To translate or not to translate......that is the question

After pinching UKIP's former immigration policy it is fantastic to see the Labour Government are now pinching UKIP's Policy on foreign language translation of official documents.

For several years UKIP have been against the automatic translation of public sector documents into a wide range of languages. In almost my first meeting as a re-elected UKIP Councillor in 2006 I asked Hartlepool Council to look at the necessity of including on Ward Surgery Notices translations into several languages that no-one in my ward actually spoke. Predictably the debate went nowhere as the LIB/LAB/CON (and some Independents it must be said), almost fought each other to be first to demonstrate their Politically Correct Credentials by denouncing as racist even the questioning of the necessity of multiple language translations.

I think I even used the words that the government guidelines now quote "Is it essential that this material is translated - and what is the evidence of both need or that people will be disadvantaged without it?" I have tabled another question on this matter for the December 13th Council Meting. I wonder if the LIB/LAB/CON will be so keen to denounce the Labour Government guidelines as they were to denounce me?

Eat British Food.

Gordon Brown may be keen to be seen as “British” but his government is far from patriotic when it comes to buying British food.

On average half of all the food served in public sector organisations is imported. Almost 40 per cent of food stuffs which could be produced in Britain is flown or shipped into the country. The government’s own figures (Source: Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative) showed between July 2006 to June 2007 that 40% of the beef eaten across Government is imported, 60% of all mutton and lamb in Whitehall comes in from abroad and 75% of beans and peas served in the NHS are foreign.

There is a huge gulf between the words of “British” politicians and the reality of what is on their plates. The Treasury, the Ministry of Defence and HM Revenue and Customs being the worst offenders. The official Whitehall line on where food comes from is that discriminating in favour of local producers would breach EU law.

Leave aside any talk of "food miles" and the environmental impact of sending basic foodstuffs half way round the world. Can you imagine a French or Spanish Minister of Agriculture tolerating a situation where their military were not fed home produced food? Indeed about the only thing the French or Spanish will be eating that is not home produced will be fish since thanks to Brussels control of our fishing grounds British Fish is now available right across the European Union. Unfortunately very little of this fish is caught by British Fishermen whose livelihoods, like those of many Hartlepool skippers and crews, have been destroyed by the EU Common Fisheries Policy.

... and now live from Hartlepool Council Chamber ...

It’s not all toil at the political coalface for us Councillors. Just returned from as very pleasant evening at the Camerons Club in Waldon Street. A fundraiser for the Christian Aid Christmas Appeal and the Greatham Sports Field Association. A local band “The Hobbies” were playing and they were very good. Their website (www.thehobbies.co.uk) says they have only been together for a year. They started playing as a hobby (hence the name) but are now getting gigs and from what I could see of them they are really enjoying themselves. Good luck to them in the future.

During the evening I chatted with Jason Anderson, of Radio Hartlepool, and congratulated him, again, on the award of the licence. Their website (http://www.radiohartlepool.co.uk) is currently under development but will no doubt be ready to rock and roll when the station goes fully live. I suggested to Jason that Radio Hartlepool might like to broadcast Hartlepool Council Meetings, possibly late evening as something that would help people drop off to sleep. As we talked it actually started to seem more and more like a good idea, whether this is a result of the beer we had consumed I couldn’t say. However I do think I might see what the reaction to the suggestion would be should I raise it at next week’s Council Meeting!

Zero Council Tax

Hartlepool Council hold £32 million pounds in their reserves and it has been suggested we could use some of this to pay off Council borrowings or even support services without increasing Council Taxes for at least the next few years.

However, according to the Finance Department the reserves enable Hartlepool Council to make an investment income of approximately £270,000 a year. So if we used reserves to repay debt owed by the council then we would lose this income. However, as we would not be paying interest on borrowings we surely would be better off in the long term?

Not so says the Fiance Department. Interest payable on loans was only 4.21% last year and earnings on cash investments were 5.07% (which isn't THAT good! and 5.07% of £32 million is actually about £1.6million so working backwards from £270,000 income at 5.07% only about £5.5 million of the £32million is actually invested? Where is the other £26million?).

If Hartlepool Council can borrow at 4.21% and get an investment income of 5.07% then I suggest Hartlepool Council go out and borrow a billion pounds. We can then cut the Council Tax to zero and live off the investment income.

Sad Loss

It was with some considerable sadness that I learned of the death of James Atkinson at the weekend and my deepest sympathy goes out to his family.

It was only recently that I discovered James and my father actually served together in their Navy Days. James was serving on board a Royal Navy Destroyer escorting a convoy to Korea and my father was a Merchant Navy Officer on board a troopship in the same convoy. I personally served with James on the Unit Management Committee at the Hartlepool Sea Cadet Unit and on the Board of Governors of the Hartlepool Sixth Form College. I was also a member for several years of the Hartlepool Rotary Club of which Jim was a regular attender.

James was a gentleman in the real sense of the word and will be missed by many in Hartlepool.

Member's Seminar

One of the many meetings and events I get invited to as a local councillor is a series of briefings entitled "Members Seminars"

These are timetabled into the Civic Diary at 10.00am on the first Tuesday of every month. They are often cancelled due to nothing to discuss (or nothing that they want Back Bench Councillors like me to know about). Unfortunately a register is taken at these seminars, not going means your are marked absent and so it affects your official attendance figures at the end of the year.

Today's seminar was about Educational Achievement in Hartlepool in 2006-7 and the targets for 2007-8. Out of 47 Councillors a grand total of 14 turned up. 6 independents, 3 lib-dems, 4 Labour and me for UKIP. No Conservatives made it to the Seminar. I thought "Education, Education, Education" was the mantra!

Anyway it was very interesting, full of positive messages about how wonderful Hartlepool Education is, how all our schools are improving like mad, educational attainment is going through the roof, absences (truancy) is falling, exam results are going up, fantastic news. Of course Hartlepool Council policy is NEVER to admit anything is less than perfect otherwise you are accused of bringing the town down. Now I am 100% in favour of encouragement and rewarding achievements but the "all must have prizes" philosophy is not one I subscribe to.

The entire seminar was aimed at saying how well the underachieving schools had improved, how much support there was available for pupils who were not achieving 5 A* to C Grade GCSE's, how exclusions were being brought down by targeted assistance to pupils with problems and an especial plea to Councillors present to ensure the local paper was given the right message about why one school was much worse (in performance table terms) than any of the others.

However, the atmosphere got a little frosty when I enquired about the other end of the spectrum. What support were we giving gifted and talented pupils to enable them to achieve to their potential. Unfortunately we ran out of time before that point could be really answered. I am sure Hartlepool Council is supporting its gifted and talented pupils just as much as it is supporting its less academically able. Obviously however this is not something that can be talked about!

UKIP Alnwick Meeting tonight

UKIP Alnwick Meeting tonight for Members, Supporters and Enquirers. UKIP Alnwick is very lucky to have a dedicated meeting room provided by one of our longest standing members and the Branch is now holding regular meetings in Alnwick. UKIP Alnwick have already adopted a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the next General Election, have contested seats in the 2007 local elections and are now looking into the possibility of a Parish Poll in the Town.

Gordon Brown seems determined that the Treaty of Lisbon (The EU Reform Treaty) will pass into British Law without a referendum of the people. This is despite the overwhelming evidence that the Reform Treaty is to all intents and purposes the Constitution upon which we were promised the chance to have our say in a referendum. Parish Polls, while not binding in law, are a good way to show support for a particular issue. Parish Polls around the Country on the question of the EU Reform Treaty have overwhelmingly been in favour of letting the people have their say in a referendum.

Is "Gifting" money a legitimate way of avoiding income tax?

The Electoral Commission appear to be looking into the cash donations through third parties to the Labour Party. It also occurred to me that rules on avoidance of Inheritance tax take a very dim view of people who "give away" huge sums for up to seven years prior to their death. I don't think there is a specific exemption for people who give money to a third party in order for it to be given to the Labour Party but then a party which sells seats in the House of Lords would probably not think twice about granting its friends special exemptions. If I gave away a few thousand quid I think there are quite strict rules about how much I can give and to whom before I would need to declare it on my income tax form as a capital transfer.

