tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-336960952024-03-14T04:27:11.458+00:00Norfolk BloggerThe self indulgent ramblings of a teacher, frustrated with the world and politics or an attempt to talk about issues and politics in Norfolk and beyond ? You decide.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.comBlogger3117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-65487550170019843192011-08-10T16:14:00.002+01:002011-08-10T16:28:24.602+01:00According to the Telegraph the riots are all down to teachersI was left open mouthed, but not entirely surprised this morning when headlines started coming in that a teacher had been in court for looting. As a teacher myself I tweeted that I hope this person would no longer be able to work with children, and that I hoped they would be properly punished by the courts. It is now known that the person in court is not a teacher, but works with children at a school. This did not, however, stop David Hughes, a man who is apparently the chief leader writer for the Telegraph publishing on his blog an absolute rant against the teaching profession.<br />
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This is what he wrote<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px;"></span><br />
<div class="storyHead" style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><h1 style="color: #1e1e1e; font-size: 2.4em; line-height: 1.16em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">A <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;">teacher</b> is charged with <b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;">looting</b> – why am I not surprised?</span></h1></div><div class="oneHalf gutter" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 0px; width: 460px;"><div class="story" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 2px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 3px;"><div class="byline" style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><div style="color: #3f3f3f; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="byAuthor" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 1em;">By <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/author/davidhughes/" style="color: #234b7b; font-weight: bold; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="Posts by David Hughes">David Hughes</a></span> <span class="lastUpdated bylineCategory" style="border-left-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 1em; margin-left: 2px; padding-left: 5px;"><a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/category/politics/" rel="category tag" style="color: #b22929; font-weight: bold; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="View all posts in Politics">Politics</a></span> <span class="lastUpdated" style="border-left-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; margin-left: 2px; padding-left: 5px;">Last updated: August 10th, 2011</span></span></div><div style="color: #3f3f3f; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.48em; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="byAuthor commentsLink" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px;"><a dsqid="2_100100434" href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/davidhughes/100100434/a-teacher-is-charged-with-looting-why-am-i-not-surprised/#disqus_thread" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/wp-content/themes/telegraph_1_2/images/comment_12.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #234b7b; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; height: 16px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-left: 15px; text-decoration: none;">57 Comments</a></span> <span class="lastUpdated" style="border-left-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; margin-left: 2px; padding-left: 5px;"><a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/davidhughes/100100434/a-teacher-is-charged-with-looting-why-am-i-not-surprised/#dPostComment" style="color: #234b7b; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Comment on this article</a></span></span></div></div><div class="entry" style="overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"><div style="padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">One’s capacity for shock has been rather depleted by the events of the past few days but a riot-related item this morning did manage to raise the eyebrows. The BBC is reporting that the first person up at Highbury Magistrates Court on <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;">looting</span> charges was a 31-year old school <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;">teacher</span>named Alexis Bailey. She pleaded guilty to being part of the <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;">looting</span> of the Richer Sounds store in Croydon. If this is what <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;">teachers</span> get up to, is it any wonder that children have been queuing up to ransack shops? It prompts the question of just when was it that schools stopped punishing theft and instead started turning a blind eye to it? You can date this profound shift to the time youngsters started to heave all their books in and out of school each day in gigantic rucksacks because they could not leave them in their desks in case of theft. The difference between right and wrong became blurred. Before the change, theft was severely punished in all schools: <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;">teachers</span> would come down like a ton of bricks on any light-fingered pupils. Then for some reason they simply threw in the towel and told children to protect their own stuff because the disciplinary system could not. Such moral ambivalence has helped spawn the rampant criminality that has had us all so transfixed.</span></div><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">One wonders how such an ill educated fool gets to be a chief leader writer for a national newspapers when virtually everything he has written is either rubbish, or if true, largely been done not because teachers have asked for it but because governments have sought to impose it, in and in the main that has been Tory governments.</span></div><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">Note his main argument that </span></div><div style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span></div><blockquote style="line-height: 1.48em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 33px;">You can date this profound shift to the time youngsters started to heave all their books in and out of school each day in gigantic rucksacks because they could not leave them in their desks in case of theft. </span></span></blockquote><br />
