The media is contrasting the US growth rate which hit 2.8% per annum in the last quarter of 2011 favourably with the stalling economies of Europe. What they are not doing, however, is picking up on the different composition of growth.
In the UK the public sector made a positive contribution to growth, whilst industry and mining fell, producing an overall small decline. In the US federal spending was down 7.3% and total public spending down by 4.6% whilst the private sector grew well, producing the overall gain of 2.8% per annum.
I presume this part of the truth did not fit in with the highly spun stories abouts cuts, or with the belief that Obama has avoided cuts. The facts show in the last quarter tough cuts in US public spending along with good growth. In the UK there was public spending growth with no overall growth. That’s too difficult for UK commentators to explain!
Should we have 20mph speed limits in residential areas?
The campaign to push back against the relentless pressure to be a singular perfect shape and size continues. Here is my recent piece on the Government Body Confidence campaign for the Huffington Post.
For several weeks since before Christmas I have applied to the Speaker, John Bercow, for a debate on the issue of the Falkland Islands. Finally at 9.30 on Tuesday morning he has found time for a 1 and a half hour debate on this issue - given the packed Westminster programme this delay is not unusual and the Speaker has recognised the importance of such a debate.
Regular readers will know that I met with Falkland Island representatives last year and have blogged on the issue again before Christmas.
Matters have clearly escalated diplomatically between the two countries and only yesterday the Argentinian President made a statement on the issue. The BBC have also been reporting on the dispute as well, and parliamentary colleagues spoke briefly on the issue in yesterdays Debate on defence.
I am still writing the speech but certain points are clear:
- The Falkland Island people will always have Great Britians support. Their destiny is entirely in their hands and as long as they wish to stay British, then British they will stay.
- I am calling for a self determination law - confirming that all overseas territories, of which there are 14, have an unambiguous right to remain British, and be defended from oppression, in the absence of a majority voting for secession.
- This point needs to be made firmly by all sides in the House of Commons [in a debate such as this the Opposition get to reply, and the Governemnt Minister responding will be Jeremy Browne, who is a Liberal. Thus there is great merit in the debate so that all sides of the House can reassure the Falkland Islanders of parliaments settled intention to stand by them.
- There should be no negotiation on sovereignty.
- I am pleased to see that the Argentinian President is confining her intentions to diplomatic pressure. So be it.
- But the world also needs to hear of the hardships that are being endured by the Falkland Islanders who are effectively being blockaded in their own lands. This is not acceptable, and does not smack of diplomacy to me.
I will post more closer to next Tuesday, but the debate will be on the parliament channel at 9.30 Tuesday morning. I know a lot of colleagues will be attending and supporting.
This morning I was delighted to support the third Harlow Business Exhibition, after meeting with Ian Hudson. I go to the Exhibition every year, and am really proud to open it.
Harlow is really going places as a town. We have an Enterprise Zone, and more local young people are getting jobs than the national average.
Watch the video above to get the full details.
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com
Legislation to ban cash payments and increase fines but MPs will push for more.
Karen Lumley MP who asked a question of the transport minister about metal theft has welcomed a Home Office statement today that the government will amend the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, currently passing through the House of Lords to tackle the crime.
Along with colleagues Karen will be pushing for further action such as a tougher licensing regime for scrap metal dealers and working with police, councils and the industry to make sure the new legislation is as effective as possible.
Speaking after the Government’s announcement Karen said, “This is good news and shows that the government is prepared to act fast on a crime that has become a real problem for people and businesses all over the country. It was right that decisive action should be taken to ban cash payments which have made it just too easy to launder stolen metal. Now we need to engage with the scrap metal industry, with the police and with the thousands of organisations that are affected by metal theft to make sure the new legislation really works and to put in place a stronger and fairer licensing regime.”
“Just last week I was discussing the issue of metal theft with local people and I heard how community facilities in Worcestershire had been targeted and people put in danger through sabotage to the heating and ventilation systems of swimming pools in Worcestershire. Metal theft remains an acute and serious problem which I know our police are treating very seriously. It is welcome that we will now have tougher laws with which to support them.”
Despite all the talk of change, when it comes to economic policy the current government has pretty much carried on where Gordon Brown left off.
As Fraser Nelson puts it in his brilliant article in today’s Telegraph “The list of undead Brownite policies lingering in the Treasury is long and ignominious.”
The Coalition – despite the spin – continues to borrow on a Gordonian scale. "A Government that is widely regarded as radical, and hawkish on the deficit, is making virtually no economic progress, while running up the debt like there’s no tomorrow”. Indeed. During this Parliament, we will borrow more than the last Chancellor managed over thirteen years.
Under this government, just like the last, the Bank of England has been encouraged to print money recklessly and conjure up candy floss credit. The sugar rush has yet to produce real growth.
The economy is flat lining as though Gordon Brown was in charge because the economic thinking from his era still pervades the Treasury.
“Where are the Conservative ideas?” asks Fraser.
Too often, ministers have simply looked to the Treasury mandarinate to provide them with the range of policy options from which they then make choices. Instead of bringing change, they have become spokesmen for failed Treasury thinking.
There are new ideas out there, but the Coalition provides a ready-made excuse to ignore any of the suggestions that we might do things differently.
So where is the supply-side boldness? Where is the growth strategy? Where is the strategic radicalism, rather than the tactical tinkering?
Instead of ministerial mangerialism, the Treasury needs to get much bolder. They won’t be until they start doing more than simply recycling failed Treasury thinking.
Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 396
Chance of debate on our discredited Honours system. Plans to use honours to push political schemes are about to be hatched. The Telegraph reports:
The Daily Telegraph disclosed yesterday for the first time the official list of everyone who rejected an honour between 1949 and 1999, and has since died.
Pressure is mounting on ministers to release the identities of other people who have rejected an honour in the past decade.
New figures from the Cabinet Office show that over the past three years 116 people have rejected honours, but they are not identified.
They show that 30 people turned down honours in last year’s Queen’s Birthday and New Year’s honours lists. That compared with 46 in 2010 and 40 in 2009.
Authors JB Priestley and Roald Dahl and the painters Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and LS Lowry were among 277 people on the list, which was disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act after a 15 month battle with the Cabinet Office
The list also included honours rejected by Trevor Howard, the actor, Alfred Hitchcock, the Hollywood director, Aldous Huxley, the author, and Henry Moore, the sculptor.
Paul Flynn MP, a Labour member of the Public Administration Select Committee which has scrutinised the honours’ process, said that the Government should release the names of others who have turned down an honour.
He said that they should be dubbed ‘HRH’ – which stood for “Has Rejected Honour” – because in his view turning down a Knighthood, an OBE or an MBE was “the highest honour of all”.
The list, published on the Cabinet Office’s website on Wednesday, also included the physicist Paul Dirac and DNA pioneer Francis Crick.
Campaigners said the disclosure of the list was a further example of the value of the FOI legislation.
Maurice Frankel, who runs the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said: "This decision illustrates a key aspect of the FOI Act. The requester did not have to show why disclosure of this information about honours was important.
"The onus was on the Government to show why disclosure would be harmful – and it couldn’t do that. The starting point under FOI is that openness about public affairs is itself in the public interest, something that many public authorities haven't yet accepted."
The Cabinet Office said it had no plans to publish more information about so called ‘honours refuseniks’. A spokesman said: “We answered a specific FOI requesting information on deceased people who have refused honours.
“It is up to individuals whether they wish to accept or refuse an honour. We have no plans to routinely publish a list of those people who refuse honours.”
Previous authoritative leaks suggest actress Honor Blackman, jazz musician George Melly, artist David Hockney and novelist John le Carre have all turned down honours.
Other names include the pop star David Bowie, the celebrity cook Nigella Lawson, playwright Michael Frayn and the comedy act Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
The actor Albert Finney is also understood to have rejected a knighthood in 2000, and a CBE two decades earlier in 1980.
My inbox has been busier than ever in the past few weeks as I have been inundated with comments from Haslemere residents, many of whom are concerned about Surrey County Council’s parking proposals. I understand that the public meeting on Tuesday received a strong turn out and people made their views very clear. Parking around Haslemere Station has been a nightmare for ages but we obviously need to make sure we find the right way to sort it out. The long term solution must involve increasing capacity at the station car park, but in terms of what can be done now people need to make their feelings known in the consultation. I intend to be closely involved in helping to work out a sensible way forward, including meeting with Cllr Steve Renshaw early next month.
Cameron’s seeking to explain away yesterday that the national economy was now shrinking by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2011 won’t wash. He blamed high inflation, Labour mismanagement and the eurozone problems. High inflation is irrelevant to a contraction of national output which is clearly down to lack of demand because of squeezed incomes. So far from Labour mismanagement being the cause, it was Labour relaunching growth in the first half of 2010 after the deep slump of 2008-9 that produced an economy growing at more than 1% a year in the second half of 2010, which Tory austerity managed first to flatline through the first half of 2011 and then actually to contract at the end of 2011. As for the eurozone crisis last summer, the UK economy was already falling into decline up to a year previously. Cameron’s points are all bogus.
Cameron-Osborne are desperate for growth, so what has happened to all their attempts to kickstart it? They chopped back the public sector because private sector jobs would rapidly step into the breach. In fact for every 13 jobs lost in the public sector, only 1 has been created in the private sector – for the very obvious reason (to all except perhaps them) that when demand is faling private companies are understandably reluctant to invest and take on more workers. Then the weak pound, already 25% devalued compared with 2 years ago and now having slipped further against the dollar from $1.6 to $1.55 over recent months, was supposed to prompt an export-led recovery. Amid the global slowdown it failed utterly to do so, such that the deficit in traded goods in 2011 may show very little improvement on the all-time worst record of a £100bn deficit in 2010.
Then Osborn was reduced to serving up himself what he had previously denounced against the Labour Government as “the final resort of governments when all else has failed”, namely quantitative easing to the tune of £75bn to jerk an inert and singking economy into life. It was his final resort, and it has failed totally. Then we were told in the March 2011 budget that the “march of the makers” was under way. Yet in the last quarter of 2011, only 6-9 months later, factory output fell by as much as 0.9% and constuction activity by 0.5%. The makers didn’t march: they retrenched with a loss of 395,000 jobs in manufacturing since the recession.
This is a catalogue of unmitigated failure. Government policy is finally reaching a dead end. Another round of QE is fabricating further useless money after other useless money. Counting on the eurozone to sort itself out sustainably after Merkel’s uncompromising obsession today with further austerity is whistling in the wind. The truth is, as many of us have been saying for years now, it’s jobs or bust.
Following recent media coverage that highlighted the £700,000 annual bill which Dyfed Powys Police Force pays to maintain its Ammanford station, Plaid Cymru politicians, Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and MP Jonathan Edwards have hit out at the Carmarthenshire branch of the Labour Party for what the politicians describe as political point scoring.
