|
2007-2009 Thought For The Week Archive
DR AVATAR DUGGAL RIP
I am very sorry that my friend Avatar Duggal has died so suddenly, just before Christmas. It was a terrible shock for his widow, Dr Shakuntala Duggal. He came to Gloucester from India almost 50 years ago and they were married for 42 years - a remarkable partnership, who were still walking miles around Gloucester together only a few weeks ago. Avatar went through some rough times as an immigrant in the early days, but came through them still smiling, and went on to help many patients over many years. Typical of his energy for good causes, their annual fund raiser for the Macmillan Cancer Fund was almost a Gloucester institution. My thoughts are with all the family he so loved
Dr Duggal spoke his mind privately and was a staunch Conservative. It was no surprise to him that a Labour Prime Minister, who had once boasted of abolishing boom and bust, then presided over the worst bust of eighty years (with the claim, at one point, that he had saved the world). 'I'm afraid' he once told me, 'it happens every time Labour gets into power'. On this, as on so much to do with medicine and life in general, Avatar was absolutely right. Anthea and I will miss him.
Sunday 13th December
The Sunday Times ran an article on my stand against the new rules
introduced by the government through the Independent Safeguarding
Authority (ISA) which add considerably to the bureaucracy of almost
all volunteering activity in the country - and put at risk some of
it from continuing.
Andrew Marr on the BBC Sunday programme questioned Schools Secretary
Ed Balls about this in detail, and Ed Balls, under pressure, said
that only (repeat ONLY) nine million people would be affected and
that I was wrong in my interpretation of the rules. I wasn't: and
he was. By the afternoon the government had announced a relaxation
of the rules - tho the details remain to be clarified.
This is a key issue - the freedom of people to volunteer without
being presumed to be dangerous paedophiles: the barriers which the
ISA 'approved list' will throw up between children and adults; and
the needless interference by the government and its agencies in our
lives.
I have written in more detail about this under the tab 'government'
on this website, and will be starting a petition on this shortly.
If you would like to know more, and want to sign or join a protest
group, please let me know on richard@richardgraham.org or leave a
message on 01452 371630.
Tuesday 8th December
Today Nigel Waterson MP, Shadow Minister for Pensions and Older People, visited Gloucester to engage with the Gloucestershire Pensioners Forum, to visit the Westgate Tenants Consultative Committee, Gloucester City Charities and meet members of the Friends of Shopmobility.
Nigel highlighted the current danger of the proposed Labour National Care Bill axing the current Disability Living Allowance that all disabled pensioners currently receive, which would mean on average a loss of about £60 per week. There are 1,570 people in Gloucester will be directly affected - and are completely unaware of this.
There are another 3,120 who could be affected through loss of the Attenders Allowance. I will be following up on this vigorously - we need the government to back down on this fast.
Other key current issues include:
Academy process flawed at Bishops College
The timescale proposed by the Government to consult on the new proposed Academy is too short. Richard believes Bishops College parents, governors and staff feel bullied, while what is best for the pupils seems a low priority. Richard said, 'there needs to be more discussion of practical questions - with much more attention to Bishops College's Special Needs and pastoral care. I have seen a lot of concern about a political agenda. Children should come before headlines and general elections and I have urged the government to extend the consultation period'.
Increase dementia research spend
Richard invited Jeremy Wright MP, the first Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Committee on Dementia, to come and see the Barnwood Trust - whose Manor Day Centre offers Gloucester dementia sufferers a great day centre while carers can eg go shopping. 'The Manor Day Centre offers outstanding value care' said Richard 'and we're lucky to have in Gloucester our own mental health charity as well as good NHS services'. He emphasised that the Conservatives are committed to increasing the % of research spending on dementia - something both Richard and Jeremy feel strongly about.
Supporting Calton Infants School
Moreland Neighbourhood Partnership Chair Lyn Ackroyd recently invited Richard to join a fund raisin fayre at Calton Infants, which she's been involved with for years. Different activities and stalls provided something for everyone. Richard said 'this is typical of the events parents and governors put on. The school is doing well and I'm sure the new Head from Ashleworth will build on all the good work here. A good start makes the next stages of a child's education so much easier'.
New City Tram to boost city centre shopping
City entrepreneur Matthew Stephens has brought a new City Tram to the docks to shuttle visitors from the Quays to the city centre for a trial period. Richard strongly supports this private sector initiative: 'there is no taxpayer money involved - visitors can now do their Quays Christmas shopping and see the city centre'. Richard wants to help business to provide more jobs for our young: 'there are now a 1,000 more unemployed in the city than in 1997, so every bit counts. The City Tram should help increase turnover'.
Sunday 6th December
Sorry there has been a bit of a gap since the last entry. There has been a lot going on - including, most sadly, the death of my friend Yakub Pandor yesterday.
 
(l) The Pandor family with Iris Fowler, Ashley Armstrong and I; and (r) Yakub briefing Baroness Sayeeda Warsi on her visit to Gloucester
I knew and loved Yakub. He understood his community - its strengths and weaknesses, its traditions and its modern challenges. He was its recognised moral leader: a man who rarely needed to raise his voice.
He minded as much about values as policies and was my sounding board and advisor - no man could ask for a better one. And Yakub was backed by his remarkable wife Rashida, who taught so many muslim children how to study the Koran at home.
Yakub understood the power of gestures: which is why he often wore an English cricket shirt in the summer, was a JP implementing our law, often picked up rubbish and took me to the religious ceremonies of two muslim weddings. He disapproved of photo politics and believed people who pretended would sooner or later be found out. In fact he lived as closely as he could by, and according to, the Koran, which we both knew is so close to the Bible.
It has been a desperately sad day for Yakub's family and Gloucester. But he leaves noble ideals of how to live and work, and his belief in communities working together and his ability to live that ideal are things I will take with me for ever.
Sunday 22nd November
We had such a glorious early autumn that we had to pay for it - and we are. And while the winds that buffet the world's economy seem less strong in some ways, the latest unemployment figures for the county - showing Gloucester alone with more unemployed last month - reminded us that times are still very tough. I am continuing to work on funding for a training programme for the young which I hope will be given the green light in the early New Year. Every little bit counts.
This week I was delighted to have persuaded Jeremy Wright MP to visit Gloucester. He is founder Chairman of the Parliamentary All Party Cttee on Dementia. This committee's report on the use of pychotic drugs in care homes exposed the cruel fact that 144,000 people were wrongly being given such drugs, and 1,800 patients a year have been dying because of it. That report changed government policy, has saved lives and has focused the government to think about training care home staff in the handling of dementia. Is there anyone out there who thinks MPs can't achieve something worthwhile?
So we met the leadership of the 2gether Trust. They've made great steps to change the way mental health is handled in the county, and the first twelve dementia assessors are now ready to assess people in their own homes. There are many issues still outstanding - and the question of respite is amongst the most difficult - but Jeremy was impressed that the question of training was so high on their priorities.
Training is being introduced by the Alzheimers Trust in about 22 places, tho not in Glos yet. What our members and carers here do recognise is how lucky we are to have the Barnwood Trust's day centre available for sufferers at very low cost. This the best respite system any family with an Alzheimers sufferer could hope for. Both Jeremy and I are very excited about the Trust's consideration of a dementia village and I really hope this happens - a national first, and made in Gloucester. But there are lots of hurdles first.
Down the road the All Nations Community Centre was preparing up for its new Over 50's Club Party - a great fund raiser for prostate cancer organised by Mavis and Pauline and many others from the Afro Caribbean community (see below left). There are some great characters in this community, and one of them is Carlton Green, from whom I've bought a copy of his memories - High Hopes and Great Expectations. Carlton came here in 1957, looking like a young Garfield Sobers (for those who know their cricket), and his stories of things good and bad should be read by us all (see below right) as a reminder of how far we (as a country) have come since - thank goodness:
 
It is time for other immigrant communities to write their stories too, and I hope that the family of Suleiman Kholwadia will try and piece together his remarkable story.
We're lucky to have so many talented authors in Gloucester. I'm thinking of Lyn Cynderey's ghostly tales: of Hugh Conway-Jones's bringing alive of the docks as well as Carlton Green's memories as recent examples of different parts of our shared history. I wonder when Frank Norville will pen the story of his family company, and others bring alive their part of Gloucester's living history. For, as we used to learn, without the past you cannot understand the present: and without the present you cannot guess the future.
We did though get a glimpse of the future at Kingsholm on Friday night, when the youngsters led us to victory against Leicester. The night before, the Wooden Spoon charity raising dinner had shown the power of rugby to loosen corporate and individual purse strings: and on Friday evening our home crowd cheered us on to victory - long over due and warmly welcomed!
Sunday 15th November
She's back! My niece Annabel, a young Captain, is back from her tour of Afghanistan in one piece. She has been all over the country with all sorts of interesting people and seen exactly what our soldiers go through in the front line as well in Kandahar and Camp Bastion. And even tho she's back, with friends still out there in remote parts of Helmand Province, Annabel can't relax.
She reminded me how one of the greatest dangers is the energy sapping heat in the summer, and I wonder if that didn't contribute to the exhaustion of Olaf Schmid, the heroic (half Norwegian half German by birth) destroyer of bombs who was killed recently. They are all ordinary people doing extraordinary jobs.
Last week I promised a quick result on the lobbying for the doubling of the line between Swindon and Kemble to improve Gloucester - London train services - and we have a YES! Good news for all train users. I've travelled from Gloucester all over the country - next week to Manchester and Birmingham - and decent rail connections are a must for students without cars (and who can afford the driving insurance for students now?) and for those like me who want to work while travelling. And yes trains are good environmentally. This is a result for which one nearby Labour MP lobbied while the rep for Gloucester kept very quiet. The county council worked hard on this with our MPs and candidates and a big thank you to to all the 200 + travellers who signed my petition.
Three quick bullets on the health services front:
* We need the Hospital Trust to get its finances in order asap so that the new womens block, which is under construction, is completed.
* We need to know what is happening at the Ermin Neurological Centre, where there appear to be staff cutbacks and an unknown future
* I am concerned about the future of some of the GPs in Gloucester - and in particular what plans there are were the practice in Warwick Avenue, Tuffley, to close
I'll be following up on all of these points.
Photo (r) shows Cllrs Nigel Hannam, Steve Morgan, Gerald Dee and OPRA Chairman Jennie Dallimore with me outside the GP practice in Warwick Avenue:
 
Lastly on Saturday evening I was lucky to meet the Guardian & Sunday Times journalist who is leading an important media campaign. Jenni Russell wants us all to realise the terrible likely consequences of the new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) rules. Any of us who drive children around could be fined £5,000 for not being on an approved list with a CRB etc. As for what happens when the Rotary Club of Gloucester wants to give old people a lift to our annual tea party for them - god only knows.
Jenni is acting as a national wake up call to the government on this - it will damage volunteering in general and the relationships between children and adults in particular. We MUST stand up for the principle that adults are not all paedophiles in waiting. Is civil disobedience the only way to get things changed? If the police are not prepared to round up parents giving lifts to children for a rugby, cricket or football match then the law would be an ass. Which it is, and I would go to prison to stop this sort of nonsense, if that is what is needed (see Sep12th).
Sunday 8 November
What a sombering week for Remembrance Sunday - 5 British soldiers murdered while training the Afghan National Police. Perhaps that was why it rained for the first time for many, many years at the Gloucester Cenotaph today. I laid the Royal Society of St George wreath again and we all got a good soaking (see below): fine for us youngsters - but I hope the W War veterans there eg from the Star of Burma Association didn't catch colds or worse.
Lunch at the Imjin Barracks, where new residents from over 20 countries will arrive next summer. This gave a chance to talk with one of the RAF's oldest members, Vernon, who was a W War 2 'tail end Charlie' in Wellingtons (below right in the middle). I have an idea for capturing his experiences for future generations. Also in the Officers & NCOs Mess were a couple of hundred of today's service men and women, and their stories of Afghanistan are even more extraordinary because they're happening while life in the UK goes on. Without exception they remind me that we are incredibly lucky to be served by such men and women. And Remembrance Sunday is every bit as much for them and those who haven't come back from Helmand Province as for the warriors of earlier conflicts.
 
But after talking with many of them, I am left wondering why the mission can't be made simpler, spelt out more clearly by the government at all levels - and a clear exit strategy identified. I don't believe Britain will accept the current level of casualties for very much longer.
However much I found my thoughts today straying to my Army niece in Afghanistan, and praying she gets back safely in a week's time, for many residents day to day issues closer to home are what matters.
So I investigated the Moreland petition for a new street crossing in Seymour Road, a busy place. I"m not surprised over a thousand signatures have been collected: residents deserve a proper crossing. There are two sites not far from the pub and the Post Office and I looked at these with county councillor Mark Hawthorne. Here's Mike Thomas on his disabled buggy (and with the unmistakable hat), Raj & Eussuf the Postmaster and his assistant, and Pat Scannell (Chairman TETRA):
The other petition I've been involved with is at the station - for a doubling of the line between Kemble & Swindon. This would give Gloucester and the county a better service with less delays and the possibility of more trains. Good for business and good for families. There is a real chance of this being given the go ahead next week. I've collected almost 200 signatures for this so far - anyone else who wants this development please e mail me URGENTLY on richard@richardgraham.org and let me know.
Sunday 1st November
Normally I only run when chasing our children, dog or cricket ball, or when late for the train. Yesterday I made an exception for a good cause. The Royal British Legion in the southern part of the city organised a 2.5 mile run, with the help of the Gloucester Athletic Club. The weather was amazingly mild, Bill and Carol Bratty are a fantastic duo and the distance was doable so off I went - alongside about 45 other runners and a good team of walkers from the RAFA.
I'm afraid 25 minutes for 2.5 miles isn't quite going to take me to the Olympic team in 2012, and my daughter assumed I had come 9th out of 9, but every man is a hero to his dog so Twiglet gave me a good welcome:
  
But there's been much going on here. Last week it was wonderful for Gloucester that the Queen visited us (below left). The House of the Tailor of Gloucester also had an open night. After almost three years of the new co-operative, and despite a recession, the voluntary team and Manager Colin are well afloat and now fund raising to return the mice to prominence on the first floor (see the We Need Your Help sign behind us, below right). Like the Civic Trust, the RBL, the Scouts and many other charities and sports clubs in Gloucester, the voluntary spirit has often proved resilient and successful. There is no government money in these organisations, and nor is there in the RNLI - the only non government organisation responsible for statutory government duties. The RNLI has had no IT crises, no strikes, depends on the British people's generosity for its finance - and does a great job. There is a message here.
 
Over the last ten days everyone has been reminded why we need a strong opposition. The Conservatives prevented the government cutting back the Territorial Army (TA) - can you imagine anything odder while we're at war? - and held the government to account over Brown's absurd claim that we were uniquely well positioned for this recession: economic statistics show we are the last developed nation still to be generating negative growth. Worst of all - though we know it to be true in Gloucester - more data confirms that many people are better off on the dole than working. This is a tragic way to manage the country. We will solve this and provide the right incentives for people to work. We need Gloucester Works as our slogan - not Gloucester Doesn't Work.
There are changes proposed to two of our comprehensive schools which I've written about in The Citizen. What I haven't written about yet are the self destructive strikes by Royal Mail. No postman here wants a strike. They know it makes things worse for them and the company: and makes the privatisation which the CWU so dislikes only more inevitable. So why does the CWU strike? Does it see a weak government which depends on their contributions for a general election campaign? Can it not see that the public are fed up, that the modernisation programme they signed up to has to be seen through? I can see no benefit in these strikes for the general public or for the strikers. The trade union has misread the mood of the country. And it is curious that we have heard nothing from the trades unionist current MP for the city. It looks and feels like a shambles, with trades unions squabbling for the best terms they can get from a bankrupt, discredited Labour government.
Round the corner from here there are three exquisitely carved pumkins on the steps of a neighbour's house. Neither they nor the mini candles inside have been stolen or damaged. They are gorgeous and fun and I hope there are lots all around the city, some probably sourced from Rob Keene's farm shop.
I've been travelling quite a lot recently - partly for business reasons in cities like Chester and Cardiff: and then for a few days on the Welsh coast during half term. Distance lends perspective, and Chester - another Roman city built on a cross structure of streets - gave me a few ideas which we might adapt here. It was windy enough on the Welsh cliffs to take off, if you were in the mood. Good weather for a Gloucester rugby scarf to keep you warm..
Sunday 18th October
Audits and inspections are not normally the most exciting things. Most of us agree it was a pity there weren't more of them over Parliament's expenses, but less of them in general.
So it was good to see the Ofsted rating of Milestone School ('excellent') confirmed my own view - a wonderful school, led by an inspirational Head.
The Probation Service annual report was less good - too many of our prisoners re-offend. For me the real issue is about providing jobs for ex prisoners - which is what the excellent charity Blue Sky does. There are some employers co-operating in Gloucestershire but more would help: both to give prisoners a second chance and reduce crime - people commit far less crime when they have a job, and a stake in society.
Keeping crime down is complex, but at a street or park level, it's all about residents deciding they've had enough. Podsmead's Oaklands Park residents created a Residents Association not long ago (OPRA), they got help from the city council to set up, and practical help from the police to keep on top of anti social behaviour. The result is crime down 70 per cent and anti social behaviour in Blackbridge slashed - burnt out cars gone, new gates at the rugby clubs to stop vehicles and bollards beside Cole Avenue installed.
Last week I brought David Davis, former Shadow Home Secretary, to see this. David was impressed and rightly paid tribute to Jennie Dallimore, the OPRA committee and the police. If it can be done here, he said, it can be done anywhere - it's all down to the residents. I agree: community work together is the way forward.
David Davis also saw the regeneration of Gloucester Quays and how close phase 2 is to opening: and we walked with the city centre police up Westgate to see how their citywatch programme was working. This bans known shoplifters from retail premises, and the reaction from shops was encouraging.
 
(Photo shows left Federation of Small Business Chairman Mark Owen, Rt Hon David Davis MP, John Orchard and Gloucester Quays Manager Franco Muccini; and right walking through Westgate with the City Centre Police)
Good that PCSOs are now recognised by more and more people as the modern version of the bobby on the beat - someone who knows their area really well.
Lastly, over a breakfast question and answer with the city business community, David Davis repeated our commitment to supporting small and medium businesses as the main driver of future prosperity and employment.
Over the weekend was also Simon Fitter's climate change march - with a mock up of Big Ben and a call for action at the Copenhagen Summit. We have completely missed this government's targets on renewable energy, and with decisions on nuclear delayed for too long there is a real danger of power cuts by 2014. So YES, time for action on all fronts!
 
(Photos show Francesca Tolond and Julie Girling MEP calling for action not words beside Simon Fitter in red jersey)
I went straight from this to lunch with the Association of War Widows at the RAFA. The War Widows are from the second war - few in number now, but redoubtable in spirit. They had very few benefits when their husbands were killed, and made do. We need to refind that spirit. And we also, sadly, will need a new and different kind of War Widows Asscn for the widows of another generation losing husbands in battle. here's Iris Thorogood talking to the members:
Lastly I am delighted the battle for the bandstand is over. We have a huge number of listed buildings and monuments in Gloucester - and that is where, I believe, we should focus our architectural campaigning effort.
Sunday 11th October
Back in Gloucester, to an impressive cross cultural dance evening Friday night by the impressive ASHA Centre at the Palindrome Theatre. It was the former New Olympus Theatre, has been saved by the Chavda brothers, and is now back to its original name. It was good to see so many members of the community who share my wife Anthea's East African birth and roots. Not many people know that I married an immigrant whose family's farm and all her possessions were burned down; that her parents then managed farms in four African countries for Asian and African owners before retiring here not long ago, dependant on our welfare state in their penniless old age. We had many Asian and African friends in East Africa and it is always good to meet new friends from there here. They've brought some of the sunshine back with them in bright saris and shalwar kamis and we need the optimism that led Babu and Ash to invest in the Palindrome.
Sat morning to a community gathering in the King George V Park today in gorgeous sunshine. Mike Groom's grandson Ashley beat me in a mini frisby competition and it was good to see the PCSOs, Flood Forum reps and the Glos Archives (rightly beating the historical drum).
Most of the week I've been up in Manchester for our party conference. The number and quality of stands, discussions and finge meetings with charity leaders from eg the Citizens Advice Bureau, Alzheimers Society, Alzheimers Research Trust, Cancer Research and Care for Children was outstanding: and the quality of contribution from business leaders, health professionals and teachers alongside our Shadow Cabinet members remarkable. It was striking how enthusiastic trade associations, trades unions, businesses and charities were to have contact with parliamentary candidates in marginal seats.
I spoke in favour of a rapid progress on commissioning new nuclear power plants,with Gloucester leading the way: in support of our commitment to increase the % of government research spend on dementia; and providing more real job opportunities for the young rather than 6 month sticky plaster internships.
Here are some images from the conference:
l to r some of the strong Gloucester Conservatives team; Shadow Health Minister Sephen O'Brien, Alzheimers Society Director Neil Hunt, and Harriet Milward of the Alzheimers Research Trust:
 
David Harker, CAB Chief Executive: and James Harding, Editor of The Times
 
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley; Mimi Harker and some of the Asian Conservatives team
 
Over the next three months I'm arranging a series of visits by senior Conservatives focusing on some of the key issues that face Gloucester and the country as a whole - and I'll be putting into practice more examples of my belief that communities can change things by taking responsibility themselves, not waiting for government to do things.
Watching young and old, white and non white rise to their feet during David Cameron's speech as he promised to do away with the 96% marginal tax on women wanting to go back to work from benefits was powerful. We all share the belief that a Conservative government is nothing if it doesn't help the poorest workers - who have been so let down by this government. It's a cause to unite everyone in Goucester, as across the country: to get Britain working again.
Sunday 4th October
I've photographed here (below left) four men who between them have regenerated St James Church Hall in Barton - from right to left Chris Gabb (Barnwood Construction, who did all their work free of charge), Tony Ward (Church hall caretaker), Rev Robert Simpson (Vicar of St James's) and Alex Peterson (Probation Service, who supervised the interior painting done by those serving community sentences). I've mentioned the story some weeks ago, and it's a happy one. My role of introducing Chris Gabb to Robert Simpson in the hope that Barnwood Construction might help was small but useful. This is all about one of my favourite theme tunes - local help from local companies run by Gloucester people who put a lot back into the city. Thank you Chris for all you've done: and thank you Alex for the work your team did.
Now the key thing is for maximum use of this smart, cosy hall - there are still some weekend and morning slots not booked regularly, so do ring Tony Ward on 540979.
 