Similarly if someone gave me a few thousand pounds I assume I would need to declare it's receipt as a gift on my income tax form. Not sure if I would then pay tax on it as "unearned income" or if it would just carry over for the seven years until the inheritance tax taper relief ran down. Of course if gifting money was a legitimate way of avoiding income tax then I'm sure small builders would be happy to do jobs for nothing but get a thank you"gift" when the work was completed!

So I wonder if Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs are onto this one as well as the Electoral Commission?

fingers caught in the till

According to a story in the Sunday Newspapers money has been donated to the Labour Party in the name of someone who knows nothing about it.

In this case that money must be an illegal donation and forfeit to the Treasury?

How do you change your fingerprint?

People are asking if the proposed ID card scheme can survive the recent data security cock-up. The government are pressing ahead claiming “biometrics” will make everything safe. However, biometrics would not have stopped last week’s data leak because it didn’t happen due to unauthorised access to data, it happened because of incompetent management of the data, cost cutting and human error.

It has now been announced that a simple method, using food gelatine, has been developed, that for less than £20 a go, can fool fingerprint detectors 4 times out of 5.

Biometrics won’t even prevent ID theft. It might even make it easier! Passports and ID Cards will store fingerprint data as a series of numbers on a wireless Chip. These chips can be read with a device near you, but not touching you, similar to a Bluetooth mobile phone. The government claim this doesn’t matter since it is not possible to recreate a fingerprint using the numbers stored on a Passport or ID Card. Unfortunately once again they are wrong! An academic paper published in April showed that mathematicians could reconstruct a fingerprint from this data. To prove the point they printed out the images they made, and then used the food gelatine trick to successfully fool fingerprint readers.

However, the really worrying thing is that once your fingerprint has been stolen and used by thieves or terrorists what can you do? It’s easy to change a stolen PIN Number but how do you change your fingerprint?

St.Hilda Christmas Fair

Rosie and I spent a hard morning failing to collect a package from a courier (was looking for a depot on Maypole Way and it was actually Maple Way!). We went to the St.Hilda Christmas Fair in the Borough Hall in the afternoon. It always amazes me how many people manage not to see me, but as I said to one resident I’m not getting stabbed in the back as much as I used to, but only because there isn’t much room left for any more knives. I did manage to get some nice things for various Christmas presents and some home made cakes which will be eaten almost immediately. The tombola stalls did very well out of my children as usual!

The afternoon was spent getting my son his first grown up suit, and I mean grown up, at fifteen and a half years old he is already four inches taller than me, I don't know where he gets it from? The suit is for his initial interviews for the Royal Navy which he is going to on Wednesday next week. He looks very smart though I say so myself. Tonight I am off to Darlington and might be back late if I'm lucky........

Lib/Lab/Con 80% identical so why does it matter which one you support?

So the former Lib-Dem Candidate for Hartlepool has defected to the Conservatives. Considering that Labour, Lib-Dem and Conservative policies on at least 80% of issues are identical I don’t see it makes much difference which one of the LIB/LAB/CON you support.

It’s rather like shopping for frozen food. Some people prefer one brand over another or even swear by a Supermarket own brand. In fact almost all frozen foods come from a small number of producers. The only difference in most cases is the name on the box. Marketing people use such tricks to give an appearance of choice to the consumer when it’s the same pap inside regardless of which one you buy. Smaller producers with a unique product never reach mass market because supermarkets won’t stock their product. Again similar to politics. Mass circulation newspapers and TV Channels are only interested in the LIB/LAB/CON and rarely report on smaller parties such as UKIP, which do have something different to say.

Therefore I’m not going to get excited over a defection from Lib-Dems to Tories, or any other defection amongst the big three parties. They are just a smokescreen anyway since all three of them are committed to the European Union project and all thee want to see this country ruled by Brussels Commissioners rather than elected members of our own parliament. So when you listen to the Lib/Lab/Con remember, they can say what they like but ultimately Brussels will decide what they do. The only real differences between the three are packaging, the content is the same.

Stephen Allison
UKIP Councillor
St.Hilda Ward
Hartlepool Unitary Authority

"My Favourite Things" over 60's version

To commemorate her 69th birthday actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall. One of the numbers she performed was "My Favourite Things" from the "Sound Of Music."

Here are the actual lyrics she used:

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favourite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts, and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favourite things.

When the pipes leak, when the bones creak, when the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favourite things, and then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favourite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no need for sinning,
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinning,
and we won't mention our short, shrunken frames,
When we remember our favourite things.

When the joints ache, when the hips break, when the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had, And then I don't feel so bad.

(Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd)

Ahoy QE2

Hartlepool's Mayor appears to have enjoyed his trip to the Tall Ships Conference in Liverpool. He seemed very impressed by Liverpool's success in attracting Cruise Liners to the port, something he has often mentioned he would like to see in Hartlepool and good luck to him with turning an aspiration into a reality.

Unfortunately, what Stuart failed to mention was that Liverpool has had cruise liners docking there for over a century. Liverpool’s Pier Head was opened in the late nineteenth century specifically to serve the trans-Atlantic liner service. A small outfit called the Cunard Line (anyone heard of it?) had its European headquarters in Liverpool from 1914 until the 1960's when it was taken over by British shipping and industrial conglomerate Trafalgar House. The grand neo-Classical Cunard Building was the third of Liverpool Pier Head's “Three Graces” (Royal Liver Building and Port of Liverpool Building being the other two).

It might also be of interest that a statue on the waterfront in Halifax (Nova Scotia) commemorates Samuel Cunard and the founding of the Cunard Line. There is also a special display on the Cunard Line in the Steamship Gallery of the city's Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. No doubt Hartlepool's Globe Trotting Mayor will be able to see these things first hand during his visit to the 2008 Tall Ships Conference, which will be held in, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Great Data Disaster of 2007

Predictably Hartlepool's (Labour) MP is featured in the local Paper tonight parroting his party line and urging people not to panic over the missing financial and personal information that has disappeared to who knows where. As a result of this latest incompetence by our beloved Labour Government there are millions of people all over the country in the process of changing their pins and passwords. Every time from now on that they go to the ATM and struggle to remember their new number I just hope they'll be reminded of the reason they had to change it.

too true..

Fantastic line from UK Independence Party MEP Derek Clark

"When will politicians realise that George Orwell's 1984 was a warning, not an instruction manual?"

Regional Control Rooms......too late to complain now

A rare event happened to me today. I opened my e-mail in-box and there was an e-mail from the Mayor! Unfortunately it was just a round robin sent to every Councillor and wasn’t actually from the Mayor. It was sent following a request from the Chairman of Cleveland Emergency Planning Group to publicise the proposed closure of the Teesside Ambulance Control Room and the re-location of the control to Tyneside.

No hint on the e-mail as to whether Stuart was for or against the proposal but then that’s Stuart’s Leadership Style. Unless the matter concerns Hartlepool United, the Tall Ships or gets his picture in the Hartlepool Mail then Stuart shies away from expressing a definite opinion on anything. If there is the slightest chance he might back the wrong horse then he is conspicuous by his silence. After the race is over then Stuart will always have backed the winner, even if he didn’t say so until the result was declared. Very clever politics but not great leadership!

As regards the closure I am surprised that anyone cares. For years I tried, unsuccessfully, to warn about the closure of the Cleveland Fire Brigade Control room and its relocation to “Regional Control” at Belmont Business Park, Durham. The new control centre is expected to be operational in 2008 and from then on the North East control centre will be the first point of contact for members of the public seeking assistance through the ‘999’ system from fire and rescue services in Hartlepool, Stockton, Redcar, Middlesbrough, Northumberland, Tyneside, Wearside, Durham and Darlington.

If the setting up of a Regional Fire Control centre in Durham has been accepted then how can a Regional Ambulance Control on Tyneside be any different? The North East may have rejected an elected North East Assembly but the Regionalisation agenda continues to move forward unhindered.

THAT is how it's done folks!

I have absolutely no idea if this is a true story. I am just passing it on because even if it isn't true you know these types of things happen. It is all in the way you sell it!!!

Judy Wallman, a professional genealogical researcher, discovered that Hillary Clinton's great-great uncle, Remus Rodham, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription: 'Remus Rodham; horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.'

