I'M indebted to Eddy Alcock, the Suffolk county councillor who is also portfolio holder for environment and waste management, for sending me this quote from Oliver Cromwell's speech to the House of Commons on the dissolution of the Long Parliament on April 20 1653:“It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of m

Graham Dines

I'M indebted to Eddy Alcock, the Suffolk county councillor who is also portfolio holder for environment and waste management, for sending me this quote from Oliver Cromwell's speech to the House of Commons on the dissolution of the Long Parliament on April 20 1653:

“It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your

contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and

enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell

your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess?

“Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

“Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den

of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the

whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd, are yourselves gone!

So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!”

Fast forward to 2009 - “ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation” seems to be the general mood of the UK today towards our once highly respected Members of Parliament,

WHILE in Northamptonshire at the weekend, I was fortunate to find the Board of Green Cloth, one of the ancient vestiges of our constitution which, like so many of Britain's traditions, was swept by the modernising zealots of Tony Blair's government.

The cloth hangs in Canons Ashby, a National Trust property near Daventry. The Board was a group of officials dating from King Henry VII in 1485 - taking its name from the tablecloth of green baize that covered the table at which its members sat - which audited the royal household's accounts and made arrangements for royal travel. It also sat as a court judging offences committed in the immediacy of the palace of Whitehall.

In modern times, its jurisdiction was limited to granting liquor, betting and gaming licences for premises falling within the areas attached to or governed by the Royal palaces. It was abolished in the reform of local government licensing in 2004. Just what harm was it doing?

COMEDIAN Frank Carson is the latest celebrity to sign up to the UK Independence Party. The Ulsterman - catch phrases “It's the way I tell 'em'” and “It's a cracker” - says he's disenchanted with the sleaze engulfing the major parties. “I'm disgusted with the way politics has gone in this country and I'm urging people to vote UKIP.”

Carson added: “We need to get out of the EU and ditch the human rights legislation. I'm fed up with all the other political parties and think it's time for a change - and so do many others.

Follow Graham Dines on Twitter