On Saturday afternoon I visited the Open Day at the University of Gloucestershire's Oxstalls campus. The university is frustrated by not being able to take on about 20% of the UK students it could have done because of funding cuts, but is still pushing ahead with some innovative courses. There are two BA courses on Integrated Youth Practice and Youth Work, and these are designed to be combined with work -whether Social Services, NHS, Justice or other. Interestingly certain elements can be combined with those from the creative arts or sports courses, so the course would be useful, for example, for someone who later wants to be a dance teacher. Right above are lecturer Steve Bullock and Course Director Gwen Chaney who are taking this forward and are full of enthusiasm. I hope local organisations like our local NHS Mental Health Trust (2gether) will take advantage of this opportunity to train staff even in a time of recession and tight budgets. More info from sbullock@glos.ac.uk
In fact enthusiasm from students and staff alike shone out at Oxstalls, as my daughter Kitty found talking to student Hannah Pearson and Emily Young of the University.
Earlier I talked with Steve Luckett at one of Gloucester's best pubs (The Ridge and Furrow, opposite Morrisons in Abbey) about a new proposed rise in business rates for pubs if they have extra facilities (ie skittles, gardens, dancing etc). Steve rightly sees this as another tax. It's very sad: forty plus pubs are closing a week and we'll only realise what we've lost when it's too late - and the last pub has closed. I believe a government can only credibly ask pubs (and others) for more tax when there's evidence they've got their own house in order. There are some tough decisions to get government costs down and convince nurses and policemen that the auditing and the paperwork is all necessary (three organisations to audit the police? Wouldn't one do?) Or does Labour think it can somehow squeeze an extra £750 billion from us all? And where does this fit into that line in the summer about 'Labour investment v Tory cuts'? It might look to Steve and his customers more like old fashioned tax and spend.
Gloucester can lift your spirits too. In Hucclecote on Friday evening I talked with a woman whose husband has died, who's recently broken a leg and had other physical problems. But instead of focusing on that, she showed me her chickens and a patch of shining Michaelmas daisies growing along her hedge. "Ah', she said smiling, 'there were a gift from soneone I looked after when I was an ambulance driver'. What a wonderful present - and the giver is still remembered over thirty years later. She waved goodbye with a big smile and I went out humming 'always look on the bright side of life..'
Sunday 26th September
This weekend I've read several hundred replies to a recent survey I did on integrity on politics. The two clear messages from residents are that a) you do not think MPs should have the new Communications Allowance Labour voted through to pay for their leaflets and b) you want to hear it straight, without spin or scaremongering.
I agree. One reason I decided to stand for Parliament was to use my experience as a diplomat and a businessman, because both roles focused on trying to get practical solutions to problems. Let me give an example. In two weeks time there is a global conference on Climate Change. It aims to reduce global carbon emissions - and getting India, China and the US to sign up will be a challenge. That may all seem pretty airy fairy, a giant talking shop. But the issues are pretty earthy for us in the UK and in the city here. Labour committed in three successive manifestos to reduce emissions by 20% by 2010. Actually we've done less than 4% reduction. That's a missed target however you score it. Truth is our renewable energy progress is bottom of the Europe table except Malta and Luxembourg. If it was football we'd be changing manager. We need to do a lot better.
In Gloucester, although there is a lot of hot air generated the actual situation is simple. We need to close the tip at Hempsted because it's environmentally ghastly and we'll get fined a fortune if we don't. At the same time we need to increase our recycling because we do less than we could, and the city council is working on this. Lastly we need to find a cost efficient and environmentally friendly way of turning our residual waste into energy. I believe that every sensible person can agree to all three aims, whichever party they represent. However to pretend that anywhere in the world can achieve 100% recycling needs an ostrich with head in the sand - and probably an election round the corner. Residents have shown they won't buy spin, so let's all pull together and work on these three key points.
Lastly, while on spin, the consultation begins very shortly on the list of possible future waste sites that the government obliges the county to provide. I will publish my responses there and make them public too. I can leak in advance that in I'm not in favour of an incinerator in The Railway Triangle and don't believe it will ever happen. Storm in teacup - like so much of politics.
Today we celebrated Harvest Festival and a 100 years of girl guides, who promise 'to do their best and serve others'. What an ethos - and not a bad one for politicians, and we shall need more of that spirit in these difficult times. Meanwhile well done the Gloucester Guides and Brownies who have been going for 76 continual years. Long may they and their ethos last.
Sunday 19th September
There are lots of good causes in Gloucester and one to highlight this week is the National Waterways Museum - which I very much hope to see renamed the Gloucester Waterways Museum soon. While it was sitting next to a building site, both it and the neighbouring Coots Cafe suffered a huge drop in business. The Museum laid off staff, and wasn't often open, takings fell and there was a real danger of the Waterways Trust walking away from their lease.
After a meeting with Waterways Trust Chief Executive Roger Hanbury, it's clear that things are looking up. The commitment of the Civic Trust to providing volunteers and relocating their office is crucial and I believe that the Gloucester Quays is now a catalyst for more visitors to the museum. It's open daily again.
There are still things to do. I'd like to see the wall and railings (they're not originals but could be used elsewhere) between the quays shopping and the Coots Cafe taken down, and replaced with wide steps; the facade of the Trust building that fronts Llanthony Bridge improved and repainted; and Coots to open in the evenings. Most of these are being thought about - but I'm impatient for action now! Here are Roger and I talking with the museum behind and you can see what a difference taking down the wall and railings would make to open things up:
 
On the right above with me is Luke Hindhaugh, our young and active campaigner from the Fire and Rescue Service, and future City Council candidate in Hucclecote. We're making a presentation to Jan Davenport, who has been helping us in that ward for over 40 years. Jan, who has the only garden I know where the bird scarer is a Liverpool footballer, has a big and kind heart, and makes me proud to aspire to represent Gloucester.
And here are three youngsters (in front below) who should make us all proud: Stan Brown, Will Baldwin and Matt Murphy. They joined me and a clean up team organised by Cllr Lise Noakes in Coney Hill Park. City Streetcare rep Katie and Barnwood Partnership rep Teras also came. We did a lot in a couple of hours hard work in fabulous sunshine - and the boys found chairs, clothes, a motor bike engine, metal poles, shoes..you name it. We filled a skip and the park now looks much better. Lomg may it last - and many thanks to Stan, Matt and Will for showing that young people can care just as much about their park as older people. They were brilliant. For anyone who doesn't know it well - this is a great park for all ages, tucked away behind Coney Hill Primary School. The BMX course is very good and the playground one of the best I know, and the park is big enough to be very quiet too.
 
I have to finish on a different, national note - because it affects us all in Gloucester.. Only very recently the Labour rep for Gloucester was putting round leaflets talking about 'Labour investment and Tory cuts'. Now it emerges that the national debt increased £16 billion last month alone. Yesterday we have the Chancellor announcing that he was holding talks on how to save money, and the Labour rep here wrote in The Citizen that all this talk of debt is just not a problem. What do they take us for? I mean just how many billions do you have to pay in interest alone before you get it? Most families and all private companies started tightening their belts about two years ago. Look at my website entries in early 2007 calling for a year of austerity. And yet Labour reps still think it's no problem and the Chancellor is starting to discuss things. Guys we now have 2.5 million unemployed, a million of youngsters without education, training or jobs and the largest peace time debt this nation has ever had. This is massive, and only fools would pretend otherwise. In 2010 Treasury figures show that debt repayment will be bigger (£43 billion) than the government's entire education budget (£32 billion). Isn't that staggering – more on debt interest than education? In fact interest repayment is only just less than education and transport put together. Frightening.
So let me repeat my challenge of the last 30 months to the Labour rep - let's have an open debate in front of the people of Gloucester. You called for more democracy and transparency when you stood for Speaker - show us that you mean it. A month ago you showered Gloucester with leaflets saying that Labour would invest and Conservatives would cut. Now you say the debt is no problem. If that's so why does Brown now talk of cuts, why does Balls talk of £2 billion going from the Education budget and so on? If debt is no problem why has the government not supported the linkages from quays to city centre: why the hold up for the difficult languages centre; and why the slashed regional funding commitments, the shortage of money for flooding defences...This is no time for complacency. It's time to admit the problem is huge and for Gloucester to debate how we got here, how we get out of here and how we live within our means in the future. Just call and I'll be there..
Sunday 12th September
This Heritage Open Weekend has been an OUSTANDING SUCCESS, the weather gorgeous and the city centre a hive of activity. I joined Graham and David Snelling of Christ Church on part of the Historic Churches Trust sponsored bike ride around the churches of Gloucester to raise funds. Here are we outside the Methodist St Johns (Northgate St) with Treasurer Tony Pritchard after an inspiring organ concert:
 
The other picture shows Paul Godley of St Catherines Matson clocking in at St Nicholas's, with custodian Juliet Greenwood of the charity. It's beautiful and historic in its own right, and an ideal place for art exhibitions - see the sculpture of a saddened Christ there, looking slightly like a Bath fan after last week's game - and Juliet takes bookings on 0788 4061039. I missed the Glevum Consort concert there that evening, another new feature of the weekend.
Other happier sights included this wandering nun (below right), more widely recognised in different gear as ghost tour Lyn (Cynderey):
Now only in Gloucester does your lunch come from the sky - and so walking from St Mary de Crypt to Greyfriars, an apple dropped from its tree on the Via Sacra and onto my head. It was delicious, and I ate it standing on the only roman mosaic you can walk on in the city: at the entrance to the Friends Meeting House.
This has one of the most peaceful courtyards anywhere, all in keeping with that 'still small voice of silence' that quakers seek, and perhaps more of us should. You can book a meeting room here through Martin on 527390. Here are Andy Turall and Julia Price (left) welcoming everyone to this haven in the city:
 
Meanwhile over in Quedgeley we Conservatives had a stand for the Quedgeley Show at the Severn Vale School. Almost all our councillors and I were there, encouraging people to apply to be school governors, answering questions about green spaces factually and seeing how we could help local charities. The Air Force ATC and St Johns Ambulance also had very active teams out. Headmaster Peter Rowland was delighted with the school's results and progress, and has also benefited from a new school bus, funded by the Quedgeley Community Trust. Its funds are not government handouts but the profits from Quedgeley News, that great local and voluntary managed local paper - stand up Trefor and Sandra Hughes, who set a very high example of community involvement. Sorry my camera stayed in Westgate - this was a great afternoon in Quedgeley, and I even won a brand new teddy bear in a raffle. He reminded me of my bear, Alexander (now owned by my daughter) but the Quedgley bear has a lot more fur, no marmite stains and both ears still. If anyone has a good cause raffle coming up contact me and I'll donate the Quedgeley Teddy - first e mail, first served.
All we needed was some mellow music to finish the day off, and so there was - in the very mellow setting of Brunswick Square, provided by FJB, the band featuring our very own John Gannon on the drums (below left) . Several generations of picnickers had a good time:
 
Today I had the honour of being with two of Gloucester's most distinguished citizens. Both have founded important National Associations: one for War Widows and one for Veterans of the Korean War. Here are Iris Thorogood and Tony Eagles respectively after the Battle of Britain day service taken by our vicar Robert Simpson:
 
Grateful thanks to Christ Church for hosting this moving service - well done to Vernon for gallantly landing with his wreath safely - and to the RAFA and Margot Geddes for a very good party afterwards.
Lastly there is quite a lot of nonsense coming from the government's efforts to legislate against paedophiles getting close to children. Of course the intention is good but inevitably they've gone too far - as so often with this government, which has produced pages and pages of new laws every week of its life. So let's have some common sense. When I drive one or more of our Gloucester team's teenagers home from a cricket match, with or without my own teenagers, I do not expect to get a £5,000 fine for not having a CRB or not being on a register of people to give lifts. I will simply ring their parents once at the beginning of the season for their ok, and if thereafter some New Labour stormtrooper wants to send me to prison for not having the right bit of paper, well let him try. It's time that adults were treated like adults, not paedophiles in waiting.
Sunday 5th September
Saturday was marching day - the mock Mayor of Barton pulled in a lifeboat, the new Gloucester Day Parade and the Alzheimers Memory Walk. Two were organised by Alan Myatt and very public: and the other open to all who've lived close to dementia, but more private. And not a drop of rain stopped play.
The Gloucester Day Parade is a new way to celebrate an old siege, a chance for lots of different organisations to be together in the city centre. Here's Paul James (below left) dressed as Colonel Massey - Roundhead Commander of the defence of Gloucester and later Royalist - at what looks like an open air trial: while (on the right) I marched with Alec Geddes and other fellow RAF Association (RAFA) members and Army veterans mostly from the Gloucesters;
 
There are always unsung heroes, and here are mine - the Baptists for allowing two sieges of their Southgate St Brunswick Road church rooms; and then Lesley Brawshaw, an ex servicewoman herself, who runs The Rifles office in our Museum based Secretariat. She helps servicemen and their families through many difficult and sad situations, and with a battalion always in Afghanistan Lesley is one of the busiest people I know. Also here is Carol Bratty of the British Legion, who does so much for the Family of the Armed Forces. Here they both are, and still smiling too:
 
On their right above is another remarkable woman - now a much loved and respected great granny - Jean George of Barton St, new Mayor of Barton, being pushed around the city by the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA). I was one of the 'bucket people' (below), raising funds for the Mayor of Gloucester's charities and people along all the Four Gates were very generous. Last, but never least, is the great organiser himself, Alan Myatt, larger than life - and here demolishing a well earned Baptist tea:
 
Not far away another great organiser, Jean Humby and the Alzheimers Society Gloucestershire, had their annual fete and Memory Walk around a pitch where Hucclecote RFC will soon be scrummaging. Remember that one in three of us will have some form of dementia at some point in our lives. My mother had it, and it can exhaust a whole family easily: you need help. This charity does help, and is a good cause. The candle ceremony they ended with, led by Helen, Vicar of St Barnabas, was for me very moving. Please support them on the 21st September, worldwide Alzheimers Day.
Below (l to r) Jean Humby and Chairman Bob Paterson, Rachel and (Branch Manager) Ann Carter, Claire Ward and I:
  
Last night I had the honour to re-open the fabulous newly renovated clubhouse of the Gloucester City Winget Cricket Club in our 180th year. It was opened in 1972 by Sally Oppenheim but was in need of some tlc. Now it's one of the best clubhouses in the west of England and an excellent function and party venue for the city centre. Huge congratulations to Chairman Colin Dodds, project manager Ian Collingwood and all the committee members and other volunteers who made it happen:
Below (clockwise) Chairman Colin Dodds and I, club logo, some of our winning Under 17 stars, Club President Stan and his wife Eileen Phelps and Club Captain Stuart Wilshaw:
   
Sunday 30th August
Yesterday we celebrated my father's 80th birthday - a wonderful family occasion with only two special people missing: my niece in the army in Afghanistan, and my mother who died after several grizzly years of Alzheimers last Christmas.
My father is still teaching us all things. Last week in Scotland the children learned lots about different flies for fishing, and cooking game. He also chips and putts as well as any of us on a golf course (watch out Tom Watson..) and still runs his own small business of two pubs. AND he's avoided having to close them, or lay anyone off, during the worst period for pubs this country has ever known. I think fifty are closing every week at the moment. We all need role models - and if they're from home that's lucky.
It was in his honour that I persuaded both sons to have their hair cut before the party. And the Barbers we went to is a small Gloucester business success in its own right. Kate Price of Kingsway opened Cut Throat Kate's in Southgate Street 2 years ago. She's come through the worst recession in 80 years intact, is beginning to get some trade from the Gloucester Quays traffic, and has rented out space behind for tattoos. It's a good and friendly place for males of all ages to get their hair cut. I'd love to see lots more people, like Kate, start their own business. So all good luck to Cut Throat Kate's!
Here are Bertie and I with Kate and Kelly:
The NHS
As President Obama wrestles with the US health sector, the perennial question is there again - what do we think of the NHS? Here are my condensed thoughts:
- It was an inspired idea and the inspired civil servant William Beveridge is the man in my book who gets the most credit for delivering it
- Nothing survives without constant re-invention and the NHS is no exception, as its history shows
- The brilliance of science in providing more solutions to more health issues than were ever dreamed of in post war Britain has increasingly stretched the publicly funded budget
- And a less fit nation needs more medical attention than our grandparents did
- Nurses often tell me there seem to be too many managers filling in too many forms - a real challenge for legislators and health trust boards in a much more litigious culture than the 1940s
- As in all large organisations, and perhaps especially under this government, getting IT right has been a massive problem - billions wasted in the NHS here
- David Cameron has spelt out our commitment to keep front line health resources safe from any cuts that this government's huge debts will need elsewhere
We all have our experiences of the NHS and these are mine: it delivered my daughter safely, has patched up my younger son with a bad cut on the head, has helped members of the family with knee and hip replacements and a heart bypass, and last but not least saved my life when stung by an army of wasps. And done it all with great kindness. Which is why in turn I have joined the Friends of the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and will put back a tiny bit of what the health service has done for us. Anyone who thinks that I or a new Conservative government pose a threat to the NHS are barking. We will be its most robust supporters.
Incinerators in Gloucester?
I've had a few e mails and calls asking why my latest newspaper didn't mention anything about an incinerator in the Railway Triangle. It didn't because there isn't any plan for one. All we have is another headline for a day by an MP rightly described by The Citizen as scaremongering.
Exams and unemployment
Like others in Gloucester, at home we had one teenager with A level results and another with GCSEs. Nationally the results were even better than last year. Are exams are easier than in our day, and results inflated? I don't know for sure but believe it's much harder to get an A in the GCSEs and A levels in Singapore and Hong Kong and I never understood why the old system of only the best 10% results getting an A was wrong: you knew what an A meant then. The trouble now is that universities and employers don't know what ever better results mean - and the 'gold standard' might be more gold alloy than 100% gold. But - as I wrote before - the real issue is the rapidly increasing number of young without places at College or university, without apprenticeships or jobs. It's grim for our teenagers. The government must also see that there is a direct link between a lack of future prospects and anti social behaviour on our streets. We've got to help the young.
UPDATE ON C&G – 19 August
Cheltenham and Gloucester branch closure halted – but what future for the company and staff?
Lloyds TSB told me today they will be reviewing their decision to close Cheltenham & Gloucester branches, which will now NOT close in November, as earlier announced.
I’ve been campaigning hard on the issue of C&G’s branch closure, so this SHOULD be good news. And it IS good news in the short term for C&G branch staff already served redundancy notices. But it's also very odd. Why review something presumably already reviewed in detail? If it was a bad decision to close the branches, then say so and keep them open. As it is, neither staff nor customers know where the bank is heading and whether the branches will be closed in due course or not..
After Lloyds bought the mismanaged HBoS with Gordon Brown’s encouragement, the government had to bail out the combined bank and is now a 43% shareholder in Lloyds. This latest announcement looks more like government spin than a bank decision – and I hope the announcement is not simply in order to delay the bad news of branch closures until after the next general election.
C&G has been a leader in innovative mortgage finance and did not need any government assistance. It is tragedy that taxpayer money is being spent to prop up HBoS at C&G’s expense.
Sunday 16th August
Here's the highlight of the weekend: a well organised, happy and high quality day of Under 13 cricket held in Gloucester at our great Spa Rd ground. Alan Daughtrey (speaking below) and the Youth Cttee, with a host of others scoring, umpiring, BBQing etc put on a show for the city to be proud of. Ten teams from Glos and Hereford, 300 hundred spectators and some brilliant sport. If clubs put their/our heart into it, we can do this for any sport in the city - wouldn't that be brilliant?
 
