Archive for the 'National Comment' Category

Any Questions In Salford

Published on July 18, 2008 in National Comment and Salford. 0 Comments

Tonight the BBC Radio 4 panel debate show “Any Questions?”, hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby, is being broadcast live from the Salford City Academy in Brookhouse. The panel is:

  • Andy Burnham, Culture Secretary and MP for nearby Leigh
  • Baroness Neville-Jones, Shadow Security Minister
  • Jenny Willott, MP for Cardiff Central and Liberal Democrat Work Spokesperson
  • Matthew Parris, Times columnist and former MP

Any Questions is broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 at 8pm.

Unions Gloat, Residents Suffer

Published on July 16, 2008 in National Comment and Salford. 6 Comments

Live text updating seems to be all the rage now, especially for those trying to keep up with sporting events online or on mobile internet. The influence is spreading though, and the UNISON website includes a rolling strike update at which I am - quite frankly - appalled.

Now I don’t support the strike action and as a Councillor I can only apologise to local residents who have seen services - many of them essential - disrupted today and tomorrow. However it is one thing to go on strike, but to gloat and take great delight in the misery that the strike is causing is a different ball game altogether.

That unfortunately is exactly what the UNISON website is doing however. A grisly roll-call of schools, nurseries and services for the elderly which have been closed down due to the strike action. It’s an ugly spectacle.

I don’t believe that this strike is the right way forward but I know that the vast majority of those local government staff on strike today do not take that decision lightly. Most staff on the picket lines today - never mind the local residents hit hard by the strike - will be appalled by the language used by the UNISON hierarchy. Most staff are acutely aware of the knock-on problems of striking and use industrial action with regret. The UNISON leadership are striking with relish and they are letting their own members down at the same time.

Hat tip: ConservativeHome

Normal Rules Don’t Apply Here

Published on July 12, 2008 in Manchester and National Comment. 0 Comments

David Jones MP has an interesting story of the perils of blogging by civil servants. I found this paragraph particularly interesting.

It is clear that a significant number of civil servants are active political bloggers. Many, if not most, of them operate under noms de plume. Civil servants are supposed to be politically impartial. Their online anonymity, however, enables them to express political points of view incompatible with their roles as public servants.

It seems however that in Greater Manchester, normal rules don’t apply and senior Local Government officers are able to express strong views about a political hot potato as frequently as they wish.

A Genuinely National Party

Published on July 11, 2008 in National Comment. 0 Comments

Over the last week or two I’ve spent a couple of evenings and an afternoon with my Conservative colleagues in Wigan - following the sad death of a Labour Councillor a by-election was held yesterday in the Wigan West ward. Labour held on to the seat with a significantly reduced majority, and the Conservative candidate Jonathan Cartwright finished in a strong and clear second place.

So, a promising result for the Conservatives in a Labour stronghold - but that doesn’t tell the whole story. This by-election shows just how far the Conservative Party has progressed over the last few years in what used to be Labour’s heartland areas.

The Wigan West ward centres around an area called Beech Hill, and until 2004 the predecessor ward to Wigan West was called Beech Hill Ward. In a 1997 by-election for the old Beech Hill ward, the Conservative candidate polled a pitiful 39 votes - just 2.3% of the total votes cast. Yesterday over 500 people in the same area voted for Jonathan Cartwright and the Conservatives.

Labour actually narrowly lost that Beech Hill by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Yesterday their candidate - the same one who won that by-election all those years ago - came a poor third. So much for Nick Clegg’s arrant nonsense that only the Liberal Democrats are fighting Labour in the north.

Incidentally, David Ottewell thinks that the result was a good one for Labour. One unlikely by-election loss aside, this is some of the safest Labour territory in Greater Manchester. It shows how far they have fallen that polling 38% of the vote in one of their safest wards is considered a “good result”!

Congratulations John!

Published on June 27, 2008 in National Comment. 0 Comments

Congratulations to John Howell, the new Conservative MP for Henley-on-Thames and South Oxfordshire. I’m delighted that John won the by-election so handsomely and that local residents in Henley have rejected the filthy, negative campaign tactics of the Liberal Democrats. Well done to John and all the campaign team who have worked so hard over the last month!