</div>So breaking down his argument, this stems back to when children have to take their books around with them (and home) and the end of each day, in case of theft. So we are talking about after school hours, in evenings, at night ? In essence his claim is that the fault is that teachers failed to protect schools after school from thefts and break ins. Is that a teacher's role ? If so, what an utterly ridiculous argument.<br />
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Many people on the left have sought to blame the riots on cuts, EMA and tuition fees. They are wrong, as can be clearly seen by the type of people going before the courts.<br />
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But equally the right are wrong to turn to their usual targets, which as we've seen since Michael Gove because education secretary, always seems to involve attacking teachers.<br />
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Now you can't access the blog any more written by David Hughes, but you can access the cached version <a href="http://87.248.112.8/search/srpcache?ei=UTF-8&p=telegraph+teacher+looting&vm=r&fr=yfp-t-702&u=http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=telegraph+teacher+looting&d=344888328135&mkt=en-GB&setlang=en-GB&w=250b4be9,73dbd90f&icp=1&.intl=uk&sig=7u0Xp5UHGqjRnkpbU0Pa9A--">HERE.</a><br />
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Next time David Hughes writes about education, remember what he wrote and see what his real agenda is, which is basically to blame teachers for the nation's ills, even riots.</div></div></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 22px; line-height: 33px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px;"></span>Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-77913569056504242012011-06-26T16:11:00.000+01:002011-06-26T16:11:43.418+01:00Is Lib Dem education policy simply "Let Michael Gove do what ever he wants" ?The Lib Dems were for many years seen as having the most sensible and well thought out policies on education. Be this pledges to cut class sizes, a commitment to reform key Stage 2 SATS, a properly thought out policy on higher education funding and, [particularly under the stewardship of the excellent Phil Willis, the brilliant former Lib Dem education spokesman who stood down from parliament in 2010, teachers felt that there was someone who understood the problems in the education system.<br />
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So what the hell has happened to this ? Where has the Lib Dem influence of education gone since May 2011 ?<br />
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We all know the debacle over tuition fees. and irrespective of whether it is fairer or not, the failure of the party to get the Tories to admit that it could be called a "hybrid graduate tax", which would have got the party of the hook with many voters, showed a total lack of influence over education policy the Lib Dems have.<br />
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Of course the party nationally like to raiser the "pupil premium" as a Lib Dem successs, ignoring the fact that this was in the Tories manifesto also, so can hardly be hailed as a policy which the Lib Dems won as a concession from the Tories.<br />
<br />
Since May 2010 all we have really seen on education is a succession of rants from Michael Gove, almost always seeming to put down the teacher profession, make threats, and tell us that what we are doing is wrong and can only be solved by creating new academies or free schools. On top of this if you work in Key Stage 2, the government arbitrarily put up the schools targets just weeks before the SATS tests. No reason was given other than that it was to raise standards. If Gove really thinks that raising targets without allocating any new funds will raise standards then he has no idea of the real world.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13918723">Yet even today</a>, the teaching profession is being told that if we strike on Thursday, it could "Damage teachers' reputation". <b>No Mr Gove, you've been doing that all by yourself for the last 14 months by constantly criticising the whole profession.</b><br />
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I'd love to see or hear a Lib Dem MP come out and offer an alternative narrative to the one put out by Mr Gove, but sadly we seem to have no influence whatsoever.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-6177160920433805772011-06-18T23:03:00.002+01:002011-06-18T23:13:05.725+01:00Danny Alexander - SHUT UP !In the local elections in my part of the world we (the Lib Dems) highlighted a regular concern that people have that the local Tory Council see consultation as a process to be gone through in name only and after the decision has already been made. Nobody in their right mights would consider it to be consultation or negotiation when the person leading these talks has already made his or her mind up. SO WHY CAN'T DANNY ALEXANDER SHUT UP !<br />
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He is doing exactly what people dislike most, and he is doing it over and over again. Watching an old episode of "Have I Got News For You" tonight, they talked about Danny Alexander leaking figures of how many public sector workers would lose their jobs, and for the last 48 hours Danny Alexander has been going around like the worst type of Tory MP telling anyone who will listen to him that the public sector "Will have to accept ...". Where the hell is the negotiation Danny ?<br />
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Since when has the Chief Secretary of the Treasury had to speak to the press so much ? In previous government's the Chief Secretary has been a background figure, but no, in this coalition, Danny Alexander has decided that he wants to be the hard man, the face of the cuts, as if people are going to somehow reward or credit him. Stop seeking publicity for doing unpopular things and get back to doing your job for the sake of the of us in our party who remember when we were here to do Lib Dem things, not the Tories dirty work !<br />
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At a local level I am proud of what the Lib Dems do to represent local people in their wards and county divisions in Norfolk. But the way some members of our party behave in government, and don't even got me on to the subject of education where Michael Gove comes up with increasingly stupid comments and ideas by the week, whilst the Lib Dems say absolutely nothing, is nothing less than shameful !Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-30221754581563023822011-05-15T10:07:00.001+01:002011-05-15T10:36:50.215+01:00Why David Laws should NOT return to governmentThere are many who like to think that the ills the Lib Dems are suffering will, in some way, be fixed by a returning David Laws being thrust back in to the political front line. They are wrong.<br />