The Plaid Cymru representatives, whose constituency office is also based in Ammanford, said that the Labour party’s call for an Inquiry into the PFI contract is hypocritical considering Labour’s love affair with Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) under Gordon Brown. They also said that Labour should be ashamed of the way in which the party has dragged the name of a local reputable company through the mud for its own political gain.
Commenting jointly, the Plaid Cymru AM and MP said:
“A Private Finance Initiative has been the only option available to many authorities to invest in public infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and police stations and we cannot blame authorities for wanting to develop new facilities for their communities. But Private Finance contracts such as Ammanford Police Station, the Severn Bridge and Baglan Hosptial come at a price.
“Last year we exposed how local Councils in Wales have a £1.4billion PFI debt and fork out over £40million a year on these contracts. This is money which is being diverted from front line services. That’s why it has always been a principle of Plaid Cymru that PFIs do not provide value for money – a position we took into Government in the last Assembly term.
“Given the tough economic climate and a 41% cut in capital funding from the Westminster Government, authorities cannot be tempted to continue with such an expensive funding method which sees significant sums of money being lost from budgets to pay off these enormous debts.
“That’s why Plaid Cymru has already put forward an exciting proposal to develop infrastructure and create jobs at a much more affordable level via our Build4Wales not-for-distributable profit company. This has the potential to raise up to £500million for infrastructure projects.
“Unless the Labour Government here in Wales accepts Plaid Cymru’s proposal, we could see projects such as the Ammanford relief road or Llandeilo bypass built using the same costly PFI contracts that Labour is suddenly against.
“It is hypocritical and an absolute disgrace to see the Labour party in Carmarthenshire dragging the good name of a local company through the mud for its own political advantage and in order to hide the Labour party’s shameful love affair with PFI contracts. Labour is actively undervaluing a local company when the company has only followed the financial structures Labour itself put in place.
“If the Labour party in Carmarthenshire wants a full investigation of how such costly PFI contracts were allowed to go ahead in Ammanford, it should start its inquiry squarely at the door of Gordon Brown who actively encouraged the use of PFI contracts in order to keep public debt levels off the balance books.
“The Labour party needs to stand up, front up and accept they got it wrong.”
ENDS
If you are reading this post it’s probably because you are interested in a trending hashtag on Twitter – #savetheintern. There have been hundreds of comments, questions,humorous one liners and attempts at satire, as well as a small amount of legitimate journalistic enquiry. To be honest, I haven’t got the spiritual energy to personally reply to them all. So here’s a bullet point list of answers to many of the questions that have been posed, as well as a few things I would like to get of my chest:
1. My intern is a student and paid above the minimum wage.
2. She is contracted for a year to work part time.
3. People have asked why I have not deleted the offending tweet. The reason is simple. It’s impossible to delete anything once it is published on the internet. To do so would just have lead to screen grabs of the offending tweet reaching a wider audience. I’ll delete it later today when the fuss dies down though. So if, for some weird reason, you do want to screen grab the tweet, do so quickly.
4. The Sun political team retweeted the comment. Given the grievance recently taken out against the Sun’s political editor Tom Newton-Dunn, this was foolish.
5. Journalists on the Times have been ringing people to find more information about the intern. Do you think I don’t know your motives? Please show some decorum.
6. Yes, she’s very embarrassed. She’s also a little intimidated by stories of the Times and the Sun trying to dig up stuff about her.
7. Three journalists have asked for more information. I have given them as much as I can whilst protecting the privacy of a young intern who is not seeking a public profile. I was surprised the BBC didn’t phone to check facts before they published their online story.
8. The intern has not been sacked nor was she ever going to be. She’s young. We all make mistakes.
9. I know her well enough to know she’ll never do this sort of thing again.
10. And yes, I know I should have logged out. I really do. Thank you to the people who pointed that out.
11. For those that have asked – all my tweets, other than the two this morning, are my own.
12. Though my account wasn’t technically ‘hacked’, yes, I do understand the irony of what happened.
13. Once again, I am sorry.
On a more serious note, don’t you think this parliamentary answer to a question about data deletion from Tim Loughton MP is unusually constructed?
PHOTO: Michael Edwards, Senior Vice President and General Manager at AMEX, and Dick Knight, Chair of Albion in the Community, join Caroline to celebrate the work of AITC on the House of Commons terrace.
It's not often that the worlds of football and politics meet. But in January I was delighted to be able to host a reception on Parliament's famous terrace for the award winning charitable arm of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, Albion in the Community (AITC).
Since the opening of the fantastic new Amex stadium, a lot of effort has gone into making it a genuinely community facility - and AITC has become one of the most effective community sport organisations in football today.
Many of its initiatives take place at the stadium itself, with Amex staff acting as volunteers or business mentors. Success stories include the Disability Football programme, which won six national awards in 2010, and Football & Sports Participation, the longest standing AITC initiative which directly benefited over 21,000 young people in 2009. This is especially important in light of Government's cuts to the Schools Sports Partnership.
AITC shows the potential of football to be a really positive force in people's lives, and I very much look forward to working with the team in the years to come.
North Oxfordshire MP Tony Baldry, who has been campaigning for the Government to take action on lead and metal theft, has welcomed the announcement by Theresa May, the Home Secretary, that the Government is going to introduce legislation to tackle the problem by making it a new criminal offence to prohibit cash payments to purchase scrap and by significantly increasing the fines for all offences under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964.
Tony Baldry said:
“It is very good news that the Government has decided to take firm and clear action to tackle the problem of metal theft.
“In my capacity as Second Church Estates Commissioner, I know only too well about the problem of theft of lead from the roofs of on average some 10 churches per day. This is a tragedy for both our national heritage and the local communities within which these churches are situated.