Ian, Ken and Craig prepare the pitch for the final (below). The timing of the games I umpired meant I missed half the overs of church. We have a nice even surface in Christ Church and as the cricketing Bishop David Sheppard said, I often wonder if the aisle would take a bit of spin..Sat 12 Sep is cycling fund raising day for the churches. I'm doing this and if anyone would like to sponsor me £3 to go on my bike round the churches with some friends, and raise a bit for a good cause, then do send me an e mail.
 
On Saturdays it's always interesting to see which charity has been given the car parking at the Rikenel centre. this week it was the RAF charity Wings and so fellow members of the RAFA were on duty, led by Chairman Alec Geddes. But Wings benefits all servicemen injured indirectly, so it was not surprising to see Vic (ex Gunners) and Derek (ex Fleet Air Arm) plus a couple of ex Glosters muck in. A good cause, and a gallant team.
Over the rest of Saturday morning I knocked on a lot of doors and saw one vivid example of where a developer had gone bust, abandoning their machinery and activity, and leaving boundary fences unfinished, and muddy pipes and trenches ideal for a First World War renactment but very irritating for neighbours. The government talks about investment not cuts but the construction industry is on its back.
Later that afternoon I made my first century for Gloucester City Winget, in my last league game this season. The harder bit was the boot of beer presented to me by Will Steadman to celebrate. Having just had a presentation at Rotary by the Traffic Police I was well briefed on the hazards of drink/drive. Trouble is I walk home from the cricket club, so that wouldn't wash. Still, the photographs before the boot went in..
 
On Friday I met a young man called David. He is living alone. His father had died when David was young. He'd been bullied at school. He didn't have much confidence left and drugs made things worse. But David, quietly, is a fghter and he wants to have a bit of life. So a training organisation is helping this guy get onto a charitable course, to build up self confidence, and I've promised to help raise the funds for David and the others.
If any reader would like to help too, do send me a note through the website.
thanks & best regards
Richard
Sunday 9 August
Our roads all around the county took a terrible beating after the floods in 2007, and the council budget struggled to repair them all, with only trickles rather than floods of cash from the government to help. For some time the potholes outside the Brunswick Road HQ of major insurance company Ecclesiastical have been embarrassing - but no longer. Most of the work (see above) is done, and the same is true elsewhere across the city. And by doing it on the weekend, the county has kept traffic moving during work time.
Next door Gloucester Park is (almost) green again - the fireworks were cleaned up the next day, and where there was mud by the fairground there is grass again. Only a little bald patch tells you where the 'beach' was, and photos record the fun of the well run Wilson fair:
This week we had at least two Labour politicians pretending to run the country. Harriet and Mandy. Harriet Harman told us if only it had been Lehman Sisters not Lehman Brothers we wouldn't have had the economic recession.
You know the papers are getting desperate when they print this on the front page. It's only a matter of time before someone pops up saying if Lehmans had been run by Yorkshiremen it couldn't have happened, or if only they'd been to Bangor University, or if only they'd been Morris Dancers..excuse me the real question is what were the regulators doing? Who from the UK government said to Northern Rock sorry lads you've lent enough of dodgy credit, it's time to beef up the balance sheet? No-one in the government has had the honesty to admit the regulators failed. Was that because there weren't enough women in the government (there were in fact quite a lot at the time, but 3 - or was it 4 - of them resigned not long afterwards)? Curiously on this we heard nothing.
The situation today is that bank shares have done well because they were all priced for disaster and disaster has been avoided. Their next 12 months' earnings should be more than their current share price implies, so the shares should rise again over the next year. Government banks have done less well, but they've been trying to write off as much as possible so they look better early next year - really an accounting trick while you can still blame the last fellow (and they do still have an awful lot of explaining to do..)
One reason for this is so the government can try to sell off something they've nationalised at a profit and tell us all - see? We told you so: Gordon saved the world AND made you money. Of course if you believe that, as the Duke of Wellington once said, you'll believe anything. The banks will need longer: we'll all need longer to repair the balance sheet damage.
This week, while Mandy takes charge swimming off Corfu, it's been best to focus on a lovely weekend of HOT weather here in Gloucester. And since the Ashes weren't great this week, unless you're Aussie, what happened to Gloucester City Wingate 1V? We won! Young Roly took a couple of wickets which, along with the 4 from Old Cryptians Rugby Club left arm round star Andy Mathers, and two cracking yorkers from lanky 15 year old Mike Smith, secured victory! Often we play well, but in patches and yes this tends to result in coming second. So here's the team - remember Wellington again ("I don't know what impression they have on the enemy but they put the fear of God into me''). Spot the twelfth man with its back to the camera in front - this is Twiglet, our female Jack Russell (to avoid anything that could be misinterpreted as a swear word).
The other photo is Andy and Roly:
 
Saturday 1 August
This Friday I had a good look at the areas around Blackbridge from two perspectives - that of the Oakridge Park Residents Association (OPRA), whose Chairman Jennie Dallimore walked me round the whole area: and Arthur Daley, member of the Gloucester Athletics Club.
Jennie showed me where residents collect litter and dog poo, make sure the brambles are cut back and keep an eye out for cars that have somehow got onto the playing field. There is a strong Neighbourhood Watch that works closely with the police - one of whose vans I later saw checking around the fields. This is what the best neighbourhoods are doing - not waiting for someone else to solve their problems, but rolling up their sleeves and working with others to improve things. The OPRA is a good example of what community groups can achieve. There's more to be done - see the mark on the tarmac by Jennie's foot where a new bollard will be placed to stop cars from straying down a footpath - but action is happening.
 
For Arthur the issue is not enough action. The athletics community are frustrated by the speed of action at the intended new athletics track at Plock Court. It's frustrating for all, because quite a lot of money has been raised and the city plan looks good. But alas all remaining government sports money is now going into the 2012 Olympics and so things are taking longer than expected. If Plock Court goes ahead then the focus shifts from Blackbridge, but meanwhile there are maintenance issues there which the clubs and the council need to tackle together. If I could waive a magic wand on the funding I would, and if I could waive another one, it would be to reunit the two athletics clubs back into one - and give Gloucester Athletics a single voice.
So thank you Jennie and Arthur for showing me issues in detail.
I like Saturday mornings. They're my reality check on the doorstep - what are people thinking? You hear the small things that irritate people - dog poo is right up there - and the big things, the job worries, the hopes and fears for Gloucester rugby, flooding, Afghanistan, schools and yobs in the summer hols. This week we were delivering my latest Action for Gloucester newspaper and our Abbey Views with Councillor Andrew Gravells (below left with this morning's team). I'm always grateful for more help so do let me know if you'd like to join us.
 
Later I photographed the sunset from home - a glorious sight (above right) with rolls of orange cloud above the Ferris Wheel in profile.. the sunsets above the docks and Highnam are well worth catching.
  
There was a really good cheerful crowd this evening in the Park, with something for everyone (see above) and the fireworks were spectacular (see below). Every bit as good as last year - anyone who missed them should be green with envy - so well done the Gloucester Marketing team and everyone who put this together.
 
Tomorrow Gloucester Conservatives enjoy a fabulous lunch in one of the city's larger wards, with about 100 people swopping stories. It's a fantastic catering operation but I have to keep the details secret..
I hope that any of you having holidays have a good time. Do go and see Ludmilla of Sweden's paintings amongst the the icons in the 'naked' nave of our Cathedral this month. They're worth the visit.
Lastly - I'm around most of the summer so do get in touch if you have any issues.
Sun 26 July
What an extraordinary week it’s been. The big picture for the first half of the year emerged through statistics. It was, like the weather, mostly gloomy. Here in Gloucester the story is more mixed. I’ll try and look at both together.
National data shows the government’s tax revenue is shrinking fast (‘fiscal drag’), and because the government has done very little to reduce its spending there’s a huge ‘mind the gap’ problem: so the size of national debt is growing fast. Unemployment is heading up sharply: the situation in Gloucester is better, but the city shares the same uncertainty as everywhere else, including in the public sector as everyone knows that government spending will have to be cut.
Both from the data and from door step chats, job uncertainty is holding us back from spending money or buying houses. Mortgage finance is in any case tight because bank surveyors are marking down house values, in order to reduce the % of equity they hold, and the possibility of more bad loans on their balance sheets. Meanwhile manufacturing jobs have been shrinking faster than at any time. So although we have success stories, and it’s important that we trumpet them, talk of green shoots is not much more than that at the moment.
For many workers too this recession feels all wrong: the government has been spending billions of pounds of our money to save the banks, and when the banks are nationalised, allows directors’ pay packets of up to £10 million. It’s a bit like the deals negotiated by some of the train companies – if they make more money than predicted, that’s great for them, and if they don't make money, they can walk away: a heads I lose, tails you win approach. This needs to be sorted out.
The trouble is that so few Labour MPs have ever worked in business. Only 3% in fact. Very, very few of them have ever created a job or run anything, let alone a big and complicated business, which is what government is. Too much money has been wasted, and now there’s none left, it shows.
We can see this in Gloucester today. Government funding, direct or via the SW region, is drying up fast. The government itself has blocked the key ‘linkages’ project that will help bring shoppers from the Gloucester Quays to the city centre. Regional funding for the community based 4 Gates project has been pulled. But both could easily have been paid for with the money wasted on the empty, and still not used, Regional Fire Control Centre. Millions of pounds spent unnecessarily. In a week when government is blocking important regeneration projects, and our county Fire & Rescue Service has just been rated number three in the country, I shake my head at what this government have wasted. All those Labour MPs who voted for ID cards – which have cost us a billion pounds – have a lot of explaining to do.
My worry here is what jobs there’ll be for graduates and others leaving education. I know from my 18 year old son how hard it is to get ANY job out there, temporary or permanent. Even work experience is tough. I don't know yet if the number of university places for British students will be reduced – and whether the same cut will be imposed on foreign students (who pay more). Let’s hope this autumn doesn’t see frustrated A level students with no university to go to: and frustrated graduates with no job to go to. If it does we’re going to need some creative solutions.
At all levels there’ll be more competition for jobs. Former Labour Minister Alan Milburn published a report last week saying the gap between rich and poor had widened a lot since Labour came into power and that aspiration was an issue. I think that’s right – which is why I back our grammar schools, which represent the top academic aspirations of our city: why I want our comprehensive schools to be even better than most already are; and why I back more apprenticeships, which should make us more competitive in new manufacturing and construction. You can fiddle the results of schools by closing the grammars, but what about individuals? Show me the evidence that the real academic standards of all the students in England have improved since the grammars were closed and that social mobility has increased. It isn't there. And I care more about individuals – all individuals – than meeting government targets.
But Alan Milburn had less to say about what I see as the other ingredient we need - hard work. His report came out the same time as a Gloucester woman made national news for taking £35,000 of false benefit claims – and seemed to get away with it. For as long as the benefits system pays out to some people who shouldn't get, the working man and woman will rightly feel the system is unfair. I believe that over the last 12 years Labour has got the balance wrong, and that more needs to be done to help the working, rather than the not working. In fact Getting Britain Back to Work is going to be a vital goal for the next government.
On that note I went to a project last week in Gloucester that is helping some teenagers with real difficulties get back on track, and it’s one of the best things I’ve seen in the city. It shows that you can aspire to change and better your life whatever the starting point. Which is also the story of the amazing Rachel Christie, athlete niece of Linford Christie, whose father was murdered when she was eight – and last week became Miss England. You can never know what you can achieve until you really try.
This week, two things I’ve been working on are now at a stage when I can write about them. Both in different ways bring alive my idea of what regeneration is.
The first is that the city council has applied for a court order for a compulsory clean up of No 74 Regent St in Tredworth. As you can see from the photos below, the property was and is a disgrace: and it's not right that residents should have to live close to such a house. So I’m delighted that the council agreed with me and am optimistic the order will go ahead: and I know that Saleem and his friends and neighbours are also pleased – and are waiting for the court order to become effective asap. This clean up can only help Regent Street: and sends a message to other landlords – don’t let your property become a tip. That’s one form of regeneration – cleaning up a candidate for the messiest house of the year award.
 
The second is the restoration of St James’s Parish Hall, a handsome 19th century building widely used for community activities. There was an asbestos roof (see below), skylights that leaked, gutters that were damaged, unstable roof tiles and damp in various places. Too much for the great fund raising team at St James’s who cook like a dream. So I asked Chris Gabb of Barnwood Shopfitting if he might help. It was a big ask – the work was considerable and this year is a very tough for his business. But he agreed, and a few weeks later the work has been done by Malcolm Ward and his team, to a very high standard. Committee Chairman Tony Ward and Vicar Robert Simpson are delighted and Barnwood Shopfitting has lifted that community by their generosity. And there’s a bit of magic in this, as Chris Gabb explained. It turns out one of his treasured possessions is a photograph of him, aged 3, with his mother as they left St James after his aunt’s wedding. His mother didn't live for very long and Chris has never forgotten that day, helped no doubt by the photo. Users of the Parish Hall won't forget him either. Local people, with local businesses, helping local causes – regeneration where it matters most, at the grass roots.
Sunday was St James’s Day, as it happens, and the sermon shed light on James. Apparently he was bold, and sometimes made mistakes, as anyone bold does: but he learnt from them, and pushed on forward. As I go into the third year of being a political apprentice to represent this great city, I can relate to that. If I’m to write or say more than the dull clichés of many politicians – and why come into politics to add to those - there will be things written in haste that others can distort if they wish. But I will keep going, putting Gloucester first, and working on the things that matter in these deeply troubled times.
Friday 24 July
The news at lunch today from Norwich is that 15,000 Labour voters in 2005 did not vote Labour today and Chloe Smith became MP with a swing of almost 17%. Chloe, who is a very nice and able person, becomes the youngest member of the House of Commons. I admire the way she kept calm during a campaign from Labour that David Cameron called ‘despicable’ and full of ‘untruths’. I fear that we will – whatever they say – see the pattern of smear campaigns repeated in other cathedral cities up and down the country over the next year. And I have faith that they will be treated by the electorate just as they were in Norwich.
Sun19th July
In Tescos opposite Liverpool Street Station late one night last week, I found the memorial service of the CO of the Welsh Guards on the tv screens there. There was a friend reading a tribute. There was the Prince of Wales. And there too was Colonel Thorneloe's widow, quiet under her black hat, only her clenched hands giving away the storm of emotion any of us would surely feel burying our husband or wife still in their late 30s. Not so long ago my step uncle commanded this regiment, and my brother in law was a company commander. It could have been us around that coffin. But all around me in Tescos the late night shoppers carried on searching for the right bottle, the right tin of food. we live in a time of war, but it's too far away for many - and all too close for others, as Wootton Bassett know. Next week my neice is posted to Afghanistan where her boy friend is already. I know that part of the world, its intense daytime summer heat and night time mountain chill, and all my prayers are with her.
The other day Andrew Gravells of Abbey ward organised a trip to the House of Lords for about 100 Gloucester residents to have lunch with (Baroness) Sally Oppenheim. It is over 20 years now since Sally retired as MP for the Gloucester (1970-1987), but she still follows Gloucester doings, and commented sadly on the increases in unemployment, bankruptcies, repossessions and boarded up properties. And she was amazed that the MP continues to fight to try and destroy our city's grammar schools. Some things, she said, don't change, and she anticipated a winter of discontent at the end of this year
Sally Oppenheim with Iona Robbins and I in the Houses of Parliament
I'm sorry that this weekend cricket for Gloucester City Winget prevented me from joining the Carnival Procession. Both my (older) son and I top scored for the different teams we play for, but both our sides lost. The other teams did well and what is also a success at the Spa Road HQ of Gloucester cricket, watched over by Queen Anne at deep midwicket, is the renovation of the pavilion. Quite soon we’ll have a good small venue for functions after a Registry wedding.
Meanwhile the Yacht Club float, which I’d been asked to join, won the overall float of the day award! Congratulations to the Commodore, Peter and one of Gloucester’s most friendly clubs – sorry not have been with you!
Thinking of the Docks, this reminds me of the recent Sea Sunday service at the Mariners Chapel. it was, as every service there is, suitably full of watery hymns and water loving humans. The Sea Cadets enacted a good if hard to hear environmental parable about how far our food comes – and isn't it good the Sea Cadets are back on the water in the Docks – and the six year old beside me in the pew was entranced by it all. Having a Mayor who is a mariner was very appropriate – as is his chaplain: the vicar for this small and precious chapel, Douglas Drane. It’s a shame that Douglas is retiring soon, but like Freddie Flintoff in another context perhaps it's good to go on a high.
Sun 12 July
Last week I joined the Kings School Question Time debate on local and national issues. Like David Dimbleby's BBC production, all depends on succinct and brief panellists, good chairmanship and enthusiastic audience participation. On the whole the audience did better than the panellists on these critieria. We had two two especially lively debates. The first should we ban the burqa? I argued that banning the burqa was impractical and would never be implemented in France, let alone here, but that there should be a distinction between private and public use. The second was Michael Jackson a good role model? I said he was a great musician and we should leave it at that. (I learnt later that almost every student in the room has his music on their ipod..)
Here's a new resident on our neighbour's roof, with its mother flying in protectively. Small, sweet and fluffy it may look, but another screeching dive bomber in the making it will also be shortly. The trouble is the neighbouring property is not occupied and so no-one is there to discourage the gulls from nesting there. The solution? I believe that closing the tip at Hempsted is the key. We have to anyway because of the EU fines coming our way soon if we don't, but I think it'll mean a lot less food for the gulls and many will move on. They vote with their stomachs.
This week, door knocking in Abbey, I found a lot of frustration. Why, people asked, has a Labour government forgotten the working man? What happened to the 10% tax rate? Why does the head of a nationalised bank stand to get £10m over the next couple of years? Why are pensioners with a little savings assumed to be making 10% return on their savings when interest rates are so low? Are there recently arrived immigrants who have been commercially smuggled in, later granted asylum because they have no papers, and then going to the top of the council housing list under the 'homeless' category? (I hope not and assume not, but I will check with the City Council). And why does the government pretend it won't cut state spending when it's quite obvious that ANY party in power would have to reduce government costs?
These are all valid questions and it's a sad fact that the differences between poor and rich workers have WIDENED since Labour got in 1997: while the number of claimants, especially disability claimants, has increased hugely. I have a number of letters from women who cannot afford to go back to work because their benefit payments are more than what they would earn. This cannot be right. And now, because the government is in the worst UK financial crisis since 1931, and likely to last longer because the debt levels are so high, the balance of support for the working man and woman relative to what those who don't or can't work get HAS to change. Working people believe they have been let down - and they're right.
Meanwhile here's a man, Malcolm, who represents one of the city's best known companies and who with his team has been repairing St James's Parish Hall - a much used community centre in Barton. The cost to the church would be impossible, but Malcolm's company is doing it all for free, at my request. This company is going through very hard times - but it is there, supporting Gloucester causes. Next time you meet a Labour politician who hints that the world would be a better place if only it were all renationalised, just remember the failed NHS computer system which has cost you and I many BILLIONS of pounds, the now abandoned ID card (cost one billion so far) and then think of St James's Parish Hall. Local help from local businesses - that is what will pull us through this recession, not taxpayer money being sploshed around, increasing the debt that we'll all have to pay for.
Lastly what an absolute fiasco over bingo this week. A few months ago the MP was alerted to the fact that I was talking to local bingo halls about the double taxation his government had imposed on the bingo sector (see March below), so he jumped into action. Press releases in Gloucester - Parmjit fights for bingo, claims the ecstatic and credulous Citizen - and an early day motion (EDM) in Parliament calling for support for bingo, signed by many MPs from all parties. Local bingo managers are delighted. Until last week. A motion in Parliament is put forward to scrap the double tax - and what does our Labour rep do? Vote against it. The Mecca General manager in Eastgate St said he was 'extremely disappointed' and that the MP had let down all their staff and members. The Citizen recognised the MP had laid himself wide open to charges of hypocrisy. But is this such a surprise? Don't you have a sense of deja vu? Remember our Post Offices? The photos in Kingsholm and then the vote against saving them in Parliament? Or the Fire & Rescue Service, doing a fantastic job but actually they could do even better if only they were regionalised? And so on.
The thing is you can spin for Britain, but sooner or later people just want the truth. Submitting a Rememberance Day wreath as an expense to be reimbursed may be a mistake - we all make them - but you cannot pose as a defender of bingo, put forward an EDM to support bingo and then vote against your own position AND expect us to think that's honorable. It isn't. And it's typical of New Labour. Which is exactly why I got involved in politics. Never was the phrase Time for a Change more true, here in Gloucester and across the land.
Lets end on a bright note. Ever find the green recycling bin a bit heavy when you have to put it out to be emptied? Well S&W pipes have a solution - a trolley (see below). Interested? Ring Martin Tuffley on 305231.
 
