Councillor Sophia James was the first black woman elected to public office in Reading. She is a wonderful advocate for social justice, a campaigner and friend. She is also a consistent campaigner and always ready to lead the charge to stand up against prejudice and racism. Some of that passion …
Many Reading people in need of a Covid test are complaining that that they have only been offered slots at sites many miles away, such as the Isle of Wight or Inverness, or cannot get a test at all.
Research by housing charity Shelter showed that one in four people across the country had been ripped off by unscrupulous agents charging unfair fees. I’d recommend to anyone either affected by this or who is interested in fair business dealings (and that includes landlords – I know a number who …
With what twitter has dubbed ‘gategate’ or ‘plebgate’* still rumbling on it’s noticeable that the Conservative candidate for the Thames Valley has failed to comment on Andrew Mitchell’s comments to police. Tim Starkey Labour’s candidate here has asked him to distance himself and condemn abusive behaviour towards the police. Regardless of your political …
Letter to local press: Dear Sir, I see that Tory Councillor David Stevens is indignant about the Council’s consultation on the abolition of Council Tax Benefit, claiming that “To say, as Reading Borough Council are, that the government is ‘abolishing’ Council Tax Benefit is at best a misrepresentation of what …
UPDATE: The Party’s press release was too modest, in fact we won 11 seats in May not 10 (thanks to anonymous commentator) Won’t comment further as I will be involved in the choosing the long and short lists for Reading West, but release follows below: Reading & District Labour Party Media Release …
Three very different events over the course of 24 hours. Don’t have a photo of the fun day yet (will put up when I do) but photo of meeting Rachel Reeves and being at Reading pride are below. Will blog about the meeting with Rachel later next week.
The somewhat unbelievable promotion of Jeremy Hunt to Health – rewarding an unpopular, incompetent minister who oversaw the BSkyB bid, by moving him to an area in which the government has done huge damage, the much loved NHS meant I missed the local connection. (I’ve also been trying to find …
I seem to post relatively often about poor accommodation in the private rented sector and action that Reading council is taking to change this (and I will have yet another update on a prosecution shortly!). However as I always stress good landlords are welcome in Reading and provide an essential service to …
I was recently asked by a family member ‘what’s your ideological objection to outsourcing?’. This was before the G4S scandal took off when I had been worrying about police ‘privatisation’. I don’t really like the word ideological, it can sound like you are abandoned rational debate or that you don’t …
It was great to be back out and about on the doorstep in Whitley with a team of 8, made up of Reading Labour members along with Victoria Groulef and Tim Starkey, the Labour candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner. I picked up some good local casework and it was …
We were promised less bureaucracy in the NHS as part of Lansley’s ‘reforms’. Well we certainly knew that coordination would be fragmented. Less bureaucracy? Think about your own experience of the NHS recently. I certainly haven’t noticed a reduction in bureaucracy, quite the opposite. But I can’t really blame the doctors, nurses, midwives …
Reading much of this was not really a shock but it’s a good summary of why housing is now and is going to be more and more of an issue for anyone under, say 35 over the next decade or so. Disappointing that in the private sector ‘path’ they didn’t …
This was a local manifesto commitment and a partial restoration of a badly thought through cut from the short-lived Conservative-led administration. We would like to restore it at all times but we need to make sure this is affordable. Talking to retired people the loss of the 9-9.30 period was …
With the candidates for police and crime commissioners starting to come forward it’s becoming really important for everyone to ensure they are well informed about the issues that will matter in this election. Thames Valley Police have helpfully put together a report that gives information about the area they cover, the way they currently …
We are now putting out our post-election leaflet in Whitley, our top story of course is Mike Orton’s re-election with 65% of the vote. However we have also gone for a slightly different departure for us by analysing the result and why we think that “coalition” candidates did so badly – …
There are a lot of challenges facing Reading when it comes to both housing and neighbourhoods over the next year but putting it into context we are not alone. The National Housing Federation, which is the umbrella group for Housing Associations nationally has published it’s latest assessment of the state of the …