Judy e-mailed Hillary Clinton for comments. Hillary's staff of professional image adjusters sent back the following biographical sketch:

'Remus Rodham was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory . His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad.

Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad.

In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.'

THAT's how it's done folks!-

Leith Police

Just had to share this email apparently sent to the Edinburgh Police Force, lengthy but absolutely brilliantly written. The identity of the author is removed to protect his (or her) human right to privacy......lol....

Dear Sir/madam/automated telephone answering service

Having spent the past twenty minutes waiting for someone at Leith police station to pick up a telephone I have decided to abandon the idea and try e-mailing you instead. Perhaps you would be so kind as to pass this message on to your colleagues in Leith by means of smoke signal, carrier pigeon or ouji board.

As I'm writing this e-mail there are eleven failed medical experiments (I think you call them youths) in West Cromwell Street which is just off Commercial Street in Leith. Six of them seem happy enough to play a game which involves kicking a football against an iron gate with the force of a meteorite. This causes an earth shattering CLANG! which rings throughout the entire building. This game is now in it's third week and as I am unsure how the scoring system works, I have no idea if it will end any time soon.

The remaining five walking abortions are happily rummaging through several bags of rubbish and items of furniture that someone has so thoughtfully dumped beside the wheelie bins. One of them has found a saw and is setting about a discarded chair like a beaver on speed. I fear that it's only a matter of time before they turn their limited attention to the bottle of calor gas that is lying on it's side between the two bins. If they could be relied on to only blow their own arms and legs off then I would happily leave them to it. I would even go so far as to lend them the matches.

Unfortunately they are far more likely to blow up half the street with them and I've just finished decorating the kitchen.

What I suggest is this. after replying to this e-mail with worthless assurances that the matter is being looked into and will be dealt with, why not leave it until the one night of the year (probably bath night) when there are no mutants around then drive up the street in a panda car before doing a three point turn and disappearing again. This will of course serve no other purpose than to remind us what policemen actually look like.

I trust that when I take a claw hammer to the skull of one of these throwbacks you'll do me the same courtesy of giving me a four month head start before coming to arrest me.

I remain sir, your obedient servant

Signed ?????????

REPLY

I have read your e-mail and understand you frustration at the problems caused by youths playing in the area and the problems you have encountered in trying to contact the police. As the Community Beat Officer for your street I would like to extend an offer of discussing the matter fully with you. Should you wish to discuss the matter, please provide contact details (address / telephone number) and when may be suitable.

Regards

PC ????????????? Community Beat Officer

RESONSE

Dear PC ?????

First of all I would like to thank you for the speedy response to my original e-mail. 16 hours and 38 minutes must be a personal record for Leith Police station and rest assured that I will forward these details to Norris McWhirter for inclusion in his next book.

Secondly I was delighted to hear that our street has it's own community beat officer. May I be the first to congratulate you on your covert skills. In the five or so years I have lived in West Cromwell Street, I have never seen you. Do you hide up a tree or have you gone deep undercover and infiltrated the gang itself? Are you the one with the acne and the moustache on his forehead or the one with a chin like a wash hand basin? It's surely only a matter of time before you are head hunted by MI5.

Whilst I realise that there may be far more serious crimes taking place in Leith such as smoking in a public place or being White without due care and attention, is it too much to ask for a policeman to explain (using words of no more than two syllables at a time) to these twats that they might want to play their strange football game elsewhere. The pitch behind the Citadel or the one at DKs are both within spitting distance as is the bottom of the Albert Dock.

Should you wish to discuss these matters further you should feel free to contact me on ??? ????. If after 25 minutes I have still failed to answer, I'll buy you a large one in the Compass Bar.

Regards

Signed ?????

Hartlepool's (Real) Heroes

It’s not often I agree with Hartlepool’s MP. His use of the Hartlepool Fishermen was a cynical ploy when he knows the European Union Common Fisheries Policy is what controls British Fishing. Similarly his protests about the closure of Hartlepool Hospital are hollow posturing when it is his party that is shutting the place. During the 2004 by-election the Labour Party made promise after promise about the Hospital, all of course forgotten once the votes were counted. If Hartlepool’s MP had any integrity he would resign over the hospital services being cut.

However, I must agree with him about Remembrance Sunday. Looking at the row upon row of names of Hartlepool men and women who have given their lives for this country always makes me feel humble and proud.

There is currently a move in the town to name new streets after Hartlepool’s Heroes. I appreciate that some people within the Civic Centre seem to think the only thing that matters is the football club and its supporters but to me the term “Hartlepool’s Heroes” would be much better assigned to those men and women whose names are carved into the war memorials, rather than to professional footballers.

How about naming the streets after the men and women of Britain's armed forces, merchant marine, and supporting services who really did give their all for us. That would show real remembrance rather than just putting on a poppy for a few hours every year!

Tall Ships Project Board

The costs for the Tall Ships race continue to be a little hazy but according to the Mayor the current gross cost estimate for the Tall Ships is £2,285,000. Unfortunately these figures were given in a verbal answer to my question to full Council and I'll have to wait for the minutes to verify I noted them down correctly.

However as far as I can make out the current cost breakdown estimates are:

Event Technical/Infrastructure               £510k
Traffic Management/berthing                  £450k
Organisers and crew hospitality              £375k
Health and Safety, security/medical etc      £290k
Project team personnel costs                 £290k
Event professional fees/entertainment etc    £200k
Marketing and Evaluation                     £170k

In April the Cabinet approved a Tall Ships Project Board composed of Councillors to receive regular progress reports and make strategic decisions on the Council's inputs (Cabinet Minute 6.2 on 07.04.02). So far this board has not met, nor, as far as I am aware have the Councillors to sit upon it been selected. (I don't expect to be asked by the way!)

From April 2007 to August 2010 is 40 months. It is now November 2007, that means  nearly 8 of the 40 months have now gone past, 8/40 is one fifth of the total duration of the project. Does this mean NO strategic decisions have been made in this period? The selection of the Project Officer was fairly important I would suggest, no need to involve Councillors in that decision obviously. The development of the budget from £800,000 to £2,285,000 could be seen as quite important, but again no need to involve Councillors in these decisions either. The setting up of "work stream task groups" was announced in the Hartlepool Mail before any of the none cabinet Councillors were given any input to the process. Obviously not a matter Councillors need to be concerned about either!

But not to worry, its only public money and its not like Councillors have any responsibility to spend it wisely. 4.9% Council Tax increase anyone??

Figures just don't add up.......

A few weeks ago at the Trafalgar night dinner on board the HMS Trincomalee the assembled guests were told that the ship had had its best year to date, with 50,000 visitors to the ship. Fifty thousand visitors are a credible number but need too be increased substantially before the ship will show an operating profit.

As a professional Project Manager I can’t help but look at figures and start working out “what ifs” So, let’s put that number in perspective. For the tall ships race weekend in 2010 there are being projected 1,000,000 visitors to the town. Consider if just 1 in 10 of these people decides to visit the Historic Quay. Of these half of them decide to go on board the Trincomalee. That will have the equivalent of the current annual number of visitors going through the ship in just three days. Even if the ship was open 20 hours a day for the three day tall ships visit then that works out at a visitor going on board HMS Trincomalee every 4 to 5 seconds for the full 60 hours.

I am 100% behind the desire for the Tall Ships Race to be a triumph for Hartlepool, but I am having great difficulty making the figures add up at the moment. I live in hope that someone can prove me wrong!

We will remember them

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Ghost Ships and Tall Ships

So the Ghost Ships Saga is all over bar the shouting and even the Mayor has finally come off the fence on the issue by criticising the Planning Committee for its stance and the potential legal bills faced by the Council.

Unfortunately for the Mayor I believe a major contributing factor to the whole sorry mess has been the Mayor’s failure to provide clear leadership. Under the Mayoral System if the Mayor and his cabinet had made their support for the ships clear four years ago then the issue would have been sorted out sooner since the powers of the average, non-executive Councillor are trivial when compared to those of the Mayor and his chosen cabinet.

