Politics and the Higher Purpose

I have been tweeting and e-mailing a new social media friend whose politics seem very removed from mine. Something connected us up, borne from a mutual respect that we were both able to debate, disagree in a calm, politeful way and the fact that we use our intuition to guide our decisions and actions..

I especially appreciated that she blocked someone who has continually harassed me, to the point of bullying, for many months now and it was reassuring that she agreed, without any prompting from me, that he was indeed behaving unacceptably. I had blocked him many months ago but he refuses to ignore me and her strong stance against a fellow Lefty was much appreciated.

But I digress. To cut a long story short, my new political friend and I have been e-mailing and have found many things we have in common but we also know we will never change our minds about our political choices in making things happen for the better. She is an intelligent, kind person who I trust totally with any information I may give her privately and I know that we will learn from each other.

In one of her blogs she has mistakenly suggested that I think all Left are full of envy about wealth. This is not true. I know many well off left leaning friends and aquaintances. The point I was actually trying to make is that the left are too obsessed with individuals having more than they could possibly want whereas I do not have any such problem. I believe in equality of opportunity but outcomes can never be equal and nor do I want them to be. I believe in freedom of the individual to be, have, do whatever they want, as long as it's legal and it's not for anyone else to say it's too much. These people take risks with their own money usually before they become wealthy. Richard Branson was made bankrupt a few times before he became so successful. Many do good with their wealth as the likes of Branson and Buffet have proved & they employ millions of people all over the world. I like and admire them!

It's not anyone's business why they might want more or whether they can ever need it. It will get shared out across the community in one way or another, whether it's spent, left in a will or ends up in government coffers.

My income has reduced drastically in the last year but the one thing that has kept me afloat, along with others is that I saved in the good days and did not use a credit card. if Labour had adopted this same mindset instead of racking up the debt, we might not need to be having this discussion. However I have also reduced my spending, which is a must. Labour have no answers or policies, admitting that they did have an open door policy that damaged this country. Blame them! Not the wealthy who create wealth by spending their money on services and products and employing people.

But the one thing I understand when I communicate with those that have a different idea to me about policies, is that we do all want the same things ultimately. It's more about what those higher purposes mean to each of us and how we define the value.Nothing is more important to me than family and communities and yet somehow my new Left friend has missed this completely. I didn't become a councillor to tell everyone they need to be selfish. I became a councillor because I value all the different communities in my life, from the football crowd I meet up with every fortnight, to the voluntary associations who do so much good work, to people in my street. With my Italian upbringing, top of my list is family and I will put them above everything and anything including work, wealth and my council work. And I make absolutely no apology for that.

I also think that individuals need to look after themselves first before they can look after their family or others. Sometimes we need to be selfish first in order to give our all, going forward.

As I am a visual person, I thought I would explain that in picture form.

We do not fight for 'things' we fight for values and emotions like happiness. Humans want the same things and ultimately it's to be happy and secure.

I have given just some examples of the shared aims most of us want but there are many others. Freedom, justice, security and peace are top of the tree.

I believe that we have to strive as individuals as well as groups. If we don't meet our family's needs then someone else has to. If we don't look after our own health and wellbeing, then how can we care for others?

Yes I do believe in aspiration and confidence of the individual because it's confidence that enables them to help others see their full potential. I do believe in the good of the whole and that will inevitably mean that some will be sacrificed along the way in order to achieve that.

It's impossible for everyone to have everything and so we know, for instance, that driving cars will bring deaths each year but we don't ban it, because of the good of the whole. Policies must always be thus. As labour and this country found out, when you try to do everything for everyone - you go bust!

Our Trip to Westminster with Ben Gummer MP

Last Wednesday 31 October 2012, I had the pleasure of accompanying my residents in Stoke Park to Westminster, at the invitation of Ben Gummer MP.

Ben is planning on repeating the outing for all his constituents, one ward each month, because he believes that people must be brought closer to Parliament and Westminster.

We left Stoke Park Asda at 3.30pm where nearly 100 booked residents turned up (truly a magnificent response) for the sum of £ 15 just to cover the coach costs.

