Farmers Protest Over Milk Prices by Unknown Tuesday, August 04, 2015 - 0

Fresh protests have taken place by Dairy Farmers over the price of Milk in some parts of the UK. Farmers cleaned out supermarket shelves of any and all milk that was in stock in an act of defiance over what they are paid. Now while i am all for people having their right to protest it is not acceptable to go to the lengths of cleaning out stores of an essential product. Protest by all means but don't stoop so low as to become so petulant and childish.

I sympathise with Dairy Farmers on many things, and i agree they should be paid a fair price for their product but the simple fact is this, supply is far greater than demand and its for this reason the price paid to farmers remains so low.

At current rates Dairy Farmers are paid 15p per litre but it costs 24p a litre to make and so i understand their frustration and their upset over what they are paid but the simple fact is this just isn't going to change any time soon especially when the supply is so great. You only have to look at another essential product we use almost daily and that's fuel. The price of Brent Crude was well over $110 a barrel in July 2014 now its hit its lowest price ever at just under $50 a barrel and the reason is the same as it is for Dairy Farmers, supply is drowning demand and while it does this it will keep the price low.

Sadly this is not something that is shared amongst the Dairy Farmers community and i fear they don't understand why the price is so low. No one in their right mind is going to pay any more than they have to for a product. If the retailers can get it as cheap as possible then they will buy it as cheap as possible.

If Dairy Farmers are so fed up with the price they are paid they have an option and that option is to produce and sell their end product themselves. That way they can then charge what they want for their product and go into competition with other Dairy Farmers, but it has risks and those risks are what they currently face now and that's being out priced and then driven out of business.

Sadly while the supply of Milk outstrips demand the price paid to those who supply it will remain low, its the same for Brent Crude and that's expected to go even lower than it is now.

I sympathise with Dairy Farmers, they are getting a raw deal their is no doubt about it, but the moment they resorted to the bulk purchasing of their product just to then give it away for free is simply nonsensical. They have proved that they are only too willing to go to childish levels to prove a point. And the fact is they are still getting paid the same if they buy it or the public buys it. It made no sense what so ever.

Sadly in the business world things like this happen, i agree its not nice but its just a fact of business, some times you have a great period and some times you have a poor period. Being in business means you have to diversify, you have to offer more than one product to ensure your business is successful. Business cant survive on offering just one product when other businesses are offering several products, its only a matter of time before you end up being left by the way side and being buried by your competition.

Dairy Farmers, i sympathise with you and your struggles but you went about making your point the wrong way, instead you took a childish route and one that didn't help your cause in any way shape or form, instead your stunt only helped to push the profits of the companies you have your issues with further and are still paid the same price as it would have been if it had been the general public. Add into this the shelves would have been restocked within hours and the so called disruption you hoped to create would have only lasted a couple of hours at best.

Sadly, you have lost my empathy for your cause but have still managed to keep my sympathy, to ensure you don't loose both from the rest of the country, act a little more adult and don't stoop to such childish levels to try and prove a point.

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George Galloway – Sore Looser or Not? by Unknown Wednesday, July 29, 2015 - 0

Former MP George Galloway, has announced he has started legal proceedings challenging his general election defeat to Labour’s Naz Shah.

Mr Galloway alleges that Ms Shah made “False statements” and has also claimed “widespread malpractice”.

A Labour spokesman has dismissed the allegations made by Mr Galloway as “pathetic and without any foundation”.

Now, lets look at this with a lot less political agenda and a bit more human viewing shall we. Mr Galloway has always been known to cause controversy, and i liken him to a male version of Katie Hopkins at times as well. Needless to say this saga comes across as him being a rather sore looser and that he is incapable of being gracious in defeat.

There have been many issues between Labour and Respect, most of which is pertaining to Ms Shah’s family background which i find hard to believe has anything to do with the election, and find that its just a way for Galloway to worm his way back into Parliament in a very dirty manner.

A spokesman for Respect made a statement that “legal action was at an early stage” well it would have to be seeing as its just been filled, why do these spokesperson state the obvious every time? Get to the point in hand.

Respect say that a complaint has been made under section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, which relates to candidates making false statements during campaigns. In a further statement Mr Galloway, himself a former Labour MP, said “it has come to my attention that there has been widespread malpractice in this election, particularly over the postal voting” well of course there would have to have been George seeing as you lost not to a small majority but to a rather large majority of 11,000 people.

