10/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Black Spots
I was at my first committee meeting for the Fenland Traffic Management Area Joint Committee today in Fenland Hall, March.  On the agenda was an issue which I’ve blogged about before, namely the A1101 Blackspot.  The local action group were at the meeting to present a petition, with a presentation by one of their strong team - Virginia Bucknor. 

And what a presentation it was! 

I found the statistics chilling.  Even though I knew some of this information already, when you see it laid out before you so clearly and starkly I cannot see how anybody could not be ready to pay serious attention.  Which is precisely what the committee did, I’m pleased to report. 

I had my chance to speak on behalf of the people who elected me and I did my best, pointing out that all the residents really want is a speed camera, some clear signage and some trees removed.  It’s not rocket science and it doesn’t have to be too expensive. 

Among the statistics presented was the cost thus far over the last few years to the public purse of accidents on the black spot.  Twelve Million Pounds.  What is the cost to put in a speed camera?  Twenty thousand pounds.  Like I said, it’s not rocket science.  When you do the math you can see that six hundred cameras could be installed for the same amount as the current cost of this death trap to the taxpayer.  Or we could just install the ONE camera we need and save Eleven Million Nine Hundred and Eighty Thousand pounds for other worthwhile projects.  (When I say ‘we’, I mean the nation rather than the council, of course.)

I must add that on principle I’m not a big fan of speed cameras.  I think they are a lazy way to avoid proper policing, do nothing whatsoever to combat careless driving (a more serious cause of accidents than speeding in many cases) and are often just a great way to sting the motorist for a few easy bucks.  But there are exceptions and this is certainly one.  As Cllr. Jonathan Farmer said at today’s meeting: “If the conditions necessary to install a speed camera are not found at this location then somebody needs to look seriously at those conditions - because they are wrong.”  He was right about that.  This junction’s problem is speed and overtaking.  Tackle those two things with a speed camera, some signs and ’no overtaking’ markings and lives can and will be saved.  It doesn’t get much simpler than that!

Sidenote: Regular readers (both of you) might be interested to know I met Cllr. Mark Archer today.  He seemed a very nice guy.  We shook hands.  He didn’t seem to be too upset about my occasional blog criticism of him.  In fact, all in all, I would say he seemed very reasonable.  I’ve said before I suspect he is a nice guy (or else why would so many friends rally around to defend him?)  Seems that was right.  It was nice to meet you, Mark.

Misrepresentations Galore
Val Bolem has given me an ear-bashing (a “virtual” ear-bashing, anyway) about my previous blog post Ghost Passage Revisited.  Val feels that when I used the word “misrepresented” regarding his comments to me about the police I was, in fact, misrepresenting him.  (Confused?  Yeah, me too!)  Since I have no wish whatsoever to do anything like that I immediately amended the blog as he advised and apologised if I had misunderstood our conversation. 

There followed a brief email debate about the dictionary meaning of the word “misrepresented” and the content of our original conversation.  I must point out that where I am quoting somebody verbatim I use “quotes” to show it.  Otherwise, what I write is my personal interpretation of something rather than a blow-by-blow account. 

It is true that Val never used the word “misrepresented” in our conversation, although I would add that I never said he did.  I felt (and this was purely my take on it) that the fact that the original plan Val told me about was different from the final plan the police put out was fairly clearly a misrepresentation as per the dictionary definition of the word.  Val doesn’t agree, which is entirely his right.  Since he doesn’t agree, I amended the blog post immediately rather than have Val unhappy with it.  I hope that seems a quick and reasonable response to Val and any other readers.  Bloggers have a reputation of being difficult and contrary, and while I don’t mind being branded a maverick at times I have no wish to offend anybody.

Posted in Mark Archer, A1101, Cambs. County Council, Leverington, Newton, Tydd St. Giles | 5 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.
 

