Picture the scene. You pop into your local pub and over in a corner of the bar you spy your MP on a night out with a group of mates, some of whom are dressed in jackboots, goose-stepping to and from the gents, and shouting ‘Seig Heil’ when it’s their turn to get a round in.
Would you want someone who willingly keeps this kind of company representing you in parliament? I don’t think so.
So, why hasn’t David Cameron sacked Aidan Burley, the right honourable member for Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, for his indiscretion?
Burley was fired as an aide to transport secretary Justine Greening after participating in a Nazi-themed stag party and hiring an SS officer’s outfit for the groom.
But this is not enough. The disgraced MP should be stripped of his position, expelled from the party and frog-marched out of the Commons for his sick and deplorable conduct.
By associating himself with a murderous and anti-semitic regime Burley has forfeited any right to be part of the parliamentary process. I say this not only as a Jew, but as a patriot whose uncle lost his life on D-Day fighting for this country’s liberty.
Cameron’s hardline approach to the euro veto has earned him plaudits for his leadership qualities. At a time when the rest of Europe seems to be thrashing around like a rudderless ship, our prime minister demonstrated some real backbone in taking on the federalists.
Yet, when Burley was caught on camera at a stag night where guests where chanting "Hilter, Hitler, Hitler", Cameron dithered for a week before giving the MP his marching orders as a parliamentary aide.
The prime minister has to act. Put principles before politics. If he can take on the might of Angela Merkel’s Germany, he can take on a feckless Tory MP who thinks it’s a bit of a gag to join his boozed-flushed pals at an SS-themed bash.
With the Tories currently enjoying a six-point lead, surely our PM isn’t cowering at the prospect of a by-election? To allow Burley to remain part of his government is to give tacit approval to his actions. What does Cameron stand for if he allows him to remain? Particularly at a time when anti-Semitism is on the increase in this country and across the world? Churchill fought them on the beaches. Surely you can fight a by-election.
Dads should be responsible for disciplining kids
Fathers could soon be forced to sign their baby’s birth certificate in a bid to make new dads feel an increased responsibility to their child.
It’s a nice idea. But even when men readily embrace paternity, they can still turn out to be incredibly irresponsible – by refusing to accept their child is ever wrong.
Witness the reaction of Lenny Main whose foul-mouthed son was chucked off a train in Scotland by a fellow passenger after insulting the ticket inspector, failing to produce a ticket and holding up everybody else.
Mr Main described the inspector and his helper as "a pair of bullies" and says that he will "not be paying any attention to the comments of ‘experts’ who say my son is some kind of delinquent."
Spare me please from the whining parents whose default position in such cases is "my child just isn’t like this".
Sam Main may well be, as his father says, "bright and clever" and has "never been in trouble with the police and never claimed benefits". But on that train he behaved like a selfish, unapologetic, foul-mouthed yob.
Main should have said he was sorry. A natural response from those whose parents have shown them the right way to behave.
If Lenny Main really wants to do right by his son, he should quit whimpering about Sam’s "distressing" ejection and show him some tough love, good manners and unravel the cotton wool.
Actions speak louder than words – even those written on a birth certificate
Hard work is the surefire way to shed some pounds
Another day, another wonder diet pill hits the papers. This time it’s Xenical, a product that claims not to make you ill.
Neither does eating sensibly and exercising regularly, which is how I’ve managed to dodge middle-aged midriff so far.
In fact, last month I was approached by a rabbi’s wife who said that she had a mission for me.
I assumed it was about a legal matter, but in fact she wanted me to start training her husband, who, she claimed, rather candidly, was both unfit and overweight.
I devised a modest exercise and healthy eating regime and he has already lost a stone.
In fact others in his flock are now training with him.
No ills, no pills – just faith and willpower. That’s the only way to reap the rewards.
Sat-navs are route to distraction
GROWING numbers of motorists are abandoning satellite navigation systems and returning to traditional maps, according to a new report.
This may not be a bad thing. To me, sat-navs remain a potentially law-breaking tool for the hapless motorist.
In my view, these devices shouldn’t be operable when a car is moving – the screen should go blank, with only audio instructions available.
Despite no specific legislation, sat-navs remain a huge distraction to the moving motorist. This could lead to a catalogue of driving offences, the most serious of which carry a lengthy prison sentence .
So take care when visiting relatives this Christmas.
And while I’m on the subject, watch out for the Christmas pudding and brandy butter. These alcohol-soaked treats could well send you over the limit.
Merry Christmas.
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For someone who makes a living out of helping the rich and famous duck their responsibilities you do make an awful lot of noise about other people doing likewise.
Are you just bitter that you weren't consulted on a fare dodging loophole?
I wish this guy would bog off.
Another pile of rubbish from a man who finds it easy to take the moral high ground given that he spends most days getting people off driving offences on technicalities.