The simple fact here is Mr Galloway is for all intent and purpose a sore looser. He was booted out by the electorate by an 11.000 majority, deal with it. You don't see the likes of Ed Balls, Jim Murphy or Douglas Alexander running off telling tales because they lost, no they took the result as it was delivered and as it was made by the electorate.

This will all end in tears for Mr Galloway, who was reported to police for sending a Tweet about the exit poll results before voting had closed at 2200 BST, to which his spokesman regarded as a “storm in a thimble” is this perhaps the real reason why Galloway has made his so called complaint? I suspect so, and if this is the case he should be barred from standing as an MP and prevented from running in any form of election again.

Simply put, Grow up George, this isn't the school yard now and this is the real world, the people of Bradford West didn't like you, or you policies and so they voted to boot you out entirely and elect a fresh face with better policies and ideals than you. The people have spoken, accept the fact you lost and have some respect for you and the people of Bradford West in that they chose to remove you.

All in all, i cant see this amounting to much, it will take weeks if not months for Respect to prepare their legal case, and then months for it to be heard or tried by which we will already be in a second year of government any way.

Politicians who act like this should be barred from being a politician. Making derogatory remarks about a fellow candidate is poor form and shows a lack of respect entirely.

Mr Galloway, you may not read this, but should you do so take it from me you are nothing more than a sore looser.

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Students - Time To Take Responsibility by Unknown Wednesday, July 29, 2015 - 0

So i was listening to Radio 1 today and Newsbeat came on with the news update. It had a story about Student deaths due to heavy or excessive alcohol consumption. It focused mainly on the recent deaths of 3 students in the River Wear. The students were all studying at Durham University.

So now we have an uproar from the students saying that the police are blaming them for the deaths that have tragically occurred. I think in my honest opinion they couldn't be more wrong. The authorities are simply asking you to take care of yourself and use some common sense for once.

I'm not saying people shouldn't go out and enjoy themselves, do go out and enjoy yourself, you work hard its only right that you have the chance to relax and unwind but take responsibility for your actions. You are the next generation of leaders in this world, act like it. You cant blame some one else for your actions.

So the students are angry that they are being looked after, which i find incredibly preposterous. I some times get the feeling that some students just make this stuff up just so they can get on the news or what have you. Its ridiculous to be angry because some one has your safety as their priority, were you angry at your parents for birthing you and caring for you?

So what needs to happen now? Simple, any student who is too intoxicated to look after themselves should be arrested and charged with a public order offence in that they were drunk and incapable. A night in the cells and a solid fine should be enough to deter those who think that getting off their face regularly is acceptable. Its time students wake up to the real world and understand that their actions have consequences.

The next thing that needs to be looked into is how to protect students from the river? Not my area of expertise im afraid. I certainly don't think that a fence running the length of the river will do any good because it wont be too long before you have them scaling the fence and falling in and then having no way of getting out. A fence is an obstacle that needs to be tackled by drunks. Its just how people act when they are drunk. I mean i have friends that get so mortal that even a kerb is a challenge to be scaled.

 

You may be thinking why i have aimed this at students and not mentioned the wider general public. Its quite simple to explain, the general public are not drowning in the river, the general public are not getting so off their face they think going near the river is a good idea. Students are doing all of the above so that's why its directed directly at students because its simply students bodies that are being dragged out of the water.

With all of the above said, i do have to mention that many students have never lived away from home before. 90% of them don't know how to look after themselves, cook, clean etc. As the saying goes when the cats away the mice will come out to play. And its a clear picture of that when these kids are away from mum and dad they get their first real taste of freedom, but they don't embrace it in the correct manner, they abuse it from the get go.

Yes go out and have a few drinks, a few doesn't mean you get so steaming drunk you become a burden on other people, it means limit your self have a few and show some self control over your drinking. Its not clever and it really isn't impressive either. It shows a clear lack of maturity and lack of self control.

I only hope and pray that no more students end up in the river. And i do hope that the local authorities find a way to protect students from them selves until they reach a level of maturity where by they can then take the reigns for themselves.

To all students in the UK, don't blame some one else for your own stupidity. You have a choice, you can go out and get so trashed and potentially not wake up the next day or you can go out and have a good night and wake up the next day. Ultimately the choice really is down to you. Choose wisely.

Lastly have some appreciation for the fact that something is being done to keep you safe. You ought to be grateful that some one is trying to prevent another family tragedy and another young life being lost too soon.

