The Lost of London

13 March, 2012 at 1:50 pm | Posted in Motoring matters | 4 Comments
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When you successfully complete The Knowledge you might expect that your day would entail the picking up of passengers and taking them to their destination with a little lively banter thrown in for good measure. What you’re not prepared for is the second service we seem obliged to provide – that of a mobile tourist information office.

Now I don’t mind directing the odd tourist to the theatre 10 minutes before the curtain is raised, or someone who is late for a job interview, but what I do object to is when a “professional” – courier, private hire or van driver – asks directions. They either don’t possess a SatNav or have wasted their money on the wrong model.

Cabbies Mate

A little over 2 years ago I wrote a post about the Navigation Master and recently I’ve upgraded to their latest model, the A-Z+ Cabbie’s Mate.

The first thing you notice is the size – a 5″ screen larger than its predecessor and almost one-and-a-half times larger than a TomTom.

Only half an inch thick, with its rounded edges it’s looks are more akin to an i-phone. So portable is the little gizmo the makers have thoughtfully produced a carrying wallet that can be slipped into a jacket pocket.

It has the usual accessories: window mounting bracket, 2 chargers, USB cable and for my fat fingered colleagues a rather clever stylus secreted within the housing.

As with the previous model there are two navigational systems. The one most drivers use, a complete A-Z of Greater London and a conventional Countrywide version.

Three databases are incorporated, a complete street directory and postcodes, not much different from White Van Man’s SatNav.

But it’s the database of over 450,000 points (23,000 in London) that make it worth the money. Clubs, hotels, museums, you name it Cabbie’s Mate most probably has it logged. If not regular updates are available, in fact your first update is included in the purchase price.

Select a destination and Cabbie’s Mate draws a straight line between your current position and the chosen destination. No trouble for London’s cabbies then to drive to there armed with that information. However, if White Van Man cannot follow the straight line (known by cabbies as being ‘on the cotton’ from when on the Knowledge a piece of cotton would be put between two points to indicate the shortest route) they can switch instantly between the A-Z and the conventional mapping or back again. A robotic voice instructs them in which direction to take and the names of the individual roads with a clarity that even a minicab driver could understand.

Another nice touch, but just don’t tell the wife if you are having some extra curricular activity. Cabbie’s Mate draws a trace recording your movements, if you enter into a large non-descript housing estate, turn on the trace and retrace your steps.

The biggest fault with my old Cabbie’s Mate was the conventional SatNav. Using Its new Navigation Master software this latest model has all the bells and whistles of my TomTom: speed cameras, it warns of exceeding the speed limit, lane assist, distance to next turn or destination, in fact everything you would expect from a SatNav.

And to wile away your time waiting on the rank you have a music player, video player, photo browser, there is even an e-book reader, alright its not a Kindle but try using a book reader to find your way round London.

It has hands free mobile answering with the Bluetooth function, it never fails to dismay me when I see a cabbie holding his phone while driving.

Three games are here, my favourite – Russian Block is their version of the timeless classic Tetris.

Pointless functions include a calculator and a unit converter (do I really need to work out how many gallons I’ve just put in my tank?). And it claims to have a web-browser, but with the limited time I spent trying to surf it failed to work.

But my real criticism is the name, it – well – just discourages non-cabbies to buy it, so I’m still going to have to answers those dam fool questions.

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Big Brother is your friend

31 May, 2011 at 12:11 pm | Posted in Motoring matters | 6 Comments
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Cab cameras

The Coalition, in an attempt to divert the public’s attention away from the morass they have got themselves into with the National Health Service Reforms, have unleashed their attack dog: Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond.

Politicians know that nothing, almost nothing, exercises voters’ minds more than dangerous driving, we all think that we are better than average drivers, a statistical impossibility, and it’s always the other chap who’s to blame.

Within hours of hearing the proposals to bring in tougher new penalties for dangerous driving, while sitting stationary in my cab at a set of traffic lights on the Tottenham gyratory system, three motorists blatantly jumped a red light, I can only assume that after eleven at night red lights in Tottenham are only a suggestion and not an instruction to stop.

