"Bonfire of the Quangoes" a damp squib

Cameron promised a "Bonfire of the Quangoes", and delivered a damp squib. He has closed a few quangoes that were doing some good work, but even that cost us money.

Britain's highest-paid quango bosses are almost doubling their salaries with six-figure bonuses, special allowances and pension windfalls, an investigation has found.

“Some of these pay packets are absolutely shocking and equal in one year what a normal person earns in a lifetime. This can’t continue” said Tory James Wharton.

Its an old storey, the rich get richer, the poor poorer. Labour delivered much the same in their time in office. Time for something different, get the Greens in.

Berkshire Political Blog List August 2011

This is a just as a matter of interest list, not to be taken too seriously. The way they are ranked is controversial, and I have only included the blogs that are in some way related to Berkshire and politics. Suggestions for new ones appreciated, but I don't know how frequently I will do this, the last time was Feb! Then about a hundred blogs were included, which just took far too long for me to do, so I stopped for a while.

1, 135 John Redwoods Diary
2, 265 Mark Rekons
3, 379 Another Green World Derek Wall
4, 274 Liberal Burblings
5, 414 babyrambles
6, 747 Cartoon Blog
7, 875 left outside
8, 1051 Cllr Richard Willis
9, 1277 green reading - Adrian Windisch
10, 1494 Gareth Epps
11, 1593 Jane is the one
12, 1624 Cllr Warren Swaine
13, 1642 Redlands Libdems
14, 1760 Cllr Rachel Eden
15, 2167 Rob White - Bloggy Blanc
16, 2286 Mr London Street
17, 2529 Tony Jones
18, 2864 Duncan Bruce
19, 2895 Green Construction Uk
20, 2923 Reading List
21, 4802 Cllr Prue Bray
22, 5447 Adrian Holister
23, 5753 Cllr Ricky Duveen
24, 5801 Gideon Mack - Orangutan
25, 6187 Greening St. Johns

Inactive for a month or more;
1394 Daisy's Campaign Diary
1428 Bracknel Blog
2780 Cllr John Ellis
5846 Sheepdrove
7049 Cllr Emma Warman

Curfew Against Disabled Drivers

A Disabled driver contacted me about the parking restrictions now in place in Reading town centre.

The times they are alowed to park are so restricive that they feel that they are under a curfew.

Here is a link to their petition, please sign it.

The Reading Access Forum denies proper consultation ever happened as RBC was unable to give them details of where the disabled bays were to be and there was no indication that there would be time restrictions.

There have been several articles about this in the Local media

Other links you might find interesting

Which shows quite clearly what areas of the town can not be accessed by walking disabled or those in self propelling wheelchairs that can not manage long distances. Outside the hours of 11am to 4pm and and aftter 7pm anything in the area surrounded by red arrows is a no go zone. Even during the core hours much of it is not accessible because the bays are not appropriately spaced/placed.

In addition, right at the start of the scheme the Taxi drivers went on a go slow and a load of disabled parking bays in Friar Street mysteriously became taxi bays over night after a meeting with RBC.

Gary served 9 years in the RAF as a front line aircraft engineer after losing a leg a below the knee. He is now a blue bade holder but is determined to continue to walk the short distances he is capable of. He is just one of the many people affected by this situation.

Both he and I feel that we are being told to get into electric wheelchairs because we are inconvenient and don't fit into any of the nice neat solution boxes. All we want is to be able to maintain our independence as much as possible and to be as much a part of society as we can. Instead we are being marginalised and excluded.

Feeling Poor, You're Not Alone

Low and middle income people are struggling with rising inflation and a poorly managed economy. There is little hope in the job market, and many prices are rising far above incomes or official inflation rates.

Research by Ipsos Mori found that 48 per cent of people in low to middle-income households – defined as having a gross income of between £12,000 and £48,000 a year – have any cash left over at the end of each month. This is compared with 66 per cent among higher-income households.

Rail fairs set to rise by around 13%, bus fairs 7%, food prices have doubled in the last 20 years.