I had a lovely journey down, as my mother and step father are both Stoke Park residents, so I had the added bonus of being able to enjoy their company too. I was also pleased to note that I knew most of the residents and after 6 years you might think I should but I appreciate that many contact me when they think I need to know something and trust me to get things done in the ward - it was a real pleasure to share some fun with them.

After a pleasant journey we arrived just before 6pm and made our way into the Westminster building by following one of Ben Gummer’s assistants James, and Ben’s campaign manager Olivia. We were welcomed by Ben in the Grand Committee room for a chat before he lead the tours around the building.

Ben was charming, informative, witty and warm. I felt so proud that my residents were enjoying such a treat from one of Ipswich’s finest MPs - my mother was most impressed, a rare thing! Talking about mothers, Ben’s made us some cake, to have with our tea and coffee, as she thought it terrible that we were all going to be refreshed but not fed.  Thanks Mrs Gummer, and panitone is one of my favourites!

We then set off in 3 groups, although some of us did have a bit of a wait, which gave me a chance to speak to some of the residents. However the wait was worth it as we set off first into Westminster Hall. What a gaff!

Built in 1099 for hosting state occasions and to impress, it has the largest surviving single span mediaeval timber roof in Northern Europe. The Hall and the Jewel Tower were the only parts to survive the fire of 1834, the rest had to be rebuilt. It truly is a magnificent hall still used to host important events, some of which are commemorated with plaques set into the floor.

We then went through St Stephens Hall, itself a room full of historical events, into the central lobby, which is at the heart of our democracy. This is where people can exercise their right to lobby and is a public area whilst the house of commons is sitting.

The House of Lords is a sight to behold and I was in awe of the opulence, grandeur and atmosphere of the whole of Westminster. It made me want to be an MP (but that was momentarily. I came to my senses a few hours later).

Make no mistake, being an MP is a lot of hard work, a great deal of responsibility and requires the strength, the dedication, the focus, the commitment and the humour, which Ben has in abundance.

We are very lucky to have him as our MP and I know you will love this trip to Westminster if you take up the unique offer from Ben in due course.

Rebuilding Chantry School - How it happened

News about Stoke Park Ward

The following is written by Ben Gummer and is printed in full from his newsletter.

Last week I wrote about the fantastic news that Chantry High School is going to be rebuilt. This week, I thought that I would tell you how it all happened.

This news was long overdue. To those who know Chantry - especially its students and teachers - it is no secret that the school's buildings badly need attention. Proposals for rebuilds have come and gone since the 1980s. The last government promised a new school but failed to build it for thirteen years. The reason, simply put, was that it was too expensive - twice what a school should cost. So the coalition government cancelled the Building Schools for the Future programme in order to build schools more affordably. Whilst I understood the rationale, I was still furious for the teachers and students of Chantry who'd been let down yet again. It didn't matter to me who was in power - I just wanted to see Chantry rebuilt.

So, the morning after the general election, after I'd grabbed a few hours' sleep, I sat down and launched my campaign. On a piece of plain A4 paper (I did not yet have access to House of Commons stationery) I wrote straight to Michael Gove, soon to become Secretary of State for Education, setting out how important it was that the government invested in Chantry. It was the first letter I wrote as your Member of Parliament.

This was the first that Michael Gove heard of Chantry. It was a name with which he was to become increasingly familiar! Two months later, I stood up in the House of Commons and used my first ever parliamentary question to outline my demands. From the Dispatch Box, Michael Gove gave the reply. Ever since, I have hassled him and his officials on a weekly basis. This is the key to a parliamentary campaign - keeping up the pressure on people constantly, even if it starts to annoy them!

In 2011, after the early good news that Ipswich Academy was to be rebuilt, I got straight back to work on Chantry. The next step was to get the Treasury on side. So I grabbed the Chancellor, George Osborne, and urged him to give Michael Gove's Priority School Building Programme all the money it needed, boosting Chantry's chances.