When driving it will not have escaped your attention that drivers can manage to drive with care and courtesy when in the vicinity of a police car, indeed if you see this unusual behaviour on a motorway you can be sure that amongst the slower moving cars is a member of the motorway patrol.

The Government’s proposals are to get away from fixed speed cameras having already scrapped grants to local authorities which enabled them to install and the monitor these devices. The proposals are to give greater powers to the police to stop bad driving, this will mean that more officers are taken from crime prevention and put on the road to catch the minority of motorists who flout the law.

London’s bus network is one of the largest and most comprehensive urban transport systems in the world, every weekday over 6,800 scheduled buses travel on over 700 different routes travelling over 300 million miles per year. If CCTV cameras were installed on every bus with a device that the driver could press when he saw dangerous driving which would put a mark on the image at the time of the alleged offence to assist retrieval, and as with many motoring offences at present, civilians could access the marked image and forward it to the driver with a fixed penalty notice. Likewise London’s 24,000 cabs could over time be converted to take these images, for it seems to me that slower moving public service vehicles are more likely to witness dangerous driving, as for some reason the few lunatics who persist in the practice of driving without due care, feel that buses and cabs are just in their way.

Over time drivers in London would have to improve their standards, or face the penalty, just as they always managed to drive with care when confronted with a police car in their path.

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Jaywalkers assist drivers

8 February, 2011 at 2:25 pm | Posted in Motoring matters | 4 Comments
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Exhibition Road

“In towns we may need to start considering some radical schemes such as removing kerbs so there are more hazards – like pedestrians – around your car. Our research suggests that this might actually improve people’s driving.”

Having written not one but two posts about the pedestrianisation of Exhibition Road where road planners intend to allow drivers and pedestrians to use “shared space”, I thought the topic was finally closed.

Until that is the findings of Newcastle University Researchers were published recently; who after questioning 1,563 drivers about their motoring style and personality believe removing kerbs could actually make driving safer.

They found that 31 per cent of drivers were easily bored and were more likely to seek excitement by taking driving risks, and they were prone to speeding or overtaking as they did not find the city roads taxing enough.

Of all those surveyed 35 per cent who were described as “enthusiastic”, found driving challenging – presumably trying to dodge pedestrians – or interesting and were less likely to have an accident. Other findings include 13 per cent found to be safe and slow, and a total of 21 per cent who were just plain slow through their dislike of driving.

Exhibition Road when finished will have pedestrians mixing with cars, the theory being both will be aware of each other – and that is the fatal flaw.

Fortuitously in the week these findings were published a video appeared on YouTube which rather illustrates my point, showing just how pedestrians with mobile phones can behave on London Streets.

This is Cathy Marrero, who walked into a mall fountain in Pennsylvania, while texting on her mobile phone. Now if you had fallen into a water feature you’d probably try to keep your dignity intact and retreat gracefully. But not our Cathy, she’s suing, because security staff could be heard laughing – in footage posted on YouTube – rather than helping her out, now the whole world know how stupid she is. “You need to see the serious side of it,” Marrero has said.” What if it was a senior citizen, would it be so funny then?” Absolutely, it would. Only had somebody drowned could it not be classed as comedy. Then it would be natural selection.

Texting while walking is a curse; people step out on to roads, collide with you in the street, obstruct your path by dawdling, all because they are engaged in banal dialogue with a person many miles away. I’m really looking forward to having the Cathy Marrero’s of this world using my “shared space” along Exhibition Road.

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George Train’s Trams

10 December, 2010 at 1:29 am | Posted in Motoring matters | Leave a comment
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If ever a man was destined to run a transport system it was George Train for the aptly named Mr Train who gave us the tram, a mode of transport that would last for 100 years. At its peak 2,500 tramcars carried seven million passengers a year, so popular were the trams that when E/3-1904 the last tramcar made her final run from Westminster to Woolwich on 5th July 1952 thousands turned out to see it, some even placing pennies on to the tramlines to obtain a small, if bent souvenir of the occasion.

