News from the Centre for Citizenship
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Licence Payers Pay For Information Suppression
The BBC is spending income from TV licence fees on an expensive legal battle to keep secret an internal report. Two barristers were employed by the state media giant in a two-day hearing by an Information Tribunal. Ruling against the BBC, the Tribunal said that the report on the Corporation’s coverage of the Middle East…
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Italian “Prince” Admits Killing
The admirers of monarchy might benefit from reading about the antics of the man who might be “king” of Italy had that republic not freed itself from the absurdities of hereditary right in a 1946 referendum. According to newspaper reports Vitorio Emanuele, son of Italy’s last “king”, has been recorded admitting to murder. Mr. Emanuele…
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BBC Survey Exposed
According to research commissioned by the Department of Media people are “on average” willing to pay almost £163 a year at today’s prices for the BBC licence. This is more than the state broadcaster has asked to government to agree. The current fee payable by those who ask the BBC’s permission to watch TV is…
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British Government Opposes Free Speech
The British government is opposing an application to the Hight Court for a ruling that a ban on political adverts on TV and radio breaches human rights. According to the Financial Times the government believes “there is no absolute right for anyone to be able to broadcast his or her opinions under human rights law…
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Windsor Taxes Revealed
Charles Windsor, heir to Britain’s hereditary office of head of state, has published details of his tax payments for the first time in an apparent effort to counter criticisms that he is too highly paid. Mr. Windsor revealed that in the 2005 – 2006 tax year he paid £3.3m on his income of £14m from…
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BBC To Pay £15m To Celebrity
The BBC has contracted to pay at least £15m over three years to TV and radio celebrity Jonathan Ross. This news comes as the state broadcaster is lobbying for a licence fee increase of 2.3 per cent above inflation for ten years. To raise the money to pay fees such as this, the BBC already…
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New Zealand Ends Feudal Title
The New Zealand parliament has voted to call senior lawyers Senior Counsel instead of Queen’s Counsel. The change has been welcomed by the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand. However, the New Zealand Monarchist League described the reform as “a serious assault upon our national heritage”. The feudal title is still used in Britain where…
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Labour Defends Sale of Parliament Seats
A “senior (labour) party official” has admitted that a seat in parliament can be bought for cash, according to a report in the Financial Times. The official told the newspaper that it was acceptable for business people who made donations to finance “city academies” to be rewarded with the position of legislator-for-life, know euphemistically as…
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Government Retreat On Rule By Decree
The government has promised to narrow a proposed a new law that would allow it to rule by decree. New powers to amend or repeal laws without the agreement of parliament would now be limited to to regulatory matters, according to cabinet office minister Jim Murphy. The Financial Times said that the extraordinary law “would…
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23 New Legislators-for-Life
Twenty-three new legislators-for-life have been appointed to sit in the UK parliament. The new legislators who demonstrate their contempt for the rights of the British people include former trade union general secretary Bill Morris as well as a number of business people. Four nominees for legislator-for-life who had given large donations to the Labour or…