Conference season is upon us
It is interesting that in the conference season only the Conservatives are happy with their leader and the opinion polls (The Independent gave us a four point lead over the weekend). The Lib Dem conference starts this week and already they are looking to give their leader a bloody nose. Labour are debating which of their prospective leaders is most likely to lose the next General Election. It really looks like its going to be an interesting few weeks!
Monday, September 18, 2006
The school review part 2
The second review of secondary education is under way in the city. The first review was a complete shambles. Cllr Adrian Johnson and I tabled a motion of no confidence in Cllr Ann Milton at the July council meeting and asked for her resignation. She did not resign despite a majority of Councillors calling for her to go.I attended the first meeting last week at Milbrook School. The school faces closure like Grove Park and Woolston schools.
The school review is being conducted due to the excessive number of surplus school places that exist in the city according to the Council. The argument that they are putting across is that the high number of vacant places in the schools means that if we reduce the number of schools we can spend more money on teaching and the children and less on overheads, such as heating and lighting part empty buildings. I do not accept this premise. There are advantages of a local school and smaller class sizes and I support this premise a lot more.The school review also shows the lack of long term planning by the Council, the Labour run Council put three schools through PFI (Private Finance Initiative) and thus they will not be included in the secondary school review. The meeting I attended in Millbrook highlighted the way that the Council wishes to take the school review. Cllr Milton read her script (in the first review she said nothing and then claimed she was gagged due to local elections even though they did not start until April). Then came the plans for what they wish to do and from this it became apparent that it was a fait accompli. This is not just about secondary education it is to create learning campuses combining secondary and primary schools on the same site (do we really want children from 5-16 all on one site??).What Cllr Milton forgot to say on the review of secondary education is that some of that money comes from Government grants that would otherwise be spent on primary schools in the City (is this why we are getting learning campuses). The Council is also banking on large sums of money from the Government in 2010. It's not guaranteed that this money will materialise and it's likely that it will be conditional on Private Finance Initiative arrangements.But this causes problems for Woolston which is a good local school which serves a diverse community and is popular with parents, staff and the community; it can not be a leaning campus as the site is too small.Schools have a diverse function and should be kept open if parents wish this. Grove Park has excellent sports facilities that would be lost if the school is closed.
The Lib Dems are keen to sell off Millbrook School to allow the playing fields to be developed for housing. The same is this true of Grove Park. This would mean a big cheque for the Council but a terrible loss of green space for local children. At the meeting Councillor Milton poured fuel on suspicions by refusing to rule out housing development, should the land be sold off. Quite sensibly people asked the question, if more houses are going to be built, where are the new children going to go to school?
In Woolston a development of over 1500 homes has been passed (although I did vote against this).
The second review of secondary education is under way in the city. The first review was a complete shambles. Cllr Adrian Johnson and I tabled a motion of no confidence in Cllr Ann Milton at the July council meeting and asked for her resignation. She did not resign despite a majority of Councillors calling for her to go.I attended the first meeting last week at Milbrook School. The school faces closure like Grove Park and Woolston schools.
The school review is being conducted due to the excessive number of surplus school places that exist in the city according to the Council. The argument that they are putting across is that the high number of vacant places in the schools means that if we reduce the number of schools we can spend more money on teaching and the children and less on overheads, such as heating and lighting part empty buildings. I do not accept this premise. There are advantages of a local school and smaller class sizes and I support this premise a lot more.The school review also shows the lack of long term planning by the Council, the Labour run Council put three schools through PFI (Private Finance Initiative) and thus they will not be included in the secondary school review. The meeting I attended in Millbrook highlighted the way that the Council wishes to take the school review. Cllr Milton read her script (in the first review she said nothing and then claimed she was gagged due to local elections even though they did not start until April). Then came the plans for what they wish to do and from this it became apparent that it was a fait accompli. This is not just about secondary education it is to create learning campuses combining secondary and primary schools on the same site (do we really want children from 5-16 all on one site??).What Cllr Milton forgot to say on the review of secondary education is that some of that money comes from Government grants that would otherwise be spent on primary schools in the City (is this why we are getting learning campuses). The Council is also banking on large sums of money from the Government in 2010. It's not guaranteed that this money will materialise and it's likely that it will be conditional on Private Finance Initiative arrangements.But this causes problems for Woolston which is a good local school which serves a diverse community and is popular with parents, staff and the community; it can not be a leaning campus as the site is too small.Schools have a diverse function and should be kept open if parents wish this. Grove Park has excellent sports facilities that would be lost if the school is closed.