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Firstly, we should examine what David Laws is like.<br />
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I know people who know David, and they tell me he is extremely quit witted, he "gets it" very quickly, and is a real talent. this any be true, but as a voter, and outsider, I view David as an intellectual and bright, but not charismatic or exciting in any way shape or form. Would his return excite the electorate ? Would it er-energise the Lib Dem vote ? I very much doubt it. I think Charles Kennedy might, but not David Laws. So lets kill the myth that David Laws will somehow revive our electoral fortunes overnight.<br />
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There is, of course, the argument that having David Laws in cabinet will somehow make the coalition more than what it is, and will then given the Lib Dems credit. The truth, as we've seen, is that the more successful the coalition is in any given area, the Conservatives get the credit, and the things that the public despise are blamed on the Lib Dems. To say "We need him back" is also to say that one of our cabinet members is not up to the job. I'm sure the Tories would love to see Vince or Huhne go, after all, they are providing the only credible opposition to the Tories whilst Nick Clegg has been utterly useless in providing any liberal vision or future for the party.<br />
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But for me, the most important reason for David Laws not to return is the simple fact that he showed a total lack of judgement in what he did over claiming for a second home owned by his partner. Last year in the general election we rightly claimed that we were the party who were the cleanest on expenses, how we had called for reform and more rigour in the system whilst Gordon Brown did nothing, and we mocked the Tories for continuing to back those friends of David Cameron who had been caught with their hands in the expenses till.<br />
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How could we face the electorate if David Laws returns to cabinet ? Forget that he did it for "personal reasons to protect his private life". He is a wealthy man, he didn't need to claim second home expenses, he didn't need to claim above the market rate, and he could have claimed on his Yeovil home, not his partner's London home. There were numerous ways he could have protected his private life without having to fiddle his expenses, but he chose none of those options, which stands in stark contrast with the perception the party hierarchy has that he is an intellectual who will find solutions to the problems we face a a party, as a partner in coalition and as a country.<br />
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The public will not thank us if we bring David Laws back, they'll probably hate as more and we'll get tarnished further as a party that cannot be trusted to keep its word. What do I think will happen ? I think Nick Clegg will bring him back next year because the Tories want him back. Of course they do, it will make us look silly and they will get the benefit of any successes he may achieve in government. but whatever the Tories want, Nick Clegg gives them.<br />
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Throw a stick. Go on Nick, fetch boy, fetch !Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-78039508733651251472011-05-08T18:18:00.001+01:002011-05-08T18:22:34.382+01:00One year on, what have we done ?Twelve months of Lib Dems in government, and what has been achieved in the areas of policy that really matter to the public ?<br />
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Many senior Lib Dems and those who are regularly wheeled out to defend the party like Evan Harris and Simon Hughes, together with the uber loyal blogs and websites that defend the party at all costs, read out a long list of achievements which are, in truth, utterly unimportant to the man on the street or the voter on the doorstep.<br />
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Having just gone through a local election campaign as a sitting councillor, I thought it a good idea to summarise the arguments and issues that people wanted to talk about on the doorstep.<br />
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Forget arguments of presentation, style and spin. The fundamentals are that we have failed to deliver anything concrete ourselves that people can genuinely say will make them vote Lib Dem.<br />
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</b><br />
<b>Education</b><br />
Free schools (a Tory policy), a pupil premium (again Tory policy) with little in the way of new cash, and the pointless bashing of schools with thee arbitrary raising of floor targets for Key Stage 2 SATs, with no rational reason given to schools why targets would be raised JUST 8 weeks before the SATs tests. the cuts in school sports funding, which were ill thought out, are already biting deep<b>.</b><br />
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</b><br />
<b>Further Education</b><br />
Budgets for 6th Form colleges under pressure. Less places available, EMA scrapped, no Lib Dem achievements.<br />
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</b><br />
<b>University Education</b><br />
Tuition Fees raised (Tory Policy). No acheivements for the Lib Dems to crow about.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>NHS</b><br />
Reforms announced that are neither supported by the Lib Dems or the medical profession. Hardly looks good to suddenly notice you have a policy that is hated by everyone except the Tory Party.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Local Government</b><br />
Extremely difficult cuts for many council, rather easier cuts for many Tory councils.<br />
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</b><br />
<b>Defence</b><br />
Although left a legacy of stupid purchases by the Labour government, it seems odd to be cutting conventional forces like aircraft carriers when there is a real need for them at the moment, whilst keeping the option of a Trident replacement on the table (again, a Tory policy).<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Tax</b><br />
Whilst some of the poorest have been taken out of taxation (the only Lib Dem success that anyone told me about on the doorstep), this is balanced against the rise in VAT which the Lib Dems campaigned against last year. Are those shouts of hypocrisy I hear ?<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Deficit Reduction</b><br />