Sun 28 June
It was fantastic to see the response in the city for the Freedom of both City and County to 1Rifles on Armed Forces Day - although frustrating that the sound system didn't capture a single word of Mavis Dunrossil's speech to the regiment at the Docks. There was a big cheer for General Parker saying how proud he was both of the battalion and of wearing the back badge.
The I Rifles march out of the Docks..and a fan shows his appreciation
 
I found it emotional to see the band company in full dress uniform - the same uniform, more or less unchanged, that light infantry regiments have worn since the Peninsular War (remember Sean Bean as Sharpe in the tv series?). My grandfather, Ogilvie Graham, wore it for many years (below as a young officer). He joined one of the the Rifles' predecessor regiments, the Rifle Brigade, in time for the 1st World War. Aged 25 he was acting Commanding Officer of his battalion, a terrifying responsibility. Grampa never talked of the 1st War to either my father or I, and nor did my grandmother who served as a nurse in France during that war. I served in the RAFVR but never had to fight. To all who did, and still do, go my admiration.
 
Today we have ever more unemployed among the young, and we now know that 70% of new jobs created from 1997 have gone to immigrants. These soldiers are role models and they are all from the UK or Commonwealth. The recruiting office for all the Armed Forces is here in the Docks, and many of the jobs have nothing to do with fighting - logistical support is vital too. There are some good jobs for our unemployed there.
On Saturday too there was a very good fair at Christchurch Abbeydale, where Les Mather, the last Mayor's chaplain (below with Frank Heggs) is the vicar. Much of the organisation was led by Carol Terry (middle), and the Best cakes in Gloucester stand was run by Sylvia Wade and Pat Middleton (right)
  
The other thing to highlight is the woodwork by Peter Muff, laid out in front of him and with his wife Rita:
 
I continued my biking exploration of all the cycle paths in the city. Younger son Roly and I are not convinced by the sign (above) by Westgate bridge, which leads cyclists into the city along a pavement in front of the garage exit. It's been ideal biking weather - almost too good, but let's not complain about a real summer!
Sun 21 June
This week I've focused on two things - jobs and community issues & get togethers.
I've been round some of the major training programmes in the city, looking at how they work, what they offer, their problems and successes and what might be done better - or just more of it. My starting point is that although the employment figures look good relative to other parts of Britain, they disguise issues that we shouldn't ignore. The good news is that Gloucester Quays and Sainsburys are providing new jobs - and working with Gloucester Works so that a high number of these are locally sourced. The one hour interview talks that trainers like Polly at Gloucester Works provide for people looking for jobs is really helping put the right candidates in touch with the right employers. And the training courses that companies like Prospect offer get people good qualifications as quickly as possible.
Dan, Jackie, Richard, Polly & Michael at Gloucester Works; Abby & Dan review building training
 
The less good news is that unemployment figures exclude people on training courses and single parents on benefits without jobs, as well as people on disability benefits. So the real figures are higher than the official data. Also many employers in important sectors like construction and finance are still seeing business decline. So job opportunities aren't across the board, and although there are some signs of recovery, I fear that unemployment will increase both nationally and in Gloucester during the rest of 2010.
What the government can do is to increase the amount of funding for training and help for the unemployed. In a recession it is easier for the recently laid off to get jobs: while the long term unemployed stand even less chance of being recruited. Gloucester Works could deliver even more success if the government were to allow the training companies more funding to process more of the unemployed. The saving on benefits alone should mean this is an attractive idea.
Community get togethers.
On Friday I was in Grange Ward (what was Lower Tuffley) looking at planning and property development issues with City Councillor Nigel Hanman. He took me to the site of the recent Bovis application for more homes - right on the edge of Daniels Brook at Streamside, where I first visited during the floods of 2007 with Alan Mackay of the Tuffley Flood Committee.
There are two things worth saying: first the Environment Agency (EA) & City Council have done a good job of clearing up the brook here and improving the passage of water. We must make sure that work continues regularly. The second is that the proposed site for more homes is clearly in the middle of a large water meadow. There were cattle here not long ago, Nigel reminded me, and I can see why. It will always be wet here and increasing the size of a small balancing pond will not be enough for sensible protection. We would be mad to build homes in a water meadow and the pond itself could be dangerous for small children when it gets boggy. I say NO to more houses here. If Bovis feels that the council response has changed over the years, of course the 2007 floods did change many things and especially the risk assessments from the EA - but talks could take place to see what else they might do in Gloucester: that's for both parties to discuss. I want to see a very investor friendly planning system, but there are things which just shouldn't happen. I believe this is one.
Here's Nigel showing me the balancing pond (left) and right we've just walked along Daniels Brook to the improved passage under Streamside Bridge:
 
We went the the new disabled toilets that Nigel and the county council established in the Tuffley Community Association Centre before going to the Grange (or Lower Tuffley) St George's Craft Fair. This was a real inspiration with all ages pulling together - from school children to pensioners and I hope it becomes an annual event.
It was the brainwave of Brian and Cynthia Woodruff (below centre), seen here beside church priest Rev David Smith, Brenda Meadows, myself, County Councillor Jackie Hall and City Councillor & former Sheriff Nigel Hanman.
 
There was lots to see and admire in the Arts and Crafts world. My favourite exhibit is above, from Year 2 at Harewood Infants School in the Gustav Klimt style - a brilliantly colourful coat of many colours. I also loved the superb pen and ink sketches from Beaufort Community School (below). They show a real love of church architecture in the Hugh Casson/John Piper tradition, and if anyone knows the artist I have an interesting idea, so do please contact me!
 
And here (above right) are Jill Ponter (left) and Pauline Deeley (behind) demonstrating delicate sugar craft work (I've seen courses advertised in Westgate, down by the hairdressers) and Margaret Whittle doing equally delicate work on card crafting. There were some lovely examples of both on display, which would make special presents.
On Saturday morning I was at Quedgeley for their Fun Day. They have a lot of space at Dimore and so it was good to see it being used with archery and The Warehouse climbing mountain (very popular with my younger son) as well as a strong team from St Johns Ambulance for all ages including the Badgers under Nita Emery.
Below left: St Johns Ambulance regional officer Keith Llewellyn, Elaine St John, Oliver and Christine, City Councillor Andy Lewis and myself;
 
and (right) Quedgeley Parish Councillor Helen Smith, Andy Lewis, Fire & Rescue Service officer Graham Owen and I. It was good to see 4 of the Fire & Rescue team showing people round. They do a terrific job and it's very sad to see the Tri Service Fire Control Centre being dismantled in favour of a new regional centre in Taunton - yet another behind schedule and above budget Labour government project. Anyway a different, successful community get together in good weather.
I dropped in briefly at the Oaklands Park Residents Association (OPRA) Fun Day, at the Widden Old Boys Rugby Club. There was a large bbq lunch, plant and sweet stalls, face painting and a band. Like the St George's Craft Fair this is a first and everyone was having an equally good time. Like the Quedgeley day there was a fire engine, a bouncy castle and a good neighbourhood presence.
Here is organiser and OPRA Chairman Jennie Dallimore (below second from right), with Paul Barrett of the Fire & Rescue Service, Chris and Jack Brickell (Chair of the Youth Committee) and Cherina Latimer (Youth Worker, Three Bridges Project) - a lot of energy went into getting this successfully off the ground:
 
On the right above is hard working new County Councillor for Tuffley & Podsmead Gerald Dee swapping notes on the Three Bridges Project with Cherina.
The day finished with my younger son outscoring and outbowling me for Gloucester (GCW), which is v satisfactory for both of us!
Sun 14th June
I would love nothing more than to highlight good news every week. And when the weather is good, the wickets hard and the Tall Ships are in the docks it is hard to be too gloomy. Young Joe Sligh (12) made his Adult League debut for Gloucester last week and was still batting with me at the end, hitting a four off his second ball. Joey's family only came to Gloucester from Zimbabwe a few years ago and have made a great success of it, and now he's representing his city with real pride - well done Joey!
Hnery Jordan also made 35 in this game, his highest league score yet - as with Aran Tonks (46) and Olly James (91*) who've made their highest scores this season with me - these good partnerships with younger players are what it's all about.
But this week's news about C&G is really sad - and no less depressing because I predicted it 3 months ago (see Letter to the Citizen 13 March below).
In essence 150 years of High Street presence has been wiped out: 1,500 jobs lost from our largest UK owned private sector Gloucester based employer and huge uncertainty left about the future of over 1,000 jobs in the Barnwood former HQ - all a direct result of the Prime Minister's encouraging Lloyds to buy the seriously mismanaged HBoS. This led to us, the taxpayer, bailing out the combined entity and C&G being swallowed into the larger mortgage business at Halifax. The Man Who Saved the World has destroyed C&G.
And whereas shareholders have already forced the Chairman of Lloyds Bank to resign for buying HBoS without due diligence, voters have been given no chance to have their say on the PM.
The timing of this announcement by a nationalised bank, so soon after the elections, makes us all suspicious. Who decided the timing? Who knew? Was this another 'good day to bury bad news'?
In the same week the South West Regional Development Agency halved the amount of money to be spent in Gloucester. Of course productivity has to be raised and cuts have to be made in all parts of government - including the county council where about 200 jobs will be cut over 3 years - because this government's debts are mounting by the day. The sad thing is that the PM and many Labour reps won't admit this has to be done. In Parliament just before the election the Labour rep for Gloucester and the PM spoke proudly about the regional government programmes - which we now know are severely constrained. So who knew what before this little exchange and who was kidding who?
Does the government really think people will believe they can go on spending even though their tax revenue has shrunk radically? And how do they square this line about the government 'investing' and Tory cuts when they nationalise banks with our money and then sack lots of employees. It just doesn't add up.
On the big picture, I anticipate that the national deficit in 2009 will amount to about £200 billion. The bond markets are used to buying about £30 billion of government debt. So this surge of government debt is only possible because the Bank of England buys much of the issuance ('quantitative easing'). We are in unknown territory here. The danger is this causes a sharp rise in inflation. Anyone holding government bonds - be very wary.When quantitative easing stops, there will be a surplus of issue, not much demand and rising inflation - all bad news for bonds. I suppose I shall now have to put in a caveat that this website is not licensed to provide investment advice, everything you read might not be accurate etc.
The Waterways Museum.
On Friday night I hosted a party for about 100 people in the Waterways Museum. It was to thank a lot of Gloucester people for their hard work (on foot, not horse..) during the elections and to raise the profile of, and funds for, the Museum.
Historian and author Hugh Conway-Jones gave a good slide show about the Museum, which was open, and I think together with curator Doreen we've shown this is a very good venue for corporate entertaining and functions. I can only encourage more people to use it. The Trust that runs the Museum needs restructuring, it should be renamed the Glouucester Waterways Museum and the first goal is to make sure there is enough money and volunteers to keep the Museum open 6 days a week. As so often, it's a case of use it or lose it.
 
Sun 7th June
The count of the European elections has just finished, the counting teams gone home after a long weekend, and we now have all the results.
The county elections saw us return to Shire Hall with an increased majority and a much stronger team, including 3 very good new Conservative councillors - two of whom (Mark Hawthorne and Gerald Dee) won divisions that have been Labour for a very long time. Negative campaigning from Labour in Quedgeley, with an almost desperate obsession against waste to energy programmes and no idea of how to tackle the residual waste problem, was treated as it deserved to be by the electorate.
Here are Vic, Jackie, Gerald, Mark and Pam rightly celebrating - now the hard task begins
 
 
I expect Gloucester to be well represented in the new county council Cabinet, which is good news for the city. Of course there will be hard decisions - but unlike this government, whose record debt continues to balloon, I'm confident that the GCC will make tough decisions and make sure that taxpayers don't have to bail it out. Quite extraordinary that the Minister for Local Government should resign 24 hours before a local election, but then the extraordinary is rapidly becoming ordinary under Brown. If you wrote in a novel that 7 (or is it 8?) ministers would resign within 3 days no-one would believe you.
The European elections confirmed what we already know and Labour don't understand: people want less Europe, not more. Not long ago I was interviewed in the Bristol BBC studio next to a junior minister who rabbited on about the need to engage with Brussels: like most Labour ministers he had no experience of business, not much of Europe and simply didn't understand that the main issue is to stop Europe interfering in yet more areas of domestic policy. So Labour's vote crumbled across the SW on the day their Minister for Europe resigned. Nul points..
And now the question is all about the general elections. I anticipate that Labour will not have the courage to tell Gordon Brown to go, the frustration of the electorate will increase and locally we will see yet more hypocrisy.
The Labour rep last week copied an earlier move by me (see the blog and photo a month below) to criticise the taxation on Bingo by his own government - the only form of gambling to suffer double taxation. One slight technical problem - the double taxation levy was imposed by this government while he was a minister, without a murmur of his disapproval at the time. Bingo players be warned: there is no solution to your problem so long as this government continues. So long as Labour continues to pile up record debts it's hard for our front bench to know what will be left in the kitty, but I, and others, will be lobbying for changes as soon as possible. If Labour goes on for too long there won't be any Bingo halls left.
Sun 31st May
I write this at the end of surely the most glorious few summer days for a long time. What a weekend. The Park was full of people: Gloucester Quays was outselling comparable outlets across the country: the Tall Ships Festival was terrific: business in the city centre was booming - and all the stuff about the 'linkages', well, everyone found their way about. You don't really need one of the new orienteering courses launched in the Park yesterday to find your way from docks to cathedral.
Late on Saturday evening I walked across Llanthony Bridge, past Tommy Neilson's, round the docks and on to the Yacht Club - scene of two good nights' partying (thank you Helen and Peter). There were still a couple of hundred people, photographing in the late sun, as I was, and thinking how gorgeous it had been all day - the Spanish paella feast on one boat, the string quartet on another, the Ferris Wheel, the military enactments, the boat parties and the picnics. Those who live in the suburbs and were gardening all weekend, and we have some outstanding gardens around Gloucester, had a good weekend. But for anyone who went to the docks, this was Gloucester at our finest. Huge congratulations to all those who made it happen.
 
 
Saturday was a good day for Gloucester cricket. All 4 Gloucester City Winget teams won, a bit of a red letter day. I ran out my skipper, not a career enhancing move, but was in the runs again, this time with a 16 year old rugby player who hits the ball fabulously and was only 4 short of his maiden 50 this year. The youth cricket development at GCW is terrific.
A major problem with these European elections being in early June is that they interfere with the cricket season...Twiglet and I were back on delivery duty today. It was so hot that in the heat of the day Twiglet and I went into the gardens on Barnwood Road that lead into Armscroft and she paddled in the stream that divides the park from the Old Boys rugby ground. Gloucester is full of hidden gems and this year everywhere the gardens and the council planting seem to have been better than ever. We had much to celebrate in St James's church this morning, and lots of people were there to do so.
But this coming week sees election day and this does matter too. There is a real chance to improve the wards that have been taken for granted by Labour for many years and where litter, abandoned buildings, anti social behaviour and damaged stairwells have just been ignored for too long. It really is time for a change - and although the snollygosters of Parliament from all parties have made voters very angry, let's not confuse that with local issues. The Labour rep can explain both his expenses to the electorate (about the highest in the land in his early years) and why he voted for secrecy in due course and we will hold him to account - but for now the question is which party can deliver good value sensible council services. The electorate will, as always, decide - and may remember the last Labour-Lib Dem coalition that would have closed special schools and grammar schools and a single sex girls comprehensive. The verdict will be known by next Friday afternoon. The most important thing is to vote - however irritated you feel , and believe me I am too.
22 May
Today I door knocked in one of Tredworth's loveliest streets - where can be found residents who were born there, and houses from the early 19th century as well as Victorian times: abandoned gardens and beautiful gardens, gorgeous shrubs, university lecturers, an Irishman on holiday and a man who lets cherry and pine wood create designs for him. This is real Gloucester, and we have all political views here - communists, won't votes, won't vote for Labour again votes - and at least one vote for my dog Twiglet. A naked to the waist man calls down from his window that he'll vote for Yakub (our candidate, a man who has worked hard for communities in Gloucester for many years). Twiglet wags her tail in appreciation.
On to the formal opening of Gloucester Quays. Success has many fathers: failure is always an orphan. So lots of people are keen to take credit for this success. I'm just delighted that Peel and British Waterways did work together to develop the Quays, and that the City Council and others helped make it happen. I went round with my daughter, an all too discerning window shopper. She thought it looked and felt like London, better than Cheltenham and Swindon. Customer service looked good too - and apparently yesterday the Quays took more business than any other shopping centre in the UK. Of course there's more to do - especially the restaurants coming in the summer - and this is only the start, but what a start.
I would love to make Gloucester one of the most business friendly cities in Europe - quick and efficient planning above all. That's what we need for others to follow - thank you Peel and BW for showing what can be done.
Meanwhile now for the hard task - improving the infrastructure around the city centre.
 
