26/08/2009 by Steve Tierney.

March West
Following the sad death of Peter Skoulding, the March West District Council Seat will shortly become a political battleground during the necessary by-election that is triggered when a seat becomes vacant.
  
So far we know the Conservative candidate will be Steve Count.  I’ve never met Mr. Count but I do know that he beat off stiff competition to be selected as the Conservative candidate and that he did this despite something of a history of causing the Conservative-run District Council headaches in the past.  The Wisbech Standard columnist Breakespeare had to admit that the fact that our party were so quick to forgive and forget was an interesting and encouraging development.  Of course, those of us who are active Conservatives know that the party doesn’t deserve half the criticism that opponents sometimes throw our way.  The right man for the job (in the view of those selecting) will usually be chosen because that’s the correct thing to do.
  
Meanwhile, local independent Reg Kemp has also thrown his hat into the ring.  I’ve seen his comments plenty of times since he’s not at all shy at making his opinions known (much the same can be said about me - I’m aware!)  He has recently been a member of the political ‘party’ called “Jury Team” (I’m not sure if he still is) - you might remember them, they were beaten by just about everybody except maybe Animals Count, mostly due to the fact that the only thing they seem to stand for is that they don’t want to stand for anything.    He lost the County elections in June, beaten fairly resoundingly by Cllr. John Clark.  He’s also well-known for his disdain for Freemasons and his attempts to have them removed from any office they might hold at the District council.  An interesting character who will be entertaining during the short campaign, I’m sure.
  
Among those who are interested in local politics there is a lot of discussion about who might win this.  Some previous by-elections have been unopposed and so the fact that this might be more of a battle is causing some excitable folk to salivate. 

Some commentators think that Labour have a chance here but I doubt that very much.  Labour, in my opinion, are a dead duck right now.  I don’t see them as a major threat this year in Fenland.  But UKIP are a fly in the ointment.  If they have a candidate in, that makes things more uncertain.  As for the Lib Dems?  Who knows with those guys?  Sometimes they come out all guns blazing and other times they fizzle out like damp sponge (do damp sponges ‘fizzle’?  I suppose not.  Oops.  Bad adjective.  It’s been a long day!) 

Whatever the case it’ll sure be an interesting one and it’s just a terrible shame that it has come about through such tragic circumstances. 

If I were a betting man I’d be betting Conservative.  But, of course, you know that.  

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Posted in March, Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Fenland District Council, Conservatives | 6 Comments »

21/08/2009 by Steve Tierney.

If You Do The Crime …
Each and every one of us has decisions to make in their lives and once those decisions are made we must live with the inevitable consequences.  It’s called personal responsibility.  Some perpetual bleeding hearts don’t believe in personal responsibility.  Everything is somebody else’s fault, or caused by events over which the accused had no control.  I don’t accept that at all.  We each make our own choices.  Many people live in awful circumstances yet never become monsters. 
 
If ever there was an obvious split between the liberal (not necessarily Lib Dem) and Conservative viewpoint, surely the Lockerbie Bomber is it?  Turn on a radio talkshow and you can hear both sides expressed, sometimes eloquently, often passionately.  While I personally believe wholeheartedly in liberty, I struggle to understand the argument that says a terrorist mass killer should be able to claim (and receive) ‘compassionate’ release.  
  
Let’s just recap.  Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi is serving a life sentence for his 2001 conviction : blowing up PanAm flight 103 in December 1988, leaving 270 people dead, in the worst terrorist atrocity and the biggest mass murder in British legal history. 

Compassion is that last thing he deserves.
  
The idea that you can be ‘fair’ and ‘decent’ by allowing a horrific killer to jet home to a festival parade in Libya and spend his last months in comfort surrounded by his family is not compassion.  It is weakness masquerading as compassion.  I’m sure the people who lost family and friends in the original bombing would love to have a homecoming parade for the poor souls who were victims of this man. The fact that this cannot ever happen should have been all the legal system needed to know. 
  
Lock him up.  Throw away the key.  That would seem to be the obvious decision to make.