The Labour party is seeking the widest possible input into our policy both at a national level and locally. The national party is continuing the ‘partnership into power‘ policy discussions. The general direction of travel is therebut the national policy forum will be discussing more submissions. Members and non-members, whether …
So a big night all round in Reading. I take my hat off to the senior Conservative councillor who predicted correctly to me the way 15 out of the 16 seats would go last week (he got Tilehurst wrong). I certainly wasn’t expecting all of these results. I was expecting …
If you are reading my blog you probably are interested in politics, so I doubt you will forget to vote. But obviously don’t forget! It will be interesting to see what happens locally and nationally in the elections tomorrow. I won’t make any predictions, as ultimately it’s all down to …
“The final quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, the second successive quarter of contraction. Over the past year the economy has therefore not grown at all, and total output is now 0.2 per cent lower than it was six quarters ago, in the third quarter of 2010.” – OBR The …
Great visit by Ed Miliband yesterday, I don’t have time for a full post but thought I’d put up a few photos of my morning yesterday. The afternoon and evening were spent on casework and an Audit and Governance committee:
In context that is 2% of the entire annual budget set aside for an unpopular and counter productive ‘reorganisation’. . And apparently it will have to do the same in the coming financial year. It’s hard to process numbers in the billions – when Andy Burnham was quoting £3 billion plus and the Conservatives …
At the moment it feels like the Conservatives in Reading are taking it in turns to say silly things: whether that it’s a myth that doctors are against the NHS bill/act or that the Conservative councillors are ‘a united team’.Now the MP for Reading East has decided it’s high time …
<!–[if !mso]>st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } <![endif]–> Threatened cuts in legal aid will harm the most vulnerable in our society, unless the Government listens to a powerful coalition of charities and accepts House of Lords amendments when the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Bill returns to the House of Commons. …
On 28th March I wrote of the local Conservatives: “This is a sign of a party that is focused on what happens in the council chamber and not on people’s neighbourhoods A sign of a party out of fresh ideas. A sign of a party that is out of …
Now that the headlines have moved on I suspect that “Westminster” will not be thinking about the NHS so much. But it’s now that the major impact of the NHS bill is going to start. So what can we do to save the NHS in our own local areas? Then …
The nominations for elections in Reading are now all in and they will be published shortly. Some very interesting candidates for any follower of Reading politics. I’m proud to be supporting Mike Orton’s bid for re-election in Whitley ward. A resident and councillor for “longer than I’ve been alive” – as …
I’ve got you floating around in austerity – so don’t stop me now… …I’m a dole machine ready to reload, and I’m burning through your jobs, 2000 a day – that’s why they call me Mr Parasite, I wanna make an unemployment figure of you” Watch out there is swearing and the guitar solo was …
It’s certainly been an interesting month politically, both here in Reading and nationally. Nationally of course the budget, which we’re still hearing about and which has been attacked so widely. I like a sausage roll as much as the next woman but I think the big news there has been …
I hadn’t been planning to speak in the community schools debate at Tuesday’s council meeting but I was, as I mentioned in my post yesterday, incensed by the Conservative response to the balanced and sensible motion that John Ennis put forward. The nub of the motion was “Policy of this …
I had predicted a council meeting dominated by some key policy debates – the NHS, education and workfare. Instead I suspect this week’s local newspaper headlines will be dominated by the internal workings of the local Conservative party. The controversy about Cllr Chowdary’s deselection has received a lot of coverage …
Tonight’s council meeting agenda is a mix of the very administrative and the highly charged – the statement on pay policy and ratification of the recommendation of the Independent Re-numeration Panel’s recommendations probably fall into the first and motions on workfare, the NHS and education on the other. The Reading Labour party …
So key measure in the budget is to drop the tax rate for those earning over £150,000 from 50p to 45p starting from April 2013. Now I happen to believe that Osbourne has massaged his figures and making a real mistake financially by dropping it at all, and it’s not …
As virtually anyone involved in education will tell you the pupil premium is a con – it’s not extra money in the schools budget but has been funded from redistributing money from elsewhere in the education budget. However Liberal Democrats have until now been pointing to it as a saving …
