Big Brother - EU Drones

I am ungemused, but not surprised, to see that the EU superstate has been spending over £320M of EU taxpayers' money (£46M of UK taxpaeyrs' money) on developing surveillance drones without proper democratic oversight.

Neither the House of Commons nor the European Parliament has been consulted over the development of EU unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are being designed to police Europe's skies on law enforcement missions.

A report by Statewatch, a European civil liberties watchdog, has uncovered a secret £58M budget line that was inserted into new EU legislation on air traffic control for this year as "a politically driven priority" to develop drones for surveillance by European police forces, border guards and security services.

MEPs and MPs will not be consulted on the programme or the regulation clearing the development of law enforcement drones that are expected to be cruising the skies in surveillance searches for criminals or to secure public order by the end of the decade.

Ben Hayes, one of the report's authors, is quoted by the Telegraph:

"Despite the widely held civil liberties and privacy concerns about the use of drones for policing and surveillance purposes, there's not been a single jot of democratic scrutiny of the EU's activities in this area.

This is a recipe for irresponsible innovation and a proper debate about where the technology is headed is long overdue."

Bernard Jenkin, Conservative MP for Harwich, chairman of the Commons public Administration select committee and a former shadow defence secretary, said:

"What more proof do people need that the EU is now beyond any kind of democratic accountability? This is a bureaucracy that is out of control, and spending taxpayers' money on the industries under whose influence they operate, with no democratic oversight.

If they had a choice, this is not what UK defence or Treasury ministers want to spend our money on."

A June 2013 commission "roadmap" acknowledged "societal issues" over aerial surveillance by drones but concluded in "the public area there is no privacy at all". 

Read that bit again.... 

NO PRIVACY AT ALL!

A UK government spokesman said:

"Decisions regarding the development of this technology is a sovereign matter, and not for EU institutions. The UK is working together with other countries, including France, on the development of certain technology aspects to reduce our own development costs. But the UK will not participate in a project to develop a European unmanned air system."

The only glimmer of hope that we may have is that if the current rain and wind continues these things will never get off the ground!

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Rain

I see it's raining again!

Don your hi-vis everyone!

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Flooding and Politicians

As the UK continues to be engulfed by a veritable biblical flood, it is worthwhile noting that where a real response/solution to the flooding and infrastructure failures is needed our "beloved" politicians (irrespective of their political leanings and the number of hi vis photo opportunities they avail themselves of) have been shown to be powerless, inept and lethargic.


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Visit The Joy of Lard and indulge your lard fantasies.

Show your contempt for Nanny by buying a T shirt or thong from Nanny's Store.

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Nanny Hates Car Fags

Nanny will, in theory, make it a criminal offence to smoke in cars in England when children are passengers.

MPs voted in favour of an amendment to the Children and Families Bill, which empowers, but does not compel, ministers to bring in a ban in England.

I suspect that this will not make it into the legislative programme before the next election. Even if it does, enforcement will be nigh on impracticable. The next step will be to ban smoking in homes that contain children.

The irony is that those who voted for this ban (and indeed the ban on smoking in the workplace some years ago) are allowed to smoke in the Palace of Westminster.

Meanwhile we (children included) continue to be irreparably damaged by the toxic fumes emitted by cars, lorries and planes.

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Show your contempt for Nanny by buying a T shirt or thong from Nanny's Store.

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In Other News

Wales appears to be leading the way in showing Nanny how to divert our attention from major issues.

The South Wales Evening News presents us with the news that a lady has worn the same cardigan for 54 years without ever losing a button!

Bread and circuses taken to a new low!

Visit The Orifice of Government Commerce and buy a collector's item.

Visit The Joy of Lard and indulge your lard fantasies.

Show your contempt for Nanny by buying a T shirt or thong from Nanny's Store.

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Nanny Hates Fags In Cars

Today MPs will vote on whether to ban smoking in cars where children are present. It is expected that they will vote in favour of giving the Health Secretary the power to ban it, but that does not mean that the ban will come into force anytime soon (as it will  be dependant on the Health Secretary actually banning it).

In the event such a ban comes into being, quite how it will be enforced is another matter!

Visit The Orifice of Government Commerce and buy a collector's item.

Visit The Joy of Lard and indulge your lard fantasies.

Show your contempt for Nanny by buying a T shirt or thong from Nanny's Store.

www.nannyknowsbest.com is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Visit Oh So Swedish Swedish arts and handicrafts

Why not really indulge yourself, by doing all the things that Nanny really hates? Click on the relevant link to indulge yourselves; Food, Bonking, Gifts and Flowers, Groceries