Fly The Flag

The Independent has suggested the new Tory logo looks like a unionist logo/map of Northern Ireland. The Mirror that it looks like a union flag which has been ripped.  I am more with the Mirror, wondering why the Tories have attacked the British Flag with a stanley knife – another vicious cut.

This weeks quiz what do you think the new Conservative Logo should be (now that they have dropped that nice little green tree)?

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Must I Paint You A Picture?

The Tory idea of an age of Austerity?

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Hanging Around

This article from the Guardian suggests that Clegg will back the party with the most votes with little or no regard for policy issues.  So it looks like we are back to Vote for a Lib Dem to get a Tory government if the polls are right.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/22/clegg-labour-liberal-democrat-alliance

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The First Cut is the Deepest

In their own words the arguments for and against setting up a Transport Authority for Bristol:

1) For – Greater Bristol Transport Alliance

Transport for Greater Bristol Alliance

On behalf of the Transport Alliance for Greater Bristol, I urge you to investigate the possibility of setting up an Integrated Transport Authority.

* The Local Transport Act (2008) offers an opportunity through an ITA to effect control of local passenger transport, including bus and rail, whilst retaining highway powers,where this city region is renowned nationally for failing to provide what is required to reduce reliance on the car and reduce carbon emissions from road transport

* We recognise that the LTA (2008) makes no provision to fund the establishment of an ITA . However, with the application of some imaginative thinking, the costs of a review of governance and indeed the inauguration of an ITA could be found through  seconding transport staff from those councils that are interested. Further, approaches could be made to local MPs, most of whom support an ITA, for ongoing funding from central government who after all have the authority to impose an ITA if necessary.  Elsewhere the PTA’s and ITA’s have a proven track record of their funding applications being well received by central government.

* The initial small sum of £10,000 followed by £90,000, for funding a review of governance, suggested in the WEP officers’ report to the last meeting of the JTEC in October, would be money well spent and could lead to much needed  public transport improvements which would make this region attractive to commercial investment, particularly in this period of recession.

* The bus operators, the transport campaign groups, the environment campaigners, local MPs and one of your councils support an ITA. If this opportunity is missed due to the old adage ‘ but we are doing alright ‘, then it is not difficult to predict the continued demise of public transport and the consequential increase in traffic congestion where road building is now proved as no solution.

The complacency recently displayed by the WEP over many transport issues flies in the face of public opinion where we have a transport system widely described as “rubbish”, as an absurdity,  an insult to the passengers and not fit for purpose.

This is borne out by the statistics for our region:

a) It has the slowest-moving urban traffic;

b) It has the highest rail fares;

c) The average age of the passenger rail fleet is greater than that in any other region and much of the rail infrastructure is life expired;

d) People have worse access to buses than in any other part of Great Britain.

e) Greater use of cars is made in the region than elsewhere.

We expect better of you, on the issue of public transport which is the key to a sustainable economic future in the region.

Can you please make that decision today and confirm by public statement  whether or not you  support a ‘review of governance’. The public have a right to know where the WEP now stand on the question of an ITA.

And assuming that you choose to do nothing and continue to preside over these dysfunctional   arrangements… be of no doubt: that in the very near future, faced with the transport problems that will unfold here , you or your successors will be implementing an ITA or its future equivalent, if you wish to maintain the economic well-being of the region and its citizens.  We ask you to have the vision to start that process now rather than waiting while things continue to get worse.

Martin Garrett – Transport for Greater Bristol Alliance

2) Against -Cllr Elfan Ap Rees (Con) Deputy Leader North Somerset Council

Unfortunately people have been misled by the hype.

There is no sense in Councils trying to run trains and buses .We would have to buy in the expertise and the subsidies that would be required would be enormous. As there would be no additional government help there would actually be no benefit above the arrangements the West Of England Partnership already has agreed with partners such as the Highways Agency, First Bus, Network Rail and the DfT.

In fact all that would be achieved is yet another quango and layer of bureaucracy ,and large increases in your council tax.

And by the way through working with First we have actually got the key bus service through Yatton and Claverham reinstated, We are also buying land at present to extend the car park at Nailsea and Backwell Station, again with the aid of government funding and without having to pay an ITA to do it for us.

I hope that clarifies the facts for you.

Cllr Elfan Ap Rees
Deputy Leader

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You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away

Most people will remember 22nd October 2009 as the night Nazi Nick Griffin appeared on BBC’s question time. For me it was the National Union of Students (NUS) Townhall takeover in Bristol.  The NUS are touring the country promoting their proposals for a new fairer funding system for higher education and students. NUS have worked hard on a credible package for more details see their website listed below.  It is certainly a proposal that I can support.