Send your own here Dear Mr Sharma, The NHS Bill did not feature in either your own or the Liberal Deomocrat manifesto, or in the Coalition Agreement. In fact, the Prime Minister himself promised the NHS was safe in his hands before the election, saying categorically there would be no …
My colleague John Ennis has his own blog, but I wanted to give his message on forced academisation a further push on my own site as we do have slight different readerships (Reading FC fans probably find his blog more interesting for a start). “Mr Gove started by saying that all …
As a member of the Cooperative party I’m really pleased that in Reading we are making this link more high profile: Eight prospective Labour councillors in Reading and Wokingham, who are also members of the Co-operative Party are standing on a joint Labour and Co-operative Party ticket this year.The Co-operative Party has …
The following is a guest post from Bet Tickner, Reading’s lead councillor for health and community engagement: “Only days or weeks remain before the Tories try to force the disastrous and universally unpopular NHS bill into law, in the teeth of opposition from virtually every medical professional body and the public. Now …
The Liberal Democrats have an easy choice today, they do the right thing for the country and for their party by voting for the bill to be dropped. Locally our Liberal Democrats originally came out in support of the bill but now at least some of them have changed their …
A number of Reading Labour members have joined the national lobby in parliament this evening but I am working this evening so have set this post up in advance (scheduling blog posts in advance is new to me but what a good idea!). I’ve blogged on this ad nauseum but …
The full reports are available here – item that are labelled agenda item 15. However a summary is in the press release:Plans to improve Reading’s private housing sector by providing further support for tenants, house owners, landlords and local communities, will be considered by the Council’s Cabinet on 12 March. …
Let’s face it it’s pretty depressing what the government is up to on our NHS this week. The Libdems (with some honourable exceptions) seem to be trying to position themselves so that they don’t look to blame but without actually having the guts to actually do anything. Meanwhile, the Tories blaming either …
The NHS is probably the most urgent political fight the country is facing at the moment. So I make no apologies for my second guest blog of the month also being about the NHS. The focus in this is on the local party politics, while the previous was more about the wider …
Last night we took more than 10% – £12.6 MILLION out of the council’s budget. That followed on the previous year’s cuts of £19 million (according to last year’s Conservative press release), so decisions were always going to be painful. We might have expected some unpalatable decisions and …
At tonight’s council meeting there will be a lot on the agenda and particularly a lot to say about next year’s budget, which I will blog about tomorrow if I have time. However I am also proposing a motion to full council supporting a SARC in Reading, a single point …
Time for my increasingly traditional Friday post about the NHS and health services.While politically Reading Labour councillors including myself are completely against the Health bill and believe it will damage, and possibly destroy our NHS we have to plan for the future. Councils are proposed to have an increased role …
The whole shadow health team visited Reading today as part of what Andy Burnham jokingly called their ‘UK tour’. They started by visiting a GP surgery and meeting health workers and then had a more public meeting with – GPs, other health professionals, trades unionists and Labour party members (photo …
The least you can expect from a Prime Minister is to be able to answer questions with factual accuracy. The kind explanation is that he believes his own spin that’s not just complacency that’s dangerous for the future of this country. The alternative that he is just making it up …
It’s not often a planning committee changes government policy. But that’s what has just happened following Reading’s planning committee decision to ensure that all developers, schools, itself, charities, businesses are treated on a level playing field when it comes to planning. Following this decision the Reading Labour run cabinet and …
There are already people looking ahead to 2012. Personally I am not wishing away the last 2 weeks of the year – a time I plan to spend largely with family and friends and doing a bit of council business (no more formal meetings though!). But we’ll all need that …
Across the country and in the South Eastwe’ve seen a 99% fall in housing starts (which is the Tory government’s prefered figure for measuring housing activity) for affordable housing being built in the 6 months to September 2011. Jack Dromney has called it a disaster, and I don’t think that’s …