The Lib Dems are keen to sell off Millbrook School to allow the playing fields to be developed for housing. The same is this true of Grove Park. This would mean a big cheque for the Council but a terrible loss of green space for local children. At the meeting Councillor Milton poured fuel on suspicions by refusing to rule out housing development, should the land be sold off. Quite sensibly people asked the question, if more houses are going to be built, where are the new children going to go to school?
In Woolston a development of over 1500 homes has been passed (although I did vote against this).
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Let's Recycle More in Sholing!
If you would like a compost bin please contact me and I will arrange for a bin to be delivered to you.
On the Southampton City Council web site they give suggestions as to how to reduce the amount of waste that you produce. I have also added the link for Christmas collections.
http://www.southampton.gov.uk/environment/Recycling-and-rubbish/default.asp
The city's household waste recycling centre is on the other side of Itchen Bridge (only Southampton Council would charge people to drive to remove there waste!!!). It is open in the summer between 8am - 7pm and in the winter between 8am - 4.30pm.
The address is: Town Depot, Albert Road North, Southampton, SO14 5AT.
If you would like a compost bin please contact me and I will arrange for a bin to be delivered to you.
On the Southampton City Council web site they give suggestions as to how to reduce the amount of waste that you produce. I have also added the link for Christmas collections.
http://www.southampton.gov.uk/environment/Recycling-and-rubbish/default.asp
The city's household waste recycling centre is on the other side of Itchen Bridge (only Southampton Council would charge people to drive to remove there waste!!!). It is open in the summer between 8am - 7pm and in the winter between 8am - 4.30pm.
The address is: Town Depot, Albert Road North, Southampton, SO14 5AT.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Tony and Cherie's Pension
Cherie cops another £3 grand- "Tony Blair's wife Cherie Booth has been paid £3,000 of taxpayers' money to present a TV series about teaching children "rights and responsibilities". The three-part series - Human Rights with Cherie Booth QC - will be broadcast on Teachers' TV, a Government-funded channel aimed at school staff." (Guardian 8.9.06)
From http://www.burningourmoney.blogspot.com/
Cherie cops another £3 grand- "Tony Blair's wife Cherie Booth has been paid £3,000 of taxpayers' money to present a TV series about teaching children "rights and responsibilities". The three-part series - Human Rights with Cherie Booth QC - will be broadcast on Teachers' TV, a Government-funded channel aimed at school staff." (Guardian 8.9.06)
From http://www.burningourmoney.blogspot.com/
Tony's resignation
Will Tony Blair resign at conference this year or sometime next year? He won't want to go when everybody is expecting it (conference) or on the back of bad news (the next local elections).
I believe that his relationship with Gordon Brown has broken down and leaving Gordon enough to time to bed in is not one of his concerns. He doesn't care about Gordon Brown being elected in a general election, especially with all the Labour members trying to remove him. It would enhance his position historically if Labour was not re-elected. Thus his legacy is, Labour could only be elected with his leadership.
Will Tony Blair resign at conference this year or sometime next year? He won't want to go when everybody is expecting it (conference) or on the back of bad news (the next local elections).
I believe that his relationship with Gordon Brown has broken down and leaving Gordon enough to time to bed in is not one of his concerns. He doesn't care about Gordon Brown being elected in a general election, especially with all the Labour members trying to remove him. It would enhance his position historically if Labour was not re-elected. Thus his legacy is, Labour could only be elected with his leadership.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
How many Polish people are in our city?
