The appearance of ID cards has been finalised – and they will not feature the Union Flag because it “may upset members of the nationalist community in Northern Ireland”. It is ridiculous.
However, it really doesn’t matter – the ID cards will be scrapped as soon as we get a Conserative government (which we will hopefully get after the next election within a year). And then they will confined the scrapheap of history, where they belong. Unfortunately taking a significant amount of taxpayer’s money with them.
This authoritarian Labour government has systematically …

So Alan Johnson thinks that we should have a referendum on changing the electoral system proportional representation – specifically AV+, which he describesas:

On polling day, a voter would have two ballot papers. The first would be for choosing the constituency MP: the voter marks his preferences (1, 2, 3 and so on) against the candidates. If one candidate gets more than half of the first preference votes cast, he or she is duly returned. If not, the candidate with the lowest tally is knocked out, and the second (and then …

No more sick-notes. Just “well-notes”. Apparently.
GPs will be required to tell the employers of sick patients what tasks they can perform in a new “well note” designed to reduce the number of people on incapacity benefit…Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, will this week prepare the ground for controversial change, saying that family doctors need to “change our sick-note culture into a well-note culture”. (The Times)
Are GPs now to be expected to know the ins-and-outs of a person’s job before they give them a note, now? Are they to be expected …

Who stood in the election to become the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party last year?

Harriet Harman [the eventual winner]
Peter Hain
Alan Johnson
Hilary Benn
Hazel Blears
Jon Cruddas

Two of these have already been in big problems over donations to their campaigns – Harriet Harman accepting £5,000 from a proxy donor, and Peter Hain failing to declare £103,000 to the Electoral Commission, culminating in him having to quit his job over it.
And now yet another of the candidates is being accused of having donation problems over his campaign – Alan Johnson.
A …

A Labour policy I agree with!
Everyone will automatically have their organs taken for transplant unless they have registered their objections under plans being considered by the Government, it will be announced today.The Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, has ordered a team to explore the issue to reduce the number of people who die each year while waiting for an organ.A recent consultation found little public support for automatic donations. Opponents say giving an organ should be altruistic, not coercive…The inquiry team will examine the moral and medical issues, including whether family …

Veg Aid…
The government is planning to give all pregnant women a £120 payment in the hope they spend it on fruit and vegetables as a means of protecting their infants from childhood diseases.Alan Johnson, the health secretary, will announce the hand-out in a speech this week…-However… there is nothing to prevent pregnant women spending it on drink, cigarettes, chocolate or even clothes.The “health in pregnancy” benefit will be made as a one-off payment when a woman is seven months pregnant, just two months before the birth. They will be expected …

“A smoke-free country will improve the health of thousands of people, reduce the temptation to smoke and encourage smokers to quit.”- Alan Johnson, Health Secretary
A plethora of “No Smoking” signs have now gone up across England, outside all “enclosed public spaces”. But England is not going to be “smoke-free,” like Alan Johnson claims, unless somehow smoking was made illegal without any of us noticing. The ban, now in place [since 6am this morning], only exists in enclosed public spaces. There is no provision or legal standing for the prevention of …