12 October 2009
INLA puts down its weapons
11 year ceasefire it has finally declared that the "armed struggle is over".
Since 1975 the INLA has been responsible for some of the most devastating
attacks linked with the Troubles. Although obviously good news, some may
wonder why it is worth commenting on. The announcement has local resonance
as it was the INLA that murdered Airey Neave with a car bomb in Westminster
in 1979. Airey Neave was amongst other things MP for the then Abingdon
constituency, a great national and local figure.
09 October 2009
King Alfed exhibition opens
I was delighted to be invited to the opening of a year long exhibition at Vale & Downland Museum entitled "Alfred the Great: Warrior and Visionary King". The event and exhibition we both sponsored by David Wilson Homes who tonight presented a cheque for £1,500 to museum chairman, Terry Fraser. The evening was attended by the great and the good, museum volunteers, the Chairman of Grove Parish Council, the Mayor of Wantage and our very own Ed Vaizey MP.
Phil Harding of Channel Four's Time Team introduced the exhibition with evident passion about our own King of the Saxons.
08 October 2009
Family, community, country
No-one will doubt David Cameron's pain at the loss of his son and the passion he holds for the NHS as a result. I firmly believe that the anger over an effective 96% tax rate on some of the poorest people in Britain, was just as genuine.
No doubt Channel 4 and the Grauniad will be keen to portray today's speech as cynical positioning, but that is simply naive. Yes, of course the speech was intended to score some points and resonate with target voters but that does not necessarily make it any less sincere. The Conservatives have a passion for Britain and a passion for making Britain better, we have to, we are part of Britain. As has been repeated more than once this week, we're in it together.
02 October 2009
Grants cut as direct result of accounting errors
29/9/9) the Lib Dem Leader of the Council has proposed that the grants
budget, the money that the Council can give to worthwhile and important
community groups, be cut by £15,000. The final decision will be taken at
today's Executive meeting.
Theft from Council offices
Abingdon. This has rightly been kept confidential during the investigation,
but is clearly of public interest as it is a not insubstantial sum of public
money that has been stolen.
The police declined to undertake a full investigation, instead relying on
the Council to carry out its own investigation. After several weeks it
remained unclear exactly when the theft took place, narrowed down only to a
three day period.
This is an extremely serious matter, and I do not believe that the response
from the police or the council has been adequate. There have clearly been
management failings, and I have written to the Chief Constable expressing my
concerns that no further action was taken.
Recommendations have been made to prevent future breaches in security, but
these have been kept confidential by the council. No evidence has been
discovered that identifies a suspect.
Use it or lose it
Benefit surgeries in Faringdon to help local people. These services are
currently under threat due to lack of support. I have managed to secure a
reprieve for the surgeries. I believe that more work should be done to
promote them locally before abandoning them. The next surgery is on 29th
October at the Pump Rooms, 9.30-12noon. Clearly if people don't want or need
this service then there is no justification for keeping it, but we have a
second chance to publicise it more widely.
More carrot & less stick
of their campaigns. Leader of the Conservatives in the Vale have written to
the local press, calling for a discount to be given to those paying for
their brown bins by direct debit. He has also requested the Chief Executive
of the Council to investigate the possibility.
The reason for the proposal stems from the Council's failure to collect
payments for the bin, racking up around £40,000 of unpaid bills. Direct
debits are cheaper to administer, saving public money, and are easier to
collect, encouraging the public to use the option is common sense.
However another common sense idea has been ruined by the Lib Dem run Vale.
It has been announced from 1st January, rather than offering a discount for
those on direct debit, the Lib Dems will increase the charge for anyone who
doesn't use the method. This will be a further tax on the worst off in
society, those who do not have bank accounts that allow them to set up
direct debits. Conservative Leader, Matthew Barber, said, "This is
disgraceful. The Council will save money by encouraging people to use direct
debits, but they are not passing these savings on to customers."
The Lib Dems are going to penalise people who do not pay by direct debit, by
charging them £5 more each time they pay for their brown bin.
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