On my friend Matt Dean's blog he has a good posting about the number of Polish people that might be in Southampton, along with some other intereting views.
On my friend Matt Dean's blog he has a good posting about the number of Polish people that might be in Southampton, along with some other intereting views.
Good to see John Reid continues to waste our money
Yorkshire police wasted £1m on unwanted merger plan- "A YORKSHIRE chief constable claims the Government's aborted attempts to create a White Rose regional super force...cost to all four forces in excess of £1m... the region's police chiefs were planning to form a powerful conglomerate to bill Home Secretary John Reid for wasted police time." (Yorkshire Post 25.7.06)Welsh police wasted £1m on unwanted merger plan- "Ian Roberts, chair of the north Wales authority, which opposed the merger, said ministers would be billed for costs such as staff and legal advice. "This exercise in futility has cost £375,000 in north Wales alone and across Wales as a whole the bill is likely to be in excess of £1m. It is not right that the council taxpayers of north Wales should be expected to pick up the financial pieces of the merger mayhem that was imposed on our force and the police authority." (BBC Wales 21.7.06)Kent police wasted £243,445 on unwanted merger plan- "Kent Police said it has written to John Reid setting out why it should be reimbursed £243,445 it spent on the scheme... "in view of the fact that we did not have a choice as to whether to compile the business cases we are obliged to recover the substantial costs incurred"... the "incredibly short timescales" in which the force had to respond affected day-to-day policing... staff had "no opportunity to plan effectively and mitigate the impact on the organisation and key individuals... senior police officers and staff diverted from policing Kent and Medway to attend Home Office and regional meetings." (Yorkshire Post 29.7.06)Sussex police wasted £1m on unwanted merger plan- "The ditched plans to merge Sussex and Surrey have cost the Sussex force £1 million. Sussex MP Nick Herbert...said: "It was a serious mistake to embark on forced mergers which were expensive and would have reduced local accountability." (This is Hertfordshire 19.07.06)Unwanted police merger total for week- £3,243,445 (and counting)
Yorkshire police wasted £1m on unwanted merger plan- "A YORKSHIRE chief constable claims the Government's aborted attempts to create a White Rose regional super force...cost to all four forces in excess of £1m... the region's police chiefs were planning to form a powerful conglomerate to bill Home Secretary John Reid for wasted police time." (Yorkshire Post 25.7.06)Welsh police wasted £1m on unwanted merger plan- "Ian Roberts, chair of the north Wales authority, which opposed the merger, said ministers would be billed for costs such as staff and legal advice. "This exercise in futility has cost £375,000 in north Wales alone and across Wales as a whole the bill is likely to be in excess of £1m. It is not right that the council taxpayers of north Wales should be expected to pick up the financial pieces of the merger mayhem that was imposed on our force and the police authority." (BBC Wales 21.7.06)Kent police wasted £243,445 on unwanted merger plan- "Kent Police said it has written to John Reid setting out why it should be reimbursed £243,445 it spent on the scheme... "in view of the fact that we did not have a choice as to whether to compile the business cases we are obliged to recover the substantial costs incurred"... the "incredibly short timescales" in which the force had to respond affected day-to-day policing... staff had "no opportunity to plan effectively and mitigate the impact on the organisation and key individuals... senior police officers and staff diverted from policing Kent and Medway to attend Home Office and regional meetings." (Yorkshire Post 29.7.06)Sussex police wasted £1m on unwanted merger plan- "The ditched plans to merge Sussex and Surrey have cost the Sussex force £1 million. Sussex MP Nick Herbert...said: "It was a serious mistake to embark on forced mergers which were expensive and would have reduced local accountability." (This is Hertfordshire 19.07.06)Unwanted police merger total for week- £3,243,445 (and counting)
Full Council update
Last week at full council the motion for the resignation of Cllr Milton was passed.
Waiting for her resignation, I must admit that I am not holding my breath.