Instead, the wisdom of the Scottish courts is that Abdelbaset gets to go home and be a hero for what he did.  He’s terminally ill, you see.  And somehow the quirk of fate that delivered the illness means we should forget the two hundred and seventy people he killed and shed a tear for his condition.  Yeah, right.  There are a great many people in the world who are worthy of compassion and pity.  This evil lunatic isn’t one of them.  
  

England Untamed
I’ve just spent a glorious week in the New Forest.  In cohorts with a horde of other credit-crunched countrymen and women - my family and I decided to dodge the jet engines this year and instead to decend Southwards into one of the greatest stretches of wilderness our small island retains.  

In a log cabin nestled beneath the forest canopy three generations of my family had a truly fantastic time.  We barbecued at night under the stars.  My wife and I walked nine miles through scrub, marsh and forest, up and down steep hills, along lane and gravel track (getting quite severely lost for some time).  We saw a calf born.  We had to jump a bubbling brook and climb a sodden hill to get to a road that might help us get home before dark.  We stumbled for refreshment into a quaint wood-beamed pub and quaffed juice, real ale and homemade cider (not in one glass…)
 
We paid a visit to Bournemouth, to Poole and to a Theme Park near Southampton that was packed full of fun.  My son went on his first roller-coaster.  “That was great,” he said as it thundered into the slowdown lane at the end of the ride, and then plaintively: “Is it finished?”  My Mum refused to miss the log flumes despite a cracked rib sustained last week.  We trekked through the “Dinosaur Park” and imagined the roars from the bushes were real denizens of the Jurassic coming to hunt us down.

In the amusingly named “Sandy Balls” campsite we swam in the freezing outside pool, laughing and dunking and shivering.  My son made great use of the adventure playground.  We took the nature walks, following terrible maps to end up in places where I’m pretty sure we were never meant to go.  We biked along silent roads past ponies and cows and pigs and deer all free to roam.  We enjoyed incredible weather, hot day after hot day broken only by pleasant cool breezes and the occasional brief and exciting storm.  We laughed - a lot.  We ate, drank and made merry.  We lay on grass as the sun melted into night on a golden horizon. 

This, I think, is the stuff all great holidays are made of.  I hope you all had a wonderful summer too!
  

Posted in England, Credit Crunch, Conservatives | No Comments »

30/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Critical Friends
I post quite a lot on the ConservativeHome website and seem to often end up bashing my head against certain ultra-loyalists there, to whom I am apparently considered something of a maverick (mainly because I don’t always ‘toe the party line’ as David Cameron and the gang at the top prescribe). 
  
I don’t mind that tag at all since it’s rather cooler than “lapdog” or “whipping boy” but its gotten me thinking.  Since I began my work at the County Council I have come across the term “critical friend” and have previously thought it to be something of a “buzz word” (of which local government has rather a lot.)  But like so many of these sort of things you can snicker to yourself about them only to find at a point in future a lightbulb goes on in your head and you’re all: “Ohhhh yeah!  Now I get it!”
   
In my opinion there is nothing wrong with questioning the party line.  There is nothing wrong with making your case and arguing for what you believe. If it is done in an intelligent and respectful manner - and if you are prepared to lose the argument as often as win it - then it is the sign of a healthy, vibrant and dynamic party. 
  
On the flipside, being so loyal that you never question, never argue, never speak out of turn may ingratiate you with certain sorts of leader but is unhealthy, undemocratic and rather dangerous. 
  
I’ve found in local government (certainly in Cambridgeshire) that we have positive leaders who encourage participation and individual thinking.  I find that refreshing.  I’ve never met David Cameron so it may well be (and I hope it is) that he appreciates this too.  But if so, it hasn’t filtered down to some party activists who seem to think anything the boss says just must be right.  I’ve never met a boss who was omnipotent yet.
   
Being a critical friend means more than mindlessly cheering: “Go Blue!” at a ball game.  It means more than presuming that everything we do is right and everything they do is wrong.  It means having the courage to speak up, often and clearly, when you think something is awry.  Sometimes you’ll be right.  Sometimes you’ll be wrong.  But at least you’ll always be involved in the game, not just cheering from the sidelines.
  