Correct me was he wearing the Nazi uniform? Or had the Groom worn the apparel. If the problem was the disgrace then surely Prince Harry should formally abdicate his role. Which will no doubt entertain the republican element in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon.
Yes absolutely, after all we can't allow anyone to have a laugh can we. Mind you if he'd only chosen a left wing dictator like Joseph Stalin there wouldn't have been a fuss, because killing between 20 - 45 million people is fine so long as you're a leftie. Or he could have chosen Mao, or Pol Pot, but not Mugabe - that would be racist!
Welcome to the topsy turvy world of the politically correct, none of it makes sense, but should you transgress of the made up on the spot rules, you'll certainly know about it!
Is there any evidence Burley has any genuine Naziesque tendencies? Any genuine feelings of anti-semitism? If so, by all means boot him out, otherwise punish him in accordance to his sartorial idiocy.
It was a tasteless bit of fancy dress, and should be treated as such, and professional whiners like yourself do nothing more than detract from the suffering the actual Nazi's caused by watering down the horrors by appropriating the deaths of millions - just so you can be offended over someone's clothing. Turning the Holocaust into something you can wave around when your nose is put out of joint, *that* is both offensive and disgusting. *You* did not suffer the Nazi's evils, *you* were not at D-Day, so how about not hanging on the coattails of genuine suffering and heroic behaviour?
Until he starts advocating turning a Butlins into a new Belsen, I figure we can consider him a moron. You as well, apparently.
Can I ask, in that picture were you:
1. In extreme pain? Or
2. Just told a very rude joke?
ta
How can dads discipline kids when you have wealthy solicitor's settiong a good example by getting Guilty people off cases on technicalities. That does not set a good example.
Great to hear 'Big man' will be charged.
It sends out a message that physical thuggery is not excusable in cases like this by intimidating bullies, however well meaning they think they are. We can't give the green light to this kind of reaction.
Has the Rancid Inspector who delighted in this physical thuggery by welcoming the intervention, been sacked yet?
The least he is, is very unprofessional and the worst is a nasty & dangerous moron. This lad didn't and wouldn't have harmed anybody. Did he ask for a name and address to be sent a fine?. Why didn't he call the transport police as a last resort for non payment?
Using other passengers as a weapon was out of order. It sent out a signal that they should be hacked off at the lad and to side with the inspector in whatever way they felt fit. Basically, consent and delight for this thuggish behaviour that he probably wanted to do himself. Definitely worthy of the sack.
The train company knows what happened was morally wrong, so they should show it from the beginning and not condone anything or stick by either individual.
The fact most people side with the physical thug is very telling of the current state of our society.
Mr Freeman, quoted in the Mail, reflecting earlier this year on his marriage to his former wife, Stephanie:
"[But] there is a price to pay for marrying a non-Jewish girl. The Friday-night dinner invitations dried up and you do sacrifice facets of your social network.
Steph and I did talk about her converting, and she would have done it. But at the time I felt it was like painting a white man black and then saying he’s black.
Though on reflection, I do regret that we didn’t do it. I tell my children about what it means for me to be Jewish – that makes it part of them."
Why has,nt anyone mentioned the sheep or the klansman whose round it was still thats pollitic,s for you & why i,ve never trusted any party
Aidan Burley is obviously very stupid, if he didn't realise that attending a Nazi themed stag party would cause offence, even if he himself didn't wear such an outfit. I'm also surprised that any company hires out such "costumes" (from the photo it doesn't look realistic but too close to the real thing for any civilised person to wear), particularly in a country that suffered so much under the Nazis. What next? Hold a similar do in Oradour-sur-Glane?
Just because Sam Main behaved like an obnoxious oaf, doesn't excuse Alan Pollock behaving like an obnoxious thug.
Most people manage to drive quite safely whilst using a sat nav, and avoid going down unsuitable roads. It's the stupid people who pose a risk and you can't, unfortunately, legislate against stupidity. If you could, both Aidan Burley and Sam Main would have further charges to face.
Mr Freeman seems ignorant of the way the UK Parliament works, Mr Cameron has no power to expel any MP, that resides with the voters in his constituency.
It's a whole lot of empty noise about nothing. The MP wasn't wearing the fancy-dress in question. As a lawyer, you should know that there is no law against wearing Nazi Uniform in either this country or France. The vilification is totally unnecessary and is a knee-jerk reaction to something completely ridiculous. I suppose you'd string up Allo Allo and the actors from films such as "Colditz". This thought police stuff is exactly what my parents and their parents fought AGAINST!
On the sat nav point, operating them whilst the vehicle is in motion IS illegal as it is classed as an electronic device and falls under the same legislation that mobile phones do. What law is it again that you practice? For many drivers, sat navs are indispensable, but should be a guide and not the driver.