“Not just churches, as a constituency MP I am well aware of the disruption caused to the rail network by the theft of copper signalling and only last weekend many villagers in Oxfordshire found themselves cut off from their telephones and home computers due to the theft of telephone cabling.
“It has been all too easy to steal metal overnight and simply sell it for cash the next day – no questions asked. So I am very pleased that the government is taking firm, clear and decisive action on metal theft.”
To read the full statement by the Home Secretary, please click here: Scrap Metal Dealers Written Statement 260112.
Growing up with my dad as a surgeon in the NHS ( He worked at Southmead Hospital and the BRI for 30 years, and may well be responsible for any hip replacements or hand surgery of constituents reading this...) has given me a special regard for the professionals working in our NHS, and a particular perspective on the importance of what goes on at the coal-face of our public services.
One of the things that Doctors tell me about again and again is the devastating effect that the 48hour European Working Time Directive has both on doctor training ( the Royal College of Surgeons estimates that because of the Directive 400,000 surgical hours are lost PER MONTH) and also on patient care. ( all the 'clock-on, clock off' handovers mean that important bits on patient notes can get missed, and the poor patient is subjected to a conveyor belt of different doctors, instead of a few familiar faces of the doctors responsible for them.)The directive limits doctors to working up to 48 hours per week, and takes away crucial flexiblity. No one wants to return to a situation where junior doctors are working silly hours and are too exhausted to practice safely. But there is a middle-way. The Royal College of Surgeons suggests that up to 65-hours a week is suitable, but with flexibilty to meet the unpredictable realities of hospital care.
And guess what: there are no special provisions in the directive for exceptional circumstances like a 'flu pandemic - so it is hard to see how in this scenario, the NHS will have the flexiblity to cope. (More on this in a recent article I wrote for The Times on 20th Jan.)
I presented a bill to Parliament to try to tackle it,
have written in the national papers on the issue, and am working hard to try and untangle this mess of an EU Directive which is putting our NHS, and patient care at such risk. Government is supportive, but it must act quickly. Because whatever the structural reforms, the future of our NHS and the patients it cares for depends on the medical professionals who work there.
Oliver speaking to a Chinese Delegation
Britain is trying to strengthen links with China at all levels and George Osborne has recently visited China to develop trade and economic contacts. The Chinese are also interested in how our constitution works and our anti-corruption measures.
I was recently invited to speak to a delegation of elected officials from Shanghai about standards in public life. I was able to explain the development of thinking in this country over recent years, leading to the establishment of the Nolan Committee, subsequently the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and the introduction of IPSA and the role of the House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee. The officials were well-briefed and took a keen interest in Nolan’s seven principles of public life. We had a lively discussion – or as lively as can be had via an interpreter – and it did seem that the highest echelons of local government in Shanghai are looking closely at emulating some of our procedures.
About 25% of all the wave and tidal technology development in the world is happening in Britain and now Hayle is at the heart of it. Cornwall’s marine resource is second to none with a powerful Atlantic swell but not so powerful that the sea’s energy cannot be harnessed. It has been estimated that wave power could eventually meet 15% to 20% of Britain’s power needs producing enough electricity to power 11 million homes. There is also economic potential. If wave power succeeds, the industry could be worth £2 billion by 2050 creating more than 16,000 jobs. Some estimates suggest that the wave and tidal power industries together might provide as many as 10,000 jobs by as early as 2020.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This will not happen overnight because it is an embryonic industry. There is no shortage of things that can go wrong and many obstacles remain. We now need to focus on the hard work of making this industry a success. Firstly, we need to get pioneering electricity generators to choose Cornwall and plug their wave devices into Wave Hub. We must ensure that there is financial support to help them through the research and development phase. That is why Hayle should have first call on the new £10 million development fund created by the government to progress wave power technologies.
Secondly, it is hard enough getting new industries off the ground without having bureaucratic burdens on top of everything else. So we need to be willing to simplify the myriad of risk assessments and licensing processes that so often kill good ideas before they can even begin. Finally, we need to link up the ground breaking academic work going on at the University at Tremough with the pioneers who will be developing devices at Hayle.
I have been concerned that in the last ten years, Scotland has been doing more to encourage this industry than the British government but that is now changing. Last year, the government increased the subsidy it pays to developers in Cornwall – so that they now match what is paid in Scotland. This latest decision to designate Cornwall as the first Marine Energy Park means that we have now overtaken Scotland as the UK’s leading centre for wave energy, so let’s make it a success.
George Eustice can be contacted at george.eustice.mp@parliament.uk or 1 Trevenson Street, Camborne, Cornwall TR14 8JD or by telephone on 020 72197032.
I read, with disbelief, today's headline in the Telegraph: "Speed up the tax cuts, urges Clegg." Bearing in mind Mr Clegg's only wish is to raise taxes, I was baffled initially. But, then I read the article and, true to form, it's a tax cut for the less well-off, paid for by the better-off! In a previous blog, I have explained how the so-called 'wealthy' are already paying nearly 70p in the pound on tax and that any fair-thinking person might well conclude that was actually inequitable, which it is. Mr Clegg's posturing is purely political because he well knows that as a country we have to generate wealth before we can implement tax cuts of the sort he refers to. Taxing the wealthy more and more will only kill off any entrepreneurial spirit and see money and brains leave the country. Again, as I have said repeatedly, Mr Osborne needs to be bold, reduce the ridiculously high rate of personal taxation, drop Corporation Tax faster and give businesses incentives to employ more staff. Our economy is flatlining and, while low interest rates are preventing an economic catastrophy, the Chancellor needs to free up business with a dose of good, old-fashioned Conservatism.