Train was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1829, but at the age of four he was orphaned when yellow fever plague killed his family and he was raised by his grandparents in Boston. Train was engaged in the mercantile business in Boston and in Australia; he then went to England in 1860 and undertook to form horse tramway companies in Birkenhead and London where he soon met opposition. Although his trams were popular with passengers, his designs had rails that stood above the road surface and obstructed other traffic. In 1861 Train was arrested and tried for “breaking and injuring” a London street.

Referring to himself as “Citizen Train”, he became a shipping magnate, a prolific writer, a minor presidential candidate, and a confidant of French and Australian revolutionaries. During the American Civil War he gave numerous speeches in England in favour of the Union and denouncing the Confederacy. In 1870 Train undertook a trip around the world and was probably the inspiration for Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, and its protagonist Phileas Fogg.

Now although the trams have themselves gone, the last vehicle was deliberately rolled over in July 1952 and set alight on an anonymous siding in Charlton, we still have some evidence of their existence in London.

By far the largest is the Kingsway Tramway Subway a cut-and-cover Grade II Listed tunnel in central London, built by the London County Council, the only one of its kind in Britain. The decision in 1898 to clear slum districts in the Holborn area provided an opportunity to use the new streets for a tramway connecting the lines in the north and south and, following the pattern of tramway systems in New York and completed in 1908.

A year after the destruction of car E/3-1904 the subway was redeployed to store 120 retired buses in case they were needed for the Coronation and for two years after that served as a railway tunnel in the film Bhowani Junction. The tunnel was then closed owing to the fire risk it was not used until the London County Council proposed making use of the tunnel for light traffic coming from Waterloo Bridge in order to reduce traffic congestion at its junction with Strand and it opened to road traffic as the Strand Underpass on 21 January 1964.

Until the opening of the Thames Barrier in 1984, a portable building near the north of the tunnel was used as a flood control headquarters for the Greater London Council, being underground and close to the Thames one would have though a better location could have been found for London’s flood control.

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Eating humble pie

24 September, 2010 at 12:09 am | Posted in Motoring matters | 4 Comments
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It is now two months since it started, and although it sticks in the craw to say it: I think Bicycle Clips Boris may have picked a winner with his cycle hire scheme.

After some initial technology problems, the bikes are popular and, are usually ridden carefully, probably their weight precluding any Lycra loutish behaviour.

I’m quite happy to see more cyclists take to London’s roads, but I have grave reservation about the two new Super Highways (with a further 10 planned by 2015). These are just strips of blue paint on the tarmac, but they give the impression that cyclists have a divine right to their exclusive use.

TfL’s website informs us that “they will provide cyclists with SAFER and FASTER journeys”. Just the jolly job you might say, encouraging more use of bikes, getting fitter and save the planet. Further inquiry will lead you to realise that Blue Routes are intended to highlight the presence of cyclists and are advisory rather than enforceable, a bit like red traffic lights or priority to pedestrians on zebra crossings for some cyclists.

The first two routes are pilots to enable TfL to assess (and here I would suggest TfL consider a different verb) the impact on traffic and cyclists, and if successful Boris plans to increase the use of bikes by 400 per cent.

They say the worst kind of security is a false sense of security and this is where Super Highway madness concerns me. These lanes will be used by riders with little experience of riding in London and they could think they are protected in some way, but in fact any vehicle can drive down a blue lane at any time. It is a sad statistic that this year’s casualties have been mostly women cycling sensibly along London’s roads. It’s the Lycra clad lads on racing bikes with saddles like razor blades who are far more adept at keeping alive.

If Boris is serious about increasing London’s road bike capacity he should insist that councils are forced to provide dedicated lanes for their use, identification on bikes increasing the ability to prosecute law breakers and cyclists take out 3rd party insurance, then we can all jog along happily, as for joggers that’s for another post.

Be careful out there.

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1984 and all that

25 May, 2010 at 1:18 am | Posted in Motoring matters | 2 Comments
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1450063426_ee38d4e2e9 It has been 50 years since man has “boldly gone” into space, and what benefits has civilisation gained from space exploration? Well, apart from SatNavs, accurate weather forecasts, satellite imaging which identifies problem regions on earth, and yes, Teflon frying pans, one benefit to society has emerged that those early space pioneers could never have imagined.