A consultation which ends almost 2 weeks after the changes come into effect, creating massive uncertainty for a fledgeling industry and not just moving the goal posts but taking the ball away for community environmental projects for the sake of the profits of the big 6 energy companies. Insert your …
We know that the Tory led government policies are forecast to increase homelessness substantially, with national forecasts showing scary figures. Here in Reading we are already seeing an increase in homelessness and we are worried about what the new year will bring. As an administration the Labour group is committed …
What a waste of talent and people’s lives. Particularly depressing to see so many young people unable to find work. It is no time for complacency from the government. It’s tough out here, whether you work in the private sector, public sector or are self employed. I was coming home …
It’s really nice to have tangible evidence of the future of sheltered and extra care housing in Reading (more photos on Whitley news). Today I ‘topped out’ Cedar Court the first council housing to be build in Reading for over 20 years. We got funding for this from the then, Labour, …
I’m not at #lab11 but this speech from a 16 year old shows what the Tory government is doing to a generation of young people more powerfully than I’ve seen elsewhere Ken Livingstone has set out a transport policy that will have benefit for all of us in Reading who …
A Whitley resident sent me this link. It’s increadibly depressing that independent experts are predicting 10 million people will ‘fall off’ the electoral register as a result of changes proposed by ministers. I’m hoping that decent members of parliament from all parties will get this amended. I know how hard …
Not being a Guardian reader I didn’t see this leaked report yesterday but honestly, wow! http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/interactive/2011/sep/13/leaked-memo-women-coalition-government Some of the ideas in there are good, even if they are u-turns (like revisiting failure to criminalise forced marriage) but other bits are frankly ludicrous as serious policy to remove the disproportionate effect …
One of the most thoughtless of the cuts made by last year’s Tory administration was the removal of free bus travel for disabled residents pre-9.30. In some cases this decision was actually counter productive even from a pure cost perspective. For example a number of councillors are aware of cases …
There are 3 events* tomorrow in Reading where Labour will be well represented – hopefully I’ll be at two out of three… Obviously there is Reading Pride, one of the highlights of the Reading year for me. Our stall is being organised by Richard Wood and will be part of …
Data on NHS waiting times is available by PCT. I’ve just got round to taking a look at them. You can look at the latest data and an archive and it’s quite illuminating as you can look by procedure, by PCT and if you really want by PCT and proceedure …
In Reading and I imagine in many other councils, especially here in the South East, it is no secret that we, as a council, have been worried by the benefits changes. We know it will hit not just families and individuals but also to the council’s resources. In other words …
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au4KRNXgOns?fs=1]Sometimes it’s nice just to think ‘hurray’ about something. But the wider implication is that this is just one example of how politics is changing and will continue to change. It won’t always be easy for politicians to deal with, but the trends to me appear to be:1. People …
Because it was Fathers Day yesterday I missed the news about David Cameron’s latest demonstration of just how out of touch this government is. I’m going to stick my neck out and say I agree a dad who “runs out” on his kids and deliberately takes no responsibility or interest …
My earlier blog post was about the role that faith plays (or doesn’t play) in my own politics. I didn’t have a full answer on the specifics of Archbishop Rowan Williams comments, apart from tentatively suggesting that it’s OK for bishops to make political points. However this blog post is …
We’re all feeling the pinch at the moment, but increasingly I’m hearing from people who can’t make ends meet and I believe other councillors are too. The high inflation and squeeze on wages is affecting everyone but for some it can mean choosing between food and fuel. This radio report …
The ‘unholy row’ between the Archbishop and the Prime Minister had me musing on the role religion has played in my own political views. I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I have a faith – brought up in a very Church of England family I have more …
This evening at cabinet we approved our priorities for this year. You can see the full document here but the priorities from my portfolio are reproduced below. I was shocked by some of the things said by opposition speakers at tonight’s meeting. In particular I found Cllr Ralph’s comments about …