My own position has always been not that we couldn’t dismantle the ships but that we shouldn't dismantle them there? Amongst other things jobs are now being used to justify the decision. Hundreds of jobs may be created but, in my opinion, they will be mainly low skill work and will almost inevitably go to migrant labour, not residents of Hartlepool.

From day one as a Hartlepool Councillor I have been told the future for Hartlepool is in tourism and service industries. Ship dismantling and waste dumps are hardly compatible with that type of future. Following this decision Hartlepool Council needs to seriously look at their regeneration policies. Hartlepool will never attract white collar workers. Just look at when the MOD were rationalising their stores depots a few years ago. The choice was an overcrowded, very expensive site near Bath or a huge, underutilised site near Eaglescliffe. The jobs went to Bath!

Hartlepool is a northern, industrial town. The ghost ships decision proves that. If Hartlepool Council, are serious about regeneration then they should stop the fantasy about tourism and start looking for real jobs. Let's start lobbying now for a new nuclear power station! That would be 100’s of direct jobs and 100’s more supporting service jobs for the next 60 to 100 years. A new Power Station would bring real money into the town and the jobs would be real, high skill, long term jobs. Unfortunately the only things exciting Hartlepool Council at the moment appears to be Hartlepool United Football Club and of course the Tall ships race. Unfortunately neither of these will build a long term, sustainable economy in Hartlepool and definitely not the Tall Ships Race which will be a three day wonder that the Council taxpayers will be paying for for years.

Latest News....from 2006!

When I started this blog I thought it would be easy to do a brief snipped every day; however it’s definitely not a simple as that. Firstly there is the problem of what to write about, it’s not the shortage of subjects that’s the problem! It’s what to choose amongst the mass of possible topics.

So, here’s a quick one. When I asked the Mayor about the introduction of alternate weekly rubbish collections he told Hartlepool Council that since its inception recycling has risen from 19% to 38%. Unfortunately just 24 hours earlier Hartlepool Council Press Office had issued a release claiming recycling in the town is a huge success and domestic waste recycling in Hartlepool is currently running at its highest ever level - 27.7%

Stuart’s explanation of the discrepancy?

Hartlepool Press Office had used figures that were a year old!

Well that’s OK then, we wouldn’t want to mislead people by giving out up to date information would we!

Death of UK Fishing

The Fisheries Minister and Hartlepool’s MP no doubt hope they scored lots of political points when they visited Hartlepool. How much practical assistance the visit will give to the remnants of the Hartlepool Fishing Fleet is highly debatable.

The current crisis in UK fishing is the result of many years of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. UK Fishing grounds are controlled from Brussels not Westminster. UK politicians have as much real influence over fishing policy as they do over the weather fishermen encounter on the few days they are allowed to put to sea.

While the UK remains within the European Union then British fishing will continue its inevitable decline. Any fishing that survives in Hartlepool in a few years time may only be as a subsidised tourist attraction. Visitors might be able to visit the “Historic Fishing Quay” to see how fishing used to be an important industry in Hartlepool.

The European Union has no interest in a continued fishing industry in the UK. The only thing any British politician can offer is sympathy and platitudes. The only way to save British Fishing is to withdraw from the European Union and close our fishing grounds to foreign fleets. Iceland pulled out of EU membership to protect its fishing industry and the Norwegian Fishing fleet is much more sensibly and sustainably managed outside the bureaucracy of the EU.

Fishing is not the first British industry sacrificed to the European Union Project and I doubt it will be the last.

Q and A

Loads of people ask me who can be a Councillor and how do they go about it. Below are some common Questions I've been asked.

Q. Am I eligible to stand for Council?
A. You must be a 18 years of age or more (there is no maximum), UK, EU or Commonwealth citizen and either live, work or in some cases own property in the local authority area where you want to stand.

Q. How much time does it take up?
A. As with everything else that depends upon how much time you want to give it. The legal minimum is one meeting every six months, if you don't attend then you loose your seat. The maximum is every waking hour! New Councillors often try to do far too much. Constituency work should be a few hours a week, committee work then depends on which committees you sit on, the more committees the more hours. Six to ten hours a week, sometimes in the evenings, but often during the working day is typical. By the time I've read all the papers, attended meetings and committees and sorted out ward matters I usually do about 15 hours a week in total. Sometimes less but often more.

Q. Do I get paid?
A. No. BUT you do get an allowance and expenses. These vary from Council to Council and the work you do. All Councillors get a basic allowance (typically £5,000 a year) but cabinet members and committee chairmen get more. Councillors on £15,000 to £20,000 a year are not uncommon and of course an Elected Mayor is on much, much more than that. Allowances are subject to tax.

Q. I work in local Government. Can I stand?
A. You cannot be an elected member of a local authority where you work. BUT if you live in one local authority area but work in a different area then you can stand for the area where you live unless you are in a post that is bared from political involvement.

Q. How much does it cost?
A. It costs nothing to stand for local Council. There is no deposit like there is for Parliamentary seats. Where you will incur costs are those associated with the campaign, for example leaflet printing, copying, stamps etc. BUT how much you spend on this is mainly up to you. Typical around £100 will be enough.

Q. Is there a maximum I can spend?
A. Yes. Different elections have different amounts made up of a lump sum plus so much per elector on the electoral register. Typically £500 to £600 will be the maximum amount you can spend.

Q. How do I get on the ballot paper?
A. You must submit a Nominations paper signed by a proposer and a seconder plus eight others (called assenters) who are on the electoral register for the ward you wish to contest.

Q. Where do I get a Nomination Paper?
A. Nomination Papers are issued by the local Council elections office. You should contact them as soon as you decide to stand so that they can prepare the Nomination pack (includes a copy of the electoral register, a candidates guide and a statement of the maximum you can spend in the campaign in that ward). Nominations will open late March and remain open for about a week. The nomination period varies slightly from Local authority to local authority.

Q. How do I get to be a UKIP Candidate?
A. In order to be a UKIP Candidate you must submit with your Nomination Paper a Certificate from the Party authorising you to be a Party Candidate. These certificates are issued by Party Deputy Nominating Officers, usually the Branch Chairman or Regional Organiser.

Q. Do I need an Agent?
A. The agent is responsible for all spending and legal aspects of the campaign. Such as completing a declaration of expenses (usually 35 days after polling day) and ensuring all campaign items have the imprint on them. Most local election candidates are their own agent although some Branches will have someone as the Branch Agent who acts as Agent for all the candidates from that Branch.

Q. What's an “Imprint?”
A. All election material must show the name and address of the publisher/promoter (usually the Candidate or the Agent) and the name and address of the printer. This is a legal requirement.

Q. Is there any Training available?
A. Most regions run Candidate training days. Contact your Regional Office for details.

Q. How do I campaign?
A. There are many ways of campaigning. Usually candidates produce a leaflet and distribute it door to door. Some Candidates do multiple leaflets but of course that costs more money.

Q. What about Door to Door Canvassing?
A. This is the best way to campaign but very time consuming. A door to door canvas campaign typically starts a year before the election.

Q. Can I put adverts in the press or posters on lamp posts?
A. Press Adverts are OK, but don’t exceed your maximum spending limit. Posters on lamp posts are allowed by some local authorities and not by others. You local Council elections office will tell you the local rules

Q. Are Postal votes important?
A. Typically 80% of registered postal voters will vote so reaching them is important. Postal voting starts up to 2 weeks before polling day so the date postal voting starts is a key one in your campaign plan.

Q. You mentioned a Campaign Plan. What’s that?
A. Getting elected is like a military operation. You need a plan. There are key dates you need to know (such as when Nomination Packs are available for collection, when completed Nomination Papers must be submitted, postal voting starts, etc) and key events that you need to attend (for example local resident association may ask all the candidates to address them). These items for a basic campaign plan. You should then plan leaflet delivery, door to door canvassing, meet the people opportunities (pension day at the local post office, Market day in the High Street, etc). All these activities need to be planned and of course fit in around your day job. If you fail to plan then you plan to fail.

Q. After I’m elected then what?
A. You local Authority should have an induction program for new councillors. However, you should contact UKIP immediately after your election so that UKIP can offer you on-going support

Q. If I don’t get elected when should I start my next campaign?
A. Immediately. The best time to campaign is actually when there is no election due. People appreciate that you are not only around when your are chasing their vote. Also during a campaign all the parties are out so you are just one voice amongst many.