Secret trials by the Home Office are being conducted in Southwark (where else?) on a car monitoring system which tracks your car and calculates its average speed, the cameras achieve this by communicating with each other via satellite.

The hi-tech devices can track a driver’s progress across the capital to calculate the vehicles average speed, combining number plate recognition, similar to that used with the congestion charge with global positioning satellites they can be set up to monitor tens of thousands of cars over a huge area.

Known as SpeedSpike the system allows two cameras from anywhere in the network to “talk” to each other if a vehicle appears to have travelled too far in too short a space of time.

Rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun, who enabled America to reach the moon, was at one time a fully paid up number of the German Socialist Party; if Hitler were alive today he would be delighted at this application of Big Brother, brought about by the genius of von Braun.
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Driven from your drive

9 February, 2010 at 2:24 am | Posted in Motoring matters | 2 Comments
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Knowledge Point

 

 

 

Knowledge students
at the Knowledge Point School
in Caledonian Road,
parking their bikes on private land

Before reading this post I should warn you that sitting or preferably lying down might lessen the risk of injury to yourself when reaching the end of this sorry tale.

Dr. Richard Dawood is the sort of conscientious doctor we would all like to have as our own. Anxious to be able to negotiate the congested streets of north London quickly should an emergency arise, he purchased a scooter.

He could park the scooter on the tarmac forecourt adjacent to his property, but to draw attention that this land was owned by him, and therefore private property, and not part of the adjacent flagstone pavement, he affixed to his wall a notice which read:

“This forecourt is private property and is not dedicated as a public footway”

So far so good, indeed in 2001 when he received two parking tickets, although his scooter was parked on his own property, the chief executive of Camden Council wrote to the good doctor apologising for the error admitting the doctor’s scooter was parked on private land.

Then 2 years ago he received another ticket while parked in the same place and assumed another mistake had been made and wrote asking that the penalty be struck off.

After several letters (and more parking tickets) he was appalled to receive a reply informing him that Camden Council had reconsidered the matter and decided that his forecourt was part of the public footway, whether private or not, and would enforce the penalty notice.

When Dr. Dawood decided to take the case to a parking tribunal, the tickets were mysteriously cancelled just prior to the appeal dates. But five tickets were overlooked by the council and became the subject of a parking tribunal where the adjudicator reserved judgment, siting the case White v The City of Westminster, this test case is regularly used by councils to penalise motorists on private land, but crucially if one wheel of their vehicle is on the public pavement.

Dr. Dawood then applied for a judicial review of his case, and at this point I would earnestly advise you to hold on to something.

Lord Justice Sedley ruled:

That Dr. Dawood did own the land or rather, the subsoil marked on his deeds, but the Tarmac surface above was subject to public access, and because there was no physical barrier between the road and the Tarmac strip, parking restrictions did apply.

This ruling means in effect that unless you erect a physical barrier at the point where your drive abuts the highway it could technically be accessed by the public and therefore is now fair game for traffic wardens, and you just know that the Traffic Taliban of Camden Council will at every opportunity use this loophole to milk the motorist.
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A Sign of the Times

20 March, 2009 at 1:57 pm | Posted in Motoring matters | 3 Comments
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Road Sign Montage England has roads that are built to be safe with good surfaces, consistent lane widths and good visibility at junctions, but that is where it ends. Forests of metal poles supposedly warning the driver of death-risk hazards have sprung up everywhere. Signs that direct you to the right destination are fine but in other respects our streetscape has become a disgusting expression of bureaucratic excess.

Alan Duncan, MP for Rutland & Melton, published a Private Member’s Bill in December 2006 which he had hoped would give local authorities duties to reduce the visual impact of street signs and traffic calming measures and to publish policies on ensuring that highways developments are in keeping with local surroundings. In his forthcoming book he estimates that there are well over one million unnecessary road signs in Britain.