Then, just before Christmas last year, the Cabinet met in Ipswich. Seizing the opportunity, I got the education secretary to visit Chantry in person to see for himself what needed to be done. I then struck again while the iron was hot. In the New Year, I wrote to Lord Hill, another education minister, about Chantry. At the same time, I approached officials in the Department for Education to go through the technicalities with them. I wanted to make sure that everyone in the Department knew about Chantry and that nothing would get in the way of the rebuild.

In April, with the final decision now fast approaching, I went to the Prime Minister and put the case to him. I had to make sure that he was supportive. With the PM on side, I lobbied Michael Gove and his ministers one last time. Needless to say, he was by now pretty familiar with the name of Chantry High School...

So there we are. A few days later, as you know, the good news was announced. It had been the toughest battle I have fought so far, but the work paid off. As I said last week, there are many things I can do for our town in Ipswich itself. But this is why you send me to London - to fight on your behalf in parliament.

How Labour Wrecked our Economy

I have replicated an extract from an excellent article by cllr Judy Terry here because there are so many people who are still in denial about Labours debt legacy and as I have promised never to let people forget it, it is my duty to keep that promise

It is also a reminder to those Labour members closer to home, that wasting tax payers money is not acceptable, although I suspect that will fall on deaf ears. Having suffered nearly 20% increases in my council tax when they last had the administration, we really do not want that repeated in future years. But they do seem to think that the Magic Money Tree can just go on and on indefinitely.

I have also tried to inform people that the damage to the economy is not down to just bankers as they would have you believe and I am very pleased that Judy mentions this too.

So to the extract of Judy's article in the Ipswich flyer

In the absence of policies, Labour are accusing the Conservatives of not being in touch with ‘ordinary people'.-(A phrase which I find particularly patronising;).

Well, I can tell who’s in touch with the grass roots – and it‘s not Labour. The electorate’s biggest concern is the economy, and how it can be restored tc  financial probity. This means reducing debt to affordable levels or suffer the consequence of higher interest rates (affecting mortgages as national spending).
The damage Labour did to our economy during its 13 years in power, was highlighted in a recent article which offers shocking evidence of Labour’s gratituous build-up of debt, through a relentles state largesse, spending more than we realise in income, through taxation. Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the banking crisis (to which Gordon Brown’s change from robust to lax scrutiny was a major contributor) had a pretty minor role in overall terms.
Between 2000 and 2010, allowing for inflation state expenditure increased by 53% to £688 billion (between 2002 and 2CC alone, it rose by 40%). Remember, this was the time when Gordon Brown was saying ‘no boom and bust’ as he trousered billions in tax receipts, whilst borrowing ever more, house prices literally went through the roof
For example, social security benefits and tax credits now account for £209 billion, comparable to health and education combined, allowing some families to claim more than £26,000 untaxed per annum in benefits. Is that fair when the average wage Suffolk is closer to £25,000, taxed?

Cllr Kym Stroedt At Large

Councillor at Large by Cllr K Stroedt …February   

I’ve always been a good sport. I play hard, but whatever the result I will plant a smile on my dial and say ‘put it there’.
This month, however, it has become clear to me that if you don’t have the numbers on the council, you can do and say whatever you like – the Labour administration win. Disheartening indeed, particularly when I know - and the town will inevitably learn to its cost - that whatever economic difficulties we face, the answers will never be provided by the left.  

Tuesday 7th February   Fellow Conservative Councillor Russell Harsant’s funeral was held today at St Mary Le Tower Church in the centre of Ipswich. Members of Russell’s family, his friends, Councillors and Mayoral Party joined the congregation to provide a fitting tribute to a lovely man. The service included readings from his grandchildren and a warm testimonial from close friend Ben Gummer MP. He was a local man who cared about local people; a collection following the service for our own St Elizabeth Hospice demonstrated exactly that.  

Thursday 9th February   I am proud to be a member of the Governing Body at Broke Hall Primary School. It consistently demonstrates rigour across all areas relating to the proper management of the school. Central to the agenda at present is the need to attract another top-notch Head-teacher to the school for the start of September. We govern an ‘outstanding’ school, and whoever is appointed is going to need to support our superb staff to maintain and improve on that standard. An Ofsted inspection looms large on the horizon.  