Posted in Wisbech, Gorefield, Pothole Buster (tm), Leverington, Newton, Credit Crunch, Tydd St. Giles, Conservatives | No Comments »

07/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

A New Blue Day

Friday 5th June was ‘The Count’.  The day when I would find out, one way or the other, whether the long and arduous campaign I had just fought was going send me to Shire Hall as a county councillor or to the Cupboard Under The Stairs to lick my gratuitous wounds. 

I should stress that I enjoyed my campaign very much.  I canvassed 90% of my division and got to meet people from every corner of it; Tydd St. Giles, Gorefield, Leverington, Wisbech, Foul Anchor, Tydd Gote, Four Gotes and Newton.   I leafletted every house at least twice, some more often that that.  I went to every Parish Council meeting and to a great many fetes, quiz nights, events and functions.  (I intend to keep doing all these things.  Some people say they usually ‘only see a politician when an election is coming’.  It’s my intention to change that perception where it exists.)

The night before ‘The Count’ (each time I say that I have the urge to do a faux Dracula laugh, a la Sesame Street) I thought I would be unable to sleep, such was my nervous excitement.  But sleep I did.  Like the dead.  I’ve always been somebody who likes to work, but this was one of the toughest, most gruelling months of my life.  And the last week… that was the toughest of all.  So my head hit the pillow and that was all I knew until the alarm screamed me awake and I stumbled, bleary-eyed, into the Day Of Reckoning.  (You think I’m being dramatic?  Try standing for council!  It takes on a life of its own.)

Our ‘telling’ from the previous day suggested we were at 45% of the vote in my division.  You’d think this would have helped me relax, but no.  Quite the opposite.  You imagine you may have gotten it wrong.  That there may be some place where votes have been cast quite differently to what your canvassing suggested.  Labour and the Liberal Democrats had utterly collapsed in Fenland and that had become clear to us during the campaign (despite a puzzling Cambs Times online poll that suggested Labour were doing well, much to our bemusement.  Luckily that turned out to be a pretty duff poll.)  It was UKIP that made me nervous.  Which is a shame because (and this is a personal, not a party view) I am very much a Euro-Sceptic myself and agree that we would be Better Off Out.

On the day of ‘The Count’ (Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa) I stood at the table with my Wife (Marie Tierney), My Mum (Brenda Barber) and one of my Best Friends (Samantha Hoy) watching the drama unfold.  As far as I could see, in the entire building there were only two Labour people:  the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (whose ‘prospects’ are so limited I can’t even remember his name) and another man in a red tie who looked very grumpy indeed.  Looking around the hall, there weren’t a whole lot of Lib Dems either.  But the Schooling Brothers showed up for UKIP (and they were very nice guys.)  Andrew Hunt showed up for the Libertarian Party (and despite our differences, he was a really great guy too.)  Even independents like Mark Archer (who was trounced soundly by Geoff Harper, proving that the world is a just place after all, in my humble opinion) managed to get there.  Perhaps a message for the ‘opposition’ has been sent by impressive smaller parties and  independents : “Do some work, show some interest, or you’ll wither away.”

The final result was that every single seat in Fenland was won by a Conservative.  The whole area has remained that same wonderful blue and this is great news.  It’s great for Fenland because decent, hard-working honest councillors have been returned to continue doing their vital jobs.  It’s great for politics because it shows that even in the face of public scandal from high above and assault from opportunistic other interests all around the public here remain strongly conservative in heart and soul.  And it’s great for me because I have experienced colleagues to go to for advice and guidance as I begin my own new position as a County Councillor. 

Oh yeah… I won, by the way. Fifty-three percent of those who voted ticked the box next to ‘Steve Tierney’ on their ballot paper.  It’s a truly humbling experience and a great honour.  I’ve said it before.  I’ll say it again.  I won’t let you down.

Thank you, everybody.
  

Thanks

I have so many people to thank who were part of my team and who worked feverishly on my behalf and for the Conservative party.  I’ll get around to thanking them all properly, but in brief:-

Bonnie Drewry and Ann Balls plus their entire wonderful Tydd St Giles team.

Rosemary Peggs, Rachel Tranter, David Humphrey and the entire Gorefield Conservative branch and friends. 