We argued last year that if we cut too fast and too deep, it would damage the economy and might cause a double dip recession. The fact that we have abandoned this view and backed the Tories deeper faster cuts cuts no ice with voters. Those who support this policy give credit to the Tories. Those who oppose it blame the Lib Dems.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Voting Reform</b><br />
We got a referendum on a system we didn't want, looked silly for backing AV which we didn't like, then lost anyway. Stupid, hapless and incompetent.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Overall</b><br />
We treat politics like a debate at the Oxford Union and in doing so treat the electorate like fools. The party cannot keep blaming style or bad publicity for the public's failure to give us a pat on the back for our role in the coalition. The public GET what we have done, we should not take them as fools. The truth is, voters in the main, don't like it. The only ones who do like what we are doing, which in essence is to be a Tory Party lite, are Tories, and why should they go for the lite version when the normal full version of the Tories is available ?Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-76844679031553467052011-05-08T12:19:00.000+01:002011-05-08T12:19:11.344+01:00Tories desperate to save their fall guys<a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/iain-dale-7-24077.html">Iain Dale writes on Lib Dem Voice today</a> an article that attempts to point the way forward for the Lib Dems in the wake of catastrophic election results. Sadly, despite the fact that Iain is actually a rather nice guy, he fails to understand the problem, and his solutions are very much what is best for the Tory Party, not the Lib Dems.<br />
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Vince Cable, who has long been on Iain's list of Lib Dems who need bashing, comes in for some tribal abuse from Iain. The fact that Iain then brings up a quote from a campaign manual from more than a decade ago, long since abandoned, but still copied and circulated as a truth by the Tories actually serves to highlight the very point Vince Cable was making about the Tories.<br />
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But where Iain really loses is is his view that the Lib Dems need to stick with the coalition. The need to join was to avoid a Greece style meltdown. This has been avoided, so the need for the Lib Dems to remain has gone. Iain says we face the prospect of the Lib Dems losing many MPs if we walk away from the coalition now. What he does not say is that if we go now, we lose. But if we wait four more years, we take all the flak for the Tories, allow them to pick off our council base, degrade our ability to campaign and show our independence, and by the time 2015 comes around, we will be in a worse state, whilst the Tories will be strengthened.<br />
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Iain's final analysis that the Lib Dems position would improve by bringing back David Laws his hopelessly at odds with what I found on the doorsteps in March, April and May. Iain likes to quote canvassing in Norfolk. I can assure Iain that bringing back a discredited right wing Lib Dem who has long been suspected within Lib Dem ranks as being on the extreme right wing of the party (admittedly though still to the left of Iain), is not what people want on the doorsteps of Norfolk.<br />
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What people told me is that they want those who broke promises to stop lying, apologise and for the Lib Dems to once again develop a back bone, which was so obvious in the Iraq war.<br />
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We do need to re focus and decide what we stand for, and what we want to be as a political party because we have abandoned our voters. Tories like this government, and as I warned a year ago, why should anyone who likes the government vote Lib Dem ? If they like this government, which is essentially a Tory one with a little Lib Dem garnish, they just need to vote Tory, You don't order a meal because you like the side salad, and that is what we are.<br />
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Nick Clegg is political poison. I turn the TV off when he comes on because he makes me want to shout at him. When he was in Norwich a couple of weeks ago, I told Lib Dems I would NOT like an invite to his meeting for fear I would say what I think of him.<br />
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The Tories love him, he's their fall guy. The fact that Tories are coming to his defence is reason enough to know we are not doing the right thing.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-56627599042289229662011-05-07T21:40:00.000+01:002011-05-07T21:40:12.505+01:00Let's stop referring to us being damaged by "an anti government protest"I heard Evan Harris on Radio 5 earlier referring to us suffering as the party of government being punished by the electorate because we are making unpopular decisions.<a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/ouch-lib-dems-suffer-first-antigovernment-backlash-in-80-years-24049.html"> I read on the internet that we are suffering "an inti government backlash".</a><br />
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Let's stop glossing over some basic facts.<br />
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This is NOT an anti government backlash.It is an anti Lib Dem backlash. The Tories, who LEAD the government MADE NET GAINS ! This excuse, parroted by Lib Dem MPs on TV and radio does not hold water.<br />
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The simple truth is that Tory voters like what the government are doing, so will back the Tories. Our voters don't like what we are doing because it is, in the main, not what our voters want.<br />
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Abandon our principles and we abandon our voters. Learn the lesson and learn it fast.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-65977140524730932022011-05-07T19:10:00.002+01:002011-05-07T21:44:45.503+01:00Wake up and smell the coffeeYesterday, I made the point that I predicted the Lib Dem meltdown 12 months ago. So I'd like to summarise, without links, what my arguments were last year.<br />
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<b>1) Junior coalition partners always get punished without PR</b><br />