Q. I have loads more questions. Who should I contact?
A. Steve Allison, he is a UKIP Councillor on Hartlepool Borough Council.
E-mail steve.allison@hartlepol.gov.uk drop him a line anytime.

You can't do right for doing wrong

As a Councillor there is one thing I can guarantee. No matter what I do or say it will please some people while at the same time causing others to curse my name and tell me they will never vote for me again. You can't do right for doing wrong is a common phrase in my home.

It therefore made me smile to read some recent advice regarding home security. I have only just got the hang of going round turning everything off, unplugging the TV and anything else that could be left on standby, switching off unnecessary lights and ensuring I conserve as much energy as possible. My carbon footprint has been getting smaller ever day. However, I am now being urged to leave lights on when I go out to fool burglars into thinking someone is at home. It's not so long ago that a radio playing was also considered a good idea, although the Fire Brigade were not too keen on electrical appliances being left switched on in empty homes.

So do I switch off, stop wasting electricity and reduce my carbon footprint or do I light up, switch on and try to deter burglars (who are very unlikely to be fooled anyway). Its a dilemma! How do I do right without doing wrong?

Choices.......

According to recent reports the public are going to be allowed to choose site for the new North Tees Hospital. The government no doubt hope everyone will be so grateful they will forget about assurances the existing Hospitals were safe and wouldn’t be closing.

The promise of choice reminded me of discussions with my partner about our holiday destination. “I don’t mind” she said “You chose” I chose the Greek Islands. The response of my better half ”Greek Islands, I’ve heard some dodgy things about them BUT if you are REALLY SURE then it’s your choice.”

I took the hint. Next choice Bulgaria; went there a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. The response, “Bulgaria, AGAIN! Wouldn’t you rather try somewhere different, but it’s your choice.”

Third “Choice” Dominican Republic, somewhere new and a bit more exotic than usual. The response” The Dominican Republic, it’s a long flight and you know airline seats hurt my back, but if you don’t mind me being in agony 12 hours each way then go ahead. It’s your choice”

At this point I asked if she had anywhere in mind. “How about Malta” she said, “I’ve always wanted to go there”. So we’re off to Malta, it was my choice!

I suspect the public’s choice of new hospital site will be something similar. The government finding reasons why sites suggested are unsuitable until the public choose the one the government had already decided upon before any of the consultation started. However, the public will then be told “It was your choice!”

UKIP Hartlepool Branch Meeting

The next meeting of the UKIP Hartlepool Branch is on Wednesday 7th. November in the Woodcutter Hotel, 7.30 pm start. All welcome to come along.

www.fetchingfeet.org.uk

All you footsore UKIPers out there in need of foot care just look at www.fetchingfeet.org.uk in fact all parties welcome at this equal opportunities chiropodist

Referendum Debate

UKIP Councillor Stephen Allison has used Hartlepool Council’s Rules and procedures to force a debate calling for the Prime Minister to let the British people decide via a referendum on whether our country should remain within the European Union.

The local Council Chamber of Peter Mandelson’s former constituency will hold the debate on Thursday 26th October.

Councillor Allison said “Although the Labour Party dominates Hartlepool Council Chamber they have to allow this debate to take place. I know of many local Labour Party Members who behind close doors will admit they are in fact Euro-sceptics. It will be interesting to see if they toe the Party line or if they will vote with their consciences and follow their beliefs”

The debate has been called under Council Procedure Rule 12.1 in Part 4 of the Constitution and the full text of the motion is given below.

“As much of the growing legislative burden placed on Hartlepool Council originates from the European Union Government then Hartlepool Council call upon Gordon Brown as the British Prime Minister to let the British people decide via a referendum on whether our country should remain within the European Union. Hartlepool Council also calls upon Ian Wright as the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool to do all in his power to promote the holding of such a referendum.”

Stephen Allison admitted that the call on the local MP was a bit tongue in cheek. Councillor Allison said “Ian Wright has proved himself a reliable New Labour MP in that he will usually vote however he is told to vote by the Party Whips.” Councillor Allison continued “As far as many of Hartlepool's Councillors and the Hartlepool MP are concerned it appears to me that it is New Labour and political careers well ahead of anything their constituents may say”

Recent opinion polls have identified huge and growing support for a referendum. “Of course” said UKIP Councillor Stephen Allison, “the last Referendum held in the North East rejected by 4 to 1 the New Labour Proposals for an elected Regional Assembly, maybe that is why Gordon Brown and New Labour are so scared of giving the people a voice. The people might not give the politicians the answer they want.”

Stephen Allison
07900 803052

thick Irish sausages

Brilliant Website, please look at it.... http://www.capc.co.uk

It's the website for the campaign against political correctness and includes a section on Politically Correct Awards. One of the imagural awards went to a woman who had called Asda insisting that they were racist for selling thick Irish sausages - not grasping that the thick related to the sausages and not the Irish

You just can't make this stuff up.....

The Green Eyed Monster

Jealousy is a terrible thing but I'm afraid I succumbed to it today. As a regular reader of Private Eye I often think "Rotten Boroughs" should feature Hartlepool occasionally. My wish was granted this issue (No:1195) when Geoff Lilley managed to get himself a favourable mention over his expose of Councilors attendances. Reading on I did wonder if my own name would then feature, unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) the Eye reserved is scorn for Councilor Hargreaves, who's solution to low levels of Councillor attendance is to stop publishing the figures.

But back to jealousy! Councillor Lilley and I had a good nature competition last year over who could acquire the most BBC Radio Cleveland Breakfast bowls. A competition manged to win by 4 bowls to 2. However, I admit Councillor Lilley is obviously a better man than I, mentioned FAVOURABLY in Private Eye, how can I possibly ever top that!

Lying in taters on the steps of the Civic Centre

My “favourite” web site is once again complaining about its Local Councilors and once again demonstrating its complete lack of understanding of the realities of Town Hall life. Under the Mayoral System the power is concentrated into the hands of the Mayor and his chosen Cabinet. The Constitution of Hartlepool Council mandates that the Mayor can create a minimum of two and a maximum of nine cabinet portfolios. All Executive power then rests with these posts, the ordinary back bench Councilor is left as a representative of his or her wards and with overview/scrutiny functions. Unfortunately for High-Tax-Hartlepool the “assumption that each councillor is also putting the same effort into the invisible part of the role - namely by regularly attending those meetings which play a large part in the general governance of the town” is completely false because the ordinary back bench councillor is expressly excluded by the Mayoral System from having any part in the general governance of the town.

If the assumption that they do is now lying in taters on the steps of the Civic Centre then its has not been destroyed by the failure of Councilors to attend meetings, it was destroyed when the people of Hartlepool placed the powers into the hands of a Mayor. Unfortunately, like most people In Hartlepool the authors of the High-Tax-Hartlepool website have no idea what the Mayoral System means. As I’ve said before, they really should do a bit more homework before they start pontificating about things, maybe then they could focus their attacks on what really maters, the destruction of representative democracy in Hartlepool and other towns where an elected mayor is now in control.

Pay peanuts.....get monkeys

The standard Councillor's allowance for Hartlepool is just under £5,000 a year, of course Cabinet Members get double that and the Mayor gets over 10 times more but the average back bench Councillor gets about £90 a week. From this any Councilor with earnings from a real job has to pay the appropriate level of Income Tax. Councillor's Allowances do not count for Pension.

There is considerable debate on whether Councillors are good value for money. My answer is that people get what they deserve. If you vote in the same old faces then that's called democracy. If you vote in the same old Party Political Hacks then that again is called democracy. It applies to any elected post. Do you think the people of Hartlepool choose their MP? Not so, the Labour Party Choose Hartlepool's MP. Thousands of residents of Hartlepool didn't vote for Ian Wright (In fact 51% of a 51% turnout actually voted Labour in the 2005 General Election, making it just over 1 in 4 of those entitled to vote actually voted for Labour in Hartlepool in 2005).

