I'm extremely pro RKBA and pro self-defense.  British law has
repeatedly taken away the rights of homeowners to defend themselves
against intruders.
 This must have exasperated many people, since an MP agreed to put
forth the most popular piece of legislation.
 Apparently, he had to grudgingly (vote for? present?  Not sure how
British parliamentary procedure works) accept that the people
supported a bill to legalize the killing of an intruder.
 His response, "The people have spoken, the bastards."
 Now, here's where I am confused - was this piece of legislation actually enacted? 
 Every Google search I do for this infamous quote only turns up an odd
cross-meshing of blog entries largely taking this out of context.

Dear pcventures-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.

What Labour MP Stephen Pound said was in fact taken out of context by
some of the media as he was actually trying to recite a vaguely
familiar quote. His verbatim statements reportedly were:

"My enthusiasm for direct democracy is slightly dampened". . . ?This
is a difficult result. I can't remember who it was who said 'The
people have spoken - the bastards'."

"We thought the organ transplant bill would come top of the poll. But
there was a concentrated number of emails. The organ transplant bill
was streets ahead and then there was a late surge for the Tony Martin
bill."

MEDIA GUARDIAN
http://media.guardian.co.uk/bbc/story/0,7521,1114888,00.html

The Tony Martin case influenced the bill after Martin, a Norfolk
farmer, allegedly shot and killed a reported burglar and wounded his
supposed accomplice in his own home in 1999. Martin was subsequently
charged and convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment (19
April 2000) to the outrage of a large margin of the voting citizenry.

BBC NEWS: TIMELINE OF THE MARTIN CASE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/3087003.stm

On 30 October 2001, Martin's murder conviction was reduced to
manslaughter, and his 10-year sentence for wounding the accomplice is
cut to three years, to run concurrently. On 28 July 2003, Tony Martin
was released from custody having served 2.5 years in prison.


A person?s right to use deadly force as a last resort in ?defense of
home and hearth? has again come under close scrutiny and public
debate. In January 2004, the BBC was inundated with calls during a
program in which MOCK BILLS of parliament were being voted upon. Some
believed that this was a concerted effort on the part of the Tony
Martin supporters to increase the public awareness about Mr. Martin?s
plight and the need to re-examine the law, but of course this was
never proven. In the end, the issue got 26,007 votes, to which Labour
MP Stephen Pound summed it up by comparing his feelings to a vague
statement he recalled hearing once:

?I can't remember who it was who said, 'The people have spoken - the bastards'? 

To date, the issue is still a hot topic but no change in the law has
been made . . . yet.

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

MEDIA GUARDIAN
http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,12636,1114887,00.html

MEDIA GUARDIAN
http://media.guardian.co.uk/bbc/story/0,7521,1114888,00.html

BBC NEWS: TIMELINE OF THE MARTIN CASE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/3087003.stm



SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

TONY MARTIN LAW

LABOUR MP STEPHEN POUND

?THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN - THE BASTARDS?

Another good answer - and a nice comment - thanks! :)

As a UK researcher, I thought I would add some more information for
you. There is more chance of me winning the National Lottery than
there is of this proposed bill being made law.

The BBC?s Radio 4 is the equivalent of the New York Times and
Washington Post in the newspaper world. It is aimed towards a mature,
intelligent audience. Many listeners are from ?middle England?, the
conservative middle class. The ?flagship? of the station is the ?Today
Programme?, an early morning news programme which came to World
attention recently over an allegation it made that the UK Government
had ?sexed up? a dossier on the Iraqi threat to the World. It is often
alleged that the programme has a bias towards liberal ideas.

Each Christmas, the programme hold a listeners? poll on a topic, such
as who was the most important historical figure. This year it was
announced that listeners were invited to suggest a new law, or a
change to an existing piece of legislation. Nominations were invited
from which a short list would be drawn up and votes could then be
cast.
This is the press release announcing the poll. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/12_december/16/legislation.shtml

Mr Stephen Pound, a Labour (Left Wing) politician stated that he would
take the winning entry to Parliament and by way of a Private Members?
Bill, try to have it created as legislation. I shall discuss what a
Private Members? Bill is later, but very few succeed in reaching
legislation.

The poll went ahead and as discussed in the answer above, and the
winner was  "Homeowners should be able to use any means to defend
their home from intruders." The case of Tony Martin was obviously very
high in the audience?s mind at the time and the motto that "An
Englishman?s home is his castle" was very much in current debate.

This is the programme?s web site which announces the winner of the poll. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/misc/law_result_20040101.shtml

There is further information there and an interview with Stephen Pound
where he makes the quote you referred to. The quote by the way, is
attributed to Mark Twain and Maurice Udall

"After Udall fell short in a serious run for the Democratic
presidential nomination in 1976, he quipped, "The voters have spoken,
the bastards." "
http://www.library.arizona.edu/branches/spc/udall/address/news_02.html


If Stephen Pound does decide to take it to Parliament, will he
succeed? It is unlikely. A guide to how new legislation is created is
to be found at
http://www.parliament.uk/works/newlaw.cfm


"Most Bills are Public Bills which change the general law. The
majority of public bills that become Acts of Parliament are introduced
by a government minister and are known as government bills. Bills
brought in by other members of Parliament are known as Private
Members' Bills."

"Private Members' Bills
While government bills are highly likely to become law, few private
members' bills do so. Indeed, many such bills are not even debated in
the Commons.
In the Commons, private members' bills have precedence over government
business on all sitting Fridays. Early in each session backbench MPs
hold a ballot for the opportunity to introduce a bill on one of the
sitting Fridays during the session . The first 20 MPs whose names are
drawn win this privilege.
There are also other opportunities to introduce such bills. For
example, on most Tuesdays and Wednesdays when the Commons is sitting
an MP may seek to introduce a bill under the 'ten minute rule'. This
allows the proposer to make a brief speech in favour and an objector
to speak briefly against it. This process is often used more as a way
of making a point about the need to change the law on a particular
matter rather than a serious attempt at legislation."

There is more information at
http://www.parliament.uk/works/newproc.cfm#pmbills


The irony of all this, was that following what was supposed to be a
light hearted Christmas diversion on a current news programme, a Left
Wing Labour MP (who may have been seeking a little publicity for
himself) found himself offering to put before Parliament, a
conservative Ring Wing policy.

I suspect things may well go very quite on this subject now.....

answerfinder-ga