Posted in ConHome, David Cameron, Conservatives | 1 Comment »

29/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Good News Poll

CON 42 (+4) LAB 24 (+1) LD 18 (-4)

That’s the result of the latest ComRes poll whose results were released today.  I don’t usually do poll numbers on this blog but it’s been a quiet week and I was struck by the interesting mathematical result here that the Conservatives have as many polling points as Labour and the Lib Dems combined. 

Reproduced at a General Election this would result in a 150 seat majority for the Conservatives.  Happy Days.

Customer Service
I had to pay some money in at the bank today so I took a stroll there and was pleased to see nobody in the queue, just a couple of customers at the two open counters.  I stood at the end of the aisle and waited for one of them to finish their business.  Sadly, things were not as they seemed.  One of the customers was involved in some complicated business that was taking a lot of time, while the other was involved in an animated but friendly discussion with the cashier. 

I waited patiently, impressed that the bank staff were taking a little time to engage with their customers and be civil.  A few minutes passed and there was no sign of either counter clearing - the discussion continued with both ladies laughing and joking about something or other.  By now, there were half a dozen people in the queue.  Everybody was relaxed but a couple of customers had that harried look about them of people who’d hoped to get finished in a hurry and had seen that expectation dashed on the rocks of fate.

By the time I had been in the bank for ten minutes the mood of the line was changing.  When I had arrived I was the sole member of this queue, but now I was at the front of a snaking, muttering row of people that reached all the way to the banks external doors.  And still the chatterboxes showed no signs of ending their little natter, let alone noticing that they were holding up a significant portion of the population of Wisbech.

You know when a group of people has reached the end of their patience.  They begin snarling pithy comments beneath their breath, staring angrily with the sort of petrifying gazes that make you glad looks cannot actually kill.  Tutting, tapping their feet, coughing pointedly.  Since I was at the front of the queue it felt like all eyes were on me to try and move the situation forwards.  I resisted, but I was pretty irritated myself since this had already eaten up an unnecessary quarter of an hour or so of my day. 

Finally I decided to take action.  “Excuse me,” I tried.  “I don’t mean to be rude, but there is a long line waiting here.”  Some people grunted their agreement.  Others looked embarrassed, which was a bit of a stab in the back since just moments ago they had been mentally willing somebody to say something.  (I’m fairly sure.)

Both the gabby lineblockers (the customer and the staff member) looked at me like something slimy they had just found in their pasta but joy of joys they did seem to get the message.  Helpfully, at that moment the other cashier cleared too and finally the line was moving.

I shuffled up to the lady who had held me up for so long and put my paying-in book on the counter.  She smiled in a sweet-but-dangerous way and said: “Thank you so much for your patience, sir,” her voice dripping with irony.
“No,” I replied, my own tone absolutely deadpan, “Thank you.  This is just how I wanted to spend half my day.”

At which point a number of people in the queue starting laughing, the other cashier started laughing, then my own cashier and I started laughing too.  The tension eased away as quickly as that proving, if nothing else, good humour is a wonderful salve.  
  

Posted in Election, Wisbech, Conservatives | No Comments »

28/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Education Ejucashun Edyoocayshon
That’s what Labour promised, right? They told us all that a couple of terms of a left-of-center government would see a huge increase in school expenditure which, it stands to reason, would result in all our kids leaving for work awash in an ocean of qualifications and knowledge. And let’s be fair, that’s exactly what happened.  Sort of.

Let’s deal with the funding first. Labour spent huge sums of money on the schools. They literally showered them in funds. But that didn’t work because as usual the lefties, unfamiliar with the concept of money as a tool, thought that just throwing cash at a problem makes it go away. So what did they do? Introduced targets and tests and quangos and an enhanced national curriculum to fix the problem. And that didn’t work either - as any businessman would have told them it could not. Quite the opposite, it stifled the schools ability to excel and experiment, or even just to do the job at which they are the experts, locking them into a system that was mired in box-ticking politically-correct bureaucracy.

Since this was clearly not producing the desired result the government had no choice but to preside over a steady and relentless “dumbing down” of examinations - if only to encourage an endlessly larger number of people into university. It didn’t matter that a hefty proportion of those people were wholly unsuited to university. Labour, who have always claimed to be the “party of the people”, seem to only mean this when the people they are referring to are some stereotype that fits their mould. Their aspiration to “send everybody to university” is mean-spirited. It demeans those people whose gifts are somewhere other than regimented further education, somehow suggesting that if they don’t aspire to a particular brand of learning then their skills are second-rate. Frankly, in a survival situation I would prefer a carpenter or a builder or a labourer to an art history or sociology graduate on my desert island - but perhaps that’s just me.