I made clear that we would be the Tories scapegoat, we'd take the flak , and the Tories would get off scot free. In that, I've been proved right. The argument people gave last year was that "Of you believe in PR, then you believe in coalition". Indeed I do believe in PR, and accept that this may lead to coalitions (but not in Scotland), but by having PR, the smaller party gets some protection, and a guarantee that they will not suffer electoral wipeout. That's a prospect we are facing more and more, and delaying the inevitable for four more years (at which point we'd be several thousands councillors down, and many activists long gone), merely delays our recovery.<br />
<br />
<b>2) We won't get AV</b><br />
I said we wouldn't, and we didn't.<br />
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<b>3) People will no longer trust us</b><br />
Most of the things that made people want to vote for us, our concerns about raising VAT, our clear view that cuts shouldn't be too fast so as to damage the recovery, and our opposition to tuition fees, have all been trashed. Taken with our opposition to Trident and new nuclear power, the things that really made people want to vote for us, have largely been abandoned.<br />
We need to forget all the spin about "75% of our manifesto pledges being in the coalition agreement", if those 75% were the bottom 25%, not the top 25%. People voted for us because of the big marquee headline policies, not the ending of child detention. However, noble that might be, nobody has ever told me they voted Lib Dem because of their party's pledge to do that.<br />
<br />
<b>4) The Tories can't be trusted</b><br />
I was told I was too tribal for suggesting it. Not even Vince Cable agrees.<br />
<br />
<b>5) We didn't need to go in to a coalition</b><br />
I made the point that a minority Tory government was viable and could work. See Scotland for evidence of this where the SNP obviously made a good fist of things.<br />
If it was an imperative to get the markets to see there was some stability, now we have avoided a Greece style meltdown, we can surely withdraw from the coalition ?<br />
<br />
In truth, the coalition is killing our party. We are going to lose activists, lose thousands more councillor, and will by the time we are thrown in to oblivion in 2015, lack any ability to rebuild in many constituencies.<br />
<br />
Nick Clegg is a total liability. For every person I canvassed when I stood for election on Thursday who liked the coalition (usually Tories), I found 10 who didn't, and Nick Clegg's name is mud and he has no credibility with the public.<br />
<br />
For the sake of our party, we MUST end the coalition and Nick Clegg must go.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-42935566641235825182011-05-07T00:35:00.000+01:002011-05-07T00:35:56.756+01:00Sadly I've been proved right on the coalitionI wrote <a href="http://norfolkblogger.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-many-reasons-do-we-need-not-to-sit.html">last year that we wouldn't get AV</a>. I was right.<br />
<br />
I wrote last year that we would be the whipping boys, taking the pain for the Tories. I was right.<br />
<br />
I don't like always being right.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-74811654154448406422011-04-10T08:16:00.000+01:002011-04-10T08:16:15.924+01:00Semi RetirementI've simply got to much on my plate to blog. I started blogging a few months after stepping down as a councillor in 2007 as a way to keep my hand in politically. But since being elected in March of last year as a councillor on Broadland District Council, I simply do not have the time or inclination.<br />
<br />
I certainly won't be deleting this blog, but updates will be very rare from now on.<br />
<br />
Thanks for all the comments and interaction with so many people.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-61332325213074064782011-03-07T23:15:00.000+00:002011-03-07T23:15:57.870+00:00Government moving the goalposts ? Fair ? Liberal ? Principled ?Primary schools have found out in the last few days that their targets for this year's KS2 SATs tests are to be upped by 5%, just a few weeks before the tests are to actually take place. Anyone with any common sense would accept that waiting until just 8 weeks before the tests is a ridiculously late time to change school targets, but that is not the worst of it.<br />
<br />
In know there are some target nuts who think that by raising targets schools will suddenly achieve more, but that assumes that teachers, or anyone for that matter, only respond to targets and actually don't care about doing the very best job they can anyway. Changing my target at school wont make me do more for the simple reason that I am already doing as much as I can. Nobody actually becomes a teacher for an easy life, but the government seem to think we do it to meet targets, not to teach children.<br />
<br />
But for many schools, and this is the real kick in the teeth, the government have not only changed this year's targets, they have also backdated the targets, meaning that schools who achieved their target last year are now being written to and being told that they have not achieved their target after all because the government have backdated the new target to last year's results.<br />
<br />
<b>Considering the SATs tests last year were carried out the week after the General Election, there will many people in the education sector, and society as a whole, we will be wondering if they can backdate and retrospectively change their vote.</b> <u>I doubt the government would see this as fair, so why is it okay for them to do this to the education sector ? </u>Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-41785848237735379472011-02-25T14:36:00.000+00:002011-02-25T14:36:06.662+00:00What a shambolic government responseThe problems in Libya have been brewing for several weeks, so what has happened in the last few days should be no surprise, yet our government, has shown itself to be utterly useless in its response.<br />
<br />
The UK government decided to hire a plane, that was broken, then their utter failure was compounded by the fact that a UK oil company beat the UK government in getting a flight out to Libya.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, whilst all this is happening we have a Prime Minister peddling arms dealers around the Middle East, and a Deputy Prime Minister (where are you Mr Clegg) who was on holiday ! Couldn't they see this coming ? We all could !<br />
<br />
And if you read on the BBC website you can see stories from British nationals holed up in remote desert bases, many of which have airstrips, saying that they have contacted the UK government, their families have contacted the UK government, and nothing is being done.<br />
<br />
Of course, perhaps we could have sent an aircraft carrier, if we had one with aircraft on it. Ooops, another government mistake !<br />
<br />