Vince Cable has made announcements this week on Coalition Government proposals to help rein in excessive levels of pay for company directors and senior staff. It’s an issue that I have raised on many occasions so I’m pleased to see action at last.
As I pointed out in a debate on bankers’ bonuses on Monday, executive pay and bonuses are meant to be the reward for successful stewardship of a company. The company is owned by the shareholders – which in many cases are the pension funds of millions of people. If the company has done well, the dividends increase and the share price rises then the shareholders will be happy. And if that success is down to clear strategic thinking by a director, then a bonus is in order.
But the evidence of the last decade is that while company performance has been modest, executive pay has rocketed. The big problem is that company boards effectively set their own terms and conditions. The remuneration committees devise remuneration packages that will have a generous base salary, a bonus entitlement, pension contributions, long notice periods and a host of other benefits from school fees for the children to flash cars with maybe a chauffeur thrown in. Two issues arise. These committees are being generous with other people’s money and their membership is all too cosy.
It’s not the job of government to tell any company what it should pay it’s staff, beyond the minimum wage. But it is the role of government to make sure that companies are properly regulated so that shareholders are protected from greedy or incompetent directors. So Vince is right to want to open up the remuneration committee memberships and to ban full time directors of other companies from sitting on them. They have too much of a vested interest in bidding up pay in another company so that their company follows suit. It’s also right that shareholders and the public get see in much greater detail what is being paid to directors. It’s time to call a halt to the executive gravy train.
But bankers and directors of other quoted companies are just part of the problem. Huge rewards can often be received for modest talent in other parts of the private sector and the public sector. As I pointed out in the aftermath of last August’s riots, people resent the easy rewards for some pretty minor “celebrities”. And one of the reasons why the country has a budget deficit is the huge increase in pay for public sector senior managers under Gordon Brown. Yesterday at Treasury Questions I raised this with my colleague Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Here’s the exchange from Hansard:
Stephen Williams (Bristol West) (LD): The Business Secretary’s announcements will give more power to non-exec directors and shareholders to control pay in the private sector. The Government effectively discharge those roles in the public sector, so what measures is my right hon. Friend undertaking to control high pay in the public sector?
Danny Alexander: Ministerial salaries were cut by 5% and then frozen for the whole of this Parliament. As Chief Secretary, I now personally sign off any new pay above £142,000, the equivalent of the Prime Minister’s pay. That is a vital deterrent to the cycle of ever higher pay at the top of the public sector—so much so that in central Government alone the number of people paid more than £150,000 has dropped by 55 since May last year. When applications come in, I can and do reject them if I think they are too high. In fact, since May 2010 83 like-for-like cases have sought my approval. Pay was lowered in 45 of those cases and frozen in a further 23, saving more than £1 million a year for the taxpayer, including a £100,000 cut in the pay for the new chief executive of Royal Mail.
James Morris, Member of Parliament for Halesowen & Rowley Regis, has spoken in Parliament about the need for more support to be given to local high streets and town centres.
Responding to the review carried out by retail expert Mary Portas, Mr Morris praised the action that is being taken to regenerate Halesowen town centre but called for local councils to be given more freedom to act to support local high streets. read more »
During the Christmas break, I was invited on a flying visit to Lebanon with a couple of other MPs. The delegation was organised by CAABU - the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding - and was primarily a fact-finding mission to look at how the recent events in Syria are having an impact on Lebanon and the region.Although our visit was brief, our schedule was tight and we managed to meet with many people including the British Ambassador, Tom Fletcher, representatives from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, journalists, members of parliament, and, importantly, Syrian and Lebanese families.
We also managed to squeeze in a couple of visits to refugee camps in Beirut, where this picture was taken and where thousands of Palestinian refugees reside.
In the coming week there is a delegation of Lebanese MPs coming to Britain and I will be continuing the work we did during our visit back in Parliament.
I’m speaking at London Vegans on Wednesday night, at a venue in Holborn. More details on their website www.londonvegans.org.uk
Here’s the menu… www.shambhus.co.uk/lv If the prospect of hearing me speak about all things relevant to the political vegan doesn’t tempt you, I suspect the menu will! Tofu tikka massala and mint choc chip cheesecake. Or does the lemon and coconut cheesecake sound better?
I can think of several areas where through working with others I think I'm making a difference. Not necessarily going to always win, but could well limit serious damage to the nation. First up is what I consider the madness of onshore wind farms. I feel part of a growing outrage amongst MPs over the damage this policy is inflicting - on fuel poverty, business competitiveness and rural landscapes. Already we are seeing more under grounding of grid lines, and I still hope we can defeat the utterly outrageous Mid Wales Connection Project. I know I'm out of line with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change about this - but the whips have never raised this issue with me. I really feel that I am defending the UK for future generations. On its own, this war makes my job as an MP worthwhile.
And there are an increasing number of other issues where I can play a leading role. There's the need to prevent the adoption of 'presumed consent' in respect of organ donation. The assumption and assertion that this will increase availability of organs for donation is unproven. And I can play a positive role in promoting changes which will bring about a real increase in organ donation levels - which is what will actually help those on the waiting list.
And then there is the developing campaign to legalise 'assisted suicide'. We are just about to be faced with the appalling prospect of an orchestrated campaign to change the law - a sensitive and complex issue. But legalisation is a terrible threat to vulnerable people and must be resisted. As Parliamentarians, we are charged with basing legislative change on evidence rather than intuitive responses. I find these battles every bit as challenging as anything else I've ever done. Will have to have a word with Phillip. There is a massive job facing him as an MP.