Peel, BW, Paul James and I Visitors to Gloucester Quays
20 May 2009
Sometimes you get a good reminder that there is more to life than politics. Most of us take life itself for granted. I got a rude wake up call late on Monday night when knocked flying off my little 125hp motor bike by a huge dog belting across the road.
The bike is now in hospital. The dog limped off after a few minutes of lying down looking very wobbly. I limped off not long after. Amazingly not a bone broken, though well bruised. Who knows about the marbles. But as the french x ray specialist said, 'the good lord was with you for this crash'.
Yesterday I spoke to a resident who is old and lonely. Her children are far away, she's short of friends and confused by the paperwork needed for pension credit. These are real life issues for many pensioners in Gloucester (and no doubt elsewhere). And although there are charities to help - Age Concern for one - I can't help wondering whether we've lost something. What happened to neighbourliness, to calling on each other and to ways of all meeting? We do have them in every part of the city - the coffee and biscuits in Christ Church and St James's after every service, the Hucclecote and Coney Hill Rugby Clubs to name a couple - but at a street level there is still loneliness.
I'm lucky - when I fall off my bike my work colleagues laugh and send me off to the doctor, and my family is anxious. Many don't have others who are there for them. Politics matters, but it has to be connected to Mrs x and her worries.
19 May 2009
To any reader who read this website early Monday morning, when there were some typos - including a word I never use verbally or in writing - a BIG apology. I am extremely sorry for any offence caused.
I wrote it – I don’t have staff and nothing I do politically is paid for by the taxpayer - and should have proofread it better before publishing late at night. Some of the comments on The Citizen website have got it right: the sentence made no sense with any obscenity, and no candidate is going to last long using them on their website deliberately. It was an unacceptable mistake and won’t happen again.
Sunday 16 May
From a letter to The Times:
Sir,
Perhaps it's time for the long forgotten word 'snollygoster' to return to common usage; a 19th century term meaning corrupt or greedy politician. It's hard to understand how it ever became obsolete.
For anyone aspiring to be an MP it's been pretty depressing to see how ridiculed politicians have become. 'You're all the same' is the cry on the doorstep - but of course they/we are not, even if the Telegraph has unearthed an awful lof of bad apples. It was reassuring both yesterday and today to meet people who realised that and just want to see some honesty and hard work from their councillor.
The best bet for all MPs is to come clean and publish their expenses. If you have nothing to hide, why would you not publish in this environment. So that's what I encourage the Labour representative to do. Over the last 3 days a lot of people have asked me about his expenses. I'm afraid I just don't know if he employs family members, puts food and clothes on expenses or any of the other favourite tricks. I would like to see the representative explain where he stands on the major issue of trust. Should taxpayers pay for cleaners at the Rep/s London flat? Gloucester doesn't deserve 'snollygosters'.
We should all be grateful to the media for exposing the amazing list of small and big abuses. It really is time for a clean out of this government and of dodgy politicians.
May 1st 2009
A particularly lovely day, with the Farmers Market busy at The Cross, and good to be with Alan Myatt exhorting everyone down to Blackfriars to see the Regeneration exhibition. Some of the big schemes are on ice - not much government funding, Network Rail won't play ball, and the complexities of design, planning and consultation have held others up. I hope Linden Homes get their planning application right for the old Gloscat site and that the planning committee don't delay. The cost to regeneration of having city centrebuildings sitting around empty and vandalised is immense.
Fingers crossed there is money enough for the linkages between Docks and city go ahead. I ask about small but important projects that we can afford, control and complete - and then show the people of Gloucester what's been achieved. Robert Raikes House yes: what about the New Inn, The Fleece and so on? There'smore interest in this way forward in a New Era (no dosh) than a couple of years ago when The Magnificent Seven were all the rage. Small is beautiful? Well perhaps more achievable in the Age of Austerity.
April 2009
Sun 26th
Just back from the Conservative Conference at Cheltenham - the first time any major party has had aconference in Gloucestershire. Frankly Labour is no more likely to have a national party conference in Gloucestershire with the entire Cabinet here than it is to meet on the moon.
That party is not remotely interested in us. The Lib Dems are interested in Cheltenham. Only the Conservatives are interested in every part of this great county, and over the next year the Conservative Party will show the full extent of its commitment to our city.
The entire Shadow Cabinet were there today as David Cameron outlined the era of austerity and how our goal is to do more with less - during the 20 odd years we all pay for Gordon Brown's debt.
The theme of his speech was, in one word, SERIOUS - the scale of the problem demanded nothing less. All unnecessaries - regional government, HIPS etc, ID cards would go immediately under our government. All my surveys show that Gloucester would agree with all of this.
Europe - who can you trust?
And William Hague reminded us that if Labour had kept to its promise on a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty we would have all had a chance to stop it happening: and if the Lib Dems had kept to their promise then the vote against the Treaty in Parliament would have been won. He reminded us that UKIP had voted IN FAVOUR of the French and Spanish to take over more of our fishing rights. Only the Conservatives can be trusted on Europe.
Local government impact
The 'More for less' theme is familiar to us on education where we get funding in the bottom 10% and results not far off the best 10%. The county council has the lowest tax rises over the last 4 years of ANY county in Britain. We now have to do even more - and the Conservatives will keep the most important bits and slim down elsewhere. Exactly what Brown and Darling should have done - but completely failed to do.
The city has made good productivity improvements but more will inevitably be needed. I believe, for example, that guests attending civic functions should contribute to events that all taxpayers pay for: that the hours buildings are floodlit will need to be reduced and local government senior management pay should be frozen. And some functions could be amalgamated - do we really need separate scrutiny and audit committees? What's the evidence? At each level of government we're going to have to look hard at whether government should be doing it at all, and how many people you need to do it. Could have fewer numbers of reps - whether MPs, county or city councillors? Yes. In a relatively small ward like Moreland do we need 3 city councillors? I doubt it. What we have to do is to make sure that help is still there for the poorest andneediest, and especially for hard working, not well off families. I know that Paul James and his cabinet will be looking at these and many other issues and doing their best for Gloucester.
One key to the age of austerity working in Gloucester is cutting wastage eg benefit claims that aren't justified - and helping people who deserve it: the disabled, the mentally ill, the elderly savers etc. I absolutely agree with David Cameron's focus on getting rid of the National Insurance rise that hits everyone on £19,000 and above.
Expenses
And my views on the transparency of salaries/allowances for MPs were reinforced. My 'main residence' is here in Gloucester and always will be. My expenses will be published, whatever the rules, and I do not expect extra payment for turning up to Parliament for goodness sake! There will be a vote on this suggestion by Gordon Brown - after promising to wait for independent proposals - and I hope he loses it. It's absurd and the people wouldn't accept it. An MP for Gloucester should get a sensible sum for the cost of living 4 days aweek in London and the train tickets back and forth - and NOTHING for the New Labour Cabinet range of accessories - bath plugs, porno films etc.
Bear these commitments in mind when the MPs' expenses are published this summer.
Promoting Gloucester
The other part of any Conservative Conference for me is marketing Gloucester - talking about what's happening in our city, getting commitments from ministers to come and see particular issues or developments in Gloucester, and making sure that our experience and knowledge influences policies that will affect us - for example the end of regional government and the return of planning powers to the county. Also I hear from other candidates on how they've handled eg MPs who've abused the Parliamentary Communications Allowances: Trade Unions who - whatever their members think - won't meet to exchange views on ways to help their city: and how others are tackling eg housing problems/unused retail premises. There's lots of informal brainstorming.
Surveys & Allowances
A big thank you to those who've returned recent surveys - on the economy and more generally. These are paid for by voluntary donations, unlike surveys from the Labour Rep. These are paid for by US, the taxpayers, under another Labour introduced wheeze - a Communications Allowance - which we are pledged to get rid of. It is clear that residents worry most about jobs and how to pay mortgages and rents are the key issues.
Residual waste
And while on issues, I hear the Labour Rep's website criticises me for 'sitting on the fence' on what to do with residual waste. I don't sit on fences made of waste. So let me spell it out:
- No decision will be taken for about 2 years on this critical issue for our city and county
- During this time the county council has promised to look in detail at all the known and proventechniques and possible sites, whether single or multiple
- I encourage everyone to join the debate with an open mind
- I want this process to achieve a solution for Gloucester that:
- closes the hideous tip at Hempsted
- is fully controlled by the county council
- handles only our county's waste
- makes financial AND environmental senseavoids huge fines from the EU
- and sits alongside an ambitious goal of recycling 70% of our waste
- And I believe any MP in this county who has already made up his mind about what is right or not right, before we see the results of the GCC's research and analysis, is doing his constituents a gross disservice.
So - again - I challenge the Labour Rep in Gloucester for a debate on this in public, with a neutral Chairman,any time he likes. I've invited him for a debate on this and any other issue worth debating for the last two and a half years and he hasn't accepted once. That isn't just sitting on the fence - that's rank cowardice, and a total unwillingness to be held accountable in public: in line with everything that we have come to expect of this rep and this government.
Would someone please put the record straight on the Labour Rep's website?
Sat 18th
After doorknocking in Tuffley & Podsmead I called on Paul Hornfield of Mecca Bingo - 30 employees and 34,000 members: with a long history in Gloucester, and about 200 people playing when I visited. This is the safest face of gambling - and the most female friendly. And yet bingo is the only part of gambling that ischarged both a gambling levy and VAT. The government first denied this and now acknowledges it: has promised to review it - and has done nothing. It is bizarre and I intend to lobby the government on it. There is an early day motion (EDF) on this at the moment. Less tax should mean more payouts - good for customers - but more importantly we do not want to see the Bingo halls in G'ster throttled by tax, and possibly closing because of this.
I played cricket for Gloucester City Wingate v Tewkesbury in the afternoon. Daffodils by the Abbey andblackbirds singing. A team aged 12-55, with two muslims and one female - not because some Politically Correct Commissar ordered so, but because we all share a love of cricket. Parents scored and umpired. And to think that only two years ago the floods rose to a food above the bar floor - or about 9 foot above ground level. Extraordinary.
 
Meanwhile the news from Twickenham was not good. Gloucester sadly outplayed by Cardiff. Dreams of silver ware will have to wait another year. I've only seen us wn this year, with some great moments. Overall though a bit off and on, and too much off for some.
Fri 17th April
Went with the police late to see at first hand the extensive operation against the car damaging vandals. It's a good operation using plenty of resources but they need more leads from residents to catch those involved. PLEASE do feed in any news/sightings of these gangs.
Easter weekend
Good Friday came at a difficult time this year. People have been in shock for some time about what's happening in our country: then fear about jobs and homes; and now anger as the government - again - has to admit they got it wrong and that yes, this recession is deeper and harsher than they ever imagined. As many of us expected, the shrinking of the economy continues at a ferocious pace. It is high time the government stopped talking about changing the cost of the public sector and did something about it: there is not enough tax from individuals and the private sector to pay for it as it is. I expect the budget to see some expenditure cuts (but not enough) and some increase in tax (but not too much). The hard decisions will be left to the winners of the election.
What I'd like to see is less quangos and MPs, lower pay for top mandarins, no or very small public pay increases (most of us in the private sector have had no salary increases for years) and fewer NHS managers.
At this time, when the nation needs real leadership about how to make things better, it is pretty depressing to read that a Downing St strategist's idea of strategy is to spread made up gossip about Conservative leaders. In our fear and anger we need somewhere else, somewhere more lasting, for our peace of mind.
But Good Friday is also the happiest day of the year for Christians, so I happily joined the walk and sing from Kings Square to the Cathedral, with fellow anglicans, catholics and others. It was to good to hear Father Bernard of St Peter's talk of his experiences as an Army chaplain, and for all of us searching for peace of mind as well as the peace of the world to be together. Here we all are walking towards Shire Hall:
And thanks to the Salvation Army band, led by John and Pauline Smith, for bring the music alive amongst April showers. Here they are with hard working outgoing Mayor Norman Ravenhill and Sheriff Nigel Hannam and I:
I spent that Friday night as a volunteer at the Night Hostel in Southgate. This is the last hope for those who can't - for whatever reason - live on their own paid by benefits. The problems are mostly drink and drugs and the staff and regular volunteers offer hotmeals, a dormitory bed and a shower for up to a month. Some will say it only encourages them. But there has to be something in a caring society - and we should care - for the weakest and we're lucky to have the GEAR charity that runs the hostel. There are issues about the level of benefits and whether some users could be galvanised into making more effort - but for now let's be happy that Brian and his team are there and tackling what they can. I will look into more into these issues, because where families and individuals fail, our city is disrupted.
March 2009
Job Centre and Voluntary agencies (GAVCA) should work more closely
When people are made redundant, they sign on at the Job Centre in Spa Road for job seekers allowance and get given information about various organisations. One is that of GAVCA - the Gloucestershire Association for Voluntary and Community Action for both the city and county. But I'd like to see much closer co-operation between them to benefit the unemlpoyed and city based charities.
GAVCA could provide the Job Centre with a list of key vacancies for both paid and unpaid jobs in ourcharities that its members need filled: and the Job Centre could encourage those laid off to volunteer as soon as possible. It's fun, it's good for morale, it looks good on the cv and prevents people into getting up late and losing the work habit. Could head hunters, training agencies and Job Centres alike please recognise the importance of attracting good candidates to help Gloucester's many charitable causes and the value of their experience and contribution. As unemployment grows, so I believe that differentiating themselves in interviews through voluntary action may be key to candidates' ability to win a job.
Kingsholm Primary shines
I was so impressed by Kingsholm Primary that I decided to include a photograph of one of the pupils - Helen - showing me her 'Splash' book in class there. Water is a big theme at the moment - involving everything from river patterns to floods and baths, and the children take huge pride in their own albums. My mother was and sister is a Deputy Head teacher: and I spent much time as a diplomat visiting schools and identifying ones for UK Overseas Aid to fund. You get a pretty quick feel after a while about schools, and the vibes here were good. The pupils buzz with enjoyment and the school has made ambitious changes and knows what it wants to improve as well. Kingsholm & Wootton is well served.
Rate Relief for small businsses
I'm really pleased, and so will the local Federation of Small Business (FSB), that the government has confirmed that following Conservative lobbying they will bring forward measures on small business rate relief in the Budget next month. The Small Business Rate Relief (Automatic Payment) Bill was introduced in the House of Commons by Conservative Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff, (also Chairman of the Business and Enterprise Committee).
The Bill sought to make rate relief automatic for all eligible small businesses, rather than the current system where small businesses have to apply for it. Under this present system, half of these businesses are not receiving the relief they are entitled to. The Minister said that the government would not support the Bill, but as a result of the pressure put on them by Conservatives, they will make announcements in the Budget statement.
All of us involved in business have to make sure the government keeps to its word and DOES something when the Budget is announced on April 22nd. This would be good news for small businesses all around the city.
(In England small businesses are generally entitled to small business rate relief if the rateable value of their premises is less than £15,000 (£21,500 in London). The amount of rate relief depends on the rateable value: eg f the rateable value of the property is less than £ 5,000 , the rates are calculated using the small business multiplier, which for 2008/09 is 45.8 pence, and reduced by 50 per cent.
If the rateable value is from £5,000 to £9,999, the reduction decreases on a sliding scale of 1 per cent for every £100. For example, if the rateable value is £7,500, the rates are reduced by 25 per cent.
If the rateable value is from £10,000 to £14,999 (£21,499 in London), rates are also calculated using the small business multiplier. For 2008 /09, the small business multiplier is 45.8 pence (instead of the standard 46.2 pence).
Award to Gloucester defence lawyer
I was delighted that Quedgeley based solicitors Graham Wallis of Wallis Solicitors are the only criminal practice in the county to acquire last year, and retain in 2009, the coveted Law Society LEXCEL practice management standard.The Law Society makes it clear this is only awarded to practices 'who meet the highest management and customer care standards': so this is good news for their clients and those needing legal advice on criminal issues.
Graham Wallis is of course pleased that his practice's high standards have been recognised.'
Wallis Solicitors can be contacted on 720827.
Tamil residents of Gloucester seek Conservative help
I saw a delegation of Tamil residents of Gloucester at the Conservative Club on Saturday, and a letter from Gerard Nicholas on their behalf seeking the Conservative Party's help in implementing a ceasefire in Sri Lanka and installing a new devolved authority for the Tamil homeland
I said 'I will forward this letter from the Tamil residents of Gloucester to William Hague. All of us who have travelled to Sri Lanka know of the tragedy of their civil war, and the deaths of so many civilians. The Tamils who have come to Gloucester - predominantly over the last ten years - have done so because normal life in their home villages and towns was simply no longer possible. They have suffered dreadfully. It is time for the international community to refocus on what has been happening, especially in the North of the country.'
Westgate's Cass-Stephens is insurance broker of the year
I was delighted to join James Cass (MD) and fellow directors at Spa Road based Cass-Stephens receive the Westinsure Broker of theYear for 2008, ahead of 170 other brokers in the UK. Local can be best and for the Gloucestershire based clients who make up half Cass-Stephens business this was never more true than after the floods of 2007. A great success for a family based business in Gloucester.
Richard joins the Gloucester Credit Union - and it's open for business
I've joined the Gloucester Credit Union because I believe it's a part of the future of finance for people in the city.
Making my first payment at the Credit Union’s office in Barton St, I said: “Many banks can no longer fulfill their historic role for the community. It is time for other organizations to fill the gap, and Gloucester Credit Union could be one of them.”
The credit union’s treasurer Christine Bergin, who enrolled me said: “We're delighted to have Richard's support. It's important that Gloucester Credit Union is open to everyone, not just those who are vulnerable to loan sharks – although that is an important reason for people to join.
The Gloucster Credit Union currently has more deposits than loans, and are open for anyone from Gloucester postcodes GL1 to GL4 to borrow what they are reasonably be able to repay. People tell me they can't get small loans for a washing machine, university fees, a holiday or a wedding and our local credit union is there to help exactly these sort of problems.
Christine said “When I started working, bank managers knew their customers and discussed their ability to repay loans or get mortgages." That world has disappeared and today the Credit Union offers a way back to where we started. It's entirely staffed by volunteers –- nurses, journalists, office workers and retired people are all involved - and they’re there to help by understanding the members and their financial situation. The Credit Union encourages you to save what you can and borrow only what you can repay, at 2% per month on the reducing balance, which means in effect we only pay around 6.5% over a year.
I believe the future will now look more like the past, with smaller, more local financial institutions working to restore the trust of customers, and no more silly money being offered or accepted. The Co-op, the mutual insurers (like the one I work for), the Friendly Societies and Credit Unions will help get us back there, alongside those banks which can reinvent themselves successfully in the private sector.
In Ireland & Canada credit unions are an important part of the fabric. This is your time - seize it!
Notes:
· Gloucester Credit Union started in July 2002
· Original members come from the former St Peter’s & Glevum Credit Unions, amalgamated 3 years ago.
· Members may borrow up to twice the amount they have saved after three months of membership.
Time for the developers to finish the job
'Now that so many residents are living in Kingsway it's time for the developers to finish the infrastructure'.
I contacted the media today (15 March) after a walkabout with Councillor Jackie Hall, Quedgeley campaigner Vic Rice and residents of Leemings Walk. Residents pointed out the lack of lighting outside the houses, which has attracted anti social behaviour, half filled in potholes, uncompleted pavements and utilities' covers sticking up dangerously above the road surface. Richard pointed out: 'Leemings Walk is intended purely for service and emergency access, but there aren't enough bollards and so joy riders are coming down the access road and across residents' parking spaces'. Nor is Leemings Walk the only road with problems. 'At the far end of Thatcham Avenue and high kerbs which could be responsible for pedestrian accidents.
Of course things are difficult for very developers at the moment. But the residents have paid for their homes on the basis that the developers are legally bound to complete the infrastructure for Kingsway. That commitment should be kept and many residents have now been there over a year. The council won't take over responsibility for the area until decent drains, lighting etc have been put in place. I will contact the Chairman of the consortium of developers, Andy Hill, and would be looking for positive news.
There is another aspect which needs addressing. Planning laws or new developments don't stipulate at the moment how long before the developers must complete the infrastructure (pavements/roads/lights etc) so that the Council can adopt them. This should be looked at for any future developments. Otherwise in theory this type of situation could drift for years. But I hope that the Quedgeley Village team will see how important finishing the job soon is.
Sixteen years of hard work for the Chinese Community in Gloucestershire
I paid tribute last Sunday to the Chair of the Gloucestershire Chinese Womens Group, Mrs Mew Ning Chan, for having founded and led the group for the last sixteen years:
As guest of honour at the Gloucestershire Chinese Womens Group (GCWG)AGM in Gloucester's Eastgate St. I spoke in rusty Mandarin and Cantonese to about 150 guests and said the Chinese community in the the city and county was lucky to have such a dedicated volunteer group to help solve their problems: 'Mew Ning has been working for you all for sixteen years, and if every ethnic community in Gloucester was as well served, then Gloucester would be lucky indeed.'
Letter to The Citizen Thurs 13 March: Time is running out for C&G staff
Dear Sir,
As of last Wednesday, Cheltenham & Gloucester ceased to be a separate business with its own board of directors. It is now a small part of the mortgage business of a majority government owned bank. This is the direct result of a decent bank (Lloyds) being encouraged and blessed by the Prime Minister to merge with a catastrophically inept one (HBOS). The result is a socialist dream, and this country's humiliation, of nationalising both - at vast cost to us all. All that remains of C&G, a once fine and independent building society with 150 years of operations in our county, is its brand name: and a headquarters in Barnwood which has already lost meaning and will soon lose staff. The first page of the C&G website has an advert: 'C&G Fixed rate ISA: Time is Running Out'. It's true not just for the ISA but for the company and its 4,500 staff.
The final act of the Age of Irresponsibility, presided over by the Man Who Abolished Boom & Bust and Saved the World, now includes the destruction of one of our best businesses. The bottom line is that votes in Edinburgh and Halifax were too important for government with no interest in Gloucester. A Freedom of Information request has shown that the Pensions and Work Minister has been lobbied by the Yorkshire regional development agency (RDA) to keep jobs in Halifax at the expense of those in C&G which (the RDA claimed) was 'struggling to efficiently service the mortgage book'. Only under a Labour government obsessed by the North could this be said without irony of a company which lost over £10 billion last year.
As we race towards 2.5 million unemployed, with the latest figures showing unemployment in Gloucester now growing faster than the country's average - what of the claims by this Prime Minister, repeated by our MP here, that they would do everything possible to save jobs?
Say a prayer for C&G and all its staff, and I hope that enough of them are angry and hungry enough to recreate a new, small, local, building society miles away from incompetent Scottish bankers and politicians.
There can surely be nothing worse for any father or mother than the death of their child. Perhaps especially if that child has been weak from birth, and watched over intensely ever since. So the death of Ivan Cameron hits all of us in Gloucester, and I hope and pray that the family can draw strength from each other in their awful sadness.
February 2009
Latest stats & facts
* Out of a UK population of 60m, 6.5m were born overseas, and only 31% of the migrants moved here to work (the rest were joining families, studying etc)
* The benefits claimants in both Gloucester and Gloucestershire jumped in Jan 09, up 0.4% to 3.6% in the city and up to 2.7% for the county. 2,579 people in the city are now claiming Job Seekers Allowance - an increase of 16% since Dec 08 - way above the national average of an 11% rise.
* The Chairman of the FSA and The Prime Minister have talked about limiting loans to 100% of the price of the property. Two problems. First this is called shutting the stable door after the horse has..and second they can't be aware that most banks won't lend more than 70-80% at the moment.
* I believe it's time to get back to small is beautiful. One way is to create our own Co-op/mutual insurer/credit unions because this is the way to rebuild trust locally, and know your customers. On Saturday I became the 526th member of the Gloucester Credit Union in order to give it a real push, and show that any of us can save and be lent money: and you SHOULDN'T go the loan sharks.
Meanwhile outside - the snow has gone and crocuses have come out: it's easy to forget what was here a moment ago. Here's a new garden seat design in Westgate which is sadly no more..
 
