We are far from an independent country - now the UN and the US are bullying us, too.

If you've spent any time down The Blue recently, you'll know that we Bermondsey folk are a pretty forthright and independent bunch.  You only need to pop into Duns' Deli for a fish pie special, or Sam's Barbers for a short-back-and-sides to hear what real Bermondsey thinks on a range of issues.  As with most working people (but not the usual suspects in the metropolitan-elite thought police), family, faith, flag and future provide a pretty accurate summary of what you'll hear.  So, just what are they saying about this week's unwanted interventions from across the Atlantic?

The Blue Market, SE16 - Image © Stephen Craven (via Geograph)

The UN Human Rights Committee recommended that the UK "put an end to corporal punishment in all settings". Apparently, these unelected bureaucrats prefer non-violent forms of discipline - never mind that the UK Government ruled on this in the 2004 Children Act.  Has anyone in the UNHRC asked South Bermondsey what it thinks on effective  behaviour management?  They might be in for a surprise...

A YouGov poll found 69% of people oppose the ban on parents smacking their children
Image © Daily Telegraph

As per usual, the UN is championing an issue that obsesses uber-liberals, while being at odds with most British people.  What about the human rights of victims of crime who suffer judges pronouncing insultingly short sentences for rapists and murderers?  Or the human rights of local people who long to stay in the area in which they were born, but stand little chance of being offered one of Southwark Council's much vaunted 11,000 new council homes?  Not a peep from UNHRC on those rights.

Then there's the ongoing threat of the EU exerting influence over the outcome of the forthcoming In/Out referendum.  It appears the Euro Machine is not bound by the UK's purdah rules designed to prevent political interference during a campaign.  Of this you can be sure: Juncker and his pals will go all out to bully Britain in to staying in the Club - remember Greece?

Image from euspectator.com

And to top it all, the President of the Free World has the cheek to tell the (still) sovereign United Kingdom to stay in the anti-democratic, uber-capitalist European Union.  Obamacare and a range of notable achievements notwithstanding, what the heck has it got to do with him?  Gun crime and Guantanamo should be enough for Mr O. to be getting on with.

Image © Wikipedia

To put it bluntly President Obama and the UNCHR: get your own houses in order before you meddle in Bermondsey's and Britain's affairs.  We're not the 51st state (or the Western Sector of the United States of Europe) - yet...