I had lunch today with one of our MPs, a long term friend we specifically decided politics was off limits for the day. They did said they will be voting against the full pay rise because of all the work they were doing in support of the police claim and it would be hypocritical to do otherwise I told them I thought they were wrong and we left it at that ,but here I thought I might explain why.
Personally I think the best thing an MP can do for every nurse, policeman, teacher and everyone else whose pay is "set" by independant review is to back this increase in full.
Why? because to do otherwise is the leave Gordon Brown with the stick "MPs rejected their full increase so you should follow there example". Of course the there will be accusations of snouts in a trough so some care on presentation will need to be undertaken but there is a fundamental principle at stake in that vote.
IF you set pay by independent review then you must honour that review in full.
Of course I hope our MPs will propose at least one amendment the abolition of this crazy vote in the first place.
Sunday, 13 January 2008
Thursday, 10 January 2008
The power decision
Well there it is, the die is cast the decision made and in the public domain all that is left is securing the funding and Wales will have two more power stations.
No don't get me wrong I don't mean nuclear stations I mean the plans of Mr Tomlinson of Holt and Mr Pugh of Churchstoke to turn their large supplies of cow dung into electricity. Neither scheme is very big in itself Mr Tomlinson only expecting to generate enough power to supply the 500 houses in the village from an initial setup cost of £1.2m. But think of the potential.
2002 figures point to there being about 2.5m dairy cattle in the UK based on Mr Tomlinson figures that seem to be backed up by work in the US this suggest that there is a potential for up to 250,000 houses to receive their power from this source equivalent to the domestic needs of Cardiff and Swansea combined.
Of course these are not the big single site schemes so loved by our government but as the Nepalesse experience suggest they have a significant role to play in tacking our emissions challenge.
No don't get me wrong I don't mean nuclear stations I mean the plans of Mr Tomlinson of Holt and Mr Pugh of Churchstoke to turn their large supplies of cow dung into electricity. Neither scheme is very big in itself Mr Tomlinson only expecting to generate enough power to supply the 500 houses in the village from an initial setup cost of £1.2m. But think of the potential.
2002 figures point to there being about 2.5m dairy cattle in the UK based on Mr Tomlinson figures that seem to be backed up by work in the US this suggest that there is a potential for up to 250,000 houses to receive their power from this source equivalent to the domestic needs of Cardiff and Swansea combined.
Of course these are not the big single site schemes so loved by our government but as the Nepalesse experience suggest they have a significant role to play in tacking our emissions challenge.
Wednesday, 9 January 2008
Nick off to a safe start
Allthough technically based from home its rare that I am actually there so having the opportunity to see the leadership announcement and Nicks for PMQ is a bit if a shock to the system.
So how did it go?
Personally I thought rather well. Camerons digs about 4 leaders is not unexpected and the joke about Nick putting some distance between them by moving two seats down I think was helpful as it removed the option for Brown to comment on it in his reply. We then went into the Cameron/Brown knockabout that was pure theatre but set things up quite nicely for us to come across as responsible adults.
The choice of fuel poverty was an interesting one. This is a real bread and butter issue for many poor families and ones I suspect that if you dig deep enough are in the not regular voters category at one end of the scale and impoverished pensioner in the other.
While the latter got the full attention of Nick the former were the focus of the standard question from Steve Webb that came about five minutes later.
No knock out blows or stunning sound bite for the media but a lot for those of us on the ground to get our teeth into.
If the message that this sends out to people is that we are caring about poor families then it is one I look forward to hear more on in coming months
So how did it go?
Personally I thought rather well. Camerons digs about 4 leaders is not unexpected and the joke about Nick putting some distance between them by moving two seats down I think was helpful as it removed the option for Brown to comment on it in his reply. We then went into the Cameron/Brown knockabout that was pure theatre but set things up quite nicely for us to come across as responsible adults.
The choice of fuel poverty was an interesting one. This is a real bread and butter issue for many poor families and ones I suspect that if you dig deep enough are in the not regular voters category at one end of the scale and impoverished pensioner in the other.
While the latter got the full attention of Nick the former were the focus of the standard question from Steve Webb that came about five minutes later.
No knock out blows or stunning sound bite for the media but a lot for those of us on the ground to get our teeth into.
If the message that this sends out to people is that we are caring about poor families then it is one I look forward to hear more on in coming months
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
Micro wind vs Micro water
Two very different environmental stories caught my eye today.
The first via Yahoo but published in The Register deals with a small study on the viability of micro turbines in your back garden, far from being the ideal way forward as David Cameron was suggesting it would appear that in many cases the turbines would not even light one bulb let alone boil the water to melt the chocolate Tory teacup.
The problem it appears has many facets ranging from not enough wind to too much turbulence and common or garden theft and vandalism. Overoptimism from contractors also appears to have a role to play.
In contrast Talybont on usk just (30miles) down the road from me are looking to expand their existing hydro electric scheme into a wider community led initiative to make the village carbon neutral.