The three crucial votes of the night (1st two shown here) for Mayor, Deputy and Leader of the Council were won on the Mayor’s casting vote. Others will no doubt blog about the petulance shown by certain members, but I am off to bed! However just to reiterate – Labour …
I can confirm that the Labour group believes we have an electoral mandate to form a minority administration after winning 9 out of 15 seats and the largest vote share. It’s not the easy option but it is the right thing to do to stand up for Reading.Labour has increased …
For those interested in the analysing the numbers the information below might save you some time. It’s sorted in order from the largest Labour majority down to the largest ‘other’ (Conservative) majority. The fact that the Liberal vote collapsed is probably not surprising to anyone given that this was the …
Although I’m officially ‘on a break’ from social media until after the elections to focus on campaigning a couple of people have actually asked me could I do a post about how I think the local election campaign is going. Well go on, since you twisted my arm! So what …
Summary: March – a month of frustration with Conservatives and Libdems and hope for a new council. For the rest of April and until after the May elections I will be taking a break from blogging to focus on campaigning and on keeping up with council work as well. I …
Tomorrow I will try to post my March report and then I am going to take a break from blogging until after the local elections (unless something REALLY exciting comes up) Here are some interesting posts from elsewhere: A widely cited and well researched article by Duncan Weldon (ex Bank …
There are so many things that the government is doing wrong at the moment it’s hard to pick one.The NHS is the one making the headlines at the moment. Remember the ‘airbrushed’ David Cameron poster? It was so widely mocked the original slogan can slip the mind: “We can’t go …
This is my personal account as a Labour councillor. I don’t tweet during council meetings as I like to give my full attention but I do like to report back: Short report:Full council showed up what a shambles the administration is in: the Conservatives and Libdems did not have a …
I will be marching in London. Those marching will have many different particular issues they want to hihglight. For me the biggest single issue I have is the assault on the NHS. Yes the cuts are way too far and too fast and put our economic growth at risk – …
The big picture on this budget is clear. Growth forecasts are down (yet again) and unemployment forests are up. No wonder borrowing forecasts have also had to be revised upwards: you can’t cut a deficit when growth has stalled. If it’s not working a change of policy is needed. So …
I won’t be publishing comments on this post and will not be giving my own opinion. The reason for this will be apparent from the information below which is a press release published by the Reading Labour party after legal advice. However for the record I thought it was worth …
The Government’s plan to privatise the NHS surely has to be stopped. Cameron resorted to attacking doctors and the British Medical Association at Prime Minister’s questions today. But if they are so awful why hand over power to them (especially when they don’t even want it!)? The BMAs objections are:1. …
You know I said there’s probably going to be a campaign about the government taking disabled people’s wheelchairs at this rate? Well there is: Here’s the press release:““We don’t want to be ‘Left Out In The Cold’ ”, say Britain’s disabled people. On the eve of the second reading of …
I actually thought this wasn’t true when I first saw it. I rarely blog twice in one day. Recently more like twice a week. But Andrew Lansley really, really is thinking that it would be a good idea to sell off all or part of NHS Blood and Transplant. To …
Yvette Cooper led an event in Reading town hall yesterday to listen to ideas that people in have for the future of our country. it’s easy to be cynical about this exercise, and I hadn’t really known what to expect. But yesterday I walked into a room full of people: …
… is still not what the public want. Remember someone saying “I’ll cut the deficit not the NHS”? Remember a coalition agreement that said “We will stop top down reorganisation of the NHS”? I’ve blogged before on this and marched against it, but it’s moving up the news agenda now. …
I couldn’t find a list of cuts in the online version of full council’s agenda but you can see them here on p50 onwards as they were not, successfully, amended from those approved by the cabinet. You’ll see that children’s services were particularly badly hit. I spoke on the amendment …
Does our MP agree? <!–[if !mso]> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } <![endif]–> When MPs voted Alok Sharma, whose constituency includes Sulham Woods, voted for the sell-off, and in letters to concerned constituents including me argued it was part of the ‘Big Society’. Has he changed his mind? On another note I went to …