Yesterday I met the Chief Exec of Stockton Council to discuss a range of issues, followed by visiting the new Nifco factory in Eaglescliffe. I also met the new Temporary Chief Constable of Cleveland Police.
In the evening I spoke at the Teesside Caledonian Society’s Burns Supper, an excellent and well attended event.
The plan will have long term implications for the whole of Edinburgh. I've prepared some initial thoughts which naturally centre on the implications for Edinburgh North & Leith. I'll be finalising my submission to the Council in the next few days - any views from local residents would be welcome! You can find out more about the plans, and how to submit comments directly to the Council, on the Council website at http://bit.ly/tdeTBD
Draft comments from Mark Lazarowicz on Edinburgh Council proposals for new 'Local Development Plan':
1. The proposals would allow further major infringement of Edinburgh's Green Belt, particularly on the West side of the city near the airport. I am concerned at the way in which the Green Belt is being 'eaten away' by these proposals. Firstly, because of the loss of green belt in itself, and secondly because development in the green belt on the West side could jeopardise redevelopment of 'brownfield' sites elsewhere, including along the Waterfront at Granton and Leith. This could leave existing redevelopments 'marooned' in derelict land for decades to come. I believe we should be regenerating brownfield and derelict sites in preference to using up precious green belt land.
2. The proposal for a renewable energy focus at Leith docks is welcome as long as that means activities like manufacturing and marine activities, not large biomass plants. Edinburgh, like the rest of the country, needs more jobs in industry, and the renewable sector is one which offers potential for manufacturing alongside research, development, and support services. However, any developments would have to be compatible with existing residential and other existing uses in the area. Setting up such a renewable energy focus would also require access improvements of a type which would not put extra pressure on the already busy road network in Leith. Where possible, heavy goods and large loads should be transported to the docks area by sea, or by using the existing rail access which could be further extended into the docks area to serve the proposed renewable energy activities. There should also be an examination of the feasability of using this line to provide a passenger rail service, particularly in the absence of the proposed tram line extension to Leith.
3. The proposals to support local shopping centres such as those in Central Leith and Leith Walk are welcomed, but need to be accompanied by measures to improve the shopping environment and to support small shops. Streets and pavements need to be kept in good repair.
4. As stated above, 'brownfield' sites should be preferred to 'Green belt' land for development. This should include social and affordable housing, for which there is still considerable demand in Edinburgh North and Leith. Development of 'brownfield' sites should also include a reasonable proportion of public open space, including parks, playgrounds, and allotments. Where 'brownfield' sites are likely to remain undeveloped and/or derelict for some time, consideration should be given to using them meantime for green space - parks, open space, 'wildlife meadows', and similar. Even if there is a renewable energy hub in part of Leith docks, some of the remaining area in the docks should continue be available for housing.
Glasgow South MP Tom Harris has taken the fight to defend the city’s railway network to the House of Commons.In a debate on the cost of the railways, Tom told the Transport Secretary Justine Greening: “I hope that the Secretary of State will not take the same path as has been followed in Scotland, where the SNP Government — for the first time since the 1960s and Beeching — are threatening to close stations, including Kennishead in my constituency, even as passenger numbers are increasing there and throughout the network.
“That is a disgraceful approach for any so-called progressive Government to take, and I hope that the Secretary of State will make a commitment that she will not close stations or lines in the rest of the country.”
Glasgow South Labour is to hold a public meeting as part of the campaign to protect Kennishead station from the SNP cuts agenda. It will take place at Kennishead Community Hall at 7.00 pm on Thursday 26 January, where Tom will be joined on the platform by local councillor, Stephen Curran.
Read Tom’s full speech to the House of Commons on Wednesday 11 January by clicking here.
In March last year I introduced a 10 Minute Rule Bill, 'Dangerous and Reckless Cycling (Offences) Bill'. 10 Minute Rule Bills do not usually make it onto the Statute book, simply because there is not enough time to see them all the way through the legislative process but they are a great way of raising an important issue with the Government.
The Second Reading of my Bill is scheduled to take place on Friday 20 January 2012, however it is number 27 on the Order Paper and usually only two or three Bills get read therefore I do not expect my Bill to be reached! I have produced a Bill text which has been published and can be read below:
Dangerous and Reckless Cycling (Offences) Bill
I have also written to the Department for Transport to ask the Minister's opinion of the Bill and to encourage him to use it as a template for future road safety legislation.
“This is good news and a victory for common sense. It is testament to the hard work and perseverance of the organisers and the local supporting services such as the police and the council.”
Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North, today welcomed the news that the East Coast Truckers’ Children’s Convoy can continue after productive discussions between the police, event organisers and other interested parties to resolve issues relating to safety, compliance with legislation and insurance.
The increasing number of applications for consent to the development of wind farms has become a significant political issue in North and Mid Wales. Last May, almost 2,000 people travelled from Montgomeryshire to the Welsh Assembly building in Cardiff to show their concern over proposals to erect hundreds of turbines, with associated pylons, transmission lines and other infrastructure, across Mid Wales. It was one of the biggest political demonstrations ever seen in Cardiff Bay.
The reason why the Welsh uplands have been targeted for so much wind farm development is straightforward. It is the policy of the Welsh Government (“WG”) to encourage onshore wind farm development in the so-called “strategic search areas” identified by its planning document, Technical Advice Note 8 (“TAN 8”).