He goes on to say: “These signs are the result of the worst examples of official inertia. Highways departments take the rules, and then over implement them. A guideline or regulation that says that a sign ‘might’ be required is usually put before a committee, which decides that it ‘must be used. ‘Oh dear,’ the committee members fret, ‘We might be sued if we don’t put the sign in.’ Even the tiniest bend in the road is assumed to need a warning sign to avoid the risk of the local council being taken to court if someone drives into a hedge.

So, here is the start of a list of signs that could safely be removed without any detrimental effect on the nation. On any main road, roundabouts are announced by large green directional signs that provide route information. You can tell the sign relates to a roundabout because, not surprisingly, the image looks like a roundabout. So why do we need, in front of it, a red-edged triangular sign warning drivers they are approaching a roundabout? Take all the triangular signs away.

When nearing a set of traffic lights, whose coloured bulbs glaringly inform you that there are traffic lights ahead, why must we have a series of red-edged triangular signs with a picture of traffic lights on them? The whole point about traffic lights is that they are designed to be seen.

Perhaps the greatest explosion of useless metalwork is caused by the number of blue roundels marking a cycle path. Keep the cycle paths but get rid of those ghastly signs. There is no need for them. If it is a shared pavement, just a stencil on the ground can mark it out.

Arguably the worst signs are those that say ‘New Road Layout Ahead’, or any such supposedly temporary red signs that, under current regulations, should remain in place for a maximum of three months, most stay for much longer, some even for years. Only a few councils have a proper system for removing them after their ‘temporary’ life span and such a widespread display of neglect and incompetence is a sad reflection on local authorities’ attention to the standards we all deserve.

Our roads into the capital are shaming. The Finchley and Holloway Roads are a national embarrassment. Such was the lunacy of Transport for London under Ken Livingstone that red route signs have been fastened to a post or lamppost every few yards for mile after mile on the roads into our capital city.

New signs come in; yet old ones remain. One layer of signs is planted in front of another, creating obscurity and confusion. A lack of initiative at Government level, over-design by highways engineers and contractors, and the fear of litigation all combine to make our streets ugly and confusing.

Get rid of this street clutter. Uproot it all now.”

Thanks to Alan Duncan MP for permission to reproduce this article.

Photo: http://www.freefoto.com

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Man’s Best Friend

16 March, 2009 at 11:06 am | Posted in Motoring matters, Slug, snail, puppydog tail | Leave a comment
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Dogs are called Man’s Best Friend and this week’s blog is an excuse to include a picture of CabbieBlog’s best friend.

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Cute they may be, but not so appealing for some motorists.

According to the vehicle breakdown service the RAC, dogs are the most frequent animal offenders and several have managed to shut their owners out of their vehicles on garage forecourts by activating the locks with their paws. Its patrols have also attended incidents where dogs had swallowed car keys and damaged vehicles by chewing the wires and steering wheels.

Animals are also to blame for other incidents. One patrol was called out to a car that wouldn’t start to discover a family of rats living in the fuse box, where they had chewed through all the wires. Another patrolman had a more traumatic day; he had to fix a van taking an alligator to a zoo. Another speedy patrol helped restart a transporter taking a cheetah to a zoo before it was dinner time!

A kitten being driven to his new home panicked on arrival and escaped into the dashboard of the vehicle. The entire dashboard had to be dismantled. Similar call-outs involved snakes, mice and hamsters hiding within the vehicle.

A particular favourite of mine involves a patrolman opening the back of a broken down van to be startled on finding 17 pairs of eyes staring back at him belonging to a cast of falcons.

Another RAC member was mystified as to why he couldn’t unlock his car and, on arrival, the patrol had to point out that he was trying to get into the wrong vehicle.

One motorist had more money than sense when he managed to lock £80,000 in cash inside his boot.

One in three of the motoring organisation’s patrols also reported that they had arrived at a call-out to find amorous couples in the broken down vehicle.

A survey of its patrols found 39 per cent had helped a motorist get to a life-changing event, such as a getting to a wedding on time and one even reported helping to deliver a baby.