And (right) an afternoon neighboorhood walkabout with PCSO Sylvia Lane in Podsmead, seeing how residents were faring..
Watch out C&G, Gordon has saved you..
There's plenty to worry about at the moment, and here's my biggest worry about Gloucester businesses and jobs. What will the re-organisation of the merged Lloyds/HBoS group mean for jobs at the Cheltenham & Gloucester in Barnwood? A well run, small mortgage lender is at the mercy of the restructuring of a huge company struggling with massive debts run up by the Bank of Scotland. The Labour government is run by a Scotish mafia and it's already been revealed that there will both be an element of protecting Scottish jobs for Scottish workers and that politicians in Halifax have been lobbying for the same special treatment. Not hard to guess who will lose out - little old Gloucester. And who encouraged the merger of the two banks - which would never have got through the Monopolies Commission? The Labour Prime Minister.
Does the Labour MP understand what's going on and its implications? The man who claims to have saved the world has irreparably damaged our city's bank, while his government allows the bankers at HBoS and RBoS to go off with their knighthoods, payoffs and unimaginable pensions. C&G is a medium sized company which offered good career opportunitites for our graduates and school leavers. Now it will be a shrinking brand within a mortgage division run by an HBoS director. Less jobs, less opportunities and more unused (but still taxed) office space. What about C&G sponsorship of Gloucester Rugby and charitable donations? Don't hold your breath.
Good news on Dementia
It isn't all bad out there. The government has come up with a National Dementia Strategy aiming to transform the quality of life for dementia sufferers and their carers. There are 17 recommendations (details on www.dh.gov.uk/dementia). The one I like most is a named dementia advisor to help point new sufferers/carers in the right direction. It's a journey for which the current sign posts have been poor, as all my family discovered when my mother got Alzheimer's. This should make a big difference.
Of course there are questions. Is this for real from a government whose epitaph is 'a day without a new initiative is a day wasted for New Labour' (David Blunkett)? The professionals are enthusiastic and so am I. It could be a real step forward in dealing with these ghastly diseases. It will be up to the next government to implement the strategy, amend it where need be and and make dealing with mental health a priority. Meanwhile there is always the Alzheimer's Society helpline 0845 3000 336 and their factsheets on www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheets.
Elected Mayors and Gloucester
The Conservatives announced over two years ago that we would have directly elected mayors in the big cities (like Boris in London) and devolve to all local governments real power, so that councils greater control of its own revenue and spending. At the moment the city and county councils depend far too much on the (central) government for their budgets. so although we've always said Gloucester was too small to benefit from a directly elected mayor, we do want more local control of local decisions - like planning, which New Labour took away from us.
It's disappointing that the Labour MP for Gloucester continues to spread what he knows is a lie that there is any future threat to the Mayor of Gloucester. People in an economic crisis want their politicians to tell it straight, show leadership on what matters and not waste time taking media inches on imaginary future scares. There are plenty of real issues for the representative of this Labour government to sort out today.
Murmurations of starlings
At the moment almost every evening in Gloucester Park, an hour before dusk, there's an air display better than anything at Fairford or Kemble. Thousands of starlings gather together, sometimes in three or four groups, and sometimes altogether in one great murmuration, swooping over Brunswick Square and towards the docks and the sunset. They sleep mostly in yew trees, mostly by Christ Church. Here's a photograph that gives an idea of this great winter sight that reminds me nature is greater than us all:
Mid January 2009
Here are some quick thoughts on things that matter this week:
Good news for Gloucester train users and business
Users of Gloucester trains services, and businesses looking for good rail connections to the south, have had a good week. The Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) is looking again at installing a dual track on the Swindon-Kemble part of the Gloucester-London line. I use this line twice a week and the greatest constraint are those few miles of single line track. An additional line would mean no delays in one direction when a train going in the opposite direction is held up, and potential for more trains overall on the service to Paddington. This is good news for Gloucester (and Forest) based passengers and businesses who need to get to London frequently and currently drive to Swindon to connect with a greater number of trains. Reducing the road traffic between Gloucester and Swindon would also be good news for road users and for the environment.
I supported the petition for this organized by the GCC a few months ago and was frustrated when the ORR said it wasn’t going to move on this yet. Now they’re changing their tune, and I hope this is part of the government’s push to bring forward infrastructure expenditure – although it will take some time to complete the work. The key to the survival of Gloucester Station is greater usage – and more services should help.
Secrecy on Parliamentary expenses
Last week, after much wriggling, the Labour government finally decided NOT to improve transparency by publishing the details of MPs’ expenses over the last five years. This was a mistake, and one Parliament will rue. MPs need to show that they spend taxpayer money sensibly. All my working life, in both the public and private sector, I've had to produce expense reports, and so should everyone. I would vote happily for complete transparency on this if elected to Parliament – and residents in Gloucester can hold me to that!
Rugby star Mike Teague and Polish duet Remi & Martin help Christ Church
Part of Gloucester's Regency Christ Church, dating from the 1820s and the creation of Gloucester Spa, has been renovated due to help from former England and Gloucester rugby star Mike Teague and the Polish decorating duet Remi and Martin. I approached Mike Teague to provide scaffolding free of charge and Remi & Martin to strip the damp damaged walls, and then replaster and paint them during the coldest week of the year at a special 'christian discount'. I knew that Remi & Martin, who've worked on two other Regency properties had the expertise to do this delicate job without damaging the stained glass windows. Church Warden John Gannon said 'this is a happy start to the New Year for Christ Church and we are all delighted with the quality of work. It was good to have this finished in time for the last service taken by outgoing rector John Marshall and and the arrival of new vicar Robert Simpson.
Remi & Martin can be contacted on 0773128127.
Retirement of the Vicar of the City Benefice
John Marshall gave his last Sunday sermon in St Mary de Lode this morning - and very good it was too, in front of a good congregation. But he isn't leaving Gloucester, which is the good news.
The Regional Spatial Strategy (ie thousands of houses by Grange Road)
I went with many others (tho only 2 others from Gloucester, including Gerald Dee the excellent councillor for Tuffley) to lobby the relevant Minister in Parliament on the degree of anger in Gloucester about a development proposal which has no backing from any directly elected democratic body anywhere in Gloucestershire. Like a good Whitehall farce, the Minister refused to see us: and and only briefly the MPs. And I now understand the publication of the new RSS isn't due until June - entirely coincidentally, the same month as the county and European elections. I think we can assume that if there is good news Labour will reveal it a week before the elections: and, if bad, a week after. Let's hope this cynicism is WRONG!
What would the Conservatives do?
Few people know what we would do differently from the other main parties. In fact the difference on this are significant. Labour created regional governments that took planning powers from the shires. Lib Dems liks regions because that's the European agenda. We believe in local decision making and have pledged to abolish the regional planning authorities altogether. Decisions would then be made at Shire Hall and the North DocksThe other parties either won't or can't, and the Labour rep for Gloucester was the man who voted for the regional planning powers and then who - as a Minister in the relevant department - told The Citizen he was pleased that the Whaddon development has been taken out. It hadn't - and still hasn't.
Les, rugby and training for the young
This photo shows Gloucester's Les Vanikolo (with a slightly less distinguished rugby player) after a Rotary lunch supporting a project in Les' home island of Tonga.
None of us can say much about the accusations against Les, which are now sub judice, but I believe he's a gentle giant, a good christian rugby warrior, and I hope the charges prove groundless. We need role models for the young - and rugby is a powerful way to learn self belief: which is why the rugby charity The Wooden Spoon has teamed up with Gloucester RFC and training compnay Prospect to help some of our young.
Early January 2009
This extraordinary picture is Gloucester Park on New Year's Day at about 11am. No light, and a frost that lasted all day.
I think this is the metaphor for 2009 and yes it's going to be a grisly year. I have little faith that a government who thought a 2.5% discount on VAT was the way out of a recession will be much help. Prime Ministers who think they've abolished Boom and Bust, preside over the Age of Irresponsibility and lead us into the largest recession for 70 years should resign in embarrassment - but no, they announce they've saved the world and carry on smiling!
The answers are going to have to come from us all as individuals and families - not from our government's political leadership. We're all going to have sort out our priorities, our spending habits, our sympathy and help for others and our ability to pull together as a community. Buying local, talking up our city's star attractions, lobbying for our companies, and reducing taxes where sensible - I have written with many of Gloucester's leading investors to Lord Mandelson calling for the government to review urgently the 'tax on no income' where Labour's new bill charges tax on industrial or commercial buildings regardless of whether there is income/tenants or not.
But survival in a recession will also need another side. Is it difficult to be joyful in an economic recession? I think it easier, because the soul demands relief: pleasures become more simple: and lasting beauty more important again. So these are some of my winter joys in Gloucester:
- 5.30pm Friday evensong in the Cathedral, beside the choir under new and inspired direction: a half hour feast of the highest quality food for the soul
- Followed by a pint of Samuel Smith with Anthea and other friends by a slow burning fire in the Georgian back rooms in the Robert Raikes House pub in Southgate Street
- Walking along the paths and riverside beyond the Boating Pond in Westgate and back along Sandhurst Lane: pure wild Severn country close to the city centre, handlebar moustached John Perry land
- A mug of tea with Imran in the Friendship Cafe, with young muslims playing ping pong, and older Poles chatting by the stools: communities matter, and they come from the ground not from on high
- Bicycling to Kingsholm before a big game with Rowly my younger son, our excitement feeding off others along all the streets that lead to rugby's Cathedral..
- The sunset from Our Ladys Well close to the graveyard behind St Swithun's church, Hempsted: the rooks in squadrons at dusk salute (see Christmas below)
- Buying the last of the soup at 2pm from Philippa at the Farmers Market, whatever she has left over, for supper that night, with rye bread from Lyn, next stall
These are golden experiences, available to all, guilt free and not expensive. We'll need lots of these this year l'll keep building my joys of different seasons - Robinswood in Spring and so on: let me know YOUR moments of joy in Gloucester and we'll build the most popular into an article for my Gloucester wide newspaper..
New Year 2009
I spent part of the last day of 2008 saying goodbaye to one of Gloucester's finest servants - PC Mark Peer of the Gloucester South (Quedgeley) station, and saluting another - Graham Elliott, postman to my part of central Gloucester. Here's how I put it in a letter to the Citizen:
"Dear Sir,
Yesterday I was honoured to say farewell to one of the county's finest policemen, on his last day in the Quedgeley Police Station. PC Mark Peer has been on the beat for 30 years, and anyone would be proud to leave a job with the respect and friendships that he does. There are not many of us in any profession who are rated in the top handful anywhere in the UK - but Mark was, as Runner Up in the national award for Beat Officer of the Year in 2006. What a great example he has been for PCs and PCSOs in the Gloucester South (Quedgeley) Station and for all who believe in neighbourhood policing.
On the same day I learned that postman Graham Elliott had delivered his last letters around the city centre. After even more years with Royal Mail he too is hanging up his boots. And likewise he will be much missed by all the residents around this part of Westgate. Typically he'd said nothing about retirement.
In their different roles, both Mark and Graham have served Gloucester wonderfully, and I'm sure that new doors will now open for both to shine in new ways. Happy New Year and new times to them both!"
(Saying goodbye to PC Mark Peer at the Gloucester South Station with Inspector Sarah Johnson and some of the team. I spent a winter's night out with the Safer Communties Team before Christmas and know what a difference they're making to life aorund Quedgeley)
Christmas 2008
On a bitterly cold and beautiful afternoon just before Christmas I was in Hemspted. Twiglet (my Jack Russell) had just chased a fox through the St Swithun's graveyard, thankfully way behind, and we'd passed Mr Young's tidied mounds of autumn leaves. I walked on the ridge beyond the church graveyard, beside Our Lady's Well and watched this - to my biased eye - wonderful scene looking down on the flooded fields and towards the Severn and May Hill. Here's another image minutes later from Church Lane:
Not many outside Hempsted know how beautiful is this corner of Gloucester, the 'tree bordered lanes, land of blossom and song' that the Glosters in muddy trenches dreamt of in the First War. I thought on the hillside of those lines from my favourite poet of this city and county:
And who loves joy as he
That dwells in shadows?
Do not forget me quite,
O Severn meadows
Let me know through the questions section of the website if you don't at once recognise this brilliant, uneasy mind, and want to read more.
Over Christmas we experienced some of the great moments of celebration that Gloucester has - carols in St James's Tredworth, and midnight mass in the Cathedral, where my neighbour, a Gloucester man all his life, was coming for the first time with his son - for a bit of magic, as he put it. How wonderful to see people looking for that magic in the cathedral and not solely in the shops. In economic recession especially we turn to churches and pubs, and Kingsholm, for our inspiration - and there is plenty to be had.
I hope you haven't all had the same sort of boring cold I've had for over a month now - but if you have, a good book and bed is about the only cure, and most of us can't get away with that for long..
Happy Christmas to everyone in Gloucester!
best wishes
Richard
PS
This is the winner of my Christmas card competition, Dana Riddick of Barnwood, whose image of a skater at King's Square caught my imagination
Mid November 2009
It isn't much fun seeing your gloomy predictions coming true. If you read my May Thought for the Month below, everything I said about the economy has come true. Unemployment is still rising rapidly, with business bankruptcies and house repossessions continuing to increase. But being right about bad news isn't forward looking.
True, things will get worse before they get better. I expect to see further job losses when the plan for the C&G merger with Halifax comes out before the end of the year. These are really tough times, even with the good news about the size of the Bank of England interest rate cut. So what are the positives ahead?
Well we may get some numerate and new entrants to the teaching sector from the finance sector. There are plenty of vacancies, especially in maths and sciences. They'd be very welcome and I know from my mother (former deputy headmistress) and my sister (current deputy headmistress) that you can have a HUGE impact on people's lives by inspiring them young. Go for it!
Meanwhile, and as important as jobs in a different way, is the whole business of community cohesion. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi came to Gloucester to look at community issues wth me. We spent time in Barton & Tredworth, because this is where residents with Jamaican, Indian, Chinese and Eastern Europe roots live closest: with their different Christian, Muslim, Aethist/Christian and Buddhist religious cultures. And we also saw the Dean of Gloucester and Westgate based community charity The Family Haven. Our view overall is that there has been some great community work done in Gloucester and that now is the time for bigger single projects for eg women or young men of all backgrounds and cultures, rather than splitting a shrinking pot of funds into different colours/ethnic origins/religions within any ward or the city. We both admire what the Friendship Cafe has achieved for the Muslims, and it's new reach towards the Poles. Sayeeda was optimistic that this could be a good role model for the city.
 
