David Agnew

You Couldn't Make It Up. Richard Littlejohn
The Castle of Lies. Christopher Booker and Richard North

These books are a little out of date, but they are packed with specific examples of the madness of government in Britain. If anything, things have got worse since they were published.

The Welfare State We're In, James Bartholomew

How the poor performance of the NHS compared to health systems in other western countries is equivalent to: "a train crash every day". How the current welfare system damages British society.

The Abolition of Britain. Peter Hitchens
A Brief History of Crime: The Decline of Order, Justice and Liberty in England. Peter Hitchens

Two polemics. How New Labour has wrecked the British constitution and how British politicians have converted Britain from a low, to a high crime society.

Prison Diaries. Jeffrey Archer

An interesting insight INTO phpbb_the prison system. Gives suggestions for reform.

Titanic Town. Mary Costello

Not a political book as such, but an insight INTO phpbb_the culture that spawned Irish terrorism.

Blair's Wars. John Kampfner

Self explanatory

The Politics of Hope. Jonathon Sacks

How by "bringing healing to the fractured family" we could avoid the enormous costs of crime, social security and mental health problems associated with family breakdown. (But naturally, our politicians won't do it).

And of course: 1984. George Orwell.

David Agnew

Sorry, I forgot to put this on the list:

The Skeptical Environmentalist. Bjorn Lomberg

It attempts to assess whether the scare stories put out by the 'environmentalists' hold water. Essential reading.


The latest edition is called:
You Are Here: An Updated Dossier, by Rory Bremner, John Bird, John Fortune and Geoff Atkinson.
It is good on:
* Tony's wars (gives estimated casualty figures)
* The way that New Labour operates (spin/targets/making up policy in response to media headlines/Tony Blair unable to define what he stands for/ reannouncing old policies)
* The British public transport fiasco (the bizarre and expensive way in which the railways are 'run'/ partial tube privatisation - £100million+ for 'advisors')
* Impact of supermarkets on British farmers
* Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

extra ordinary

you got soul
jeremy clarkson
not eu stuff but good at making you see the importance of a nations manufacturing base and the pride it can stimulate

recent publication ripe for a sequal

really good read avaliable from the library

if you like machines and engines that is


examples include; concorde,spitfire,747,rolls royce,blackbird.

Sarumano

'Dream of Rome' - Boris Johnson.

All right, the so-and-so is a Tory. His premise is that the EU is setting itself up to mimic the Roman Empire, drawing parallels between the two; the Romans lasted 400 years (less than half-way INTO phpbb_the 1000-year Reich), and people wanted to join in; the EU seems to be a complete mugger's buddle and people want to get out...
I don't think he dares to admit that he wants to be a eurosceptic, but I'm still reading.

Interesting pun in the title:- it could refer to the Ancient Rome, or the Treaty thereof.

kernow

Boris Johnson is typical of Senior Tories who try and claim they are EUsceptic, they hint at being EUsceptic to try and keep EUsceptic members on board! Tory members who are EUsceptic won't join UKIP because they have been conditioned by senior party members, the media and the actions of a few of UKIPs hierarchy in thinking we are either "Barking mad" or linked to the BNP. I'll believe Tory EU scepticism when there leader says Britain WILL leave the EU!!!

David Agnew

The Bumper Book of Government Waste. Matthew Elliot and Lee Rotherham

I heard this mentioned by a spokesman for the Taxpayers' Alliance on the radio last night. Apparently New Labour is wasting £82billion of our money every year. I can't review it as I haven't read it yet, but obviously, it has to go on the reading list.

RAENORTH

I should place on record that I was not at the party conference or anywhere near it. I understand that a leaflet was handed out on which was printed my blog URL but that was done without my knowledge. As the address is in the public domain, I can hardly be held responsible for making any such reference.

RADICAL UKIPPER

in the spirit of mardi gras,as opposed to mardy tories,i send a guarded apology,however if you desert ukip for the hopeless tories,especially for william hague's research office,don't expect me to anything but contemptuous with the three establishment lib-lab-con tricksters
however i heartily recommend 'The Great Deception' written by yourself&christopher booker.
as an old labour ukipper,i also despise extreme right wing bnp followers.

RAENORTH

If you knew anything about me, you would know that my departure from UKIP, after eight years of being a highly active member - including four years working for the UKIP MEP team - was anything but voluntary or desired.

My commitment to Euroscepticism remains as strong as ever it was - if not stronger - and, since my departure from UKIP was so well-engineered, I do not have much alternative than to work in my current position if I want to stay in full-time politics.

As it happens - and this is far from a co-incidence - I work with one of the most Eurosceptic MPs in the Tory Party. He completely shares my commitment and we do what we can to steer the party in the right direction.

Thank you for your comments on The Great Deception. We always intended it as a "manual" for Eurosceptics. We felt that, probably more than any other organisation, the EU was a captive of its own history and, therefore, to defeat it you have to know its history.

Although, as a commercial enterprise, the publishers are very happy with it, no author makes any worthwhile money out ventures such as this. But it genuinely saddens me that, the two of us - acknowledged experts in our fields - devoted the best part of two years of our lives to this venture, yet it has been treated in a lukewarm manner by the broader Eurosceptic community.

Jools

Have you had any success in this? There has been no change in the Tory party's attitudes that I have been able to detect, and I would find it extremely difficult to trust any Tory.

I also enjoyed The Great Deception, and found it to be a fascinating and absorbing insight INTO phpbb_why we are in the position we are today.