Gavin, Paul, Adam, Laura, Tom, Saluwedin and the brilliant gang at Fens Conservative Future. 

Gary Tibbs, Lynny, Peter Tibbs and Jamie Edwards, who got involved purely because they are amazing friends and worked as hard as anyone (particularly Gary). 

My Dad, John Tierney, who drove up from Hemel Hempstead to canvas with me. 

Steve Barclay PPC, Cllr Nick Meekins, Lucy Heighton, Janet Stott, John Lewis and the many other Leverington and Peckover tellers.

My stepdad Tony Barber (and the whole Leverington team), who delivered more leaflets, canvassed more houses and walked more streets than I could have ever hoped for. 

Cllr Simon King for getting me involved in all this in the first place and for being the font of all knowledge and sage advice whenever I have needed it.

My wife Marie Tierney for putting up with my barely being in the house for a month and managing all the usual things we do together, plus taking great care of our Son while I was seldom around, with good humour and grace.

And most of all:-

Debbie Clark, almost certainly the most wonderful Organising Secretary any Conservative area could ever hope to have.  

Samantha Hoy  - My Right Hand Girl.  Who worked every bit as hard as I did and without whom I would have been lost.

Steve Brunton - Who put in so many hours of help I lost count and who deserves a medal for his dedication.

Brenda Barber - My Mum, who was the lynchpin of the entire campaign and who offered support, encouragement and almost all her free time in the same way she always has whenever i’ve needed her.
 
My victory belongs to all these people as much as, or more than, it does to me.

You guys were absolutely, mind-blowingly, awesome.  Thank you so much for everything.

Posted in Cambs. County Council, Family, Election, Victory, Gorefield, Wisbech, Tydd St. Giles, Newton, Leverington, Conservatives | No Comments »

06/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Cynical local newspapers, ‘Independent’ troublemakers and Massive upper Government scandals notwithstanding…

 We won!

The whole of Fenland remained entirely Conservative and I won my seat with a very humbling majority.

Thank you so much for your overwhelming confidence and support, people of Wisbech Peckover, Leverington, Gorefield, Newton and Tydd St. Giles.  I will not let you down.

I’ll blog more after the weekend.  Now… I need a celebration drink (or two.) 

Thank you again.- Cllr. Steve Tierney, Roman Bank & Peckover. Conservative.

Posted in Cambs. County Council, My Campaign, Election, Gorefield, Wisbech, Newton, Leverington, Tydd St. Giles | 1 Comment »

10/05/2009 by Steve Tierney.

The Expenses Witchhunt
Doesn’t watching the news just get you down, lately? Every day a new sleaze allegation, a new misuse of office, a new expenses scandal. MP after MP, night after night, is being brought low by the terrible might of the Daily Telegraph (and whatever mole made a fortune leaking the list to them.) I know it’s not going to be popular, but I’d like to make a plea for calm. Before I do, I suppose a few clarifications need be made to prevent being hauled into the stocks and having fruit hurled at me.

Clarifications: I’m as outraged by the misuse of MP expenses as the rest of you. It’s wrong, they shouldn’t have done it, and the rules need to be changed right away.

Okay, with that out of the way, I’d like to make the case for some old-fashioned reason instead of all the frothing and shouting that the press are urging so fervently.

This is what has happened (in a nutshell). MP’s represent huge bodies of people and in public life somebody with that level of responsibility and duty would be paid very highly indeed. MPs earn a perfectly healthy wage (most of us would love to earn that much), but compared to the private sector wages for a similar job they earn very little.  On top of that, those who live a fair way from London and have to work there several days a week must have somewhere to stay while doing their job.  It’s no good telling them they ‘earn enough’ to pay for it themselves.  They mostly don’t (unless we only want millionaires in parliament…)  Hotels in London are expensive and staying in one several nights a week would be just as expensive as a second home.