What I like about the current direction of Conservative education policy is the idea to let the markets provide. I’m not one of these free market idealists who think an uncontrolled and unregulated free market is the solution to everything. But in general, if the problem is fitting people’s needs with available resources in a cost-effective and organised way - markets deliver.  You have to keep an eye on things, but you have to give the markets the freedom to do what they do best. 

In practice, the premise to let businesses and other interests set up schools outside of the established monopoly is a wonderful one. Some regulation and control will be necessary to be sure schools meet certain basic standards, but beyond that they should be free to design their own criteria. As long as government funding follows each individual student the schools will be forced to meet the demands of the kids and their parents. If there is demand for a certain type of school - the markets will provide it. If a school is failing - the markets will remove it. All schools will be forced to be cost-effective and progressive if they want to attract students.

Teaching unions wont like any of this, of course.  It removes their cosy monopoly and forces them to consider the service they offer and how they offer it - or face closure.  Instead of parents fighting to try and get their kids into the school they want, those schools will humbly beg for their partonage.  Instead of having to put up with the status quo, parents will be able to express their unhappiness with the school’s governance by taking their child elsewhere - and safe in the knowledge that there will be somewhere else to take them! 

When you put the power into the hands of the consumer instead of the grasping claws of the establishment it is like shaking the very foundations of a clunky old beast and watching the dust and cobwebs float free.  It is time to give our children the education they need and deserve.  And this time, when they leave with qualifications, they should be qualifications that employers can trust.  What was that?  Did somebody say O-Levels?  Now there’s a thought…

Posted in Education, Conservatives | 1 Comment »

24/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

1st: Conservatives — 13,591 votes
2nd: Labour — 6,243 votes
3rd: Lib Dems — 4,809 votes
4th: UKIP — 4,068 votes
5th: Greens — 3,350 votes

Majority: 7,348
Well done all!  Teamwork and hard graft come up trumps again.

Note the strong UKIP showing … almost up with the Lib Dems.  Important, bearing in mind the Ramsey By-Election result yesterday.

Labour vote has collapsed dramatically, but they did still maintain second place (which is more than I’d expected.)  Down to their hard-core voting base, I presume. 

There’s just no way to spin this other than a massive victory for the Conservatives.  This was a Labour seat and it has swung so far over that we have more than double their votes now.  Repeated at a general election this would result in a huge and resounding majority.

The Lib Dems and the Greens (battle bus notwithstanding) must be feeling pretty dejected.  This is Norwich, after all!  If they can’t get a decent showing here, then where?

Posted in Victory, Green Party, Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Parliament, Conservatives | No Comments »

22/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

The Bramley Line
Today’s full county council meeting was a somewhat muted affair, thanks to the absence of Cllr Moss-Eccardt, everyone’s favourite procedural expert.  In fact, during the first few agenda items I began to wonder if the Liberal Democrat contingent had been suddenly struck dumb - so quiet were their ranks.  Not so!  When it came time to talk about the Bramley Line our colleagues on the opposite benches became highly animated.  You would almost be forgiven for thinking that this was a clever political machination.  They had clearly spent some time getting all their ducks in a row.

I should probably explain.  The Bramley Line is the disused railway track which runs from Wisbech to March.  To cut a long story short the people of Wisbech would quite like it opened again, the people of March (who already have a railway station and probably see no need to burden themselves with more rail traffic) aren’t so sure.  There is a very active and dedicated group of local enthusiasts who have been working for several years to get the line re-opened.  There are Conservative councillors like Cllr. Simon King who are part of that group and have been working alongside them towards this goal.  To the best of my knowledge nobody has really seen any Lib Dem councillors anywhere near the project - ever.  This could well be because Fen Folk prefer not to elect them anywhere in the region.  But even so… their sudden interest and support furrowed some brows.