Sadly the lead councillor said ‘no’ or rather he waffled very politely about what a wonderful thing the Whitley Excellence Cluster was and then refused to do anything. I had to ask a supplementary question to his answer to make sure that I was clear that this is what he …
…but Kirsten Bayes didn’t. Does Cllr Bayes not agree with the points he makes? He says:“1. This is not a shortsighted attempt at deficit-denying. It explicitly acknowledges the need for deficit reduction – with the consequences.2. In being scathing about Pickles, as I have done before, it underlines a collective …
I don’t have anything nice to say about the top local story. So I’m not going to say it. John things well. In the meantime the Government’s plans for our forests are in disarray, it turns out that the Conservatives have doubled the proportion of their money coming from the …
Worrying. Apparently selling our forests is part of the Big Society. I’ve reproduced his letter below as promised. Dear Ms Eden, Thank you for contacting me about forests. In view of recent speculation I am writing to explain the reason behind the inclusion of powers for modernisation of the forestry …
Whitley councillor Jim Hanley died suddenly on Friday morning. Anyone who reads my blog is probably aware of this as it’s been all over the local blogs and getReading. It’s also why I haven’t posted anything since Thursday. What do you say when something like this happens? Jim was a …
I’ve seen a copy of a letter from the Chair of the Reading Council for Racial Equality to Cllr Mike Townend that was read out in the council’s own Ethnic Minority Forum . This is where residents come to discuss the council’s policies relating to ethnic minorities (there are similar …
It’s been hard to keep up with what is happening in Egypt this post offers one useful insight (although the comments are not really worth reading). My last trip abroad in 2007 was to Egypt that the only real knowledge about it that I have. My very uninformed impression was …
This is my personal recollection. Last night was full council and it was a meeting which included some cross party work and sensible discussion. But it also included the first round of the budget cuts being brought for debate. The Conservative, Cllr Stevens (he never seems to enjoy\ political disagreement, …
To mis-quote Miliband, the government is following the wrong policy at the wrong time. A fall in output of 0.5% of GDP in the last quarter is probably artificially low due to some snow and in general early estimates of GDP figures can be flaky. Having said that this was …
New Forest – 2006 summer holiday I will publish any response I get. You can sign the petition and email your MP here. There is a template but you can edit it with your own views as I did. “Dear Mr Sharma, As you know we belong to different political …
Who will be 100? (We have hundreds off-line too) UPDATE: It was Mr Adegoke Keshinro. Thank you for your support!
I couldn’t believe the BBC news top story today. “NHS change is needed, says David Cameron”. Sure we could do with some more doctors, new treatments, better mental health provision, but I can’t think of a single person outside of the Conservative party leadership (oh, I guess Nick Clegg), who …
Petition now over 350, attended dinner with Ed Milliband at the Penta Hotel (great speech!) and protest march today against the NHS reorganisation, tax dodging gazillionaires and the cuts to the council’s income. It was good to march with other trade unionists (there were far more from Unison there than …
I spent quite a bit of my childhood in 1980s South Yorkshire, including in coal mining areas so this scene resonates with me:
…a country that is worth admiring. I have watched the last couple of years of the presidency of Lula Da Silva with admiration, and have been looking for a definitive biography for a while (if any one finds one please let me know!)The new president, Dilma, had a tough election …
Is the EMA a good thing? I have plenty of anecdotal evidence but as a friend recently accused the government of ‘hating statistics’ and I laughed along with him I guess that would be unfair. So lucky for me the IFS has just published an analysis . So yes, it …
I’ve spoken in the press about this already – I find it shocking that the coalition is so blasé about ending the good work of Whitley Excellence Cluster. I hoped that Cllr Ralph, the lead councillor for Education would be able to commit to at least looking at a way …
I paid tuition fees at University,although it was under the short lived system that was means tested so I paid less. I can see the reasoning for graduates paying part of the cost of their education and I am not a denier of the private benefit that is received by …
My colleague and comrade Jim Hanley has decided to retire from the council in May following his qualification as a social worker. I’ll be sorry to see him step back from front line politics and I know that many people in Whitley, and indeed across Reading, have reason to thank …
Rumours and more than rumours have been going around Reading over the last week about which wards the Lib dems are planning to stand aside in either totally or by not actively campaigning. Tony Jones has now broken the story on his blog. If this is seriously going to happen …