RAC patrol person of the year Iain Vale said: “Our patrols respond to around 2.7 million roadside assistance call-outs every year and this survey reveals the extent of the very odd and unusual nature of what sometimes awaits us. Whether it’s meeting members who keep their dog’s ashes in an urn in the car, calls asking whether they can extend breakdown cover to their electric wheelchairs, or a new kitten that’s panicked and hidden in the dashboard, we get our hands dirty.”

The RAC’s other bizarre call-outs included:

A hapless groom nearly didn’t marry his bride when he locked the wedding rings in his car.

A £30,000 violin had to be rescued by a RAC patrol from a jammed seat belt so that its owner could get to a concert in time.

One RAC patrol rescued a referee on his way to a football match just hours before the game was due to kick off.

Another patrol rescued a police car, stuck up to its windows in mud having chased a runaway criminal across a ploughed field.

Fat Cats

Don’t worry about the collapse of the banks, the credit crunch and the looming recession, this is really serious stuff. The Department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), has just published a report that puts all these other problems in the shade.

Owners of fat cats and obese dogs could be fined up to £20,000 or jailed under these new controversial Government rules! No, it’s not a wind up and I’m not having a laugh, it goes into detail to remind pet owners of their responsibilities under the new law.

It tells owners to provide “entertainment” ad “Mental stimulation” for pets, making sure upstairs windows are “cat-proofed” to stop animals falling out and to avoid taking dogs for a walk in the hottest part of the day. Pet owners should also ensure that they give animals a suitable place to live and “somewhere to go to the toilet”.

So don’t forget, the next time your cat or dog is looking bored, entertain them with a song and allow them to join in the family quiz for their mental stimulation. And if your dog asks to go “walkies” and it’s hot outside, just lead him into his private toilet. I shudder to think just how much of the taxpayer’s money has been spent on this patronising and ridiculous Bill that assumes all pet owners are dopey.

I would refer you now to the above photo, is CabbieBlog’s dog OK?

Your number’s up

13 March, 2009 at 11:44 am | Posted in Motoring matters | Leave a comment
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englandscotlandnorthern-irelandwaleseurope

Now all of you from countries that take pride in your national identity take note. It is now officially illegal to have British, English, Scottish or Welsh flags displayed on your vehicle number plate or for that matter French, German or Italian flags displayed – but it goes without saying that you can have the European Union flag.

Thousands of ordinary motorists have been unwittingly breaking the law after this mendacious Government back tracked on a promise to legalise the display of National flags on vehicle number plates. Ministers had said they would take action to exempt British drivers from European Union inspired legislation, which also outlawed the Cross of St. George, the Scottish Saltire and the Red Dragon. But of course that promise was never kept and it is only now that the true purpose of this legislation has been revealed. This absurd fiasco means that for the past seven years motorists with national flags displayed on their number plates have unknowingly been risking prosecution, a fine of £1,000, an MOT failure for their vehicle or a stop note and an overhaul failure on their taxi if they have the temerity to display a national flag on their number plate and indeed some motorists have been successfully prosecuted for this.

Under the current regulations in their original form, the only insignia allowed is the 12 star circle of the European Union. Motorists have to choose either a plain plate without a symbol, or one with the European Union emblem and the letters GB on the left hand side. Of course, these so called ministers, who think they are speaking for the whole country, claimed the move was justified, as English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland symbols would only confuse the police forces of other European Union countries. How can these Ministers even contemplate this thinking? Do England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland not exist then? This shows you how far the corrupt European Union has intruded into the workings and laws of ordinary citizens all over Europe.

When the entire population has been given a criminal record and is on the National Register Database, will our wonderful politicians finally be happy and sleep peacefully? Is this some sort of master plan to stamp out any last vestige on national identify or pride?

2nd-cab

Gordon Brown and his fellow European bureaucrats’ should note that people want a national identity, going down this long slippery slope increases jingoistic feeling and an attitude of Little Englanders. Stop it now before it is too late, because across Europe we have some serious identity problems, your well paid gravy trains are not worth it.

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