I was due to be on a panel with a Lib Dem and Conservative.  The obvious Lib Dem at such a debate in Bristol is Stephen Williams, not only is he the local MP for the University, he is the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on higher education. When invited he said he had a prior engagement, see details below:

Stephen Williams MP will be coming to speak at the University of Bristol Public Speaking Society Thursday 22nd October 2009, 7pm at Wills Memorial Building Room 3.31. He will cover his life, the impact of public speaking on it, his role as an MP and his policies for Bristol West.

In other words speaking to a small group of students, only around a dozen turned up, about himself rather than doing his job. I would suggest he was running away from debate.  In his place he sent Paul Harrod, the pleasant Lib Dem candidate for Bristol North West who is also a spin doctor for the University.

The NUS had offered to pay for his other speaking engagement to be rearranged for another night, Williams refused and instead requested that I was removed from the panel as he wasn’t attending. This is not the first time Williams has tried to have me removed from speaking at an event or complained to people that they have invited me, when I am a nobody and he is an MP (which is true). 

I have now invited Williams to a rerun debate in the Students Union (and Nick Yarker the Conservative PPC as the Tories didn’t field anyone to the Townhall debate pulling their speaker at the last minute).  Do you think he will show?

You can find a video of the Williams speech to the public speaking society on facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=638086150012&oid=5792527305

The NUS website is at: http://www.nus.org.uk/

Previous blog on tuition fees: https://bristolwestpaul.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/fee-fi-fo-fum/

 

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International Jet Set

 The Conservative Party has published fairly detailed policies on how it will deal with international development. Strangled under Thatcher, Cameron has made international development a spending priority area. Their document “One world Conservatism: A Conservative Agenda for International Development” was the subject of a discussion last week at the Bristol West Labour Party International Development Group – not an unbiased forum.

What shines through the document once you strip away the warm words to keep compassionate conservatives and others on board is an interesting exposition of Tory policy.   Scattered throughout the document is the involvement of the private sector in meeting the developing worlds problems including health and education (as just about everything else). For example:

“We will consider funding insurance schemes, bursaries, or targeted vouchers for the poorest children to attend a school of their choice”

“We stand ready to support private sector investment in the developing world through government led trade delegations to developing countries and exploring ways in which DFID could co-invest in developing countries alongside private sector companies.”

“We will also examine how DFID spending could better stimulate and support private sector growth in developing countries, for example through procurement policies which wherever possible stimulate local enterprise. Boosting enterprise in developing countries whilst also meeting other development goals such as improving public health or dealing effectively with emergencies”

This may seem bizarre given that many of the children needing help just want a school!

Given that the Tories keep telling us that they hate quangoes and will be closing them down.  In the field of International Development they plan to set up a new one “Independent Aid Watchdog” to duplicate work the DFID (Dept for International Dvt).

They also aim to reverse the Labour policy of linking aid to trade the conservative document positively promotes it.  This means that once again aid will become conditional rather than needs led.

To get more public buy in they want to put some of the aid budget up to a public vote, a bit like the people’s millions for the lottery.  This won’t be projects competing for cash but desperate people in the poorest parts of the world.  Personally I find turning international aid into a version of the X-factor sickening.

In conclusion we have the Conservative world view (my favourite quote from the document is the slightly mad “Capitalism and Development was Britain’s gift to the world” – so that is what the British Empire and African slavery was all about).

In this document I see a summary of what lies behind the Tory Party, privatisation of public services, voucher schemes, trickle down economics, increased health insurance and gimmicks to allocate public funds all overseen by quangoes.

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Unbelieveable

Cllr Richard Eddy, Bristol's Tory leader

Last night I attended the full council meeting of the Bristol City Council. There was a lobby calling for the removal Richard Eddy, as leader of the Conservative Group, following his press comment that a lottery grant to a charity which supports youngsters subject to homophobic bullying was “outrageous”.

Cllr Eddy is well known for his rather old fashioned views. When deputy leader of the Conservatives in Bristol he adopted his Gollywog as the group mascot (for a couple of days until the rest of his group found out).

The extraordinary event was Cllr Eddy, clearly confused and distracted rose to give a standing ovation to the statement by Darren Lewis (Bristol West Labour Party Secretary) calling for his resignation. Unfortunately he did not follow this up by actually resigning.

There is a related facebook group for this topic at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123781553250&ref=ts

The Bristol Evening Post has run some articles:

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Lottery-grant-Bristol-gay-teens-group-outrageous/article-1284291-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Protest-Bristol-Tory-leader/article-1341566-detail/article.html

 You can watch the meeting online at: http://www.bristol.public-i.tv/site/player/pl_compact.php?a=29296&t=0&m=wm&l=en_GB

And bristol 24/7 reports the meeting:

http://www.bristol247.com/2009/09/16/standing-ovation-after-call-for-tory-leader-to-quit/

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