Useless, utterly useless and shameful.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-52968589681074252962011-02-16T22:00:00.000+00:002011-02-16T22:00:35.129+00:00Worst road repair ever ? - How Norfolk County Council fix the roads in TaverhamThis road “repair” was done by Norfolk County Council outside the police station in my Taverham North Ward in Thorpe Marriott.<br />
<br />
Rather than doing a proper repair, all the bits of broken road were simply put back in the whole like a jigsaw. The “repair” was broken again within days.<b> Is this what we pay council tax for ? </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dY8g4B9XI1w/TVxIZnpgtJI/AAAAAAAAA3o/h5cc4ECHX-A/s1600/DSC_0331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dY8g4B9XI1w/TVxIZnpgtJI/AAAAAAAAA3o/h5cc4ECHX-A/s400/DSC_0331.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I wonder if they fought over who put the last piece of the jigsaw in place ?Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-60637207652514754282011-01-18T18:19:00.000+00:002011-01-18T18:19:14.247+00:00I highlighted how the MPC got it wrong last time. Will they learn their lesson ?I'm going to show off a bit here, but I wrote, at length, three years ago about how the Monetary Policy Committee were totally wrong to keep raising interest rates before we went in to recession, in a fruitless and bizarre attempt to bring down inflation. <a href="http://norfolkblogger.blogspot.com/2008/06/absoluet-craziness-from-monetary-policy.html">As I wrote in June 2008</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">"Inflation has today risen to 3.3% from 3% last month. This is 1.3% above the government's target and is 1.2% up on last year. However, in the Monetary Policy </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Committee's</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">own report they state that 1.1% of the 1.2% inflation rise in the last 12 months is down to rises in</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">electricity</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">, gas, petrol, oil and food. In effect, the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">MPC </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">admits that the rise is because of a rise in the prices of the basic</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">necessities</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">of life and not because of</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">extravagant</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">spending.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">So why are the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">MPC</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">talking up the prospects of having to raise interest rates again ?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">It is an absurd situation that an economy which looks to be heading for a recession might be tipped over the precipice because the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">MPC</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">might raise interest rates in order to stop people spending money on luxuries when the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">MPC's</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">own figures show that only 0.1% of the rise in inflation is down to spending on non essentials."</span></i></blockquote><a href="http://norfolkblogger.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-planet-is-gordon-brown-living-on.html">And before that in April 2008 I highlighted the total folly of raising interest rates when I explained</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">My circumstances are that our three year fixed rate mortgage comes up in the Autumn and it will mean an increase of around £100 per month to out mortgage repayments. Yet if you look at my pay rise for the last three years added together I am now earning just about exactly £100 a month more after tax than I was three years ago. Meaning I will have effectively had three years worth of pay rises wiped out.</span></i></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Now multiply this across the country, with millions of people's fixed rate deals all coming to an end and more and more people having to pay more for their mortgages, and what's more, tying themselves down to a set rate for three or five years. In effect, this means that we are not only going to see a recession in this country because of the effect of people paying more for mortgages (to pay for houses that will be dropping in value), but the system ties people in to paying recession prices mortgages for some years to come, thus stopping the cycle of money that might kick start a growth out of recession.</i></span></blockquote><br />
So where are we now ? Inflation has risen to 3.7%, because of "rising fuel, energy and food prices". Its June 2008 all over again. Will raising interest rates and removing money from people's pockets stop people buying food, fuel and energy ? Of course not, they are basic essentials and not excessive consumer spending.<br />
<br />
Will the MPC have learnt a lesson from 2008 ? You'd hope so, but some of the same clowns from 2008 still sit on the committee, so I wouldn't put it past them to make the same mistakes again.</span>Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-8492134882317071622011-01-16T21:45:00.000+00:002011-01-16T21:45:01.092+00:00Will Ed act or will he posture (again)Ed Miliband has criticised unions for threatening to strike on the day of the Royal Wedding.<br />
<br />
My question for Ed, since he's trying to woo Lib Dems (and if there is any leader who is as ill suited to wooing as Ed Miliband, I've yet to see them), perhaps he could tell us when he will break Labour Party links with those Unions, should they go ahead. Will he ask his MPs to leave the ASLEF group of MPs, should ASLEF go ahead with their strike, and will he fore go any money these unions would wish to throw the way of the Labour Party ?<br />
<br />
After all, we would all like to know that Ed Miliband actually backs up his words with action.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-21307638557783588972011-01-09T22:24:00.000+00:002011-01-09T22:24:22.259+00:00The sad death of Margaret DavieI was saddened to learn of the death of Margaret Davie, a former Broadland Councillor, school teacher, and fine Lib Dem councillor for Spixworth from 1993 to 2002.<br />
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Margaret taught at Hellesdeon High School for many years, and was a school governor of many local schools. She was elected in 1993 in a by-election in August 1993, an election which saw me take charge for the first time of designing leaflets for a campaign. Margaret won by about 160 votes, and was then re-elected the following year by over 400 votes (she asked me to be her agent, and it was certainly a proud moment for me to steer a campaign that won by such a big margin, but also a very easy campaign, because in less than 12 months Margaret had built up a massive following and showed just how good a councillor can be.<br />