As regards Councillors then if you pay peanuts you get monkeys (Apart from the Mayor of course, there you got a Monkey who is paid very very well indeed). This is why Councillors are mainly pensioners, on social security or in public sector job which allows them unlimited paid time off to attend meetings. Very, very few Councillors actually have to work for a living and those that do have to very carefully prioritise which meetings they attend so as to minimise lost earnings or to avoid ending up without any holiday time left. If the public want full time Councillors then they should pay them full time wages. The only full time Councillor in Hartlepool is the Mayor and he receives over 12 times my annual allowance, my attendance at meetings is much higher than the Mayors in proportion to what our respective allowances are. If I was being paid over £1,000 a week then I'm sure I could attend more meetings. As it is I'll continue to use my best judgement on what meetings I need to attend and which are a waste of my time and hence the public's money.

Hold the front page

If no publicity is bad publicity then I'm delighted to see that I got front page again in the Hartlepool Mail while I was in London attending the UKIP Conference. Unfortunately I was once again being criticised for not going to a meeting. Along with six other Councillors I didn't make it to a special planning meeting to discuss the Ghost Ships. Unfortunately the meeting was not scheduled in the Councilor's Diary but was an additional, special meeting. It is hard enough sometimes to juggle work and Council meetings when I know in advance that they are going to happen, its even harder to attend "special" meetings called at short notice .

The meeting itself would have been a rubber stamp in any case. As has already been revealed (so I'm breaking no confidences here) the Council has been advised by its Barrister that we cannot put up a winnable case to prevent the Ghost Ships being dismantled and should we continue the fight then we are just incurring costs (and considerable costs at that) for no reason.

The Ghost ships is a perfect example of how UKIP's policy of local referrenda could have been applied. UKIP want local people to have direct influence over significant local issues. If we had held a referrenda into the Ghost Ships then at least we would know what the real feelings of Hartlepool people were and how many felt strongly enough either way to turn out and vote. At present we are paying most attention to those who shout loudest, a common problem in our "democratic" system when fewer and fewer people bother to vote. As turn out drop those who do vote get a proportionally bigger say on what happens, giving special interest groups power well in excess of their actual size.

and Tall Ships Expenses

The other part of my question, the one deemed unsuitable by the Chief Solicitor, was about another part of the Mayor's response to my question at last full Council. The Mayor revealed that the budget for the Tall Ships race had almost tripled from the £800,000 figure initially mentioned. However, the Mayor did not give a breakdown (as requested in my question) of the major cost areas that made up the expected spending. I therefore again asked for a list of the cost centres identified for the Tall Ships Event and the estimated total amounts for each cost centre from the start of the project until the last bill is paid after the event.

The clincher for rejecting my question was probable the PS as below.......

"I am submitting this question with over three weeks notice in the hope that you will be able to circulate the figures requested in writing to all councillors with a projected profit / loss account and balance sheet for the Tall ships race in advance of the next full council meeting. This will enable you to use your verbal answer time in the meeting to explain in detail the figures and allow all Councillors to study the figures before the Council Meeting which will therefore hopefully allow more informed debate during the meeting."

Lets face it, the last thing that they really want is Councilors in possession of some facts and figures and actually having a well informed debate. Why break the traditions of many years!

Tall Ships Income

In response to my question at last full council the Mayor implied the Tall Ships Event was expected to run a surplus and the funds generated might be used to support Council services in the years after the race. Figures of upwards of £50,000,000 have been mentioned as the potential income for the town.

I have already submitted questions for the next Council meeting in October on the Tall Ships finances. I will be asking the Mayor to share with Hartlepool Council the main sources he has identified for this income and the approximate amounts that each source will contribute to the £50,000,000 figure being quoted.

Unfortunately the exact wording of the question was not acceptable to the Chief Solicitor so I've had to re-word and re-submit the Question, more news will be posted as it becomes available.

Party Conference

Well it's UKIP's turn for a Party Conference, this year being held in the Troxy Centre in London. Two fun filled days of UKIPers telling each other how bad the EU is and how you can never trust the Tories! It was the Tories that first applied to join, the Tories that brought us in, the Tories that forced us in to the ERM and the Tories that signed the Maastricht Treaty.

Of course the Conservatives always go Eurosceptic when they think a General Election is near, but it never lasts long after the votes have been counted.

But back to the UKIP Party Conference. The highlight will no doubt be at 11.15 on the Saturday.....when the topic is "UKIP’s Campaigns: Chairman Steve Allison"

Anti Social Behaviour

The Cleveland Police meeting was tonight (See my Comment from 8th September) and well over 50 people turned up (We know it was over 50 because as part of the presentation everyone got to vote on various questions using X Factor style hand held units that immediately collated the results. Unfortunately there were only 50 sets available and so they ran out before everyone could have one).

Hartlepool Borough Council were represented by the Chairman of the Council, who also chaired the question and answer session that was the conclusion of the meeting. There were also a smattering of Councilors but hardly a full turn out. The Mayor was conspicuous by his absence but then as was pointed out Pools were playing at home so lets face it he needs to get his priorities right and it is the Hartlepool United Supporters Vote that gets him elected.

Key issue the public voted on was Anti Social behaviour, no change from last year. However, despite some criticism think Neighbourhood Policing is the way to go and I hope the Government don't decide on yet another review and change of direction. Change for sake of change isn't always good!

So an interesting night with innovative use of technology but a poor turn out by Hartlepool's elected representatives. The Town's MP was there for some of the meeting but had to leave early to go onto another engagement. Important to be seen though, especially with a possible early election in the offing.

Mayor to face six years in Jail

Front page news in today’s paper, allegations of corruption and backhanders being paid for planning permission have left the Mayor and a number of senior council officers facing jail sentences and heavy fines. Promises are being made to “combat the feeling amongst citizens that things only get done if you have a good friend or family member, or know somebody on the council”

The Mayor of Andrax has used his powers to grant himself planning permission with the alleged collusion of the senior officers of the town council. Of course things like this could never happen in Hartlepool as there is “No whip in planning matters” it is of course just a co-incidence that the vote almost always seems to split along party lines.

The strangest planning decision I have participated in recently concerned the closure of a cut through path behind a small number of houses in the south of the town. The Police wanted it shut, the residents whose gardens backed onto the cut wanted it shut, the local residents association and Parish Council wanted it shut, the Council Planning Department admitted modern estate design would not include a cut through like this as they were known magnets for trouble and anti-social behaviour. The decision was “Keep it open” and the justification was loss of vital public open space. A Labour Councillor even claimed closure of this cut through was akin to closing the Burn Valley Gardens and a Conservative Councillor rushed to support this view, evoking a future picture of everyone being trapped in Church Square because the Council had shut all public footpaths.

Please TURN OFF your mobile phone..........

The wonders of mobile phone technology mean that no matter where you are in the world you cannot escape. Usually I leave the mobile in the glove compartment of the car when I park up at the airport but this time when I packed my suitcase almost the first thing that I included was a charger for the mobile phone since it was inconceivable that I would leave it behind.

My check list on leaving the house always used to be keys, glasses, and wallet. Now the Mobile phone has been added to the list and if it comes to a choice between wallet and phone then I leave the wallet behind. I misplaced my wallet for over a week a short while ago and was just starting to get worried about it when it turned up. Misplacing my mobile for that length of time is totally unthinkable. Occasionally I do go out without it and there are inevitably a dozen missed calls when I check it on my return. If I could actually see past the end of my nose without my glasses then they would be lower than the phone on the list. Keys have to remain at the top of the list unfortunately as I cannot lock the doors behind me when I leave the house.

So when did I become so addicted to my mobile phone? I was once told it’s not how many calls you make that counts, its how many you receive. I have never been one of the mobile users I hate so much inflicting the classic “Hello, I’m on the train/bus/plane, I’ll be home if an hour, what’s for tea?” conversations on everyone around them. I still actually feel embarrassed to talk on my phone in a public place and in fact when I moved tariffs recently I opted for more inclusive txt messages and fewer airtime talk minutes. It’s actually txt messages that I love, not my phone. I send txt messages to myself sometimes, rather like sending e-mails to myself (yes I admit I do that) because once they are in my e-mail in-box of txt message received box then they stay there until I have dealt with them. In a similar way I am starting to love the camera on my mobile. During a recent ward walk about there were several items that needed attention, in the good old days I would have made notes, not now, I took a photo of them and sent it from my phone back to my computer at home. So when I turned on my PC that evening a series of photos down loaded to my in-box. The damaged wall outside St.Begas School, the gate to the Bowling Greens that needed repair and the seating around the Canon next to the Lighthouse all reminded me of things I needed to follow up.