Just Fancy That!

Published on June 25, 2008 in National Comment and Salford. 1 Comment

June 9th - Salford Conservatives launch campaign and petition to Save Salford’s Post Offices

June 23rd - Salford Labour launch copycat campaign

The simple fact, of course, is that it is the Labour Party in Government which is proposing the closure of Post Offices in Patricroft, Adephi and Langworthy. The record also shows that all three Salford Labour Members of Parliament voted for the Government proposals to close 2500 Post Offices including the three in Salford. Labour cannot be trusted with our local Post Offices and I am sure that local residents will treat their sham campaign with the derision that it deserves.

Planning Bill - Residents Denied Say

Published on June 25, 2008 in National Comment and Salford. 0 Comments

Very disappointing news from Westminster this evening, where the Labour Government have survived a backbench rebellion to pass controversial proposals to hand planning decisions for large infrastructure projects to an unelected quango. This is extremely worrying for local residents who will be denied any say on major projects which will affect their local neighbourhood.

It is perfectly reasonable to try to streamline a planning process which can take years in the most extreme cases, but the decision to remove these decisions entirely from the democratic process is absolutely appalling.

So how would the new powers in the Planning Bill affect local residents in Salford? It seems likely that local residents in Irlam and Eccles would lose their say on the major proposals for the Port Salford freight terminal at Barton. Any future proposals to expand the motorway network through Salford would also be taken out of the democratic structure - indeed had this new system been in place in the past, it is possible that the M62 relief road proposals would have been rammed through despite the objections of the local community.

Back In Walkden

Published on June 24, 2008 in National Comment. 0 Comments

I got back from sunny South Oxfordshire (and it was actually sunny) yesterday afternoon and went straight out to play tennis in the middle of a midge swarm. We did win though.

I spent a day in Goring and a day in Henley town itself and the mood amongst activists was very good - fingers crossed for a good result on Thursday. It’s also a beautiful part of the world and I would thoroughly recommend a visit outside of election time!

Heading To South Oxfordshire

Published on June 21, 2008 in National Comment. 0 Comments

I’m in Henley-upon-Thames this weekend, where our local by-election candidate John Howell is facing a typically dirty Liberal Democrat by-election campaign. Compared with Crewe & Nantwich the campaign attracted much less interest in the national media so it will be interesting to get out and about in the constituency and see how things are on the ground.

I might try to post an update or two from my phone but if not then it’ll be business as usual for the start of next week!

Salford Post Office Closures

Published on June 8, 2008 in National Comment and Salford. 0 Comments

So, if the press leak is accurate, the official announcement on Tuesday of the next stage of Post Office “reform” will see the Labour Government proposing the closure of three Post Offices in Salford:

  1. Lewis Street in Patricroft, Eccles
  2. Langworthy Road, Langworthy
  3. Oldfield Road, Adelphi, near to the old Salford Royal Hospital

The Government report says that “deprived areas will be safeguarded against closures”, but it is easy to see from the list above that this is nothing more than spin. None of the three Post Offices facing the axe in Salford could possibly be described as being in affluent suburbia. Indeed, the Langworthy Road Post Office is at the heart of a key regeneration area.

I do not support the Government’s proposals to axe these Post Offices and I know that Conservatives both here in Salford and in Westminster are committing to protecting the services that local Post Offices provide for their communities. Indeed the Conservative Post Office Action Plan is worth reprinting in full:

Freeing up Sub-Postmasters - We will rewrite Sub-Postmasters’ contracts, allowing them to provide a greater range of products and services, including private mail services.

Using Post Offices as Government GP service - We will investigate a scheme whereby people who have concerns about a range of Government services, such as tax returns and pension entitlements, can use their local Post Office as a kind of ‘Government GP’.

Campaigning on the Post Office Card Account - This scheme is hugely important to those people who do not have bank accounts and around one million of our most vulnerable people cannot get a bank account.

Encouraging ‘Council Counters’ - We will encourage local councils to see what services they could provide though Post Offices and whether they could use the Post Office network in their area to better engage with local residents.

I firmly believe that genuine support from both Government and local Councils will render these damaging closures entirely unnecessary.