The full council decision is not binding democracy is such that with the lib dem and Labour pact the Liberals can do what they wish and they can not be removed by the will of the Council.
Last week at full council the motion for the resignation of Cllr Milton was passed.
Waiting for her resignation, I must admit that I am not holding my breath.
The full council decision is not binding democracy is such that with the lib dem and Labour pact the Liberals can do what they wish and they can not be removed by the will of the Council.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Trip to an Ice Cube
I went to the Ice Bar just off Regent Street with Emma the other day, how I wish I was there today. It is absolutely great (sorry about pun it’s sponsored by Absolute Vodka) the coats and gloves you have to put on remind of some 1950 futuristic film. I would recommend it to anyone going to London but would imagine on a day like today it might be a bit busy.
I went to the Ice Bar just off Regent Street with Emma the other day, how I wish I was there today. It is absolutely great (sorry about pun it’s sponsored by Absolute Vodka) the coats and gloves you have to put on remind of some 1950 futuristic film. I would recommend it to anyone going to London but would imagine on a day like today it might be a bit busy.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Barroso’s hypocrisy
On the Freedom Association web site there is an article about how Barroso has told Gordo how he has to be a good European and toe the Brussels line, if he becomes Prime Minister.
As we all know Mr Barroso was democratically elected ? and he speaks for all of Europe.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon (a former Labour Lord Commissioner of the Treasury) sums my view of this man up quite well, “This is the same unelected, tinpot dictator who interfered in the General Election by telling the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition that he would not be able to carry out his policy on immigration because Brussels wouldn’t like it. The arrogance is breathtaking."
Barroso also recently mentioned how Russia should become more democratic, it is up to the people of Russia not up to the un elected Barroso to tell countries how to elect leaders and what they do.
On the Freedom Association web site there is an article about how Barroso has told Gordo how he has to be a good European and toe the Brussels line, if he becomes Prime Minister.
As we all know Mr Barroso was democratically elected ? and he speaks for all of Europe.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon (a former Labour Lord Commissioner of the Treasury) sums my view of this man up quite well, “This is the same unelected, tinpot dictator who interfered in the General Election by telling the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition that he would not be able to carry out his policy on immigration because Brussels wouldn’t like it. The arrogance is breathtaking."
Barroso also recently mentioned how Russia should become more democratic, it is up to the people of Russia not up to the un elected Barroso to tell countries how to elect leaders and what they do.
Whole Lotta Tax Fraud
With the alarming increase in VAT fraud, it's time to think about our total losses to fraud and evasion.HM Revenue and Customs don't publish any estimate of the total loss. They claim that's because it involves the Black Economy and they don't know what they don't know etc. More likely they figure if we found out its true extent we might get the idea that paying taxes is a mug's game.Still, under pressure from the National Audit office, they have started to publish estimates of some losses:
VAT- they reckon their overall loss is running at 13.5% of the theoretical liability, which on current projections implies about £12bn this financial year
Tobacco duty- annual loss recently put at £2.9bn from commercial smuggling and "personal" imports
Other duties - 4% estimated loss on oil duty, equals £800m, plus 7% estimated loss on spirits, equals £200m, say £1bn pa overall
Tax credits- technically "tax expenditure" rather than tax per se, but administered by HMRC and reckoned to be losing up to 10.6% to fraud, equals £1.3bn
That lot alone totals £17.2bn pa. And it takes no account of the recent ballooning in missing trader VAT fraud- add another £3-8bn, equals £20-25bn pa.
But of course those losses cover just a handful of the hundreds of different taxes collected by HMRC: in terms of revenue, we've covered taxes raising just £120bn of the total £424bn they expect to collect this year, less than 30%.