So maybe it just the fact that I can’t remember like I used to that is making me love my mobile phone more and more. I don’t carry a diary any more because the memo function reminds me of things; I don’t remember phone numbers since they are programmed in.

There used to be a “trick” question asked by interviewers to try and uncover your psychological flaws “If you woke up in bed one night and your house was on fire and you can save only one thing, what would it be?” After the obvious wife and children (though how I would choose one from them is something I don’t even want to think about), the answer would definitely be “My mobile phone”

Hospital transport……..

The Green Party have now got involved in the Hospital row, claiming the proposed new site will cause transport problems. The feeling of Deja Vue just gets stronger and stronger. The transport problems are not related to when Hartlepool’s new Hospital is eventually built at Wynyard. The disputed site is at Son Espases in Majorca. According to the Greens a new hospital at Son Espases would have such poor access that it would give “power of the elbow” to those people seeking a new ring road. Guess who is also opposing the road……yes you guessed…….The Greens.

Scottish Visit

According to “Majorca Today” the Speaker of the Balearic Parliament, Maria Antonia Munar, received a delegation last week from the North Ayrshire Regional Government. The Island apparently has close ties with Scotland, with frequent student exchange programmes.

Leaving aside the funding (by English taxpayers) of student trips to Majorca, do the people of North Ayrshire appreciate they live under a Regional Government?

Different Country but same grasping politicians

It’s a balmy Sunday morning and I’m sat on the terrace reading the papers, my second cup of coffee beside me and a choice of plain or chocolate filled croissants. My other choice is the Mail on Sunday (printed in Palma) or the Sunday (Majorca) Bulletin. Looking at the FrontPages in both there isn’t much to choose between them. “Ministers cash in on two homes loophole” from the Mail or “MP’s get 10% pay increase” from the Bulletin

As Peter Osborne said in his column yesterday, if an autumn n election does take place (in the UK) it will be fought between two main parties with almost exactly identical views on every issue. The real divide in (British) politics is no longer between the major parties. Instead it is between an arrogant and Self Interested Political Class and the mass of ordinary voters.

26% increase in Refuse Charges

Rubbish appears to be a problem everywhere as does politicians promising one thing but doing something else after the votes are counted. The Labour Government in the UK promised a referendum on the EU, a promise very unlikely to be kept. The new members of the Council of Majorca spent their time in opposition and during the last election campaign itself, calling for lower refuse collection charges.

The Majorca Bulletin today reports the Council of Majorca are now planning to raise rubbish collection charges by 26% next year.

Many moons ago I remember talking with one prominent Hartlepool politician (in the far off days when he did sometimes talk to me!) who proved you can promise anything during an election. Promise to reduce Council Tax Levels or promise to give free bananas to every school child; it doesn’t matter because everyone knows these are only election promises, so they didn’t really count!

Hospital Protest

This week I’m starting the day with the Majorca Bulletin. On today’s front page the headline screamed “500 foreign inmates in Palma Jail” and the article explained that one in three prisoners were now non-Spanish. The secondary headline was “Protest over new hospital site”; it’s almost like being at home.

Things became even creepier when I read the article about the Hospital Protest. A group of people in white suites demonstrated outside the parliament building by staging a death scene where they were all “Stabbed in the Back”

It was reported in the Bulletin that during a recent election campaign the Balearic Leader, Francesc Antich, had been opposed to the new site but after the votes have been cast he appears to have changed his mind. I wondered if he knows Ian Wright? They appear to have a great deal in common!

QE2 Visits Hartlepool (Almost!)

I usually start the day with BBC Tees (as I’m learning to call Radio Cleveland) and early one morning (just as the sun was rising) I heard the Manager of Hartlepool marina talking about the excitement to come later in the week when the QE2 sailed past Hartlepool on its way to the Tyne. He did his best to whip up enthusiasm and announced a fleet of small craft were expected to greet the Lady of the Seas. “Let’s make it a rehearsal for the Tall Ships” was the phrase he used.

At the appointed time I went down to the lighthouse on the Headland and saw, absolutely nothing! I later learned from the Hartlepool Mail that the liner had stayed 10 miles offshore as it sailed up the east coast. Come on Cunnard, even the German Imperial Fleet managed to come closer to Hartlepool than that!

The flotilla of small craft greeting the QE2 was apparently reduced to a very small number of hardy souls in a restored RNLI Lifeboat and that didn’t make it all the way out to the ship but had to turn back a mile or two short. If this was a rehearsal for the Tall Ship Race then it didn’t give me a warm feeling about the success of the venture.

All was not lost however, in a parting remark from the Marina Manager he did say that Hartlepool would be represented on board the QE2 while she was docked on the Tyne. Our Mayor, Stuart Drummond, was one of the VIP’s invited on board for nibbles with the Captain. So that’s OK then, complete none event in Hartlepool but Stuart gets a nice day out from it. His usual claim from these junkets is that the contacts he made will help Hartlepool in the future; well at least it will give him something to talk about at his next Tall Ships away day. I can just hear him now “Of course we had the QE2 sail past Hartlepool recently. Anyone watching from shore could almost make her out on the horizon as she went past”.

Twilight Zone

If you want to enter the Twilight Zone then go to a meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council. The Chairman can’t seem to get the hang of counting to two and even more bizarre a motion commending the Labour Government for everything it has achieved since 1997 was passed only because Conservative Councillors voted with the Labour Group!

Worse was to come! The Mayor seems to have offered the Tall Ships Organisers a blank cheque for the race. Current cost estimates are over £2,200,000 (and rising). Either the Mayor really doesn’t have a clue about the ultimate cost or he is hoping to keep it quiet until after he seeks re-election in 2009!

The Mayor and Cabinet agreed in April to establish a Tall Ships Office and authorised the appointment of a Project Manager (at a cost of £150,000). However, the Tall Ships Bid submitted by Hartlepool Council included an argument for the race to come to Hartlepool because for the past 18 years Hartlepool Council has employed an experienced events organiser, with a Yacht Skipper qualification, who has crewed on more than one tall ship. Indeed this person was part of the group accompanying the Mayor to Stockholm just last month.

Finally, the Mayor told the meeting that alternate weekly collections (once a fortnight to you and me) had pushed recycling up to 38%. A Council Press release sent out the next day claimed recycling in the town was at its highest ever level of 27%. Twilight Zone indeed!

What do Lib-Dems believe in..........?

The Lib-Dims leader Sir Menzies Campbell has thrown his mate Gordon Brown a life line over the revised European Union constitution by arguing that a referendum on the new treaty was not necessary. The fanatically pro-European Lib-Dems claim the new EU reform treaty is sufficiently different from the original constitution to avoid the need for a plebiscite.

I regularly meet Liberal-Democrat supporters who have no idea what their party stands for. The Liberal Democrats have been the natural home of people who don't want to be Labour or Conservative but who don't have the self confidence to stand alone without a Party flag. Ask a Lib-Dem on the doorstep what he or she believes in and the answer is usually something on the lines of "I believe in whatever you believe in"

However, in common with the Tory Party the Lib-Dem Leadership is very clear on its aims and beliefs, they really believe in only one thing........getting your vote! The Tories are generally euro sceptic at grassroots level but massively pro-European Union in their higher ranks, the Lib-Dems have local issues as their priority at Grass Roots but are also massively pro-European Union in their leadership. Not surprising that the higher up you go and the more politics becomes your profession then the more pro-EU you become since jobs for politicians and bureaucrats both grow like Topsy under the centralist, controlling agenda of the European Union.

In the words of one man who tried in the previous millennium to unite Europe under a single flag.... "Governments are fortunate that the people rarely think" Well the Lib-Dems are a perfect example of the truth of that statement, because no-one who really thought about it could be a Lib-Dem.

Your Town Your Say

Had an e-mail forwarded to me through the Council's e-consultation system email address - Your Town Your Say.  First time this has happened to me as most people use the direct e-mail if they want me to get their comment (steve.allison@hartlepool.gov.uk).