Over many years MPs have shied away from giving themselves any significant pay rise, but the costs of living and staying in London keep getting higher.  Let’s face it, the reason they didn’t give themselves a pay rise is because there’s no nice way that story will ever play in a newspaper. 

So a culture has built up between MPs that instead of taking a pay rise, they will use their second homes allowance instead.  Please note: I’m not saying this was right.  It certainly wasn’t clever.  But nor is it ‘evil’.  If anything it was cowardly, or just a bit dumb. 

Instead of shrinking back in horror as it becomes clearer by the day that: “they are all at it” we could choose to take some solace in that.  Surely only the most paranoid anarchist actually believes that ‘every MP’ is crooked?  It’s so obviously not true.  What they are is human.  They used a scheme rather than take a payrise (stupidly) and presumed it would never get looked at too closely (also stupidly) and because they were all doing it they talked themselves into believing it was right and proper (most stupidly of all.) 

We know it was wrong.  They know it was wrong.  Yet still the public bay like a pack of starving wolves, circling the increasingly wide-eyed and frightened members of parliament with the scent of blood in their nostrils.  The media are stoking the fire with furious glee.  After all, every new secret brought to light is a new headline, a new expose, and a hundred thousand papers sold. 

The damage being done here is immense.  The public are losing all faith in their politicians.  Our whole system of democracy is being undermined.  The story is now feeding itself and getting hungrier.  Some sanity needs to be restored.

All MPs, or even most MPs, are not crooked.  You may not like the rules (I certainly don’t) but they were within them.  It was a ridiculous, flawed system.  But it has now been uncovered.  The thing to do here, the sensible, calm, rationale thing is to change the rules.  Do away with the loopholes and all non-business expenses.   Demand all receipts.  Publish the full list every year.  And that, my friends, will be the end of that.  As for second homes, I personally think they are fine, but that they should belong to the taxpayer.  When an MP finishes their time in parliament the house they bought is sold and the money (and profit) is put back into the taxation pot.   Voila! (Excuse my French)   No more expenses problems ever again.

As for getting the police involved.  Sure - if they have actually broken the law.  A very few may have done so.  Let’s just try not to tar them all with the same brush.  It’s certainly a good story to see that an MP bought nappies on his parliamentary expenses, or a plug, or a couple of toilet seats, but it’s not the same as, say, cash for honours.  If the police think there’s a case, let them make an arrest.  That is, after all, their job. 

Visiting Sutton
I’ve been canvassing in Sutton (Ely) today on behalf of Cllr. Philip Read.  Why am I campaigning for somebody else and not my own seat?  That’s easy - because I’m part of a team.  Cambridgeshire Conservatives don’t operate in little isolated pockets, we work together and help one another.  An impressive team it was too, since it included (but was not limited to) our organising secretary Debbie Clark, the leader of the county council Cllr. Jill Tuck and the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Steve Barclay. 

Highlights of the day included a very interesting debate about Europe with a gentleman who wanted to know what the Conservative position on it was.  The fantastic views of rolling countryside and fertile fields that can be seen from most of Sutton and is particularly easy to appreciate on such a clear and sunny day.  And being chased by a dog (who caught me and proceeded to drool all over me.)  Please note: nobody set the dog on me.  I wasn’t canvassing for Labour. 

Councillor Read is an experienced, dedicated local politician, councillor and gentleman.  The people of Sutton clearly know that already, since many of them knew him personally when I knocked on their doors and had nothing but good things to say about him and his work.  He also has a donkey, which is kinda neat in my humble opinion.  How many people have a donkey in their backyard?

So, if you live in Sutton, maybe we met today!  If so, maybe you were one of the many people who told me on the doorstep how tired you were of Labour and how unenthused you were by the Lib Dem’s unlikely affectations and grandiose promises.  I couldn’t agree with you more.

