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.
Showing posts with label liberal democrats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liberal democrats. Show all posts
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
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.
Friday, 19 October 2007
Is education the victim of a wider planning problem?
The closure plans announced by Gwynedd CC of 29 rural schools comes as no surprise to those of us here in Powys facing up to similar issues. While we haven't seen a big bang approach I'm sure the numbers will come out in the same sort of ball park once all the decisions are made.
However before we all stand up and shoot the messenger its worth reflecting on the causes of the problem.
Back in the mid 90's Welsh Office planning guidance under Viceroy Redwood insisted on local councils creating hierarchies of settlements. Larger rural towns would see the bulk of the new housing with some of the smaller villages only expected to grow by a couple of properties every 5 years.
Now planning policy takes time to have an effect but we are beginning to see it now. While Crossgates, 8 miles east of Rhayader, has had about 40 new houses in the past 5 years, Llangurig the same distance the other way has only had half a dozen. Little surprise then that as Crossgates school has had a major building programme this summer Llangurig is now set to close.
But its not just schools that are under threat, the combination of limited housing stock, people retiring to the area and taking advantage of the relatively cheap housing prices, and lack of well paid jobs places the whole fabric of rural life on a knife edge.
So as we reflect on these closures it is worth all of us with planning responsibilities taking a close look at todays plans and ask ourselves what problems we are leaving for our successors in 15 years time
However before we all stand up and shoot the messenger its worth reflecting on the causes of the problem.
Back in the mid 90's Welsh Office planning guidance under Viceroy Redwood insisted on local councils creating hierarchies of settlements. Larger rural towns would see the bulk of the new housing with some of the smaller villages only expected to grow by a couple of properties every 5 years.
Now planning policy takes time to have an effect but we are beginning to see it now. While Crossgates, 8 miles east of Rhayader, has had about 40 new houses in the past 5 years, Llangurig the same distance the other way has only had half a dozen. Little surprise then that as Crossgates school has had a major building programme this summer Llangurig is now set to close.
But its not just schools that are under threat, the combination of limited housing stock, people retiring to the area and taking advantage of the relatively cheap housing prices, and lack of well paid jobs places the whole fabric of rural life on a knife edge.
So as we reflect on these closures it is worth all of us with planning responsibilities taking a close look at todays plans and ask ourselves what problems we are leaving for our successors in 15 years time
Sunday, 22 July 2007
Opening up
Opening up a blog seems to be the in thing but what to write is an interesting challenge. Those that know me in the real world are like to tag this as a Lib Dem blog but as it is likely to veer into hill walking, trigpointing, geocaching and GIS I have opted to split that side of life off into another site.
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