what I'm going to change next the mole removal pages