<br />
In 1998 Margaret was re-elected, but she stood down in 2002 to pursue other interests, with a particular fondness for raising money for animal charities at the top of her list of good deeds.<br />
<br />
Margaret's funeral will be in four weeks time (yes, that's a shockingly long time to wait, but there is a shortage of trained pathologists in Norfolk !) She will be missed by many people.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-81159248529559095802011-01-09T17:13:00.000+00:002011-01-09T17:13:58.003+00:00Keeping regressive taxes, scrapping progressive onesDavid Cameron announced today that the regressive rise in VAT, which hits the poorest hardest will be kept, but the progressive 50% tax rate for high earners (something that was for many years a Lib Dem policy) will be scrapped as soon as possible.<br />
<br />
What does it say about this government's priorities that taxes that hit the poorest worst will be kept but the rich will be given more money back ?Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-49952905194765863262011-01-07T19:14:00.000+00:002011-01-07T19:14:30.197+00:00Proud to be a Lib Dem ?Not a day to feel proud of this government.<br />
<br />
Today the government announced plans to privatise and sell off vast tracts of the country by selling off Forestry Commission land. In addition to that, the Public Accounts Committee announced that the "culling" of the QUANGOs had no value for money criteria in the decision making meaning that closing many of these QUANGOs will cost us more, and in some cases duties and money previously in the hand of QUANGOs that were at least accountable to parliament, are now in the hands of private organisations that are unaccountable to the electorate.<br />
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Not a day to be proud of being a Lib Dem.<br />
<br />
No, I'm not going to Oldham.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-82226747404592641622011-01-03T18:05:00.000+00:002011-01-03T18:05:41.341+00:00Saying one thing on Flu when in opposition, doing another when in governmentThe Tories (and let's not forget the Lib Dems) are the government of the day, but have learnt nothing from the swine flu pandemic of last year and have allowed flu to become a problem again this year when it could so easily have been dealt with.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://norfolkblogger.blogspot.com/2009/11/tories-absolutely-100-spot-on-over.html">I blogged last year that I thought the Tories were showing some good common sense on flu,</a> asking important questions. The problem is, now they are in power, they have shown that this was all flannel, intended to garner coverage in the press, and that they meant none of it.<br />
<br />
The level of infect amongst under fives is 184 per 10,000. It is classed as an epidemic if the figure reaches 200, so we are only just short of epidemic levels within this age group. yet can you get your under five vaccinated against flu ? The answer is no you can't.<br />
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This government, like the last one, has a ridiculous policy of refusing parents the option of getting their under fives vaccinated unless they are in an at risk group.<b> What this ignores is that under fives are an at risk group !</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
The government only believe you are at risk as an under five if you are suffering from an underlying medical condition. But this list of underlying conditions is very selective, as we found out last year when out asthmatic two year old was told by the doctors that he had "the wrong type of asthma", so was not entitled to a swine flu jab. So on 23rd December 2009, my son came down with swine flue, and what followed was a pretty awful week of timetabled pouring of Calpol and Calprofen, in rotation ever three hours, in an attempt to reduce his sky high temperature whilst keeping him properly hydrated.<br />
<br />
So what happened this year ? He was refused a flu jab, because at the age of three, he is not "at risk".<br />
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Why doesn't the government offer jabs to any child under 18 whose parents want them to have it ? Because it wants to save money.<br />
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Why didn't the government advertise the flu jab campaign this year ? Because it wanted to save money.<br />
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Why are people dying needlessly this year from flu ? Because the government want to save money.<br />
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This government know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-4554518015030274402011-01-03T13:11:00.000+00:002011-01-03T13:11:03.011+00:00Let's end the discrimination against the EnglishAs a party, the Lib Dems are supposed to want to make Britain a fairer place. Perhaps 2011 is the year the party could start this by addressing the discriminatory way in which the English are taxed and charged in comparison to those living in parts of the countries with devolved governments.<br />
<br />
If you live in Wales, you children won't pay for University tuition fees like English students will, similarly you won't pay for prescriptions and I, as an English license fee payer will see certain services that I enjoy on the BBC cut in order to fund your Welsh language channel (which most Welsh people watch).<br />
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If you live in Scotland, you too won't see your kids paying the tuition fees my children will pay, whilst your government provides more doctors and access to services which we in England don't get.<br />
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Northern Irish people apparently pay no water bills, I was shocked to hear this week, whilst again, your devolved government ensure that Northern Irish people received benefits we in England do not get.<br />
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Now there will be those who will jump in and immediately see what I am writing as an attack on the Northern Irish, the Scots and Welsh. It is not. What I am doing is pointing out that it is the English who are more highly taxed but receive the least back. We are the discriminated against majority.<br />
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Let's see the Lib Dems in government tackle this in the same was as the party has become obsessed with stopping control orders on potential terrorist suspects.<br />