Income Tax, Corporation Tax, National Insurance, CGT, Landfill Tax...you name it, it's been hit by fraudsters and large scale evasion. It's clearly difficult to get a handle on this, but we know the Black Economy is big and getting bigger. Changes in our economic structure- such the increasing importance of contracting rather than big company employment, illegal immigration, and the growth of ebay etc- are making it much harder for the tax authorities to keep up.In the US, the Black Economy is estimated to comprise around a tenth of the total, and in our EU partners known as the PIGS (work it out) it's thought to be around a quarter. Here in the UK, a recent estimate published in the Economic Journal put it at 10.6% of GDP, reckoning that among the self-employed:
Households whose heads are in blue-collar occupations on average report only 46% of their income
Households whose heads are in white-collar occupations on average report only 61% of their income
Which is a pretty stark commentary on our attitude to taxation.
So if 10.6% of the UK economy is underground, we might crudely say 10.6% of taxes are missing: about £50bn pa. Which is one sighting shot.
But there's also the whole business of offshore evasion: we already referred to estimates from Tax Research UK, which suggest the UK might be losing £5-10bn from offshore evasion just by private individuals, let alone companies. So we probably need to increase our £50bn estimate.
An alternative approach is to scale up the estimated losses on VAT etc we do know about. That suggests a total of £65-85bn pa, 5-7% of GDP.
Sounds too high? Well, it's broadly in line with US estimates, which suggest losses of $600bn on a GDP of about £12 trn, 5% of GDP.
So albeit with a broad brush, our guess is that Britain's losses to tax fraud and evasion are currently running in the range £60-80bn pa.
For that kind of money we could abolish Stamp Duty, CGT, and IHT outright, and still have enough left over to cut the standard rate of income tax to 8p.
With the alarming increase in VAT fraud, it's time to think about our total losses to fraud and evasion.HM Revenue and Customs don't publish any estimate of the total loss. They claim that's because it involves the Black Economy and they don't know what they don't know etc. More likely they figure if we found out its true extent we might get the idea that paying taxes is a mug's game.Still, under pressure from the National Audit office, they have started to publish estimates of some losses:
VAT- they reckon their overall loss is running at 13.5% of the theoretical liability, which on current projections implies about £12bn this financial year
Tobacco duty- annual loss recently put at £2.9bn from commercial smuggling and "personal" imports
Other duties - 4% estimated loss on oil duty, equals £800m, plus 7% estimated loss on spirits, equals £200m, say £1bn pa overall
Tax credits- technically "tax expenditure" rather than tax per se, but administered by HMRC and reckoned to be losing up to 10.6% to fraud, equals £1.3bn
That lot alone totals £17.2bn pa. And it takes no account of the recent ballooning in missing trader VAT fraud- add another £3-8bn, equals £20-25bn pa.
But of course those losses cover just a handful of the hundreds of different taxes collected by HMRC: in terms of revenue, we've covered taxes raising just £120bn of the total £424bn they expect to collect this year, less than 30%.
Income Tax, Corporation Tax, National Insurance, CGT, Landfill Tax...you name it, it's been hit by fraudsters and large scale evasion. It's clearly difficult to get a handle on this, but we know the Black Economy is big and getting bigger. Changes in our economic structure- such the increasing importance of contracting rather than big company employment, illegal immigration, and the growth of ebay etc- are making it much harder for the tax authorities to keep up.In the US, the Black Economy is estimated to comprise around a tenth of the total, and in our EU partners known as the PIGS (work it out) it's thought to be around a quarter. Here in the UK, a recent estimate published in the Economic Journal put it at 10.6% of GDP, reckoning that among the self-employed:
Households whose heads are in blue-collar occupations on average report only 46% of their income
Households whose heads are in white-collar occupations on average report only 61% of their income
Which is a pretty stark commentary on our attitude to taxation.
So if 10.6% of the UK economy is underground, we might crudely say 10.6% of taxes are missing: about £50bn pa. Which is one sighting shot.
But there's also the whole business of offshore evasion: we already referred to estimates from Tax Research UK, which suggest the UK might be losing £5-10bn from offshore evasion just by private individuals, let alone companies. So we probably need to increase our £50bn estimate.
An alternative approach is to scale up the estimated losses on VAT etc we do know about. That suggests a total of £65-85bn pa, 5-7% of GDP.