Perhaps the Liberal Democrats had really grown a sudden fervent interest in the Fens traffic infrastructure?  If so, good. Any ideas and support are always welcome.  But there are some amongst us who think what actually happened is that they saw an opportunity for division.  The Bramley Line is a very interesting project, but it’s also a controversial one.  Not everybody feels the economic case has been made for it yet.  Some people prefer other options for improving transport in the area (like giving the A47 the dual-carriageway treatment all the way to Wisbech.)

So when Cllr D.Jenkins (leader of the Liberal Democrats) proposed that a new funding method called TIF be considered to assist in the re-opening of the Bramley Line some people questioned the motives.  I have to say I really don’t know if this was a machiaevellian move or not and I think I’m prepared to give the benefit of the doubt and presume that it was just an honest, well-meant idea.  What a shame then that the motion had to include a load of party-political swipes that devalued it and forced the Conservatives to table an amendment that stripped the unhealthy fat from the bone and left only the meat for consumption.

Cue lots of long speeches by councillors on all sides which basically seemed to be saying the same things from slightly different perspectives.  Cllr. Alan Melton delivered one of the blistering verbal barrages for which he is so famous in support of better transport all over the Fens.  Cllr. Geoff Harper read a prepared speech full of deft lyrical flourishes in which he pointed out the many improvements that had already taken place - in order that proper perspective be maintained.  Speaking to the chamber myself, I took the opportunity to make it quite clear that Conservatives do not oppose rail, nor the Bramley Line (quite the opposite, as far as I’m concerned) and that our amendment unequivocally expressed that we felt this was a strong option that deserved serious consideration.  There’s no lip service there.  We do.  Because it is.

All’s well that ends well, the amended motion met the approval of all councillors and resulted in a (very rare) unanimous vote of “yes”.  Which doesn’t mean the Bramley Line is suddenly going to find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but does surely bring Wisbech one step closer to getting the rail link it wants so badly.

Armed Robbery
When I got home from the council meeting today I was surprised to find the Police in my shop and a member of my staff clearly badly shaken by something.  It turns out that we had been victim of a robbery.  Two young men had entered the shop and snatched a laptop from behind the counter (one made a distraction while the other snatched, then both ran.)  Dominic, who works for me part-time, gave chase!  Following the two men out of the shop he managed to grab one of them.  During the struggle a gun fell from inside the jacket of the criminal and landed on the pavement.  The man made a grab for the gun, Dominic (no doubt terrified of the consequences of this nutcase getting his hands on the weapon) kicked it across the street.  The man struggled free and both of them fled with the laptop - leaving the weapon behind. 

Now it appears that the gun was actually not a ‘real’ gun, but an airsoft weapon or something that looked very authentic.  At least, that’s what the police suggested before they bagged it up as evidence.  Even so, you wouldn’t want to be shot in the eye with something like that, nor meet the sort of person who carries it around.  The police officer was clear that somebody caught carrying one of these would expect prison time.

I’m a little torn about all this.  In the first instance I’m horrified that this sort of thing can have happened on my doorstep (quite literally), I’m angry that I wasn’t here to try and prevent the crime and I’m furious that they have (so far at least) apparently gotten away with it.   But I have got to give it to my staff member Dominic, who found himself in a dangerous and frightening situation and whose first instinct, against all common sense, was to come out fighting.  I suspect many people would have let the criminals go.  Why risk your safety for a part-time job and a single stolen item?  Even the police were keen to point out that they suggest people do not try and tackle criminals of this type.  What did Dominic do?  He chased two guys out onto the street, struggled with them and relieved them of a firearm.  

Where I come from they call that sort of person a hero.
  

Posted in Fenland District Council, Cambs. County Council, Wisbech, Conservatives | No Comments »

19/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Please excuse the lack of a decent blog entry over the last few days. I’ve been in Norwich assisting in the Conservative By-Election campaign there along with an absolutely huge number of other political activists. I would imagine, by the time all this is over, the poor folk of Norwich will be heartily sick of politics of every persuasion. Blue, Green, Yellow, Red-White-And-Blue and even a little Red (believe it or not) has descended on Norfolk in a flurry of frantic activity.  The maelstrom will resolve itself, one way or the other, by the end of the week.  I suspect we’ll know a lot more about the direction of UK politics thereafter.  But for now I’m going to bed.  My feet hurt.