Out n’ About
My own Campaign begins officially tomorrow.  Obviously I’ve been doing preparation and all sorts for quite some time.  But tomorrow is my first day of actual canvassing and leafletting.  The Conservative Office have done a great job of my literature and I’m really pleased with it.  Over the next month I’ll be in Wisbech Peckover, Leverington, Gorefield, Tydd St. Giles and Newton.  It is my intention to get around as much of the division as is humanly possible.  If I can do every house, I’ll consider that perfect.  That’s the target I’m aiming for.  If you live there and you see me, please say: “Hi!”.  And please remember to vote Conservative on June 4th.  Every vote counts. 

If you have any questions for me please don’t hesitate to;
phone (07831 616127)
Email me@stevetierney.org
or write : Steve Tierney, 6 Alexandra Road, Wisbech. PE13 1HQ.
 
The Small Print (legally required during election campaigns.)
Published by Mrs D N Clark on behalf of Steve Tierney both of 111 High Street, March, Cambs PE15 9LH.
  

Posted in Gorefield, Cambs. County Council, My Campaign, Wisbech, Leverington, Tydd St. Giles, Newton, Conservatives | No Comments »

15/04/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Local Action To Improve The A1101
The A1101, combining Leverington Road and on into Sutton Road is an infamous blackspot in our area for a number of reasons.The A1101 has too many accidents, too many near-misses, too much speeding and too much dangerous driving along it.  Everybody knows it.  It’s no secret.  The road has grown steadily in traffic flow and usage by heavy goods vehicles over recent years.  It is an important and busy trunk road from Cambridgeshire and into Lincolnshire. 

This week, a petition has been organised by one action group for one area of the road.   You have to admire them because they have fought long and hard to improve awareness of the dangers of the route.  So far, the response from the Powers That Be hasn’t been particularly inspired (in my humble opinion).  A few new signs saying things like: “XXX people have died in the last three years” and “Danger Of Death” or whatever are very dramatic and all, but are just a token response.  We need and deserve more.  It is vital that proper measures are taken before anybody else is killed.  It really is as urgent as that.

(Update: From the Fenland Citizen: Officials have pledged action including new warning signs, re-assessing the bends to see if double white lines can be installed and working in partnership with other agencies to place mobile speed cameras along the stretch.  Okay, that sounds a bit better than just the signs.  But I suspect more still will be needed!  Some traffic calming in built-up areas and some speed cameras would seem to be the least we could do!)

Also this week Leverington Road has made the front page of the local newspaper thanks to the inspired campaign of a local resident, Lisa Goddard.  Pitted with potholes and damage, vehicles thunder along the road causing unreasonable disturbance and discomfort for the residents unfortunate enough to live alongside.

I’ve made these points in writing to Fenland District Council and Cambridgshire County Council and I am now awaiting their response.  I hope the action they take will be speedy and positive.  It really isn’t much to ask that our main roads are kept in a good condition.  I want to be fair though.  Both our district and county councils are generally very good.  There is no reason why they cannot act promptly to address these issues now that the residents and I have raised them clearly and unequivocally.  I am confident this is what they’ll do.  It not… well, we’ll cross that bridge in a couple of months if we come to it.  If I need to put on my fighting gloves (metaphor) to get some action, I will.  I have been encouraged by the response from local councillors over this, though.  It looks like we’re all on the same page.

In the meantime, I’ve emailed Lisa Goddard offering my full support for any protest she wishes to stage (that is within the law, of course).  There is something wonderful about positive local activism.  People who are willing to stand up and be counted are a boon to any community and need our full support when they do so.  If any reader of the blog wants to offer Lisa their help, her number (shown on the front page of the newspaper) is 01945 587195.  I’m sure she’ll be glad of the additional support.

Posted in Fenland District Council, A1101, Cambs. County Council, Leverington, Newton, Tydd St. Giles | No Comments »

05/03/2009 by Steve Tierney.

A Tax On Oxygen
I’m sitting here reading the news that the Bank Of England has, today, begun its ‘Quantitative Easing’ (Printing Money.) We’ve all known it was coming. I’ve personally dreaded it because its a short-sighted and exceptionally dangerous thing to do. Trying to explain to people who aren’t interested in economics why money-printing is bad news is difficult because its easy to get bogged down in ‘clever’ terminology and mathematics. But everybody instinctively understands that you can’t conjure money from thin air. Not without serious consequences, anyway.  If you could, we all would.