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Perhaps the obvious answer to this is that we need and English parliament.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-88345677522276137682010-12-30T09:23:00.000+00:002010-12-30T09:23:18.511+00:00How do you sell something you wouldn't buy yourself ?Whenever I have been canvassing, I have always seen signs on doors saying "We do not buy or sell at this door", or "No canvassers". These people require special thought and some local knowledge before I decide whether to knock or not. If I do, I stress that "I'm not selling", which is a statement of fact whilst also being a little bit untrue, as I am in fact trying to sell the idea of voting for me, or a colleague. The main thing is that I believe in the thing I am selling. I think that is key to any good sales job, that you have to believe in the product you are selling.<br />
<br />
So how on earth does Simon Hughes sell a policy to students that he himself did not support ?<br />
<br />
Simon is in real danger of making himself look like a fool by choosing to take on the job of promoting a policy which the government have singularly failed to sell to the electorate and to students in particular. It may well be the case that what was passed is better for students than what went before, but this should have been explained and made clear by government. By palming off this job to Simon Hughes, they make the task of Simon holding on to his seat at the next election extremely difficult indeed.<br />
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The big issue for me, if I were a student, is how on earth could I be convinced by a policy when the person selling the policy to me didn't support it himself ?<br />
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Again, our party is made to look like a bunch of hypocrites. We had half our party break a pledge on student funding a month ago, and now those pledge breakers seek to drag down someone who did keep to his pledge.<br />
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Is it any wonder we sit at 8% in the opinion polls ?<br />
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I could certainly go canvassing for support for myself in 2010 as I believe in what I am selling. However, I couldn't bring myself to canvass for "the party" in 2010, after all, how can you sell a product you wouldn't buy yourself ?Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-26223942664551314262010-12-20T12:53:00.000+00:002010-12-20T12:53:09.048+00:00The local government straight jacket will make roads worseAt the moment, snow, ice and generally dreadful weather are causing havoc across the country. For many people there is a feeling of "What are we paying our council tax for when our roads are not even gritted ?"<br />
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Of course, local councils cannot be expected to keep our roads open in the very worst of weather conditions, but the straight jacket the government are forcing on to council from next year, with deep cuts in budgets will only make thing worse.<br />
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Philip Hammond MP, the Transport Minister, was suggesting this morning that government, industry and councils might need to consider investing in equipment and infrastructure to ensure that we are better able to cope with bad snow and ice in the future. But how does he think councils will pay for this with a reduced budget ?<br />
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There is an argument that people will tolerate council tax rises if they can see the benefits from it. But even that is not an option with council tax levels frozen (poor choice of word) for the next two years.<br />
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So we can expect more of the same in future as councils are effectively forbidden from investing in new technology or forced to cut social services or other vital areas in order to get our roads cleared.<br />
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The one thing the government does have some credit for is the way they are dealing with ridiculous Labour attacks on them. The government inherited the mess from Labour and the roads were certainly just as bad last year in the bad weather under a Labour government.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-9585305155731259792010-12-18T12:18:00.000+00:002010-12-18T12:18:14.429+00:00Have the police got nothing better to do ?<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-12026796">THIS</a> story is yet again, another shocking example of how the law works in favour of criminals and against ordinary law abiding people.<br />
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You will note that the two men who were attempting to break in to the building "were not charged".<br />
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How about bringing charges against the people attempting to break in to a building rather than spending three months trying to get evidence against a disabled man who did nothing wrong ?Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-89897325456176699992010-12-16T07:21:00.000+00:002010-12-16T07:21:22.192+00:00I bet Ed Milliband is less than impressed<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12005824">The former Labour defence minister, Bob Ainsworth, has called for the decriminalisation of all drugs, in a move that is likely to incur the wrath of the Labour leadership.</a><br />
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When I studied in Coventry from 1994-97, I lived for a short time in Bob Ainsworth's seat, and he was called by political types I knew as "bloody useless Bob". He never impressed as Defence Minister, and it appears a short spell back in opposition has done nothing to improve matters.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33696095.post-40803927481644576722010-12-05T16:24:00.000+00:002010-12-05T16:24:43.927+00:00Well done BorisI rarely give praise to Boris Johnson, but he deserves it for<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11921692"> THIS </a>action he has taken.<br />
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It's clear that FIFA are utterly corrupt, preferring to talk about the evils of the English Press rather than questioning why in Russia journalists are murdered for speaking out against the government.<br />
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Let's ensure Mr Blatter never sullies these shores again, and if he does, let's make sure he's paying for the privilege.Nich Starlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237390959601973501noreply@blogger.com2