Monday 13th February   Ipswich Borough Council’s Labour Administration has put together a ‘Corporate Plan’ and their first Budget. This provided tonight’s Conservative Group meeting with better than average entertainment as we discussed how we would go about holding them to account. I left Group Leader Cllr Carnall to digest how Labour were relaxing the tight spending controls he presided over during our years in office, and concentrated instead on Labour’s spurious list of achievements over the last 9 months. My eagle eye could just read the words ‘Conservative Achievements’ scratched out from above most of them.    

Wednesday 15th February   As Shadow Planning and Economic Development Portfolio holder, I find the Development Working Group meetings a useful way to be brought up-to-date with issues relating to Town Centre investment. I learnt, for example, that sales held up over the Christmas period – largely due to Sales, and that Mary Portas is all things to all towns. I do hope that Cllr Jones’ enthusiasm for new Town Teams doesn’t undermine the very well supported work being done by Ipswich Central. It appears that the question to be grappled with is how to bring on-line shopping into a social space. The answer may see High Street shopping completely transformed over the next few years.  

Friday 17th February   Cultural partners and stakeholders were invited to attend the launch of ‘Access All Areas’ tonight, at the Town Hall. That included me. The evening was an opportunity for networking - food and drink was provided by our brand new Waitrose and ICR took care of the music. The real focus for the evening was to discuss ideas about potential future uses for the Town Hall and Corn Exchange. These are wonderful spaces and, at present, they are under-used. Any thoughts?  

Tuesday 21st February   Tony McNulty was a Minister of State in the Home Office in the last Labour government, so it might come as something of a surprise when I tell you that I spent this evening listening to a lecture from him on the subject of Media in Politics. But then it may not. If there was ever a government that made the most of the media to get out its message, it was the Blair government. The lecture was interesting, although I was strangely left with the feeling that I had heard it all before. How Nixon was defeated by Kennedy because he ‘didn’t do make-up’. How Clegg became the nation’s ‘political centrefold for a day’ by looking into the camera during live debates. Not giving interviews when you’re in ‘a bit of a mood’. All common knowledge surely.  

Thursday 23rd February   A strong field of candidates were interviewed for the role of Head-teacher at Broke Hall Primary School. The interviews were carried out over two days and required candidates to address an assembly, meet with the staff, give a presentation and, perhaps most daunting of all, answer questions from a panel of pupils. Our search for a head-teacher was even filmed and shown on BBC’s The One Show! In the end the governing body were in total agreement about our chosen candidate, who we all felt had the experience and commitment to add significantly to the school’s development.    

Monday 27th February   Cllr Carnall provided the Conservative Group with details about an amendment to the budget, he would be presenting on Wednesday at full council. His carefully costed amendment would mean a 3% reduction in council tax for local residents. We also discussed the questions we were planning to put to the various Portfolio Holders. I have a question ready for Cllr Jones about her part in Labour’s Golden Keys debacle. Conservatives have a clear line about what should happen to the Golden Keys Pub; let local people decide. Labour have a clear line about it too; no Tesco! As a second Greene King application wings its way toward the Labour dominated planning committee, anyone like a little wager about what will happen next?  

Wednesday 29th February   Sadly, Cllr Carnall’s amendment to secure a 3% reduction in council tax was given about as much consideration as Cllr McDonald’s nomination for parliamentary candidate. I refer you back to my opening remarks about ‘having the numbers’. Cllr Ellesmere, supported by his party ‘Yes Men’ mocked, jeered and generally fell about as if cost cutting was Greek to them, then raised their hands ‘Against’ the amendment, before voting in their own budget in full. I ran into a brick wall of my own. Cllr Jones refused to admit that being a Labour and Co-operative Councillor and a member of the Planning Committee when presiding over the future of the Golden Keys Pub was scandalous, and Cllr Knowles refused to re-instate an important Bixley polling station.
Oh well, at least the daffs are out.