The real truth about Quantitative Easing, as I’ve said before, is that it is a stealth tax. Every pound ‘printed’ devalues every other pound in the world. The more you print, the less the existing pounds are worth. So every time the government ‘invents’ another lot of cash, they are stealing directly from your pockets and from your bank accounts and from your future earnings. If you have UK Pounds stirling there is no way to avoid this stealth tax and since the Bank Of England has expressed their intention to continue printing each month this is an ongoing cumulative tax on us all. No specific one activity is being taxed, you can’t escape it and it’s not targeted at a specific industry or goods. Consequently, the best way to view it is as a tax on the air we breathe. That too would be inescapable and ongoing in the same way. I wonder if the government would get away with it if people made that comparison more often?

Campaign Launch
I’m presently working on the wording and photographs for my forthcoming campaign as County Councillor for the Roman Bank And Peckover Ward.  I’m standing (as you might guess) as a candidate for the Conservatives.  If anybody who reads this blog is interested in volunteering to help with the campaign; deliver leaflets, canvassing and other assistance, I’d gratefully welcome your help!  Give me a call on 07831 616127, or email me on me@stevetierney.org
The areas my ward includes are Wisbech North, Leverington, Gorefield, Newton and Tydd St. Giles, all in Cambridgeshire.

Posted in Gorefield, My Campaign, Wisbech, Leverington, Tydd St. Giles, Newton, Credit Crunch | No Comments »

16/01/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Another Runway
“We have to have another runway at Heathrow,” We are told, over and over again, by those who support the expansion (including the Government and a whole lot of people on all sides of the political spectrum). They then go on to forebode in doom-filled phrases the ’serious economic consequences’ of ‘not providing a hub that meets business demand’. I’ve got a couple of things to say about that. First, we do not have to have another runway. We have to have air to breathe. We have to have food to survive. But outside of the bare essentials of life required by biological organisms like us, we do not have to do anything else. So let’s give the ‘have’ a rest for a while. We may want to. We do not have to.

Now I’ve got that out of the way let’s look at this a bit more clearly. This is a divisive issue. People on both sides of the argument have got fair points and the consequences of doing the wrong thing at this point could be very serious. Some people want a new or expanded airport in the North to encourage prosperity somewhere other than London. Others swear that Heathrow is a ‘preferred’ option for international business, citing concerns that we’ll lose trade to other countries with better airports, and worry about our future prosperity. Boris Johnson wants a new airport in the Thames Estuary. The people who live around Heathrow don’t want their homes and communities crushed by the wheels of industry and commerce. These are all perfectly valid arguments. On a serious matter like this we have to listen to one another, debate and discuss all the options and come up with the best one.

What we need is a place where all parties involved, indeed all areas of the country, send a preferred representative to speak on their behalf. Then, all those representatives could discuss the matter, representing all the views involved clearly and honestly. At the end of the debate they could then have a free vote and make a decision which would at least have the authority and weight of democracy behind it. What could we call such a place and such a group of people? Parliament has a nice ring to it. Isn’t it time the government stopped crushing our historic democracy and let our MPs do their jobs in the traditional way? If we wanted dictatorship there are a whole bunch of wars we needn’t have fought and a whole lot of brave young men who didn’t need to sacrifice themselves in the prime of their lives.

The Parliamentary Mace
Yesterday a Labour MP, John McDonnell, picked up the Parliamentary Mace and placed it in front of the Labour Front bench. The mace is a silver gilt ornamental club of about five feet in length, dating from the reign of Charles II. It symbolises the royal authority by which Parliament meets and also the authority of the Speaker. On each day that the House is sitting the mace is carried to the chamber at the head of the Speaker’s procession by the Serjeant at Arms. It is placed on the table of the House, except when the House is in committee, when it rests on two brackets underneath the table. Interfering with the mace constitutes gross disorderly conduct and is a contempt of the House.