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Prison Population - An Insight by Unknown Wednesday, July 29, 2015 - 0

We all know that prisons in the UK are at breaking point. They are often overcrowded but the main question is how do you reduce prison populations? What effective methods or strategy's can you put in place to help solve the problem? I came up with an idea, and here i will share it with you.

Firstly i am all for immigration and this is not a question of stopping people from coming here to the UK. I have been blessed and honoured to work with some incredible people in my life from all walks and backgrounds and i am grateful that we have a society that allows the integration of other social circles and cultures.

Now that's out of the way, allow me to bring to you my idea. I was sat around doing little and reading up on some old articles from a while ago. One of which was about the prison service and the pressure it is under to manage an ever growing population. I decided to look over some figures and statistics and found some surprising numbers popping up. My idea is simply this, any person whom does not hold or is a British national should in my opinion be removed from this country and sent back to their respective nation. I'm not being nasty here but I feel that in today’s world if you come to this country you should abide by its laws and customs. At the end of the day if you come to this country you are a guest until as such a time as you naturalise or are given indefinite leave to remain therefore if you commit an offence that is deemed to be serious and a threat to the general public you should be removed from the country, sent back to your homeland and given a lifetime bar on entering the country again.

I know that may come across as harsh but the simple fact is this, if you cant behave here in my country then you can go home and misbehave there instead. I understand that victims of crime want to see the perpetrator punished for what they have done, but most of the time criminals do it just to go back to prison as they get looked after by the tax payer. That is just plain wrong. They commit a crime, they get punished for it, are sent to prison but im then expected to pay for their stay in HM company! Sorry I don't agree with that.

I decided to look over the figures and statistics to get a clearer picture of the total foreign nationals being held in our company and being paid for by us the hard working tax payer. I expected the numbers to be much higher than i found. As of June 30th 2013 there were 10,786 foreign nationals being held in in all UK Prisons and are from a total of 160 different countries, of which 9 accounted for half of the foreign nationals being detained. Poland, Jamaica and the Irish Republic are the countries with the most nationals in prisons around the UK.

To give you some further statistics, the proportion of foreign national prisoners in the prison population increased steadily over the decade from 1997. In the early/mid 1990's foreign prisoners accounted for 8% of the total prison population increasing to approximately 14% by June 2006. Since then the proportion of foreign nationals in prions has fallen slightly to 13% by June 2011, and remaining at that level since.

So while we have had a very small decline in the number of foreign nationals in our prisons it is still 13% of the total prison population . The current prison population which is a combined total (included both male and female prisoners) as of November 2014 stands at 85,861. 13% of this figure are foreign nationals which equates to 11,161 (appx) if you were to remove these nationals back to their country of origin this would drop the prison population to 74,700. That is a huge drop which is in many cases heavily needed. Currently across the UK there are 119 prisons, if the total number of foreign nationals were removed from every prison this would mean a drop of approximately 94 inmates per prison. A reduction that is sorely needed to reduce overcrowding.

It doesn't look like a lot when you see the figures in front of you, but seriously why should the British tax payer have to pay to house foreign criminals when the money that would be spent on holding them could pay for them to be sent back to their country of origin. The average cost of a single prison place in England & Wales only was £36,808. If all foreign nationals were removed from the country and returned to their country of origin this could, if the cost of a prison place is the same figure for all three justice jurisdictions, (England & Wales, Northern Ireland & Scotland) would equate to a saving of £410,814,088. Money that is badly badly sought after.

That £410 million is nearly a quarter of the NHS weekly spending budget. Yes that's right the NHS spends nearly £2 billion a week which equates to nearly £104 billion per year. Take the saving of £410 million from removing all foreign nationals back to their country of origin and this equates to nearly £22 billion per year saved on housing them in our prisons and saving the tax payer money as well. That money could be used elsewhere, for example the recruiting for more prison officers, more police, more nurses more doctors, the list goes on and on. Surely this idea is much much clearer and presents a saving that in this current day and age is sorely needed especially with our current deficit.

I know im going to get bashed and be told im this and that but believe me i am not in anyway discriminating against any one, i am simply presenting an idea that when you get down to the brass tax of it all actually ends up being a very hard idea to refuse and ignore especially when you consider the savings to the public purse and to the tax payer as well.

Obviously this is an idea, there would be a lot more planning involved to make it become reality but i generally think the time is nigh that we need to really get a grip on things. I for one would be all for it, especially when it could save such a vast amount of money that could be better used elsewhere.

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