Me, Chloe Smith PPC, Stevo Brunton, Theresa May MP.

And there we are again…

Posted in Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Election, Conservatives | No Comments »

08/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

A Little Sunshine
I’ve been getting all sorts of good news this week and I thought it would be fun to share a little of the sunshine. Surrounded as we are by recession and gloom so often it doesn’t hurt to highlight the places where things have gone well. First of all, perhaps blog readers will remember Lisa Goddard? She was the lady who featured on the front page of the local newspaper a couple of months ago, furious about the state of her road and the way vibrations and noise were affecting the quality of life for her and her neighbours. 

I took the case up, joining Lisa’s campaign and talking to the leader of the council, Jill Tuck, about the issue.  To her credit Jill took immediate action, bringing forward planned repairs to the road.  I kept on the case, nudging gentle reminders, but really there wasn’t a lot I needed to do.  The council roads team dealt with the matter swiftly and professionally. 

I’ve just spoken to Lisa Goddard on the phone who expressed her gratitude for all the assistance and support she had been given and was effusive in her praise of local government in this area.  She said that the road repairs were fantastic, that she was surprised by how quickly action was taken and expressed how happy she was to: “Finally get a good night’s sleep.”  Lisa is right, the council reacted very effectively in this case, but she must also take credit for the positive outcome.  She worked hard and was a powerful advocate for her case.  It’s an example of council and residents working together as a team and a brilliant one at that!

Interesting to note, though: When Lisa was unhappy about the state of her roads she got the front page of the local paper in short order.  When she phoned up to tell them how well the job had been done they apparently said they would “return her call”.  She’s still waiting.  Ho Hum.

Meanwhile, another well-known local resident Tony Kiddle has had an ongoing problem with his streetlights.   None of them were working and the council seemed to think the road was “unadopted”.  I took the case up on his behalf and I promised him I would make sure the lights were fixed.  And this week - guess what - the lights were fixed! Yay!  Tony is passionate about a number of local causes and I know I’ll be working with him again on other issues.  But here’s another case of something that needed doing and then got done, thanks to teamwork and a responsive council.

Finally, rumour has reached me that the PCSO’s in Wisbech have been visiting residents of The Crescent and telling them about this “new plan” the police have to avoid full closure of Ghost Passage and only use two gates instead of four.  It sounds very familiar to me.  But never mind.  The important thing is that they’ve listened and are rethinking the idea to meet the resident’s concerns. 

Some people have called me naive because I believe in “local people working together for the good of the community” as expressed in my council candidate leaflet before the elections.  I suppose it does look a little “apple pie and ice cream” if you want to be cynical.  But you’ve just read several cases of exactly that happening in the last month.  These may be small matters in the grand scheme of things, but they matter to people here and isn’t it nice to read good news once in a while?

Posted in A1101, Cambs. County Council, Wisbech, Leverington, Conservatives | No Comments »

20/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Pothole Buster ™
If I had to name one thing that annoys the people of the Roman Bank & Peckover Division more than any other I’m pretty sure I’d end up using the ”P” word.  Potholes.  Of course there are many other issues, plenty of them more serious than the rugged surface of some of our roads.  But there they are every day, rattling your suspension as you bump and grind over them.  If you talk to the council officers they assure you that they are doing loads of repairs - that they are out there all the time patching up the problems.  If you talk to the people of the division they say they never see anybody and potholes stay untouched for months on end.  Everybody understands that the last winter took its toll on the roads and that its not cheap to repair hundreds of miles of tarmac. 

On reflection I really think there is truth on both sides of this.  It is fair to say that the council agent’s are working hard to fix all the damage.  It’s equally accurate that some places remain unrepaired for long periods. So here’s my
Pothole-Buster ™ idea.  (I’m not serious about the trademark, it just makes me chuckle.  Pay no attention to it.)  I’d like to ask anybody who lives within my ward (Wisbech Peckover, Leverington, Newton, Gorefield, Tydd St. Giles) to report any significant pothole in their road by email or phone to me.  I’ll then drive down, take a picture of it, and report it to the county agents for you.  I’ll post the pothole report, the picture and the status on a webpage on this site so everybody can see what potholes have been notified to us, where they are, when the council were told about them … and hopefully when they are repaired.