Sounds too high? Well, it's broadly in line with US estimates, which suggest losses of $600bn on a GDP of about £12 trn, 5% of GDP.
So albeit with a broad brush, our guess is that Britain's losses to tax fraud and evasion are currently running in the range £60-80bn pa.
For that kind of money we could abolish Stamp Duty, CGT, and IHT outright, and still have enough left over to cut the standard rate of income tax to 8p.
Full Council tomorrow!
Southampton City Council has its July meeting of Full council. In this meeting a colleague of mine Cllr Adrian Johnson has submitted a motion with me seconding him calling for the resignation of Cllr Milton. This is not a personal attack but one to try and bring a degree of integrity to the school reorganisation.
Cllr Milton is hard working and has spent many hours dealing with the school reorganisation but the shambles that the process is in and the handling of this has meant that her position is untenable and to move the process forward her resignation is needed and a new face with new ideas has to come in.
Southampton City Council has its July meeting of Full council. In this meeting a colleague of mine Cllr Adrian Johnson has submitted a motion with me seconding him calling for the resignation of Cllr Milton. This is not a personal attack but one to try and bring a degree of integrity to the school reorganisation.
Cllr Milton is hard working and has spent many hours dealing with the school reorganisation but the shambles that the process is in and the handling of this has meant that her position is untenable and to move the process forward her resignation is needed and a new face with new ideas has to come in.
A threat to peoples details by Southampton city council.
Under proposals currently being talked about in Southampton Council, citizen’s details that are currently submitted under council tax will be allowed to be used by other departments in the council. The personal details will be available by other departments, can you really trust the council.
I personally think that this is disgusting and personal details should not be passed around the council as it betrays the trust of people.
Under proposals currently being talked about in Southampton Council, citizen’s details that are currently submitted under council tax will be allowed to be used by other departments in the council. The personal details will be available by other departments, can you really trust the council.
I personally think that this is disgusting and personal details should not be passed around the council as it betrays the trust of people.
From Contra Tory
http://www.contratory.co.uk/
In any liberal democracy, an independent, strong legal profession is allowed to defend fearlessly and robustly those who the State charges with criminal offences. No matter how heinous the offence or how unpopular with public opinion the defendants’ cause, as a matter of course their legal representatives are expected to vigorously test the prosecution case and unflinchingly put their clients’ case.
Arani & Co is a firm of solicitors who represents very unpopular clients. By all accounts, they represent them very well, or at least well enough to make the Police and other elements comprising the State to take umbrage. Now we are told that some of our representatives in the House of Commons have demanded that the Law Society investigate this firm, to establish whether they have acted throughout with the necessary degree of compliance with amongst other things, professional ethics. Of course, it is very important that any profession is policed to ensure that it maintains the very highest standards, but my concern is this. Government, particularly this Labour Government, does not like lawyers (save those who represent its interests, almost invariably against Joe Public.)
It would be a simple matter to make an example of one firm which is unpopular with the public, a signal of intent that the HM Government is not going to have any truck with any other law firm that defends causes that it considers unpopular. Defend who we consider to be indefensible and you will be investigated. The message is all too clear.
http://www.contratory.co.uk/
In any liberal democracy, an independent, strong legal profession is allowed to defend fearlessly and robustly those who the State charges with criminal offences. No matter how heinous the offence or how unpopular with public opinion the defendants’ cause, as a matter of course their legal representatives are expected to vigorously test the prosecution case and unflinchingly put their clients’ case.
Arani & Co is a firm of solicitors who represents very unpopular clients. By all accounts, they represent them very well, or at least well enough to make the Police and other elements comprising the State to take umbrage. Now we are told that some of our representatives in the House of Commons have demanded that the Law Society investigate this firm, to establish whether they have acted throughout with the necessary degree of compliance with amongst other things, professional ethics. Of course, it is very important that any profession is policed to ensure that it maintains the very highest standards, but my concern is this. Government, particularly this Labour Government, does not like lawyers (save those who represent its interests, almost invariably against Joe Public.)