Those strategic search areas, in many parts of Wales, coincide with Forestry Commission land, which is owned by the WG itself. Thus, an application for consent to the construction a large wind farm to be sited in the Clocaenog forest, near Ruthin, is expected to be made in the near future, and a large area of forestry land in Mid Wales is also the subject of similar applications.
Large-scale wind farm development applications are considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (“IPC”), an independent body set up under the last Labour Government. The IPC considers all applications in the light of National Policy Statements and other Government policy at all levels.
In Wales, TAN 8 is an important element of Government policy that must be considered by the IPC. Given that TAN 8 sets out a presumption in favour of wind farm development in the strategic search areas, it is hardly surprising that developers have sought to site new wind farms in rural Wales.
Indeed, for so long as TAN 8 remains in its present form, it is very likely that further applications will be made, until such time as the WG’s target of 1.7GW achieved through renewable generation in the strategic search areas is hit. That is more than four times the present installed capacity.
A few weeks after the protests in Cardiff, the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, said he believed the level of wind farm development in Montgomeryshire was “unacceptable in view of its wider impacts on the local area”. However, since he made that statement, the WG has not changed the presumptions set out in TAN 8.
The fact is that until such time as the WG addresses the issue of TAN 8, further applications for wind farm consents will inevitably be made. The statement made by the First Minister will be of no force.
British Government policy is to renew and restore the electricity generating capacity that this country needs, which was neglected under the last Labour Government. All consent applications will be dealt with efficiently and impartially by the IPC, and by reference to existing Government policy, whether made at Westminster or Cardiff Bay.
The position, therefore, is clear. If the Welsh Government really is concerned about wind farm proliferation, it should amend TAN 8. If it does not do so, it must expect further applications to be made
Filed under: Miscellaneous Tagged: Carwyn Jones, Forestry Commission, Infrastructure Planning Commission, Mid Wales, TAN 8, Wales, Wind farm, wind farms, Wind turbine
At any one time, up to a quarter of hospital beds are occupied by dementia patients over the age of 65, yet studies by the National Audit Office suggest that two-thirds of these patients no longer needed to be there. While this costs almost £6.5 million which could otherwise be invested in other NHS and care services, I am concerned that the hospital ward is an unsuitable care setting for people with dementia. Those with dementia in hospitals are more prone to complications such as delirium, infection and falls. Worryingly, hospital care can also exacerbate the symptoms of dementia and have a negative impact on their condition as the institutional and disempowering environment of hospitals upsets patients’ routines.
As Vice-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Dementia, myself and other colleagues have been in the position to hear from charities which do excellent work supporting those with Dementia, such as Age UK and the Alzheimer’s Society, on ways in which we can limit the negative impact of hospital care for dementia patients.
Relatively simple changes to the hospital environment can significantly improve the experience and quality of care for dementia patients. Minor changes to ward layouts, colour coded doors and simpler signs are just some of the suggestions which would reduce stress and confusion for those patients while freeing up nursing staff who would otherwise be assisting those in their care who were confused and disoriented and reducing associated falls and injuries.
Better training of ward nurses is essential. Most of the time nurses do a hard job fantastically well but there is much improvement required when it comes to dealing with patients with dementia. Having met with a number of carers it is clear that the “care” element of nursing those with dementia is sometimes lacking for example at meal times. Investment in better training is something we should now be considering and could save money in the long term.
More importantly however, it is vital that the number of unnecessary hospital admissions is reduced. This can only be achieved by the invaluable support of the community care which is available to people with dementia and those who care for them. I have previously and will continue to voice my support for reform of the social care system because of how proper care can transform the life of both patients and carers. If proper community support and assistance is in place 24 hours a day, the number of incidents such as falls which result in hospital admissions could be reduced significantly. I don’t want to keep hearing of appalling experiences like the one I heard on the radio this morning so it is a no-brainer really: it is time to urgently look again about how we treat our dementia patients in hospital.
My total figure for 2010/11 was £142,671. The main elements of this were:
- £105,508 for staffing; this is the cost of employing staff in the constituency office and at Westminster, including employer NI contributions and contributions to staff pensions; in 2010/11 one member of staff went on maternity leave and so I incurred additional costs in paying for maternity cover; for this reason my staffing figure is higher than average, though I have queried with IPSA whether these costs have been correctly recorded;
- £15,968 for staying in London overnight around 3 nights per week; I still have a one-bed flat in Westminster where I stay; when the flat is sold, any gain in value will go to the taxpayer;
- £9244 for 'office costs'; this is mainly the cost of lease and service charge for the office at Pooole Court;
- £7151 for general admin costs; this is things like phone bills, toner cartridges for printers, broadband bills, additional IT above the basic amount provided by parliament etc.;
- £4798 for travel; this is standard class rail journies (generally once a week) from Bristol Parkway to Westminster and parking at Bristol Parkway; where possible I buy advance rail tickets but as a minister it can be hard to predict my return rail journey home on a Thursday so I generally buy an open ticket which is more expensive.
In terms of things that I don't claim, I made no claims in 2010/11 for mileage/petrol and no claims for food.
I hope that this is helpful information for local residents.
Prior to the meeting, I had already been in touch with Network Rail, to strongly urge them to deal with some of the key issues around the station. Network Rail confirmed at the meeting that, as a result of my request, they had immediate plans in place now to paint the station, address the rodent problem, board up unused windows and clear graffiti They had also requested additional litter bins from Hounslow Council. At the meeting, St George's highlighted the work they had been doing too to clear up graffiti in the local area.