Coming two days after I was down in Clydach where the Forge Fach community resource centre were looking to meet their energy needs by redeveloping an historic leat into a small scale hydro scheme it would seem that for many water power may be a better way forward.
The first via Yahoo but published in The Register deals with a small study on the viability of micro turbines in your back garden, far from being the ideal way forward as David Cameron was suggesting it would appear that in many cases the turbines would not even light one bulb let alone boil the water to melt the chocolate Tory teacup.
The problem it appears has many facets ranging from not enough wind to too much turbulence and common or garden theft and vandalism. Overoptimism from contractors also appears to have a role to play.
In contrast Talybont on usk just (30miles) down the road from me are looking to expand their existing hydro electric scheme into a wider community led initiative to make the village carbon neutral.
Coming two days after I was down in Clydach where the Forge Fach community resource centre were looking to meet their energy needs by redeveloping an historic leat into a small scale hydro scheme it would seem that for many water power may be a better way forward.
Monday, 7 January 2008
At least I'm clearly a Democrat
Its a me too as well, it would appear these US Pres Front-runners just don't cut it with us UK liberals. Looks like I too fall into the Obama for pres camp.
73% Dennis Kucinich
72% Mike Gravel
68% Barack Obama
67% Chris Dodd
67% Joe Biden
65% John Edwards
64% Hillary Clinton
60% Bill Richardson
34% Rudy Giuliani
26% John McCain
25% Ron Paul
25% Mitt Romney
17% Mike Huckabee
15% Tom Tancredo
13% Fred Thompson
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
73% Dennis Kucinich
72% Mike Gravel
68% Barack Obama
67% Chris Dodd
67% Joe Biden
65% John Edwards
64% Hillary Clinton
60% Bill Richardson
34% Rudy Giuliani
26% John McCain
25% Ron Paul
25% Mitt Romney
17% Mike Huckabee
15% Tom Tancredo
13% Fred Thompson
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
Sunday, 23 December 2007
Clegg Q+A in the People
Since everyone has picked up on the Times and Telegraph already I thought I would point out a nice simple little Q+A in the People (note I scan the on-line site not buy the paper).
The questions are intelligent and the answers largely to the point. The Christmas presents will make you laugh.
The questions are intelligent and the answers largely to the point. The Christmas presents will make you laugh.
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
Almost the best possible result
511 votes is a small margin by which to become leader of a political party but when I look back on today in a few years time I suspect that I can safely say it was almost the best possible result.
Why almost? Well obviously I wanted it to be 511 votes the other way but congratulations to Nick on ensuring my record on backing the runner up continues.
but the best possible result? let me explain.
First we have a party segmented in three ways those who backed Nick, those who backed Chris and those who backed neither in almost identical proportion. This will no doubt give Nick pause for thought and an opportunity to ignore those who had he hit 65+% would no doubt call on him to only reward his friends.
Next we have shown a degree of depth in the party. This was no walkover like Cameron or stitch up like Brown this was a campaign that either candidate could have won and the closeness of the fight will only benefit Nick in terms of experience.
And finally we have come out of the campaign with three heavyweight politicians we all expected Vince to give us some stability but he has put us back on the map, Nick has proved himself the more popular candidate, yet by running him so close Chris has maintained his position and moved onto a more national stage.
For too long our party has lacked a bruiser in the John Prescott, Norman Tebbit style someone able to tear an opponent apart without thinking about it and force interviewers onto his agenda. While that might not have been the plan at the outset in many ways that is a role Chris now seems well cut out to occupy.
Its too early to play fantasy cabinets but PM Clegg, Chancellor Cable, Home Sec Huhne and Foreign secretary Campbell has a rather comforting ring about it doesn't it.
Why almost? Well obviously I wanted it to be 511 votes the other way but congratulations to Nick on ensuring my record on backing the runner up continues.
but the best possible result? let me explain.
First we have a party segmented in three ways those who backed Nick, those who backed Chris and those who backed neither in almost identical proportion. This will no doubt give Nick pause for thought and an opportunity to ignore those who had he hit 65+% would no doubt call on him to only reward his friends.
Next we have shown a degree of depth in the party. This was no walkover like Cameron or stitch up like Brown this was a campaign that either candidate could have won and the closeness of the fight will only benefit Nick in terms of experience.
And finally we have come out of the campaign with three heavyweight politicians we all expected Vince to give us some stability but he has put us back on the map, Nick has proved himself the more popular candidate, yet by running him so close Chris has maintained his position and moved onto a more national stage.
For too long our party has lacked a bruiser in the John Prescott, Norman Tebbit style someone able to tear an opponent apart without thinking about it and force interviewers onto his agenda. While that might not have been the plan at the outset in many ways that is a role Chris now seems well cut out to occupy.
Its too early to play fantasy cabinets but PM Clegg, Chancellor Cable, Home Sec Huhne and Foreign secretary Campbell has a rather comforting ring about it doesn't it.
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