It would be a simple matter to make an example of one firm which is unpopular with the public, a signal of intent that the HM Government is not going to have any truck with any other law firm that defends causes that it considers unpopular. Defend who we consider to be indefensible and you will be investigated. The message is all too clear.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Double Standards
Last week there was a debate on the Northern Ireland Education order. At the end of the debate, thirteen Labour MPs plus Lembit Opik and the SDLP voted for the Education Order to prohibit academic selection in Northern Ireland. The Conservatives, DUP and UUP voted against.
Kate Hoey, though not selected by her Party's whips as a Committee member, attended and spoke against the Order. Frank Field, originally named as a Committee member, was replaced at short notice after telling his whips that he would not support the Government.Of the 13 Labour Members, 10 had voted on 24 May (Hansard volume 446, number 157, cols. 1575-1579) against a Labour backbench amendment to the Education and Inspections Bill to end all academic selection in English schools. Hypocrisy rules, eh?The 10 guilty of double standards were: Mike Foster (Worcester) Bruce George (Walsall South) Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) David Hanson (Delyn) Jane Kennedy (Liverpool Wavertree Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) Mark Todd (South Derbyshire) Linda Waltho (Stourbridge) and Alan Whitehead (Southampton Test). Two MPs, (Ronnie Campbell and Helen Southworth) had not voted on 24 May. One, David Drew, was consistent and voted against selection on both occasions.Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary David Lidington then invited all ten to intervene to explain the justification for their double standards or to admit that on 24 May that had not realised what they were voting for. Do you know what? None of the blighters accepted his invitation. Nothing like a bit of courage under fire, is there?
So Mr whitehead you may wish to explain here!
Last week there was a debate on the Northern Ireland Education order. At the end of the debate, thirteen Labour MPs plus Lembit Opik and the SDLP voted for the Education Order to prohibit academic selection in Northern Ireland. The Conservatives, DUP and UUP voted against.
Kate Hoey, though not selected by her Party's whips as a Committee member, attended and spoke against the Order. Frank Field, originally named as a Committee member, was replaced at short notice after telling his whips that he would not support the Government.Of the 13 Labour Members, 10 had voted on 24 May (Hansard volume 446, number 157, cols. 1575-1579) against a Labour backbench amendment to the Education and Inspections Bill to end all academic selection in English schools. Hypocrisy rules, eh?The 10 guilty of double standards were: Mike Foster (Worcester) Bruce George (Walsall South) Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) David Hanson (Delyn) Jane Kennedy (Liverpool Wavertree Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) Mark Todd (South Derbyshire) Linda Waltho (Stourbridge) and Alan Whitehead (Southampton Test). Two MPs, (Ronnie Campbell and Helen Southworth) had not voted on 24 May. One, David Drew, was consistent and voted against selection on both occasions.Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary David Lidington then invited all ten to intervene to explain the justification for their double standards or to admit that on 24 May that had not realised what they were voting for. Do you know what? None of the blighters accepted his invitation. Nothing like a bit of courage under fire, is there?
So Mr whitehead you may wish to explain here!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Who is screwing up Britain?
Iain Dale has started a debate on whether to write a book on the 100 people screwing up Britain. His idea is based on Bernard Goldberg's 'The 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America' book.
There are many suggestion’s with Iain Dale nominating Tracey Emin? Peter Mandelson? Trisha Goddard? Polly Toynbee? Will Self? Jack McConnell? Lord Falconer? As always Matt Dean has a few interesting suggestions of his own!!
Equally on the conservativehome blog they have The 100 People Who Are Trying To Put Britain Back Together Again. Both have some very interesting nominations
Iain Dale has started a debate on whether to write a book on the 100 people screwing up Britain. His idea is based on Bernard Goldberg's 'The 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America' book.