I am very pleased that Network Rail responded so well and are giving Kew Bridge Station a 'facelift,' which will help local residents. It will make the station seem cleaner and safer and I welcome their efforts to improve it for passengers. As a group, we are also in discussion regarding the future of the station building at Kew Bridge. As it is a Listed Building, it is obviously of architectural importance. It would be excellent if it could be restored to its former glory and put to good use.
The group is going to meet again within the next month to review progress and discuss next steps.
To continue to keep up with all the latest news and views from Mark Reckless MP, please visit and bookmark http://www.markreckless.com
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MR Webmaster
Maria said: “This new legislation will make a real difference to how local matters are decided. The Community Rights measures, for example, will give new rights to local community and voluntary groups to protect, improve and even run important frontline services that might otherwise close down, such as local shops, pubs and libraries,.”
Maria added: “This Bill offers great opportunities for Basingstoke. Among other things, it will radically reform the planning system so that local people have a greater say and influence over what Basingstoke looks like in the future. Giving local people the opportunity to shape the development of the communities in which they live is something that I have long campaigned for, and I am delighted to see it being enshrined in law.
“The Borough Council’s current consultation on the number of new homes needed in Basingstoke is part of this process of taking local people’s views into consideration in developing a vision for the future. I would urge all residents to let the Council have their views on this before the end of the consultation on 14 January.”
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I have been made the Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries. This is a long title, possibly one of the longest in Government. It also includes in effect two jobs. One is to cover the arts, libraries, broadcasting and the creative industries over at the Department for Culture Media and Sport (known as DCMS). The other is to cover broadband roll out, telecoms, and illegal filesharing over at the Department of Business (known as BIS). Phew.
As a local MP, it is interesting to consider how these responsibilities affect people in the constituency. The first and most obvious is broadband rollout. About ten per cent of all homes do not have broadband at all, and about one in 3 have very poor broadband, mainly in rural areas. There are some parts of the constituency that remain affected. Our aim is to get everyone to have a basic broadband service by the end of 2012, and to roll out high speed broadband over the next few years. If you have any issues with broadband do let me know.
I also cover what is known as illegal filesharing. This is a new law which would allow internet companies to temporarily disconnect people if it could be proved that they have been copying music or films without proper authorisation. This is something we have to act on, as every piece of music that is copied illegally takes money away from artists and creators, who provide a lot of money for the economy. We're looking to introduce the new measures next year, but no one will be cut off (and then only temporarily) without plenty of warning and a chance to change their behaviour.
Another issue that is likely to be prominent is libraries, which I also cover. Libraries are very important to local communities, but as money becomes tighter, they may suffer. I will use my position to try and ensure that we can make responsible savings so that libraries continue to provide important services for local people - not just book borrowing, but also education and access to broadband and other local and national services.
One local issue has already cropped up which affects my ministerial responsibilities directly. The local television transmitter burnt down, and cannot be replaced until September (they have to build a new one from scratch). Many people have had their TV coverage affected and are understandably looking for a speedy solution and I am looking into this.
I continue to focus on other local issues as normal. I met with those campaigning against the reservoir, ahead of the public enquiry. I am continuing to campaign for a new station at Grove. And I was delighted that the new Government threw out the housing targets which have led to plans for huge housing developments across the constituency. It may not affect those where planning permission has already been granted but it could lead to a rethink where no decision has yet been made.
Recent constituency engagements include a spot of metal detecting (I also cover archaeology!) and as a judge for Didcot's Got Talent, a great night for pupils aged 6-11 to show off their talents. I tried not to be too Simon Cowell-ish!
I can still be contacted at the House of Commons, SW1A 0AA, 020 7219 6350 vaizeye@parliament.uk
Next surgeries are 9 July: Grove, Old Mill Hall and 23 July: Didcot, King Alfred Drive Community Centre both at 530pm
The long parliamentary recess has started - weeks without time being spent in the weekly grindingly boring train ride to London and back. Mind you its a hectic pace back at Southport but you can control your agenda better.
Yesterday I found a little time for light exercise the odd game of table tennis and a workout with heavy weights.
I've done the latter all my adult life and it has a slight addictive quality. If you don't do it for a while you actually feel muscle cramps only relieved by putting the old system under pressure.
Constraints of time often mean I forego all the warm ups and warm downs etc. So there I was on Tuesday doing a few front squats in excess of 300lb. I finished, replacing the barbell on the shoulder-high squat stand or so I thought. The stand was not aligned right .It tilted sideways as I released the weight and as the weight crashed to the floor the stand was pulled rapidly down by it pausing on its way to hit the stooping me on the head and catching me on the hand.
If you wanted to dramatise it , it might be compared to being hit on the head by a 20 stone man with an iron bar from a short distance. I thought I'd better take a break. We've had enough by- elections recently
When the family saw me with a lump as though a tennis ball had been buried in my scalp I was advised to pop into A&E. So clutching a plastic bag filled with ice cubes to my temple and bleeding from my finger I was run there and tested by some very nice jolly staff who established so far as we could tell that there was no skull or brain damage.At any rate I could still recall who the Prime Minister and reigning monarch was. I left a wiser man with a determination to avoid photo opportunities for a few days.
This will be enough for the amnesty to achieve its real objective - photos of a smiling Minister in front of an impressive looking array of guns claiming that the government have "taken action".
But make no mistake the serious criminals will continue to roam the streets without any fear of being stopped and searched, (human rights) and knowing that even if by some chance they are found in poossession of a gun or knife the sentence will be minimal.
The toll of death will continue to rise.
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