The bottom line is that communities need contacts with each other in good times - so that the links can help in bad times, when tension suddenly flashes up between neighbours.
Here's a group of us after visiting the charitable funded Al Ashraf Centre, which helped distribute water during the floods, and has since benefited from a Severn Trent donation.
Last week of October 2008
This week: action on business and our communities - and putting Gloucester's views in front of our Shadow Cabinet members and other front bench spoesmen.
On Monday I accompanied the Gloucester Federation of Small Business (FSB) to a meeting with Mark Prisk, our Minister for Small Business. Both Mark and I are small businessmen: and together there was a good discussion of the issues we all face. Doing nothing for businesses is not an option - we need monetary help (ie lower interest rates), fiscal help (ie tax breaks) and regulatory help (ie less red tape for small businesses). Otherwise repossessions will continue to rise (led by Northern Rock) and loans for companies and individuals continue to disappear.
On Thursday I invited Philip Hammond, Shadow Chief Secretary, to visit the Westgate business Hayden Taylor. He also met Westgate Quarter Chairman Ivan Taylor, walked round the city centre with myself and Council leader Paul James and spoke to an audience of businessmen about our response to the economic recession. It was good to see that the Westgate Qarter has a plan to advertise the city centre vigorously in the run up to Christmas, and that this is supported by the city council - who will also reduce tariffs on the Westgate car park on Sundays.
And Philip was struck, as are all my visitors, by how lovely the city centre is. Gloucester underplays herself - part of my job is to bring high profile visitors so they can appreciate what we take for granted and spread the word.
October 2008
No more 'credit crunch' - which sounds like some friendly new chocolate bar from Cadburys: this is a serious economic recession.
Stagecoach has signed up the first former estate agent to be a bus driver in Gloucester. There are queues in the morning outside the Spa Road Job Centre. One large employer told me he had laid off 3% of his work force and there would be more to come. A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the future of the Gloucester based C&G, because of the Lloyds TSB acquisition of HBoS. The government has sold its stake in another major city employer, British Energy, to the French (EDF): will it too survive unchanged? And most poignantly for a city of many independent and small medium sized companies, the construction and property development sectors have been badly hit. It is easy, like Fraser in Dad's Army, to imagine 'we're all doomed'.
Which we most definitely are not - but it would help if the government carried out the following few proposals:
- Introduce immediately reduced tax levels of 19% for small medium sized companies
- Likewise absolve them from most bureaucracyDropped their top down target of 3 million new houses
- Dropped their new housing proposals on the edges of Gloucester City (and let us focus on brown field sites)
- Gave back the regional control of planning powers to the councils where it belongs
- Stopped regionalising our Fire Control Centres
The sad thing, when you go round parts of Gloucester like Podsmead, is the sense of lost opportunity - all themoney raised from taxpayers in the good years, and not much to show for it. Lots of initiatives, but mostly short term neighbourhood project funding, with little to show at the end, with a Post Office about to be closed and a pub long abandoned. We can, and must, do better.
Meanwhile thank god for some decent weather so far this autumn and a scrappy win at Kingsholm against the Dragons, watched by Anthea, Kitty, Bertie and I..
Richard
September 2008
I've just come back from the Conservative Conference in Birmingham. The back drop was the economic recession and how the current financial crisis plays out: the bigger picture is what the impact of all this on people's confidence, their jobs and their homes. It was right that this - and how we Conservatives would end the Age of Irresponsibility and restore confidence and growth - dominated the conference.
I believe David Cameron and George Osborne hit the right notes by telling people that there is no money inthe kitty, that it is going to be tough and that immediate tax cuts except for businesses are not practical - though the headline announcement on controlling council tax was well received: most Conservative controlled councils - like the Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucester City Council - have plans that keep their increases close to or under 2.5% p.a. anyway. Wearing my professional hat as an investment manager for institutions like pension funds, charities and local governments, I believe that the US Congress WILL approve a rejigged package because there is no alternative.
Worth noting that only 3 per cent of Labour MPs have any business background - the Labour representative certainly has none - and I hope they do the right things in approving new legislation in the UK that should have been passed earlier. This is to allow the Bank of England (the government prefers the FSA) power to intervene decisively in handling banking crises, and differentiate between cases where owners of banks should be left to carry the can or arrange a private sector solution: and those where B of E help, temporary or longer term, is needed. This would reduce the deployment of the blunt instrument of nationalisation where the hardpressed taxpayer picks up the tab.
Of course the main issue in the High Street is confidence - and perceptions of it. On the bus I took to the conference this morning elderly women were asking me if their deposits in eg the RBOS were safe. I gave an unequivocal YES. But if world leaders like Bush and Brown are seen to be no longer in control of events, then confidence deteriorates. Which is why David Cameron is right to stress that we Conservatives will work with Labour - and not fiddle like the Democrats and Republicans while Rome burns.
Also at the conference we covered a huge range of plans in other sectors. I spoke on mental health and the need for much greater clarity about what is available to help carers and the families of sufferers (often the same people) deal with Alzheimers and other types of dementia: and how we need to bridge the gap between care for those on means tested benefits and nothing for those with modest savings. I spoke with Terry Pratchett - he about his own disease, and I about my mother's. There was a lot of support for this.
August 2008
Holiday time: and although there's been a lot of rain we haven't - thank god - had last year's floods. The Gloucester Festival – marked by bogged showmen’s caravans in 2007 – was this year marked by a high turn out, good events including concerts music and a spectacular final fireworks show which we watched from the roof of our Westgate home.
I hope everyone has time to get outdoors, and be inspired into sport by the Olympics, Wimbledon or the revitalised one day national cricket team under Kevin Peterson. Olympics. My younger son and I play for Gloucester City Cricket Club. He tends to be the youngest in a side whose average is about 20, and I’m one of the oldies. We have had several girls playing for us, a couple eligible for free bus passes and several of different ethnic backgrounds. In fact our team is a mirror of Gloucester. When we’re good we’re pretty good, and when we’re bad we take some beating at that too! But it’s huge fun, we get exercise, we tease each other a lot and we try our best. It’s a great way for young and not so young to get out together, to know the joy of winning and not to get too steamed up about losing.
Meanwhile, though, the summer has a way of coming up with bad political news. Over the last month thimngs that affect us all in Gloucester include:
· Gas prices to go up 44% and government puts its stake in British Energy up for sale: almost unbelievably the government first decides to sell its one third stake in Gloucester’s largest listed company – British Energy – and then allows the likely new French owner (EDF) to announce a hefty increase of gas prices. No conflict of interest? If you allow prices to go up this much you will get a bigger price for your stake. On top of that the government has written a clause into the draft sale agreement so that if future profits exceed expectations then the sellers get an ‘uplift’ or extra payment. And who decides whether the company’s tariffs are ok or whether to charge the company a windfall tax? The government. How very convenient if you are Chancellor and your tax revenues are going down and costs are rising. But what about the families who face the bills? Where do we come in on this? Not a word from the local Labour representative on this.
· Increase in new housing around Gloucester: an announcement by the regional government to increase the number of houses being built in Gloucestershire by over 7,000 – that’s on top of what the government (Mr Dhanda’s boss in specific) decided to allow at Hunt’s Grove.
· 1,500 new houses on the edge of Tuffley, in Whaddon, included in the plan. Mr Dhanda has pretended that this government proposal isn’t going ahead. It is – it’s just not called Whaddon in the plan, but the location cannot be anywhere else. This is political spin at its most cynical. Do not be fooled – this is the direct consequence of Dhanda signing the bill that gave planning powers to the SW region. Now look out for him posing to save Tuffley from this proposal. we will be putting out plans to oppose this proposal during the consultation so that residents can oppose vigorously.
· Closure of the Podsmead Post office: The announcement of this was delayed until the last possible moment, ie when many people are on holiday and there are discussions of some form of ‘outreach’ service. Once again the poorest people in Gloucester, who don’t have bank accounts, will suffer.
· No funding for Gloucestershire schools flooded last year: £30 million for eg core Labour heartland like Hull. Of the earlier £13m distributed, Hull got about 3 times as much as Gloucestershire. This government has abandoned both the county and the city. Dhanda says it's all the GCC's fault for not applying: the GCC says the government wrote and told them that if schools were insured then the county could not apply. What has Dhanda done tro help Gloucester's schools in all this? Volunteered to check if the rules were altered for Labour areas like Hull? or is he pplaying politics, happy to criticise the GCC at the expense of school children's welfare?
· Labour proposal to change the police funding formula: sounds academic but this could mean our county police force would have to lose about 100 officers. MP Dhanda tried to regionalise our police force (and failed): now he wants to reduce it in size by changing the formula so that he can return to the regional idea in due course. Right now he is regionalising the fire control centre in a project that is way over budget and behind schedule, like every New Labour project except the Post Office account card: which incidentally is expected to be taken away from the P.O. when it comes up for renewal in 2010. I do hope we have a change of government before that decision.
What all this means is that our utility bills will soar again (a bath now costs 95p according to the media): and our nuclear industry will be in the hands of the French, because we didn’t build any in the last 10 years and so lost the expertise to do so. Our infrastructure will struggle to keep up with new houses planned: our schools get no cash towards the costs of flooding: one more community in Gloucester will have no real Post Office; and we may have less officers on the beat before long.
My solution for most of these issues? Simple: Let Gloucester decide! Instead of Westminster deciding all, we should decide here on planning issues, and on the future of our policing (and fire service). we can't prevent the government selling their stake in British Energy, though I hope they have considred a UK solution carefully.
When you put all this together I’m afraid it hasn’t been a good month. Any silver lining? Well because life is tougher, this makes us more environmentally friendly. We’re getting less wasteful: less shopping, less travelling or travelling with friends – a bit less materialistic. It does mean we should try and grow veggies if we have a garden, and use less electricity at home: it makes solar panels pay for themselves much faster than before. But not many people can afford them, especially now, and the silver lining is small compared with the main problems. These are rising food and fuel bills, real fears about how to pay higher mortgage bills even as your house loses value - and losing your job as the economy goes into recession.
And frankly it beggars belief that MP Dhanda should believe that the future of local government structure should be determined by trying to save money to build a new stadium for Gloucester City Football Club in Stroud. If saving money was the issue, I have a suggestion which would build several GFC new stadiums - in Gloucester please - regenerate the Railway Triangle, provide new public toilets everywhere, and cut all our energy bills in the city for many years. It can be done by Dhanda's government. Just stop the Ridiculous, Unwanted Unnecessary and Unbelieveably Expensive ID Card.
The government should help the people by cutting completely the latest planned fuel tax increase (we already pay the highest fuel tax in the world): introduce the fair fuel stabiliser (less tax when the fuel price goes up), cut the proposed road tax in the autumn: cut the headline business tax to enable business to support jobs: and get rid of expensive white elephant projects.
We know Labour has spent the summer plotting against each other: what we want to see in Gloucester are signs that our MP is focused on helping the city. He can make a start in his ministry by advocating the end of regional governments and govong Gloucester back power over planning.
Let Gloucester decide!
The end of June 2008
It's been a strange month. A year ago the floods did more damage to the city and its residents than anything since the Siege of Gloucester in the Civil War. The Citizen got a letter from Gordon Brown reassuring it about all the wonderful things that he was going to do to help the city as we recovered from the floods. So what's happened since?
- The flood defence budget for Gloucestershire (with the Environment Agency) has been cut by £5m
- The much trumpeted 110m Euros (for the whole of the country and Northen Ireland) of EU funding was reduced to £31m. Now it's been increased again, but no-one has the slightst idea how the money will be divided up or what we will get for Gloucester.
- Glos CC have a £25m road repair bill and £16m of government funding. Mind the gap!
- Almost 5,000 people in the county are still not back in their homes
- Sir Michael Pitt's report on the floods was issued
What did the Pitt report conclude?
That the county council had done a great job, that the emergency services worked brilliantly, especially the Tri Service centre, and that responsibilities for eg water courses needed clarification. There were c90 specfic recommendations for the government. I look forward to seeing some real progress on them - not just more talk from Mr Dhanda.
So how is the Labour government doing?
It has just lost its deposit in the Henley by election, coming fifth.
What about Gloucester - what's coming up which is important?
There are some important decisions. First up is the decision on Podsmead Post Office. Will it be kept? I'm no Mystic Meg but I can't see it surviving without cutting back the current service. The government doesn't believe Post Offices have a future. We want to make sure they do!
Next up is the decision on the proposed Regional Spatial Strategy. Why does this matter? Because the government's regional strategy wants lots of new houses in places like Whaddon, on the outskirts of Tuffley. I will be watching this carefully with Cllr Gerald Dee.
Then we have road tax - a national issue but relevant to us all. If I sign up enough people sign my petition.
And in September we will see how Mr Dhanda has spent his allowances....
Are consultations worth the time and money?
Mr Dhanda recently answered a question on this in Parliament. They have had about 75 consultations this year: but don't know in how many of these the original proposal was supported and in how many the public view had its say and a different answer was achieved. Mr Dhanda said it would cost too much to find out .. I say this is ridiculous. We should be able to find out the analysis on such consultations. And I'm afraid the public will just assume this Labour government is just not listening. And they're right.
Richard
Bank Holiday 26th May 2008
Are things getting worse in Gloucester?
The numbers of homes being repossessed are up sharply: as are the numbers of people seeking CAB and other advice on spiralling household debt. Construction companies are laying people off and skilled workers (plasterers etc) are finding work hard to come by. As earnings falter, and tax and petrol costs rise (see earlier Thought for the Month), we all need to cut back on spending. The banks may be refinanced (by us taxpayers) but they're passing on the problem to our retail sector, businesses who can't get loans to expand and individuals who can't get loans to get on the housing ladder. No wonder that the Persimmon housing project on Barnwood Road is mothballed. It won't be the last in the county. If you didn't believe this before - and preferred the easy Labour propaganda that everything was fine, trust them, they knew how to handle things - well please do now. Things are bad and will get worse before they get better: and New Labour has no idea what to do.
What happened on the 10% tax rate Labour got rid of - haven't they re-introduced it?
No. But they have done a messy u turn. We were told that change was unnecessary (Brown) and that changing the budget was impossible (Darling), and then suddenly that they would compensate the over 5 million people who lost out. So the starting level for tax was lowered. That backpedalling on the end of the 10% tax rate cost the country over £2bn of more debt, is only valid for a year and won't help more than a million of those who lost out. Not a brilliant manoeuvre, and one that should never have been necessary.
Was this in able to win the Crewe by election?
That would be the cynic's interpretation. But if so it didn't quite work - Labour lost with a spectacular swing of 17% swing from Labour to Tory.
What did Gloucester MP Parmjit Dhanda say about this, given that Crewe shares some characteristics with Gloucester?
He said - like every government minister - that Labour should listen and learn.
And what has he learnt?
Well let's see. Perhaps he should start with the brochure he circulated about 18 months ago - '50 reasons to vote Labour'. Most were dodgy then, hardly any are valid now. The only reason Labour gave in Crewe to vote Labour was because the Tory was a 'toff'. Voters, it turned out, were looking for a bit more substance. But I expect Mr Dhanda, when it comes to a general election, will resort to similar tactics here.
What does he offer of substance?
The day after the Crewe by election Mr Dhanda's column in the Citizen pleaded for the Urban Regeneration Company to move the railway station about 500 yards to the Railway Triangle (ie beside main line to Cheltenham/Bristol). There was no mention of what benefits this would bring - and we know that network Rail, the owner and major stakeholder isn't interested.
And what would the cost of doing this be?
Gloucester would have to negotiate the land from Network Rail, build a new station, introduce new signalling, create a new road off Metz Way for access and introduce a connecting bus service between station and town (too far to walk, especially for elderly passengers). The cost would be many millions.
Who does Dhanda think will pay for this?
He proposes the creation of a new Business Improvement District (BID), another New Labour initative which has recently been compellingly damned by Labour MP and businessman Geoffrey Robinson when it was introduced in Coventry as a complete waste of businesses' money. Dhanda also proposes increasing the local business levy by the council in order to raise money for the new station. Dhanda is simply not listening to business if he believes that local businessmen want a new station at their cost and with no benefit to their activity. This is cloud cuckoo land, which is where junior ministers with no experience of business tend to live.
So who would benefit from the new station?
The only human beneficiary of a new station in the Railway Triangle without significant additional train services would be Mr Dhanda. He would bombard the residents of Gloucester with another glossy brochure, paid for by the tax payer, taking credit for another shiny new building (also paid for by the taxpayer). 'Look at what I have done for Gloucester - forward not back' etc.
Don't get me wrong: I like (most) shiny new buildings and I am a big fan of train travel (and unlike Mr Dhanda I use the train a great deal every week). I just have the old or possibly new fashioned idea that public buildings should do something that makes a real difference to people's lives. There is no case for a new station without hugely improved services - but Dhanda goes for the shiny new building every time, it's so much easier than better services. If we can afford new buildings, let's have a new bus station at a fraction of the cost.
Hasn't the government got plenty of money?
It did, it raised taxes big time in 2001-5. Trouble is, that's all spent. The government is bankrupt, and the Olympics need cash (or will the government abandon this now the London Mayor is Boris not Ken?), so Dhanda won't get much money from his friends in the Cabinet.
I do anticipate an ill pitched effort to convert a school or two into a new academy before the county council elections next year. ''£25million for a new academy' he will trumpet - and let's read the small print carefully about which school he wants to close, whether the teaching will be better, and who pays when the project is over budget etc. Be prepared for the marketing pitch coming to us all soon - when something looks too good to be true, it usually is.
Meanwhile Mr Dhanda will try to get the councils and the businesses to pay for his new railway station.
Is this what he's trying with the Post Offices too?
Some Labour supporters will try and blame the county council for the closure of the Post Offices! Suddenly they have become a council responsibility. Of course there won't be any money given for this. Is it a deliberate plan? Since Labour has so few councils, it's happy to legislate for councils to deliver more services free (eg bus services for the Over 60s) while starving them of cash - and does Labour care if Gloucester city or Gloucestershire county councils fail now they they're not run by Labour? And yes the other technique is to encourage councils to take responsibility for services it doesn't want any longer (eg Post Offices). I'm afraid this government is more concerned with fighting itself and other parties to fight for Gloucester - whether it's flood defence work by the Environment Agency, road repairs by the county council or just funding for children's education: we will always lose out to the big northern cities.
What will Glos CC do?
Glos CC would love to help keep Post Offices but it also knows council tax payers can't go on paying more local tax. Flood defence and road repair work is already eating up their cash - and the money that Mr Dhanda trumpeted from the EU seems mysteriously to have dropped from 110 million euros to £30 million, and who knows what we'll get from this for Gloucester.
Meanwhile the GCC is looking at what Essex CC has been trying to do but been prevented from implementing by the Post Office not handing over equipment. It also depends on what the postmasters want to do. Some of those being closed are are so disillusioned that they may want out.
So what should the government do in this time of economic crisis?
It needs to understand that change is needed fast. Individuals and businesses have to live within their means, and for some with big debts this will be painful. It means in most cases shrinking the balance sheet short term. Government should be doing the same. Look at the adverts for public sector jobs - does anyone believe they're all necessary? Why are the numbers of ministerial advisors so much higher than they were in 1997? And why is pr spending up so much?
It should promote more about finance at an early stage so that the young don't get into the bad debt habits of the New Labour years. That's why I'm a strong supporter of the HSBC sponsored 'What Money Means' programme. It's started in several primary schools in the county.
It should kickstart activity by providing incentives and getting rid of unnecessary costs eg for first time buyers by exempting them from stamp duty. With prices in some cases 10% cheaper than a year ago there are opportunities to help first time buyers get on the housing ladder by cutting tax. And we've also called publicly for the abolition of the Home Improvement Packs (HIPs), an extra cost for the market and not accepted by mortgage providers, which have no practical value.
And it's vital that rather than strangle families on the lowest salaries by increasing taxes (ie the recent increase of their income tax from 10% to 20%), the government should be trying to find ways of helping them. Cancelling the proposed 2p hike in tax on petrol and diesel this autumn would be a good start. Almost half the cost of an ever rising petrol tank goes on tax - over 70p a litre - the highest of any other country in the developed world. Increasing taxes will only drive more people into debt.
It should reduce the ever increasing number of laws on businesses. These increase costs not least because they take time to understand and implement. The latest example of EU legislation is giving temporary workers the same rights as permanent workers, which will hit the UK hard and probably result in less temporary jobs for our young. We used to have an opt out of all this social legislation - but Tony Blair gave it away.
So what we need in Gloucester, in the county and across the country, is a government which is on the side of people and businesses - reducing taxation and new legislation, and providing opportunity.
And is new Labour and Mr Dhanda providing that for Gloucester?
We need MPs who understand what drives businesses and individuals that create jobs and pay taxes: and how the public sector ethos, freed by the plethora of new rules, can deliver better services. It is unfortunate that our MP in Gloucester has never worked either in the private sector or the civil service.
Where he seeks to save money he is disingenuous about the reasons - pretending that the regionalisation of the Fire Service Control will bring a better service, when all the evidence of the botched regionalisation of the Ambulance service has already shown us the opposite.
Where he seeks to boost economic activity this is always at the taxpayer expense - and now will be at the expense of local businesses as well - instead of providing help to private business to invest more or come to Gloucester.
Where he says nothing about controversial Labour legislation plans it's because he is in favour of it but knows residents aren't - so nothing at all said about the plan to detain people for 42 days without charge, nothing on the proposal to introduce ID cards. Nothing either about temporary workers getting the same rights as full time workers, even though this will probably mean less temporary jobs being made available.
All of this means Labour and Dhanda are letting Gloucester down. Costs are going up, tax is going up and the number of regulations and new initatives have spiralled at almost the same pace as Labour's debts.
We had to rescue the city council from large debts when electors voted out Labour's controlling party: we had to do the same with the county council debts; and we will now have to do the same with the government of the country. We'll have to rescue it from bankruptcy and help Gloucester's workers to get back on their feet and improve things for them and their families.
I've had to help turn around the company I work for when Nick Leeson made us bankrupt in 1995: it's hard work and takes time. But you can succeed: and we have succeeded. And we must succeed in Gloucester too.
May 2008
The city elections are come and gone. I am delighted that a positive campaign was rewarded with some success - a gain for us from both Labour and the Lib Dems, leaving us just short of majority control, with a higher share of the vote. It is good news that successful businessman Jim Porter, ex civil servant Gerald Dee and IT guru Gordon Taylor, one of the the youngest members of the Council, are all bringing his experience to the Council. And it is particularly good news that Yakub Pandor JP has been elected to represent the community of Barton & Tredworth.
Why are the Conservatives doing better?
I feel that working people are cheesed off.
They know that things are very tough. Inflation is higher than the government's official figure shows: good news that the cost of fridges are going down but how many do you buy a month?? Bread, milk and butter, if you can afford it, meanwhile are soaring.
Then the government costs are rising. More tax - especially if you're earning less than £18,000 and lost the 10% income tax rate: more tax on small businesses (the core of Gloucester business) and now more tax on many cars.
Some people think it ironic that as we hit the £5 gallon that the government is still charging more tax on petrol than anywehere else in Europe. And if you want to drink your sorrows away well sorry the price of all beer and cider went up sharply too..
Add to that a Prime Minister who says we should 'listen and lead' and an MP who thinks he can be photographed outside Kingsholm saying he wants to save it - and then vote against the Tory motion to stop the closures - is it surprising people are disillusioned?
I'm afraid things will get worse. As I wrote in January this is an austerity year, in fact probably two of them now. China is exporting inflation now, not the other way round: earnings will shrink and lending will be scarce. The Bank of England will bail out yesterday's banking errors but the cost will be huge. Consumer spending, mortgage availability and retail sales - it'll be tough.
Keep debt low, plant veggies on any inch of garden you have, ride a bike where possible and watch out for all sorts of relaunches of Labour policies at your (taxpayer) expense (government pr expenditure - up many 100% since 1997 - is the key here). I wonder how that figure of 2.8 million people on disability benefits will alter. That's one to watch: the workers simply can't afford to pay for the students, the pensioners and then this number of disabled. There is only one way to pay for it - debt. Which is what this government is good at doing, running up a monster debt problem for a later Tory government to pay off - £160billion and rising fast.
Locally there is the matter of waste. This was used for some outrageous Labour spin during the local election - and I go into more detail on the government issues page.
Meanwhile please see the photo for April which shows Yakub Pandor JP after cleaning the streets with me. I am delighted that Yakub has now been elected Councillor for Barton and Tredworth and I know he will prove an excellent representative of all consituents in the ward.
April 2008
Here we are now in Gloucester, plunged into local elections. I did some campaigning in Westgate over this Heritage Weekend and met some interesting voters.
There was Henry Eighth, who told me his Danish wife (Anne of Cleves) was a bit of a trout, and that I shouldn't trust photographers (who'd sent him a great picture of her before they married). I asked about his other wives: 'to be honest' he replied 'I forget all their names, but I have seen one who takes my fancy, she's with the Crusaders, and you may find that Henry has a seventh wife soon..' Then he offered my son Rowland a knighthood. Assuming this was Blair's Britain, I asked how much? He said a hot sausage roll would do the trick.