I have asked if there is a facility allowing me to respond direct to the senders but it might not be possible. However, I always read e-mails (and letters or faxes) and am always pleased to get feedback.

The e-mail was supportive of re-cycling and the fortnightly collections. They said that for them it works brilliantly, but did concede that there may be households where people may have problems.  For instance, there may be nowhere for the empty blue box or the white bag to be left safely to prevent them being a danger to
traffic on windy days.

In principle I too am very supportive of re-cycling, I think it is the way we have to go. However, I am not convinced that alternate weekly collection (to give "fortnightly collections" their official title) are actually necessary. This view is shared by the Commons Select Committee who investigated refuse collection. They found that there was no direct causal link between alternate weekly collection and increased recycling rates. They also said alternate weekly collection was NOT suitable for urban areas or high density housing. As the e-mail concluded "Anything that helps people to deal more responsibly with the stuff we discard ought to be applauded and encouraged." However, that does not mean we should just accept anything we are told. It is my view that a back bench councillor is there to ask questions and that is what I intend to continue doing.

two down.....

Second meeting of the week in my Council Planner was a Members Seminar. However, as there was no topic identified the seminar didn't take place. Not sure if I can claim this as I was standing by ready to attend?

Spent the afternoon decorating the new kitchen in readiness for the re-location, not got a date yet but its only a matter of time! Had a cup of tea with one of the Councillors Lilley before collecting my daughter from the sixth form college. My cosy chat with Geoff was interrupted by a telephone call for him from The Mayor, never heard Lilley brown-nose so much, maybe the Cabinet post isn't such pie in the sky after all. Told Councillor Lilley that I would out him on my blog and he was very relaxed about it, possibly if I hadn't been there he and The Mayor would have talked about me behind my back.......hey! even paranoids have enemies......

One down.....

Contract Scrutiny Committee this morning lasted 15 minutes. We tried to beat the previous best of 9 minutes but just couldn't quite make it. Still it all counts as a "tick" in the attendance column. Next meeting is on 24th September and I have put in my apologies, will be sunning myself in Majorca, so that's my attendance figures blown!

Policing Priorities

Cleveland Chief Constable and the Chair of the Cleveland Police Authority are addressing a meeting at the Sir William Grey Suite, Historic Quay, Hartlepool, at 6.00pm on Tuesday 2nd October. The meeting will influence setting local Policing Priorities for the following year.

It is a public meeting. No excuses for not attending! Unfortunately there is no "tick" to be obtained for attending as a Councillor so I wonder how many will make it along?

Meetings .... Meetings ...... Meetings

There seems to be considerable interest in my attendance at meetings, or not! Looking at the Council Diary for next week I note I have three potential attendances...

Monday, Contract Scrutiny Panel. 10.00am. This usually last about 10 minutes and is a complete waste of time and almost an insult to go to. It consists of Councillors watching envelopes being opened or being asked to note the decisions already taken. However, it is an easy "tick" to keep up the attendance figures. The last meeting I went to lasted 9 minutes. It took longer to park the car and get to the meeting room than the meeting actually lasted.

Tuesday, Member's Seminar. 11.00am. The last one of these I went to was on the Anhydrite Mine, a subject I do follow very closely as it is in my ward and potentially of considerable interest to my residents. I don't know what the topic of this one is since they are put in the council diary once a month for a year in advance and then topics announced closer to the date. Quite often there isn't anything to discuss so they are cancelled. Of course if I don't arrange a day off work then I can't go, so I need to keep 10 days a year clear on the off chance there might be a seminar.

Thursday, Full Council.7.00pm. The only meeting not during the day and in fact it was recently agreed that ALL full council meetings would be held in the evening from now on. This will help the minority of Councillors who still have to work for a living and is supposed to make it easier for the public to attend. Of course the public almost never attend anyway and very rarely take up their right to ask questions of the Council.

Moving On!

I'm moving house fairly shortly (that should start a few rumours running!!) and so I'm tiding out boxes and sorting papers in readiness for the re-location.

One of the things I came across was an Employee Evaluation Report from the far off days when I was living in the Big City. Taking into account the recent character analysis of me on HTH I found the interesting bits of the report were my attitudes to team work and my motivation factors.

According to the Consultants who carried out the evaluations I was someone who could be “led but not driven” and who’s goal orientation required a Manager who would gave me freedom to achieve without micro-managing me.

My motivational factors were also quite high up the Maslow Pyramid. My needs for the basics easily met and most of my motivation was self actualising. However, the ambition / ability ration was that of a classic underachiever in that my abilities far exceeded my ambitions.

Basically I work best under a boss I respect and who sets me challenging goals but without telling me in detail how to achieve those goals. The main problem I had was my refusal to “play the game” and climb the ladder through participating in office politics, (nothing changed there then!) and my refusal to suffer people I thought of as fools. Hence I became self employed in 1986 under a boss I could definitely respect and who left me free to organise my own work but who unfortunately didn’t really challenge me to new heights. I must have a word with myself about that!

Been a busy week! I had a meeting at 10.00am on Wednesday with a couple of residents about a problem they are having in the ward. However, just as I was going out of the front door to walk down to meet them they rang and asked to put it back half an hour to 10.30am. No problem, in fact it gave me the opportunity to jump in the car, go along to the Police and Community Safety Forum in Miers Avenue and get my “tick” for attendance, after all, it makes me a much better Councillor if I show my face and then leave, after all its what some other councillors have been known to do. I actually had three meetings on Wednesday morning, all initially due to start at 10.00am so as the Mayor said I had to prioritise, first the residents problem and then my “tick in the register”

Was in London all day Thursday, 8.00am train from Darlington had me in my meeting (yes another meeting) just in time for lunch! Was greeted with “Hello Mr 7%” when I arrived, fame at last. An anti-ukip bloger had picked up the story about my attendance (or not) and was lambasting me about it. Nice picture of a pig with its head in a feed bucket! As Oscar Wilde once said “The only thing worse than being talked about…….is NOT being talked about”

Successful meeting in London adjourned to the pub till 9.00pm when I caught the GNER service back to Darlington.

Friday morning I received an e-mail telling me to check the HTH Website. I’d foolishly exchanged a few e-mails with one of the HTH authors and of course they appeared on the website. That’ll teach me not to do it again, but I’ve added him to my spam filter so shouldn’t be a problem. Had a huge laugh about one poster who has even dredged up an entry on the “Friends Re-united” Website as part of their conspiracy theory. I didn’t even remember having a friends re-united entry and when I checked it was dated over 5 years ago! Do these people not have a life? The UKIP Scotland Website is also being quoted “in evidence against me” UKIPScotland! I spoke to the webmaster up there and pointed out his information was not the same as the official UKIP.org site; he said he’ll change it sometime, but not to hold my breath.

I did quite enjoy the HTH write up about me though, and actually though most of it was quite fair, I did like the bit about me not being a team player, they definitely got that right, but it’s more I don’t like being told what to do. They also got the stubborn bit right…..the more I’m pushed then the more I dig my heels in!

The best bit though is that the HTH discussion boards are starting to get hits again, the subject of discussion.........ME!

Now I like Hartlepool, I was born in the Old Cameron Hartlepool, grew up and educated in Hartlepool, lived in Hartlepool for the majority of my life, I was married in a Hartlepool Church and my kids were both born in Hartlepool Hospital. However, if I was listing the problems faced by the town of Hartlepool and the residents of Hartlepool then I doubt very much if the details of my private and personal life would be very high up the page. It does amaze me that some people are trawling the internet for information about me. Maybe these are people who need psychiatric help? It amazes me that there are people out there sad enough that they appear to have nothing better to do than obsess about me. I suppose I should take it as a bit of a compliment that they think I’m that important.

Surveys

Ever wondered about the polls you read in the newspapers and said "No one ever asks me!" Well paste the link below into your browser and click through to YOUGOV who are recruiting panel members. You get asked to put in some profile information and then you get e-mail polls and surveys sent to you when your profile matches the target sample. Simple.

http://www.yougov.com/users/registrationintro_ref.asp?refid=491135&jID=3&sID=1