No! Non! Nein!

And if those 3 aren't enough, here are 520 more ways of saying NO!

Lisa has written one of the best blog posts I think I have ever read, there is no way I could ever hope to emulate it, so I will quote a small section right from the end and urge you to bob over and read it all, let it soak in, let it rouse you, then make a stand.

"Brown, Balls, Badman, Morgan, Atkinson and every single other one of you - you have a serious fight on your hands. We are not just a vociferous minority - we are everyperson, everywhere."

Jem has also written an excellent blog on the submissions to the Select Committee - read the two blog posts pointed to here in conjunction with each other if you can't understand exactly why it is that we are all so pissed off.

Then wander over to The Ministry and be horrified at just what is happening before our very eyes to this once great country. This once strong, defiant country, the country that took on the might of the fascists so that our children and our children's children might know freedom. Not the kind of freedom that Brown nauseatingly waxed lyrical about in front of the Brandenburg Gate last night though, real, true freedom.

"Let me first say to the people of Berlin, you tore down the wall and you changed the world - the wall that for a third of a century imprisoned half a city, half a country, half a continent, half a world and because of your courage two Berlins are one, two Germanies are one, and now two Europes are one. And no one can ever again imprison a people who know what it is to be free.

This wall was torn down not by the demands of political leaders, not by dictat from on high, not by the force of military might but by the greatest force of all — the unbreakable spirit of the men and women of Berlin. You dared to dream in the darkness. You know that while force has temporary power to dominate, it can never ultimately decide. You proved that there is nothing that cannot be achieved by people inspired by the power of common purpose.

And let me thank you, the people of Berlin, for sending a message to every continent that no abuse, no crime, no injury need endure for ever.

Let me thank you, the people of Berlin for demonstrating that injustice is not "the final word on the human condition."

Dave Cameron made an interesting comment yesterday too:

"It is to their courage and their determination that we pay tribute today - not least as we remember all those who still struggle for their freedom and their rights in so many parts of the world."

Are they serious? Hypocrites the pair of them. Well, at least we can stand and say that we have the countenance of our Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader as we stand and say NO! Even MPs are starting to stand up and make a noise about the loss of our freedoms, so it's clearly not just a vociferous minority.

To end I will point back to yesterday's post about Home Educators being *secretive*. In the comments section Su made this point:

"A significant number of home educators are vociferous bloggers, eloquent writers and spirited supporters of freedom and liberty. No hiding there! We're risking our families, not just hiding behind a title, job or role. We're actually giving of ourselves, the real us.

Home educators are crawling all over the media, responding to consultations and reviews, turning up at the Houses of Parliament, writing to MPs, DCSF officials, the press, each other... and we're secretive?"

She is quite right. *They* know where I live - I respond to consultations, I submit evidence to the Select Committee, I lobby my MP via letter and in person, I travel to London to talk to the Select Committee, I appear in national and local newspapers, I blog, I twitter, I facebook, I boycott my LA in protest against the Badman Review. My name is unusual, I am all over the internet. I am not secretive, far from it. Others might be too scared to stand up and be counted, perhaps I should be too, but I cannot stand by and say and do nothing when my children's freedom is at stake. I sincerely hope others will decide that the risks of speaking out are worth taking too.