People have been asking if there is a plan B for the economy, we want a Green New Deal.
. Massive investment in renewable energy and wider environmental transformation in the UK, leading to,
. The creation of thousands of new green collar jobs
. Reining in reckless aspects of the finance sector - but making low-cost capital available to fund the UK's green economic shift
. Building a new alliance between environmentalists, industry, agriculture, and unions to put the interests of the real economy ahead of those of footloose finance.

Updat:
In other countries wealthy people, including L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, have signed a petition to pay more tax following US billionaire Warren Buffett's call to raise taxes on the super-rich.

Chris Huhne's Response Is Not Good Enough

Have you ever felt fobbed off by a politician's response to your online actions? Friends of the Earth are campaigning on an energy-saving petition. They don't think Energy Secretary Chris Huhne's response to this petition, signed by 10,000's, is good enough.

He says proper advice for councils on how to cut their emissions is a luxury we may not be able to afford - but it'll cost a lot less than clearing up after catastrophic climate change.

We've posted his response online and set up a quick action for you to reply.

Feeling fobbed off on climate action? Please take action today .

Greens select 2012 Park Ward candidate

Jamie Whitham has been selected as the Green Party candidate for Park Ward in 2012. If elected he will join the Green team of Councillor Rob White and Councillor Melanie Eastwood fighting for a fair deal for Park Ward and Reading residents.

Jamie has lived in the Ward for 15 years, since studying at Reading University nearly 20 years ago. He currently runs a small software company based in Reading.

He has also been an active member of Greenpeace for many years, campaigning against nuclear weapons, for more renewable energy and for sustainable fishing of our oceans. In his spare time Jamie is a keen cyclist, gardener and active member of the community.

Green Party candidate for Park Ward Jamie Whitham said: "The impact of coalition cuts reaches into education, housing and social care, all public services I will fight passionately for.

"I have watched and helped the Green Party go from strength to strength in Reading. It was great when Rob White broke through on to the Council in 2010 based on our year-round hard work. We took another step forwards this year with Melanie Eastwood being elected to work alongside Rob. Holding the balance of power has meant we can get more done for residents in Park Ward on school catchment areas, parking problems and local green spaces. We have also achieved borough-wide successes such as restoring some bus pass concessions, limiting cuts to adult social care and safeguarding work on community cohesion.

"A third Green councillor in 2012 would allow us to get more done both in the ward and across the borough, helping put fairness, integrity and the environment centre stage."

Condem Violence

Stop the war coalition have an interesting view in  the riots. Cameron and his ilk are quick to condemn violence in the uk while causing it in other countries. Better to be against all violence and seek a peaceful solution. Understanding the causes is not always such a quick process, many people will need to ne heard, not just those calling for water cannon and a return to national servicr or doubling the prisons 

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/the-london-riots-the-war-in-afghanistan-and-amy-winehouse

Some me thuggery is more worthy of condemnation than others . Don 't hold your breath waiting for David Cameron to express outrage over the " sickening violence " of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq or the bombing of Libya .

Update, Green Party says Brisish society is not sick

Dispersal Order For Reading Festival 26/27/28 August

Police were given extra powers to deal with troublemakers at 2010 Reading Festival after large fires were started at the 2009 event. Police and Reading Council have decided to have one this year also. Local residents expect congestion on roads aound Reading from Thursday 25th, we were surprised this year with roads closed one week early due to floods. Lets hope it stays dry for the festi.

Groups of people set tents, hedgerows and rubbish on fire in 2009, while fencing was also ripped up.

Labour lead Cllr Rachel Eaden says "This years dispersal order will enable the police to break up any group, defined rather broadly as '2 or more', who they think is likely to cause trouble: not just festival goers but also aggressive ticket touts. It's a power they use with discretion and I hope it will be of benefit not just to local residents but also to our visitors. As I said in the police's press release what we want is for all who attend to have a fun, safe time."

This year's Reading Festival has sold out. The headliners are Muse, My Chemical Romance, The Strokes and Pulp.