It's Labour Who are out Of Touch by Cllr Judy Terry

The following article was written by Cllr Judy Terry and may or may not reflect my views. I do not edit or pass comment on my guest writers work:  

IT’S LABOUR WHO ARE OUT OF TOUCH   by Councillor J Terry

During Question Time last week, the PM was censured for using the word ‘hypocrisy’ because it was ‘unparliamentary’.  

I am not governed by the same strictures, so I can say that it is hypocritical of Ed Miliband to criticise those who are wealthy, and wealth creators, whether through their own hard work or inheritance, when you have considerable wealth yourself! Referring to the government as ‘multi-millionaires’ and ‘out of touch’ because of their wealth, is hypocritical when you, yourself, live in a multi-million pound property and have an income which is well beyond most people’s wildest dreams. If Ed wants a class war, he is attacking himself and his own family.  

Lord Mandelson famously said that he had ‘no problem with people being filthy rich’, and certainly he wasn’t slow in making a substantial fortune during his years in the public service. Indeed, the Blairs have followed in his footsteps, making squillions in the few years since he left office; there have even been questions over the amount of tax he pays, and certainly over the fact that you and I are still forking out around £6m a year for the former PM’s security.  

So, let’s remember that, long with members of the government - Conservative and Liberal - both the Milibands and many on Ed’s own Labour front bench benefited from a fine education at some of the UK’s, and indeed the world’s, greatest universities. It is a shame that too few of them didn’t also benefit from having ‘proper jobs’ in the real world.  

Which leads me onto the unseemly attacks on bankers. Let me make it clear that I have no idea what people at the top of the banking industry actually do, and I doubt whether most politicians do either, so I am not qualified to question what they are paid. However, I do believe that excessive pay is an affront to society, especially when those who are paid such large sums appear to be without a social conscience.  

I find it equally distasteful that footballers are paid so many millions just for kicking a ball around, which means that the average punter can’t afford a season ticket. I am also affronted by the £850,000 salary for the Director General of the BBC, let alone his pension entitlements which are in the realms of a lottery win!  

But, back to banks. Apart from RBS, these are private businesses, owned by shareholders which include pension funds. I agree that shareholders should tighten their employees’ belts, and be cognisant of the restraints under which the rest of us are struggling. Nevertheless, witch-hunts against individuals are tasteless and unproductive, and the last thing I want is for the public sector to take over running RBS because it would be a disaster. Banking is a reactive industry, and decision-making needs to be quick, not something for which the public sector is renowned!  

I resent politicians’ interference for two main reasons: Firstly, bashing bankers may be populist, but it gives the wrong impression to business, and that includes overseas business, which wants to expand or create new investments in our country. If we over-tax and have an anti-business culture, they will go somewhere else, taking their billions and job creation with them. This is what happened under previous Labour administrations, and it took years to rebuild confidence in the UK.  

Secondly, the banks will pull up the drawbridge. Just as we need them to be lending money to existing and new businesses, homebuyers and those of us who may want to buy a new car or build an extension, they will refuse even modest loans. This is what is happening now, and the coffers need to be opened if we are to restore our economy.  

Finally, may I remind you that the biggest failure of the banking industry was bad regulation – and whilst there are key figures who were culpable for mismanaging their own banks, the major culpability lies with the last Labour government. Gordon Brown, Ed Balls, and Tony Blair, and every other Cabinet member, who set aside their financial responsibilities for political gain, by promoting the ‘no more boom and bust’ mantra. They had a duty to all of us to manage our finances efficiently, not selling our gold at the lowest ever price, and not permitting the economy to overheat.  

They failed miserably. Ed Miliband should remember that next time he accuses the front bench of being out of touch; it is Labour which is out of touch by refusing to acknowledge how badly they let us all down.

Politics and Social Media

For a few months now, I have tried to fairly use my time in the social media world so that I am fully participating whilst not being a slave to the Twitter and blog world.