Each week I’ll chase the council agents and ask about potholes which have not been fixed, pointing to the date I notified them and the evidence on the website as it accumulates.  What I very much hope is that this will demonstrate just how quickly and how often repairs are done and vindicate the council a little.  Of course, it may go the other way, in which case we’ll be able to keep track of the problem and make a judgement of how best to proceed.

In the end you may laugh: “What’s a website and a bunch of phone calls going to do?”  And perhaps it will be a difficult task in the current climate, although I like to think otherwise.  Whatever the case, it certainly can’t hurt can it? 

My challenge to all readers is this: don’t just moan about a pothole and presume you can do nothing about it.  Notify me and let’s get to work, together, encouraging and cooperating with the council to put our roads to rights.  Pothole-Buster(tm) style!

Report Potholes to:- me@stevetierney.org  or leave a text on 07831 616127
Remember to state your name and phone number, the road and area where the pothole is.

*  Your right to contact the council directly is not affected by this request.  This is purely my own individual idea to try and get something done in a slightly different way.
**PLEASE - Only residents of my division.  I can’t do anything for people in other areas - but I’m sure your own local councillor will be pleased to help.

Recession - The Action Movie
Our country is in big trouble.  Not because of the much-vaunted ‘Broken Society’.  Not because of crime and antisocial behaviour.  Not because of the bloated, cannibalistic public sector.  Not even because of the cumbersome mass of the welfare state which successive parliaments have consistently failed to have the courage to address.  It’s because of the wasted, starving economy.  But wait!  Before you yawn and tell me to change the channel because you’ve heard this script before - consider this:

Here’s the problem with talking about the recession right now - if you say: “There is no way we’ll see any serious recovery this year” people accuse you of talking down the economy.  So all the commentators are harping on about “Green Shoots” here and “positive changes” there and even how we’re “past the worst.”  The trouble is that the government has been borrowing (and printing) money like there’s no tomorrow and sooner or later that money was going to trickle into the system and result in what economists call “greater velocity of currency” and what you and I probably call “lots of shopping.”  People are spending all this borrowed and freshly-minted cash and this creates the appearance of slight recovery.  These green shoots are an illusion, like a bright red apple hanging from a branch but full of squirming maggots within. 

In a movie of the current crisis we are somewhere near the middle of the story.  We’ve done the character development and had a few car chases to keep the excitement up.  But the plot is getting serious now.  At some point down the line - and we’re not talking about very far down the line here - the government’s desperate attempt to borrow its way out of debt is going to come to an extremely messy end.  Maybe the sale of bonds will fail when international lenders refuse to buy any more until they see some chance of a return on their investment?  Maybe the dollar will crash when China decides to start divesting itself of the currency and causes a run on it - with the knock-on effect of crippling the pound?  Maybe money will continue to gush into the many public sector black holes while unemployment keeps spiralling up until a critical mass is reached?  There are so many weak points in this particular card castle that its hard to say precisely which way it’s going to come tumbling down - but tumble down it shall.  At this point in a movie you’d really hope the ‘heroes’ of the piece would be taking action, right? 

What everybody should realise is that inflation is coming.  Perhaps we can keep putting it off for a bit longer if Mssrs. Darling and Brown are allowed to pursue their profilgate borrow and spend policies.  But do not trust the government or the media’s talk of green shoots.  They want to keep the masses calm in the face of economic armageddon for as long as possible.  They are, in fact, the villains of this story.  The twist at the end would be a diabolical prime minister chuckling: “Yes, yes!  My plan is complete!” as he contemplated the ruin of the nation.

Even at this late point it is not too late to save the day.  In our action movie, when the evil mastermind’s plans have resulted in the country teetering on the brink of destruction you might expect a dashing, square-jawed musclebound hero to arrive in the nick of time.  Now I’ll agree that David Cameron’s Conservatives are probably not very dashing and certainly not musclebound.  But the Conservatives are the only party with the will and the experience to fix this horrific Labour mess.  After all - they’ve done it before.  In fact I’d guess this movie is a sequel.  Let’s hope it has a happy ending.  And if we get though it intact, please let’s make sure it never becomes a trilogy.
 

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