Free Republic

We want the State to stay out of our lives and sympathy for benefit claimants has evaporated More than half of us - 54% - think unemployment benefits are too high up from 35% in 1983 Workshy parents are to blame for child poverty, say 63% Rise of climate change scepticism: 37% say environment threat has been exaggerated - up from 24% a decade ago Just 29% think same-sex relationships are wrong - down from 46% in 2000 Only 31% want tax rises to pay for health and education, while it was 63% of us in 2002

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, dealt the most serious blow to the Prime Minister’s authority. It emerged that she will step down from the Cabinet when Mr Brown reshuffles his team after what Labour fears will be its worst performance at the polls for a generation. She had been under pressure for weeks over expenses claims made by her husband on her behalf, including for two pornographic films. However, the public disclosure of her departure before tomorrow’s elections threw Mr Brown’s reshuffle off course. Sources close to Downing Street suggested that Miss Smith’s decision only became public after it was...

It's hard to believe it's been 30 years since Margaret Thatcher became Britain's prime minister. She is now in declining health and no longer speaks in public, but if this week's anniversary of Mrs. Thatcher's election proves anything, it's that mention of her name can still start an argument. Some honor her as an unwavering champion of common people and simple principles. Others denounce her as an unbending, heartless ideologue. But virtually all agree that no American president has had a more reliable foreign ally. A generation later, facing tremendous international dangers, President Barack Obama could use such a partner....

For 130 years they have been part of Christmas, filling the air in towns across the land with music and carols. But one thing is missing from the repertoire of Salvation Army bands this year - the percussion of rattling tins. Members have been forbidden to shake their charity tins - even if it's done in time to the music - in case it harasses or intimidates people. One said she had been told it might also offend other religions. Tin man: Salvation Army collectors have been told not to rattle their tins as it could be construed as religious...

Plans to overhaul tax paid by airline passengers could add £170 to the cost of a long-haul holiday for a family of four, airlines have warned. They said that Treasury proposals to raise charges on environmental grounds could make overseas travel an increasingly costly luxury. Passengers who have to change planes to complete their journey would be worst hit, because the Government wants to impose a tax on every flight to discourage planes from flying half-empty. Under the present system of Air Passenger Duty, somebody changing planes at a hub airport such as Heathrow pays a single tax on the...

Last Updated: Friday, 18 January 2008, 13:10 GMT Pantomime gun must be registered A Cornish village drama group has had to register a toy gun with the police to comply with health and safety rules. Carnon Downs drama group in Cornwall have also had to keep their plastic cutlasses and wooden swords locked up for the pantomime, Robinson Crusoe. Producers of the show called the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) rules "farcical". A spokesman for the HSE said the rules were designed to make risks "sensibly managed". "It gets a bit farcical when you are dealing with plastic swords,"Linda Barker...

Rioting could break out on Britain's streets because of anger at the widening gap between rich and poor, it has been claimed. Sir Ronald Cohen, himself one of the nation's richest men, warned that violence could flare if the chasm between the haves and have-nots was not closed. ... "You are too rich, you are making too much money and you are not paying enough tax."

Anthony Eden held an emergency cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street into the early morning hours of July 27th, 1956. Eden told the American diplomatic representative at the meeting that "The Egyptian has his thumb on my windpipe. Tell Mr. Dulles I cannot allow that." Eden had promised that his deals with Nasser would make the Egyptian ruler more friendly. Seizure of the Anglo-French owned canal proved that promise wrong. He spoke that night by phone with the French Foreign Minister Pineau. The French were eager to work with their newfound friends in Israel to launch military action against Nasser...

For many people including humanists who worhsipped France as a "modern secular state", the sudden fall of that nation to the Nazis came as a shock. When the German blitzkrieg took out France in little more than a month, many asked why. Treason from the Right was a common theme from liberals. France's conservative government was unwilling to fight Nazis as much as Communists and put many of them in jail when the war began in 1939. Historian-Journalist William L. Shirer also took note that the Left was unwilling to fight too because they were sympathetic to the Soviets, then...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in London, March 1, 2005. Rice cited what she called "firm evidence" that the Islamic Jihad militant group helped plan last week's Tel Aviv suicide bombing from Syria. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair meets Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for bi-lateral talks at the "Supporting the Palestinian Authority" meeting in London. Rice used the meeting to confirm that a U.S. military security expert would "soon relocate to the region to lead our efforts." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during their meeting in London, March 1, 2005. Israelis and Palestinians...

Fury over MP's sympathy for suicide bombers By Andrew Sparrow, Political Correspondent (Filed: 23/01/2004) An MP caused outrage last night by saying she would consider becoming a suicide bomber if forced to live like Palestinians. Pro-Israel politicians were incensed by Liberal Democrat Jenny Tonge's remarks. A party spokesman said that Dr Tonge, the MP for Richmond Park, was not speaking on behalf of the party when she made her comments on television. Andrew Stunell, the party's chief whip, was making arrangements last night to speak to her so that he could demand an explanation in person. Dr Tonge, the Liberal...

BRUSSELS, May 8, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) in the UK has added its support to opposition to a European Commission initiative establishing a unit to monitor pro-life organisations. A SPUC release issued late yesterday noted that Mrs Dana Rosemary Scallon, the Irish pro-life member of the European parliament, is leading opposition to the unit. She is questioning whether the commission can legally use EU taxpayers' money to fund such a unit and says it compromises the commission's impartiality. She has asked for details of the unit's scope, budget and staffing, and suggests...