Lammy The Magnificent

The Local MP where the riots started is one David Lammy, Labours ex education minister. Listening to the stuff he comes out with reminded me of his celebrated mastermind appearance.

Question 1) What was the married name of the scientists Marie and Pierre who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 for their research into radiation? Fairly easy I would have thought, but instead of Curie, he said Antoiinette, oops.

2) Which fortress was built in the 1370s to defend one of the gates of Paris, and was later used as a state prison by Cardinal Richelieu? A bit harder, but he said Versailles, the palace of the king, not the Bastille.

3) Who succeeded to the English throne aged nine on the death of his father Henry VIII in 1547? He said Henry VII, Henry VIIIths father, not his heir, but I can understand that, easy to get confused under pressure.

And 4) Which country's Rose Revolution of 2003 led to the resignation of President Edward Shevardnadze? He said Yugoslavia, not Georgia.

So all completely wrong. Dear me, perhaps his party should have taken a hint.

Historian David Startkey recently described Lamy as sounding white on newsnight, perhaps he is an idiot also. Listening to him on question time over the years his veiws are often rather extreme.

Looking into the origins of the riots, it seems when Duggans family went to the police station to get answers, they still had not been informed by the police that he was even dead! They had already heard all about it in the local media, so this is very poor indeed. Unlike Cameron I won't blame everything on the police though, he has forgotten that they follow the lead of politicians in what they do.

Being Cameron, he simply ties the riots to his own political agenda, its part of broken Britain, its due to a 'dependency culture' as well as Health and Safety! Surprised it has nothing to do with Al Qaeda or bad weather, but there is still time. And according to Camerons ilk it cant have anything to do with cuts, even cuts to the police.

The other problem is our prisons, Cameron wants to throw thousands of rioters in jail. Already overcrowded, the prison reform trust says 'Prison numbers are at a record high level and most prisons are experiencing problems associated with overcrowding.' They also warn that 'swingeing cuts and a massive influx of suspects and offenders will present an unprecedented test of its durability and of the resilience of staff.'

Bill Gates $42 Mllion For Reinventing the toilet

Last month the Gates foundation announced a $42 million project over several years to develop a toilet that doesn't need water, mains power or sewerage and that will cost next to nothing to maintain. Unfortunately they dont simply want a compost toilet.

The modern flush toilet and sewerage system was invented in the 18th century and is credited with saving more lives than any other advance in healthcare. However, there are still some 2.6 billion people around the world who have to use pit latrines or defecate in the open. They either dont have enough water or

The new toilet must not use water, require expensive infrastructure of a sewerage system, doesn’t need to be connected to mains electricity and, unlike composting toilets, not need lots of space and time.

Inadequate sanitation causes an estimated 1.5million children to die each year due to diarrhoeal diseases. But with water scarce - 1.6 billion people currently live on less than one thousand litres of water a year and by 2020, experts predict that this figure will rise to between 3.2 and 4.6 billion (the average Briton uses 55,000) - toilets that flush the problem away, using precious water and expensive infrastructure, are clearly not the answer.

Loughbouough University has got £250,000 for their part. Loughborough is the only British university to receive this award and is among eight prestigious institutions worldwide to receive a grant for the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, which calls upon experts to prototype, conceptualize and design innovative ways and means of disposing human waste in the developing world.

Name And Shame Criminals

David Cameron, member of the gang known as the Bullingdon Club while a student, smashing windows, along with Boris Johnson.

Nick Clegg who damaged a greenhouse with a rare collection of plants when he was 16. Oops.

All those MPs who falsely claimed expenses and have got away with it.
http://10drowningst.co.uk/naughtymps.html has some interesting statistics, though I have not checked them myself.

"7 have been arrested for fraud
17 have directly or indirectly
bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug -
related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
84 have been arrested for drink
driving in the last year"

Its a surprise that they get any wirk done 

Government Bullies Unemployed For Corporate Profit

Unemployed people are being forced to work without pay for corporations, including Tesco, by jobcentres. Some are working for up to six months while receiving unemployment benefit of £67.50 a week or less.

A new report by corporare watch says that the government is bullying people into unpaid work for the profit of corporations.

