Aaaaarrrrgh!

I know I'm always moaning - but as I've explained, I'm a systems buster. We sniff out untruths and injustices and moan about them. Sometimes we also do something about them.

I seem to be eternally signing petitions, objections, writing emails to MP's, MEP's and god-knows-who and I'm probably on the Government "nuisance" register, if they have one, as that whacky woman AGAIN.

England, in many ways is a wonderful country to live in. I like it. That's why I'm here. Here, human life is cherished. There are many countries in the world that have little concern when it's lost. There is the most fantastic safety net to catch you if you fall. Many other countries allow you to live and die in the gutter if you have no way to climb out of it. I like the respect for law here, the considerateness of drivers, the order of the tip sites! The poor are not forced to scavenge rubbish dumps in this country. There really are no poor. Prisoners are respected and have rights. The police do not handcuff suspects to the back of police vehicles and set the dogs on them. Jobs are available to people of any colour, and not just to those who are black. Vaginal mutilation is illegal. Children are not allowed to be abused physically. There are millions of people in this country who volunteer their time and effort to help people less fortunate than themselves. Buildings are mostly safe to live in. There are no volcanoes and only very mild earthquakes. The countryside is beautiful. The best bits are fiercely conserved. People will rescue butterflies and hedghogs and ducks, swans and fish are not eaten from the waterways by people who are starving. There are checks and regulation about the food we eat, the medicines we take and The National Health System has always been perfectly adequate for me.

England is a good country to live in.

BUT

It drives me crazy! It is not a democracy. Its government lies to the people. Regularly we are "consulted" - and then the opinions of the citizens are simply ignored. The Government knows best it seems and they do exactly what they want. Take the recent poll that showed we didn't want elected Police Commissioners. It happened anyway and the people showed their displeasure by not voting. Some polling stations had not a single vote! And the Governments was astonished!

Take Wind Farms near where I live in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Big business has the right to appeal, but WE don't. The government are going to do what they want - and to hell with us.

Aaaaarrrrgh!