I chatted up the Grenadiers who'd built the A9, General Wade's road, after the Battle of Culloden. Eight pints of beer a day was a soldier's ration in those days, when they were bayoneting scotmsen in kilts as easily as Gloucester beat Leeds. They might struggle though with the drink and ride laws of today.
Rowland handled a bren gun mounted with a 100 round belt for anti aircraft use in the Docks, not far from where some Victorian musketry was giving the Gloucester Yacht Club a pasting. The Reconnaissance Company in their desert combats of c1942 told us most people asked them: 'where are you serving now dear - Iraq or Afghanistan?'. Next door the Romano Brits were drawing with egg tempura and rubbing their hands by if not in the fire. Quite a lot of talk about how things had gone to the dogs since the Romans had pulled out, couldn't get decent underground heating any longer and the wine wasn't up to scratch.
The good news is that none of these characters - Guy de Beeson, squire in the Wars of the Roses, Captain Cook and even an aged Colonel Massey, our very own 22 year old Civil War commander - would voting Labour: all of them earned less than £18,000 in their time and so would be paying double the tax now. The bad news is that none of them have registered to vote in Gloucester at all. And then our car broke down. Still, King Henry got his sausage roll...and perhaps the girl from the Crusades, who knows...
More seriously we have the best new candidates in these elections, the best case for taking majority control of the Council and the best cause in giving the Labour Party a good kicking. Come and join us fight for a decent deal for those who work..
Here we are in Barton - Shadow Cabinet member Francis Maude, Council Leader Paul James and our candidates - Tarren Randle and Yakub Pandor. We rolled up our sleeves and cleaned up some streets - yes, a Shadow Cabinet member DOING things (5 sacks of rubbish).
March 2008
There isn't much more to be said about the horrible business of our Kingsholm and Podsmead Post Offices. The 'consultation' has ended and the decision will be announced - good lord whoever would have guessed - on the 6th May, days after the local elections.
Consultations have become a joke under this government. They have become purely a means of delaying the inevitable: and anyone who gives the wrong answer (like the Irish in an EU referendum) is encouraged to have another go and then fall in with what has already been decided and rubber stamped.
I'm trying a last ditch attack on the MD of the PO Ltd - without much optimism.
And I watch with the deepest depression our MP spreading lies that the Conservatives are trying to close the Post Offices. Does he really think that Gloucester has forgotten his posing for photos against closing: and then voting against the Conservative motion to stop the closures? Everyone in Gloucester knows what happened.
January 2008
Here's my youger son Rowly about to overtake me on the skating rink in Kings Square..
a wonderful city initiative over Christmas and the New Year.
It was good to see explicitly Christian lights on Debenhams too. I've never understood the nonsense about NOT recognising Christmas as a christian festival. Muslim, buddhist and hindu friends around the world have sent us Christmas messages, just as I send messages about Id ul Aidha or Diwali. In the case of Islam, the stories of Ibrahim and Abraham their sons and the ram are so similar that believers find they have much more in common than the other way round. So let's recognise, and be happy about, all the great religious festivals.
The other great Christmas/New Year must is a pantomine, and the GODS production of The Sleeping Beauty at the New Olympus Theatre was superb. Lots of exciting young talent, especially Will Browne and Vici Gough, while Marie Dickinson reminded us how convincing an evil part can be. It's all looking up for GODS with a bidder for the NOT who has said it wants to continue staging drama, and productions by GODS.
This would be very good news for Gloucester if it all comes through.Meanwhile New Year is a good time for resolutions (even if not kept), predictions (even if not accurate) and hopes (even if not realised). I believe in dreams - as Oscar Wilde said, 'we're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars'.
So here are 16 (a rugby team and a sub) wishes for Gloucester for 2008:
- A Gloster Meteor, powered by the world's first jet engine and produced just outside the city, to be placed in Gloucester
- Gloucester to win both the Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Rugby Cup, to be celebrated triumphantly on a bus around the city
- Severn Trent to provide a refund of water charges for residents who had to move out of their homes during and after the flooding (see December Thought for the Month below)
- City retailers to take the lead in declaring themselves plastic bag free zones and help us all to stop using them
- The city to considers a statue in Westgate of arguably our greatest defender - Colonel Massey, who led the defence of Gloucester during the long Civil War siege
- The government to drop its plans for ID cards - an unwanted, unnecessary and expensive new Labour project
- The MP for Gloucester to drop his plans for regionalisation of the Fire Control, which he plans to move from Gloucester to Taunton, recognising the damage done by the regionalisation of the Ambulance Service, and mindful that his government dropped the earlier attempt to regionalise our police force
- The Sea Cadets, aided by British Waterways, to have once again a berth in the docks and be able to train on the water here, and so maintain our tradition of links with the Navy which HMS Gloucester commemorates
- A TV series to be filmed in Gloucester, generating jobs and pride in this great city
- Plans to be drawn up for a new health centre in Kingsway and a new Armscroft Community Centre
- The % of Gloucester's recycling to rise sharply after the city council's plans for City Council plans for plastics and then cardboard recycling are implemented
- Plans for the development of Blackfriars to move forward fast, and ideas for the development for the Railway Triangle to become plans. It has sat unlovely and unused for too long.
- The government to change its way of paying benefits - so that only the people who really need them receive disabled benefits: so that there is no incentive for couples to live apart and so that mothers who want to go back to work do have an incentive. Families are the best hope for the future of our city - we need incentives to be together, not apart
- The government to stop restructuring our health and education systems. Professionals are fed up with being restructured. They want to get on with the job - patiensts' health and childrens' education, not an army of targets and paper directives. Let's focus instead on training and supporting good teachers and good doctors in Gloucester
- Banks to take the lead in helping the financial education of our young, backed by community groups, schools and above all parents
- All of us to 'waste not, want not' in a difficult year - by reusing more and throwing away less.
Thoughts on 2008
I suspect we're all - businesses, local government and charities alike - going to have to tighten our belts in 2008. The city and county councils have had the worst settlement from Westminster for many years. A cynic might think that the Labour government doesn't mind our local services getting squeezed, since they're run by Conservatives. It is odd that our MP has said nothing to support Gloucester's needs for decent funding of public services.
I believe Conservative councils can still deliver decent services without allowing the rampant council tax inflation that happened when the Labour Lib Dem combo run Gloucester and Gloucestershire's councils, but funding for good local projects will be very tight. So yes I'm gloomy about the macro side. Not surprising when the government and the Bank of England have fallen out, a bad sign, and to have us taxpayers bailing out over £50 billion to Northern Rock, the first bank run for 150 years - far more than our total defence et - is ridicOld Labour would have nationalised the bank: Maggie would have protected the depositers and declared the company bankrupt. New Labour doesn't know what to do. And just as the housing markeverses, the government imposes HIPS on the sale of every house, even though morgage lenders want a separate suThe only bit that is useful is the energy rating, which we will keep in a Conservative government and develop over time. Local estate agents agree that something needed to be done to speed up the process of buying houses: but not this, and not now.
Luckily there are plenty of good things happening in Gloucester to help offset the government's mismanagement. My optimism about 2008 comes as much as anything from how we came through last year's adversity. The city, like our rugby team, rises to challenges! Best wishes for a happy 2008
Richard
Richard Graham
December 2007
At this time of the year my thoughts for a Happy - and above all a Drier New Year - go to all those in Gloucester still not yet back in their homes after the floods. Many people would be surprised at how many residents are in this situation. I've met many: in Marlborough Gardens, from Tuffley (one family living in a flat in Wotton, their garage stuffed with toys), including a couple who both served in the last war: another family down Sandhurst lane in their caravan (big, but just not home where the floors and skirting were sodden), and several in Longlevens. There are others from pockets badly hit and even now wrestling with problems.
There is one thing that could be done which would show one of our largest companies had a heart. My plea to the board of Severn Trent is not for compensation (which is what our MP and the Citizen seek). There is too much of the Compensation Culture already in our society already and I do not believe that Severn Trent could have prevented the Mythe treatment plant from being overwhelmed in July. Their response in terms of bottled water and getting the equipment repaired as fast as it was was also good. Nor do I criticise their making a profit. Without profits there would be no further investment in the quality of our water, and the largest shareholders (pension schemes) would suffer too. No - I seek something different: a recognition of principle.
When, through no-one's fault a service is cut off it is morally wrong to continue to charge for that service during that period. If a baker cannot bake bread because of a problem in the bakery people do not pay money as if they were still getting bread. And the same should be true of water. I saw a Severn Trent slogan on a lorry in the summer: 'Your Water - Safe in Our Hands'. Well it wasn't safe in July, and recognition of that to the individuals concerned is the best way to acknowledge that. I recognise that S Trent gave a generous contribution to the Flood Relief Fund. But I believe they should have matched the spirit of the city council: if you weren't living at home (or your water was cut off), you should not be charged for that period. It is not too late for Severn Trent to instate that principle and regain the respect they have had. I believe this would be a fantastic way to start the New Year - wiping the slate clean across homes affected in Gloucestershire. Scrooge would surely nod his head in approval by the end of A Christmas Carol.
November 2007
When it comes to food increasingly we want to know where it comes from. We prefer a chicken from down the road than one flown in from Thailand. And we're lucky to have in Gloucester our own butchers and fishmonger who know the source of all their food. Local, generally, is best.
The same thing is basically true of government. We want to know who's responsible for local decisions. It was good that Gloucestershire's Gold Command was in charge of the flood crisis - drawing on resources from elsewhere as and when needed: but in charge, here and locally accountable.
But we get frustrated when responsibility is unclear. We want to know in Gloucester who is responsible for keeping the brooks that flow through the city clear of rubbish. The current answer - partly the Environment Agency, partly the city council and partly those who own the gardens beside the brooks - is unsatisfactory because no-one has clear responsibility. Who, for example, should build a barrier to catch the rubbish before it blocks the small culvert under the railway line in the Tredworth Cemetery? The government needs to create structures with clear responsibility and local control.
This brings me to our emergency services. In 2006 the government tried to reduce local accountability by regionalising the police force. Luckily they backed down. But they have regionalised the ambulance service and their own report now admits that slower ambulance response times is mostly because of the regionalisation. Services have got worse, not better. Despite this, there is speculation that the Gloucestershire and Wiltshire A&E despatch control may be moved to Avon. Regionalised despatch would mean a further concentration of risk in one centre. Already 999 emergency calls are answered by a team based in Norwich, then the caller is connected to Avon, before computer transfer of the details to the Tri Service Centre and on to the ambulance on the road. Regional despatch would means responsibility for the ambulance service in Gloucestershire would be almost entirely out of local control.
And the same is true of the plans to relocate the control of the Fire and Rescue Service from Gloucester to Taunton. Those in favour believe technology solves all. We all want good technology - but this can be combined with local control and responsibility in units where people, by far the most important resource in an emergency service, can operate most effectively. There is lots of evidence, not least from the floods, that local control works very efficiently and evidence from the ambulance experience that regional control leads to worsening morale and performance.
So I am in no doubt that we should retain responsibility and control for our emergency services here in Gloucester. The Labour government (the relevant minister is Mr Dhanda) has said it wants to see more devolution of power and more local decision making, so it should agree. Mr Dhanda gave a speech in the North East about local is best. But their actions are different from their words. This is the government which has moved control of planning in the city and the county to Exeter: created (and now disbanded) a regional assembly: regionalised our regiment, and created a new regional minister (in Exeter): has regionalised the ambulance service, has tried to regionalise the police force and is now trying to regionalise control of the Fire Service. Unelected and unaccountable regional control is not localism.
So here are my recommendations for a government that really believes in local is best: drop the plan to move control of the Fire Service to Taunton: drop any plans to move ambulance despatch control to Avon: announce publicly that there will be no more regionalisation of the emergency services: increase the funding for local government to spend on the police force: give back responsibility for our planning to the county and the city; and clarify who will keep our brooks clear - and then provide the money to do so. Then we would know that government means what it says, and we can hold our local government and services to account. People would have more reasons to vote in local elections, and good candidates more reason to stand. Increased local responsibility and funding (the two go together) would be good news all round. But promises without funding, and regionalisation dressed up as localism, will not work - and will not be popular. Let's work together for a genuine increase in local control.
August 2007 - Time for the government to act for the recovery of Gloucester’
‘Those extraordinary weeks of the floods will be lifelong memories,’ said Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Gloucester Richard Graham – ‘but right now what matters is for government to provide funds and learn lessons so that we don’t face the same scale of flood crisis again soon’.
The Gloucestershire bred candidate said, ‘Gloucester was magnificent: the blitz spirit of our parents and grandparents returned. We all owe our Police and Fire Services and the armed forces huge thanks, and as a former RAFVR officer it was good to see the RAF involved. Volunteers from all over the city and county supported a Conservative run council effort to get the water distribution going’. ‘One of our councillors abandoned her holidays to help; others who had stayed in Gloucester were joined by volunteer groups, including some that I arranged.’
“All rubbish now collected many thanks for your help Bernie, Wishford Close”
“Thanks for coming here – you were the only one who did and we appreciated it and the sandbags” Marie, Rivermead Close
Immediate recovery funds; increased flood defences; NO more flood plain houses
Richard has strong views on what’s needed: ‘We need money NOW to repair county roads like the collapsed A46. Projects in Gloucester are being held up – some, like Meadowside in Quedgeley, are about children’s safety. The £1m we’ve had for schools and £600,000 for the city council are welcome – but they’re both a drop in the Severn. £50m is the estimated floods bill! The Flood Relief Fund has so far raised more than the government has given the city council.’
Richard, a former diplomat who worked with Geoffrey Howe and Douglas Hurd on overseas projects, says the key to success is the speed of response. ‘Gordon Brown’s commitment to increase flood defence spending sounds good – but nothing will happen before 2011, and last year the government cut spending, despite expert concerns. Our MP should be fighting to improve this. Floods aren’t going to wait for Mr Brown’s budget in 2011.’
Reduced water bills?
Residents have asked Richard if the government appointed water regulator could insist on relief from water bills by Severn Trent to homes which were cut off from water. Richard replied that ‘since the Conservative run city council has offered tax relief to the most affected houses, surely Severn Trent can do the same? I have written to Severn Trent about it.’
Fire Service Control MUST stay in Gloucester.
Within days of our County Fire Service winning praise for their work during the floods crisis, the Labour MP for Gloucester and new Fire Minister called for control of the Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service to be moved to Taunton. In 2004 he called the Tri Service arrangements the best in the country: now he plans to take away local control. The Citizen’s leader article condemned the plans, saying: “It simply must not happenand the government needs to change course.” The Bishop of Gloucester has also talked publicly about the ‘folly’ of regionalisation.
Richard said, ‘When I took David Cameron to meet the Emergency Services’ chiefs he made it clear that local Fire Control has his full support. I encouraged the Council leaders to sign the cross party petition against the proposed move to Taunton, and almost 1,000 people signed the petition on our stand at the Barton Fayre. It is extraordinary that our MP criticises the service that has served the city so well. The only reason for this plan is Labour’s obsession with regionalisation.’ If you agree that control of the Fire Service control should stay in Gloucester please sign this petition and return it to me at FREEPOST RRHC-EJHT-SYYX, Gloucester Conservatives, Gloucester GL3 4AD
July 2007 - Gloucester under water
It is almost unbelievable that people can still believe climate change is not for real when they see this sort of photo. The events of last weekend have surely spelt out that we are living in a period of rapid, and alarming, change.
Last Friday I walked to a series of meetings in the city centre and by mid morning had to use wellington boots instead of shoes. By midday the water was over the wheels of my car in Park St and seagulls were swimming across the Glos Wingets cricket pitch. The caravans arriving in the park for the Carnival looked optimistic.
By the evening Southgate St junction with Cole Avenue was closed and the first abandoned cars would anyway have made it hard to get past the old Morelands factory. Back to Metz Way and a long queue to join Eastern Avenue, made worse by a car that had wrapped itself around a lamppost on the crossroads. After a long detour round Abbeymead, Matson and Robinswood I got through to Quedgeley after the Bristol Road had reopened at about 9.30pm – two hours after leaving Brunswick Road. The M5 and every west east road was completely blocked that night, with people staying with anyone they knew nearby.
On Saturday morning I went to Wishford Place off Manor Park by Nine Elms Road, where the worst of the flooding in Elmbridge was. It was an extraordinary scene. The brook had broken by number 6 and Sept round the corner into Manor Park. Older residents could remember the problems of 1969, and some evn 1947 before this development was built. What a spirit of wartime pulling together. Everyone helping each other. An old lady put up in a house opposite after her house was flooded out. Three generations of one family sweeping mud from their grandmother’s house. Three children of on elderly couple taking up sodden carpets, Someone else with a tray of coffee for those flooded. Groups stopping to have tea together outside. People advising each other on how to handle insurance. Social care being rung to help an elderly evacuee. And suddenly you saw how it must have been in the war, everyone united in times of trouble.
I was there partly to see what help people needed and partly to understand what the impact might be if the brook broke its banks again. It was easy to sympathise - we had bad floods at home too, but mostly outside in the garden and sheds, not much inside. I felt the most useful thing would be a skip once the worst was over, principally to take away the vast amount of carpet and underlay that needed to be thrown. This was quicklyaccepted by the City Council as a good idea, with the only caveat of other more serious crises overwhelming them.
Some people were moving out, and the smell from sodden and rotting carpets will take a while to get rid of.
As I write there are still over 100,000 people currently (ironically) without water, and 20,000 currently without power. All around the county any visitor can see that climate change is unprecedented – even the floods of1947 were not in the middle of the summer. Right now let’s pray the Severn does not break its banks on the Quays at Gloucester and that the new defences at the power sub station at Walham prevent it being flooded – which would cut power from half a million people’s homes.
So climate change is for real and that the debate is about how to handle its implications, including flooding. When the Severn has subsided we need to look the issue of house insurance in areas recently flooded (Longlevens twice in a month): and how to avoid regional planners from building the Prime Minister’s threemillion new houses on flood plains. There will also be lessons for emergency planning, the sites of and protection of power sub stations and water supplies. And, not least, we will need plans to cope with the problems faced this month if they come in the winter.
These are all serious issues, and we all need to get on and deal with very practical questions.
Meanwhile I will never forget Gloucester's 'blitz spirit' in Elmbridge and elsewhere, tackling the worst floods inGloucestershire for the last 50 years. In some cases (Cypress Gardens, Longlevens) this was the second time in a month they had been flooded out. And yet humour stayed strong. Communities held together well.
I was also impressed by the response from all emergency services, including the fire service and both councils. Short term, the absolute priority is safety – and getting all services functioning again as normal. There are dozens of claims to be assessed and thereafter lots of ruined carpets to be disposed of. Thereafter clearly there the longer term questions the government has to answer, as I’ve outlined above. For now let’s be glad damage hasn’t been worse so far – and pray for the next 48 hours.
April 2007 - A Fairer Deal for Gloucester
Does Gloucester get its fair share of government funding and services? No.
Why not? Because most money is allocated by county, and we are a relataively poor city at the heart of a relatively rich county. ‘Deprived’ areas (ie. mainly large, northern, entirely by coincidence labour voting cities) do better.
Where do we lose out? Health, education and police spend, per head, is towards the bottom of league tables.
Does our Labour MP think this is fair? Ask him. If he thinks it fair, he should not be representing Gloucester. If he thinks it unfair, he should have done something about it over the last 10 years that Labour has been in power.
And what would the Conservatives do? Our health will be based on the age of the population which is the key to health issues. Gloucestershire is relatively old, so will do better than under the current formula.
What about education? We are working on this.
And police? As soon as the conservatives gained control of the county council we funded 60 new policemen and women for the county. We are the party of law and order, where Labour presides over a Home Ministry that doesn’t know what it will even be responsible for with yet another massive restructuring idea. As David Blunkett said: “A day without a new initiative is a day wasted for New Labour’.
March 2007
What makes the difference between a city with a good quality of life from one which has a lower quality of life? The normal answers are tangible - easily measurable physical things like the numbers of restaurants, cinemas, churches, schools and sports clubs. And these are fine as far as they go, like exam results. But they don't, by any means, capture everything. So what other indicators can we look at?
Well here are a few good things we have in Gloucester. We have a City Farm, which has transformed a part of the City and offers young children the chance to understand and work with animals close up. We have a rubgy club which is close to a cross faith religion. We have
greater educational choice than most cities and a superb hospital. we have an active Civic Society which nourishes the visual inheritance and wants to use it constructively. We now have an approach to litter which is close to zero tolerance, and we have neighbourhood projects which really do help when things go wrong. This is not an exhaustive list of boasts, nor are these at the top of everyone's agenda. But they do matter.
Interestingly, as government finances deteriorate and we see more pressure passed down the line to county and city councils, many organisations are trying to become less dependant on government grants and more dependant on their own fund raising. One way is through trying to create revenue streams - whether organic farm food (City Farm) or Made in Matson arts and crafts (Matson Neighbourhood Project). Few want to be government subsidiaries for ever, subject to the vagaries of handouts and government finances. I strongly support the principle of the safety net for the weak and the ladder of opportunity for the able - and I want to help as many groups as possible move to greater independance where it's appropriate.
Standing on our own feet is a great achievement, as children or adults. And not always easy. Sometimes the state HAS to help - and we will need more help for diseases like dementia where an elderly spouse is utterly unequipped to provide 24 specialist nursing for a person changing beyond recogniton before their eyes. As time goes by I want to see government agencies focusing more and more on these parts of society where government funding is critical, like mental health, and less on those areas where fund raising from eg the many charitable trusts and foundations is a genuine alternative. I want to help those in the second camp. It's part of the mission of politics - to make things, at the margin, slightly better. This might mean painting a room, restoring a wall, providing after school clubs with training on something important or introducing a new source of funding to the voluntary organisation.
Whatever it is, you will find more and more conservatives in Gloucester contributing their bit, taking direct responsibility for improving somebody's lives. And if you have a good cause that needs helping, from government or non government sources, do let me know with as much detail as you can find.
February 2007
Where should a Conservative Prospective Parliamentary candidate in Gloucester focus? There are so many things that are frustrating so many people, and not enough space to cover everything here in one go. So this month let me focus on health provision in general - and mental health in particular.
Mental Health Care
It's provided by a local branch of the NHS, known as the Gloucestershire Partnership Trust (GPT). Let's leave the whole business of structure - what does a "Trust' mean in this context? - to one side, including the aspirations of the GPT to become a Foundation Trust. (This is yet another new structure offering, potentially, more money and independence: and certainly involving lots more paperwork and an approval process requiring lots of administration and management jobs)
Mental health care focuses on people suffering from dementia and depression. The bureaucrats call these 'organics' and 'fundamentals', sounding like different shelves of the Tescos veg section. They are not: they are human beings, talented and flawed in different ways like all of us - and one on five of us once over 80 are likely to join those suffering from dementia (or Alzheimers, the commonest type of dementia)
In Gloucester psychiatric treatment and residential care has been provided since 1995 at a custom built unit, Holly House, near Coney Hill. It's a wonderful place and has served Gloucester's sufferers well, as lots of e mails testify.
Last year the GPT was instructed by the NHS to save £9.3m on a budget of £40m in one year. The GPT decided the only way to do this was to cut residential facilities at 3 units (including Holly House) and consolidate in the Charlton Lane, Cheltenham, unit.
The County Council Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) referred this decision to the Health Secretary because it had serious doubts about the impact on the service, the ability of sufferers' families to get access to their relations once in Charlton Lane, the need to consolidate into one site when the previous recommendation had been for two etc
At this stage I decided to intervene. Why? I had been asked by the Chairman of the GPT to become a mermber in 2005. I had done so. I was asked to submit input to their consultation: and I did so, via the HOSC. I have been round Charlton Lane and Weavers Croft in Stroud as well as Holly House. As the son of someone who suffers from dementia I know some of the issues, and in the context of an aging county with an already over the average number of aged, I felt that we needed more, not less, mental health care available.
But I also felt that any petition, and rasing of the profile of mental health care, should not be party political. It should be led by nurses and families of those who suffer, with my role being to help bring people together and organise a protest. So I launched the petition in Eastgate with nursing assistants Carol and Dawn from Holly House, and many of their colleagues: consultant Toby from Wootton Lawn and daughter of a sufferer and Chairman of Alzheimers Society Jean. We did radio and newspaper appeals. We collected 1,500 signatures and more from the online SaveHollyHouse.org website. And we raised awareness that this is a fight everyone should be fighting - to protect our mental health care facilities being cut by this government.
I will carry on publicising this until Mrs Hewitt finally decides whether to help Gloucester and surrounding districts, because this would also benefit many from the Forest or Stroud, or whether the NHS' finances are in such a mess (whatever happened to the £20 billion on the wasted IT project?) that she cuts the psychiatric unit at Holly House.
This would be a tragedy - for all of us today and especially for tomorrow! It would be another sign of disillusionment for many peole and especially those who believed Tony Balir's '24 hours to save the NHS' cry back in 1997. Despite £95 billion of increased funding, this excellent specialist unit may be closed. It is wrong, it is unnecessary and it can be saved by pressure from all of us who care and imaginative thinking from the government.
|
Council