The government says that unpaid work placements, which are also given in small businesses, voluntary organisations and public sector bodies, help people gain vital experience and prepare them for the workplace, but campaigners say they provide companies with free labour, undercut existing jobs and that people are “bullied” into them.

In an interview published by Corporate Watch a woman who was given a placement in Primark for six months, under the previous government's welfare programme, says her work was the same as that of other paid staff and that she was not given a job at the end of it. She also says she was told her benefits would be stopped if she did not attend.

A variety of multinational companies in the retail and service sectors appear to be taking people on unpaid placements. Employment services company Working Links, which has been awarded contracts to administer the coalition’s flagship Work Programme in Wales, Scotland and the South West of England, told Corporate Watch it worked with all the major retailers across Britain and “actively promoted volunteering as a tool to help our customers in their journey to find sustainable employment.”

A Tesco spokesperson said the company has 3,000 work experience placements for “the young unemployed,” while Asda and Sainsbury's are both named in a list, obtained last month under the Freedom of Information Act, of companies, voluntary and public sector bodies taking unpaid work placements organised by A4e, another employment company contracted by the government, although Sainsbury's denied working with A4e.

The corporate placements are not limited to retail: Hilton Hotels told Corporate Watch they have “committed to 100 placements at hotels around the country – that’s more than one for every hotel we operate.”
Explaining the reasons behind its involvement, Hilton said: “the work experience initiative will help unemployed young people to develop the skills needed to secure a sustainable job,” but campaigners critical of these “workfare” programmes question why the companies are not paying a proper wage.
A spokesperson for the Boycott Workfare campaign said: “These placements are not designed to help people into full-time paid work but they serve to increase organisations' profits. They provide a constant stream of free labour and suppress wages by replacing paid workers with unpaid workers. People are coerced, bullied and sanctioned into taking the placements. Placements in the public sector and charities are no better and are making volunteering compulsory. This is taking away the right of a person to sell their own labour and their free will to choose who they volunteer their time for.”
When asked by Corporate Watch, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) did not say how many placements led to paid jobs. Tesco said “many work placement staff starting on work placements will become Tesco employees,” while Hilton said “a number” of young people are offered full-time positions at the end of their placement. Asda and Primark did not comment. Sainsbury’s said they organise their own ‘You Can’ programme, outside the government schemes, which they said always leads to paid work.
People are sent to work unpaid through different government schemes, all under the Get Britain Working banner. Tesco and Hilton are taking 18-24 year olds for between two to eight weeks on Work Experience Placements direct from Jobcentres. People were sent to Primark and Asda by contracted employment companies through the previous government's Flexible New Deal for up to six months and this will be continued in the recently started Work Programme. The DWP said the decision to send people to corporations under the Work Programme will be made by the employment provider companies as they see fit.
This is in addition to the Mandatory Work Activity scheme, through which 20,000 people will be sent to work (unpaid) for up to 30 hours a week for 4 weeks. The DWP said these jobs will “deliver a contribution to the local community” and will not involve major corporations.

http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=4029

Transport Cuts Hit The Most Vulnerable

The Green Party calls for transport re-think as report shows vulnerable are worst hit by bus cuts

The report said “Vulnerable people especially the young, the old, the disabled and the poor will be the hardest hit by the withdrawal of bus services”


The Green Party has called on the Coalition to re-think its transport policy following today’s report on bus services, which shows that cuts are disproportionately effecting the most vulnerable.

The report from the Transport Committee, entitled ‘Bus Services after the Spending Review’, reveals that local authority cuts to transport budgets have seen the young, old and disabled hit hardest. The cross party committee also criticised the lack of consultation undertaken before 70% of councils reduced subsidised services or raised fares. [1]

Alan Francis, Green Party transport spokesperson, said:

“The Select Committee report should be a wake-up call to government and councils that are cutting the funding for local bus services. Vulnerable people, especially the young, the old, the disabled and the poor, will be the hardest hit by the withdrawal of bus services.