It is all so addictive and I am not sure what it really achieves so this blog is dedicated to a little bit of research and a little experiment to see if I should continue doing the same, do less, start something else or dump it altogether.

The benefit of twitter to me is that I pick up the news, local or national, as soon as it is happening. I can see what the opposition is doing and I have some entertaining moments. But my aim was really to inform others and to be kept informed in a prompt way that saved time rather than added to my list of things to do.

So you big wide world out there, tell me what you would like to see your Councillors talking about, giving an opinion on, and also confirm, is it useful to YOU?!

I await all comments with excitement....

Bannermans Top 10 myths on EU - Myth 2

IF WE DO leave, Britain will have to pay billions and implement regulations but without any say in them.

The reality is that we have very little say in the EU anyway, and Bannerman states that we would have more influence as an independent sovereign nation.

To quote, "Uk has only 8.4% of voting power and the Lisbon Treaty ensured the loss of Britsins veto in many more policy areas".

The Swiss and Norwegian examples show that Uk would achieve huge savings on EU contributions and still continue to have virtually free access to the EU Market.

Norway made a few changes in it's laws to enable its products to be eligible for EU Market.

In other words they have the benefits without paying the £48 million a day that we do!

And remembering that Uk exports to the rest of the world has been greater than exports to the EU since 2004' plus the fact we import more from EU than export to it, you know what I am going to say next! Yes

They need us more than we need them....

MP Dan Poulters views on Planning

I do not vet, edit, review or pass comment on other's posts. To make it clear those who may wish to place their messages on my blog, they are big and ugly enough to make their own minds up about how they want to reach out to the community.

Herewith something from Dan Pouler MP about planning issues:


Dr. Dan Poulter's views on the housing situation in Ipswich:

"I wanted to outline my position and that of the Government on a few key issues to do with planning.
There must always be a presumption for brownfield over Greenfield development, and I will always do all that I can to preserve Suffolk’s natural heritage and countryside. Under the previous Labour Government’s system of divisive, top down house building targets, local councils were forced to accept unnecessarily high centrally imposed housing targets, which often encroached into green belt land. The current Government has scrapped these housing targets, and it will now be for local councils and local communities to decide what level of development is appropriate.
An example of the previous Government’s undemocratic planning system can be seen in the proposed Ipswich Northern Fringe mass housing development plan, where up to 15,000 houses and flats could be concreted over the green belt to the North of Ipswich, against the wishes of the local community. Whilst I am in favour of increasing the stock of affordable housing in Suffolk, so that young people are not forced to move away into neighbouring counties such as Essex in order to find a place to live, we must make sure that this is done in a way that is in keeping with the rural character of Suffolk, which demands small scale housing developments with affordable homes on town centre brownfield sites, and also appropriate locations in rural villages. The National Planning Policy Framework shows a similar commitment to affordable homes, families and young people, but development will not be allowed if it is clearly in conflict with local housing plans, or environmental safeguards.
As a part of its proposals to give local people more control over the way in which their communities are developed, the Coalition Government has introduced the Localism Bill. This bill is currently passing through Parliament but has not yet come into law. In future, local communities will have much more say in local planning decisions, and I believe this to be a good thing as it will allow houses to be built where it is required, and in a way that is in keeping with local character.
Finally, it is worth commenting that there will be some parts of the country that will see speeded up planning applications and processes, particularly where the Government is committed to improving the jobs and transport infrastructure. We are very lucky that in East Anglia, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft have been earmarked as a green growth hub and enterprise zone; this will bring in around 1500 new jobs. Together with those jobs there will be some additional housing and homes, particularly for workers and young families, and in these circumstances I believe it is appropriate for planning to be fast tracked, as it is to the massive benefit of the local economy.
I hope that this reassures you that the Government’s reforms will meet the needs of local people, and that the rural heritage integrity of Suffolk is safe. Please be assured that this is an issue that I care strongly about, and I will fight to ensure that the changes deliver positive results in Suffolk, and I shall continue to fight against the imposition of 15,000 new homes in the North of Ipswich under the previous Government’s plans."