If I was a rich man....

Apparently, as a GP, I'm very rich. The BBC investigative team have discovered the scandal that some GPs (less than 5%) are earning over £250,000 a year, after expenses.

Well, most aren't. I'm not. Wish I was...

Apparently "Experts have said the contract was ill devised and is partly responsible for current NHS deficits."

Not quite sure who these experts are, of course, that's not stated. And why are us GPs being pilloried for the NHS deficit when the Government negotiated our contract? It was NEGOTIATED!! We're now being paid for things we were already doing. Our pay had fallen behind comparable professions, and its almost caught up, thank you very much.

As far as the guys earning a quarter mill are concerned, good on them. They will be managing businesses (as do I) to the best of their ability, to get maximum bang for buck, and in the process taking a profit. I wonder if there would be so much fuss if it was some private company making a profit from the NHS, perhaps from following an American model of some sort (which Our Glorious Leader seems to want to emulate).

Well, wake up BBC: GPs are private companies. If you think you're not getting value for money, start comparing us to other countries, see how much we spend per head of population on GPs and the services they provide.

Idiots.

Orwell eat your heart out...

Well, when George Orwell wrote 1984, I'm sure he didn't think that we really would end up with a totalitarian regime. And so far, we haven't got one. But that could change.

Our Glorious Leader has done a fair amount to erode our freedoms in this country, usually under the guise of ensuring our safety, protecting us from terrorists and the like.

The main thing is of course Identity Cards. These will apparently "keep us safe". Yeah, right. They really would have stopped the Tube bombings by British subjects, wouldn't they? They'll really stop people getting into the country we don't want, won't they?

A google search of "Identity cards UK" immediately pulls up several websites who are basically against them. they summarise nicely what is wrong with the scheme as is suggested by Tone and cronies. NO2ID are a pressure group whose news letter provides updates on where the legislation is at. After the recent Lords climbdown and "compromise" over the compulsory nature of the scheme (and make no mistake, it is compulsory), we will all over the next 10 or 20 years have to have a card. Then, the police will be able to insist on seeing it on demand. In other words, in a fundamental shift, British citizens will have to answer to the State about their identity.

WHY SHOULD WE?

And now we have more concrete plans for SOCA. This Agency, going "live" very soon, will be a rough equivalent to a combination of the American FBI, DEA, Justice Department and Customs. This one I have less of a problem with.

BUT. What happens if in 20 years we end up with a government led by some sort of megalomaniac, possibly a right wing xenophobe? It could happen, all it would take is a few more terrorist attacks, a whipping up of the populace by the likes of the BNP, an exageration and a playing on of peoples' fears. All of a sudden, we could be in a position of having to carry the cards to prove we are who we say we are when the SOCA officers stop and search you. If we can't, we'd be dragged off to chokey until, well, until who knows when.

The Nazi's insisted on ID cards. Especially for Jews. I don't want to live in that sort of world. I don't want my children growing up in that sort of world. But currently we are being "managed" by a Government more concerned with leaving something for posterity than in the actual well-being of us, the Great British Public. Think about that at the next General Election.