“These people depend on bus services in order to access jobs, shops, education and health care, and are precisely the people that the government should be looking out for, rather than making their lives more difficult.”

The report shows that the Coalition is failing to fulfil its pledge to provide better value for money in public transport [2], with prices set to rise above the rate of inflation, and further loss of services expected. [3]


===
Notes

Transport Committee Report, ‘Bus Services after the Spending Review’, available in full here:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmtran/750/75002.htm

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14480391

2. www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/RP11-22.pdf

3. http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/bus-service-cuts-threaten-most-vulnerable/

Riots Round London

Green Mayoral candidate and member of the Metropolitan Police Authority,
Jenny Jones, has reacted to last night's riots in Tottenham by calling
for swift action to restore vital youth services and a review of
communications failures between the police and the community.

Jenny Jones said:

"We urgently need to examine all the factors that led to last night's
events in Tottenham, a community suffering from one of the highest
deprivation levels in the country [1], and take appropriate action to
prevent repercussions.

"We need a full investigation into the shooting of local man Mark Duggan
which seems to have been the trigger for last night's riots, and an
urgent review of stop and search and what communications failures there
were between the police and Tottenham's community. Violence and looting,
and smashing up your own streets is not the answer. It's bad for the
old, the poor, and those who run the small businesses people rely on.

"The Government must take some of blame for what went wrong last night.
Cuts to local services, especially youth services [2], played a role in
fomenting tensions in the area. With one of the highest unemployment
rates in London, Tottenham urgently needs help. Emergency funds to stop
youth centre closures and a review of policing must now be a priority."

Notes to editors

[1] Residents in Haringey claiming Job Seekers Allowance rose for the
fourth consecutive month in February to 10,159, according to the Office
for National Statistics. The figures show eight per cent of the adult
population of Tottenham are on the dole, a fifth of which is
under-24-year-olds.
Source:
http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/topstories/8917424.Call_for__game_changer__as_unemployment_rises_again/

[2] The Government reduced the local youth services budget by 75% after
a cut of £41m to Haringey council's overall budget.
Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/29/young-people-gangs-youth-clubs-close

Hattip Another Green World

Crisis, What Crisis

Weeks after two senior policemen resign due to suspicion of corruption, while the usa and euripean economy slumps, London riots and our leaders go on  holiday

We are not all in this together. Those most in need suffer, charities are struggling, prices rise and there are few jobs around. Much of the media will be saying blame social media, youths or looters  and ignore the crisis.

Never Again

66 years ago today an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed instantly and hundreds of thousands more were condemned to a slow death from burns, radiation poisoning and other injuries.

On 9th August 1945 a further bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

This must not happen again. Consider donating money to CND to help them campaign. Or join. www.cnduk.org/

Swaine Sorry

Cllr Warren Swaine has apoligised for his tweet
<a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/councillor-warren-swaine-apologises-for-offensive-tweet-24907.html"></a>
http://www.libdemvoice.org/councillor-warren-swaine-apologises-for-offensive-tweet-24907.html

It takes more bravery to admit you are wrong than.tocause offence

Black Lib Dem Threatens to Resign Over Dodgy Swaine Reinstatement

At least one black Lib Dem has threatened to resign his membership over Cllr Swains refusal to apologise.

 Since they welcomed him back to the fold last week, the party’s group on Reading Borough Council have been doing their best to bury the story of an offensive racial remark by their member Warren Swaine, who suggested MP Chuka Umunna would use his race to excuse himself “for being a muppet”:

Anger that the controversial councillor now refuses to apologise for the outburst has been met with apparent indifference by regional officers and local leader  Cllr Daisy Benson, who has squashed efforts to raise the issue. And it seems some of her colleagues are far from happy.

A failure to take the matter seriously has left senior black party members “absolutely furious”. Lewisham councillor Duwayne Brooks, best friend of the murdered Stephen Lawrence, is rumoured to be so unhappy that he has suggested he may resign.

Speaking to institutional problems within the party, we may have reached the point where the handling is as damaging as the original remark.

Hatip
http://politicalscrapbook.net/2011/08/reading-race-row/