There are many suggestion’s with Iain Dale nominating Tracey Emin? Peter Mandelson? Trisha Goddard? Polly Toynbee? Will Self? Jack McConnell? Lord Falconer? As always Matt Dean has a few interesting suggestions of his own!!
Equally on the conservativehome blog they have The 100 People Who Are Trying To Put Britain Back Together Again. Both have some very interesting nominations
Big Screen for the weekend.
Southampton is to get a big screen curtsey of the BBC for the Common to watch the England v Portugal game at the weekend. Should be a good afternoon out on the common.
Meanwhile local Labour MP Alan Whitehead has been given free tickets to the World Cup, curtsey of McDonald's. Although he did not get them directly his colleague and fellow Labour MP, Clive Betts in his capacity as Chairman of the Parliamentary Football Club got the tickets.
This is not Mr Betts first brush with controversy. People may recall Mr Betts was suspended from the House of Commons in July 2003 for his part in a bogus immigration application by his Brazilian male escort and lover that he then went onto employ as his parliamentary assistant.
Southampton is to get a big screen curtsey of the BBC for the Common to watch the England v Portugal game at the weekend. Should be a good afternoon out on the common.
Meanwhile local Labour MP Alan Whitehead has been given free tickets to the World Cup, curtsey of McDonald's. Although he did not get them directly his colleague and fellow Labour MP, Clive Betts in his capacity as Chairman of the Parliamentary Football Club got the tickets.
This is not Mr Betts first brush with controversy. People may recall Mr Betts was suspended from the House of Commons in July 2003 for his part in a bogus immigration application by his Brazilian male escort and lover that he then went onto employ as his parliamentary assistant.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Lib Dem flip flop'son education.
Obviously my ward is heavily affected by the decisions made by Cllr Ann Milton and her Learning Futures Programme for secondary education in Southampton.
What has been to everyone’s amazement is the gross incompetence of the Administration in the handling of this.
It was announced that Grove Park was to be closed even though this was not in the original consultation with parents. (A tip to those behind Learning Futures – no one objected to Grove Park’s closure during the consultation as it was not in the original proposals!)
Woolston parents where then led to believe that their school was to be kept open on the current site.
Finally Cllr Milton performed a U Turn, saying Woolston school was to close and was to merge with Grove Park.
How can parents, teachers and pupils be expected to learn and plan for the future when the Administration flip flops around like this?
There is a similar mess with Millbrook and Oaklands.
The whole thing has been handled badly from the very beginning. The Liberals need to draw a line in the sand and say that they will start the whole process again fairly.
This picking off certain schools will only increase the number of children who leave the city to be educated in Hampshire and force teachers to look outside the city for stable employment.
Obviously my ward is heavily affected by the decisions made by Cllr Ann Milton and her Learning Futures Programme for secondary education in Southampton.
What has been to everyone’s amazement is the gross incompetence of the Administration in the handling of this.
It was announced that Grove Park was to be closed even though this was not in the original consultation with parents. (A tip to those behind Learning Futures – no one objected to Grove Park’s closure during the consultation as it was not in the original proposals!)
Woolston parents where then led to believe that their school was to be kept open on the current site.
Finally Cllr Milton performed a U Turn, saying Woolston school was to close and was to merge with Grove Park.
How can parents, teachers and pupils be expected to learn and plan for the future when the Administration flip flops around like this?
There is a similar mess with Millbrook and Oaklands.
The whole thing has been handled badly from the very beginning. The Liberals need to draw a line in the sand and say that they will start the whole process again fairly.
This picking off certain schools will only increase the number of children who leave the city to be educated in Hampshire and force teachers to look outside the city for stable employment.
What Gordon knew before he raided the pension funds?
Gordon Brown has been ordered to reveal the secret forecasts he was given about the impact of his pensions "grab" in 1997. This should be interesting reading and will tell us if he knew of the projected losses to the pension funds and whether he knew of the implications that his actions were going to cause to the nation’s pension funds. We now know the mess that he has left the pensions in and how this is going to affect many future generations. Time for Gordo to come clean!
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