It was a courageous thing to do. One which will probably blight his political career with his party. Whether or not you agree with him over the Heathrow debate, everybody surely has to admire his integrity. He is in parliament to represent his constituents. He could have blithely accepted the ‘party line’ and sat on his hands, but he did not. He did the job he was elected to do, despite the potential personal consequences. I have a lot of admiration for that.

School Footpath - Tydd St. Giles.
I attended the Tydd St. Giles Parish Council meeting this week. As usual it was a well-conducted and interesting meeting. In particular I was struck by one item on the agenda, the fact that a request for funds for important maintenance work on the footpath outside Kinderley Primary School was rejected by Joint Highways. This sort of thing winds me up and I’ll tell you why. I acknowledge that money isn’t available for everything that might need doing everywhere. Times are hard, the council has a budget which has to be carefully managed. People put in their proposals and only some can be chosen each year. But what worries me is that one of the things used to choose which work can be done is the record of reported accidents and fatalities. It may seem logical that an area of Highway that has had three accidents probably needs work more urgently than one which has none. But this is a school! The consequences of waiting to do work on the dilapidated footpath outside the school until it has a record of accidents or fatalities is that when the work is finally done it may be because a small child has been a victim of some potentially-serious mishap. That is not an acceptable way to make a decision. We should be doing work to protect people from injury as necessary, not as a knee-jerk response to blood already spilt! I am taking this one up on behalf of the people of Tydd St. I’ll ask some questions and let you know how I get along. Wish me luck!

Newton Parish Council
A Parish Council meeeting in the village of Newton this week was a hotbed of debate about the possiblity of funding from Fenland District Council to assist in the building of new housing. In general, the councillors were in favour of the plans and agreed to move forwards with it for further consultation. Some concerns were voiced about how the new housing might be used. The preference was for it to be offered first to existing residents. The Councillors wanted to avoid the new houses being used as a convenient deposit for people who had been moved on from other areas due to problems. The two District Council Housing Officers who had come along to discuss the plans confirmed that this was indeed the route they wished to take too and that residents would be given first refusal on the properties. So it all sounds good for Newton! Great news.

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15/10/2008 by Steve Tierney.

Tonight, I had the pleasure of attending the Tydd St. Giles Parish Council meeting. I hope the people of Tydd St. Giles realise what an excellent team they have working for them! I was impressed by the commitment, organisation and passion I saw there. There were plenty of local issues discussed by the councillors, from planning through to streets and highways. But the highlight of the evening was the guest they had invited, a representative of the District Planning Office, Wendy Holland. The Councillors clearly felt that some tough questions needed to be asked and Ms Holland was pleased to try and answer them. After a great deal of pointed to-and-fro I felt the councillors had done a good job of expressing how strongly they feel about the need to properly consult local people about planning matters that may affect them. For her part, Ms. Holland provided concise and honest replies that were well received! I look forward to the next meeting, to be held on Thursday 15th January 2009, from 7PM. The Parish Council have recently introduced “public time” to their agenda, allowing people who live within the parish and express a wish to do so in advance to speak directly to them during their meetings. This sounds like an excellent idea and one which I think speaks very highly of them.

Looking at the wider picture , it seems like the stockmarket has plummeted again. A few friends of mine had recently jumped on the bandwagon proclaiming our Prime Minister a financial genius and I’d said to them, “don’t get too excited just yet. Let’s wait and see. Thing’s can change very quickly.” I even said as much (in so many words) publicly on the Fens Conservative Future message board. I’ve never been so sorry to be proven correct! Hard times are coming,everybody seems to agree. I’m glad I live in a country where people know how to pull together when times get tough and doubly glad I live in an area that epitomises that. Sure things are going to get grim for a while. But like most such storms, it won’t last forever. We just have to stick together and tighten our belts until the dark clouds have passed.

Posted in Tydd St. Giles, Credit Crunch, Conservatives | No Comments »