Summary: A busy month. some local positives overshadowed by the national news. Council work: Full council this month was I have to say a largely disappointing affair with a lot of bad temper and unnecessary amendments of motions for political point scoring. I kept out of the debates that caused …
Now that the coalition has in a single day attacked Shelter and the Local Government Association (whose Chair is a Tory peer) for scaremongering and accused Boris Johnston of offensiveness (oh wait, I would say that’s true as a general rule) perhaps it is now the turn of the Methodists, …
And then sign the petition calling on Osbourne to pay his taxes! We’re all in this together? My mum (who is not political) was the first person to tell me she’d heard that George Osbourne was avoiding tax (not evading – he’d be put in prison for that). I couldn’t …
I’ve been really enjoying “The story of England” with Michael Wood the last few weeks – if you’ve missed it I would definitely look out for repeats or go on iplayer. It is great to see a history program that gives you a real idea of how your own life …
If Labour was running the council this post would sum up how I was feeling. CllrTim in Bansley is agonising over horrendous decisions being foisted on him by central government cuts. Local government is probably the hardest hit of all departments, and this is after already spending years on efficiency …
On the spending review I am still in shock about some of the details and will have more to say, particularly about housing. Nick Robinson did a blow by blow account A good economic analysis is here. A pro-Cuts response is here and an anti-cuts response is here. A distributional …
Today of all days residents in Reading will be hoping that their local representatives will be thinking and acting responsibly. We will need to make some very hard decisions as the central Conservative and Lib-dem government have chosen to impose savage cuts on our budget – and to do it …
Had my first visit to Whitley Park schools since election day yesterday. It was great to see the progress they are making on becoming a single school, and the great ethos that the school has. I always think it’s hard to put your finger on what makes a school a …
The official government figures show a 56.7% increase in people waiting over 6 weeks for an appointment for diagnosis from July to August. and in case you were wondering if it was a seasonal variation, that’s also a 46.7% increase from August last year. The proportion of those waiting who …
Summary:September has been busy (and so has October, which is why this report is so late). I have managed to get some good news for some residents but overall things are not looking so positive. Council work:I attended environment scrutiny panel at which we examined some important items and …
Andy Flannegan on money and God. A 2 minute short from Channel 4. How much is enough and what is the right response to inequality? Big questions to which I don’t have the answers but the thoughtrs I do have are some of the reasons I got involved in politics.
Frozen for 3 years already, but now if one parent is a higher rate taxpayer won’t get anything.For the avoidance of doubt I strongly believe in universal benefits but if you are going to cut benefits at least do it consistently. Lets assume that cutting child benefit and means testing …
Save the Children have a on-line campaign to ask George Osbourne to balance the books in a fair way – that is not on the backs of the poor and children, and to announce how in his conference speech. You can sign up here I also went to the library …
On a gloomy day like today it’s not obviously a day to post about optimism. But I was thinking about it after thinking over Ed’s speech. He said ‘we are the optimists’ and it chimed with me, as it’s one of the key reasons I joined the Labour party. I …
The latest Avaaz petition is close to my heart. Please consider signing it. They get noticed and get results. UPDATE 22nd September – link fixed. Thanks to John Stumbles!
Imagine a service that saves the government money, is valued by patients and reaches people who otherwise might not get treatment. This sounds like exactly what the current government is looking for. I would expand it as it’s a great example of ‘more for less’. NHS Direct is that service: …
I am sure the libdems don’t want anyone, especially low and middle incomes to be worse off as a result of their actions and certainly not disproportionately hit. I imagine the Conservatives feel the same, although with some of them I wonder. But the facts speak for themselves and to …
Soneone once say “Ringo’s not the best drummer in the world, he’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles”. I’d dispute that and not just because to me he is the voice of Thomas the tank engine. Yes that shows my age… But I would say something similar today …
Really disappointed and surprised by just how short term the Con-Dem coalition is being. The scheme to build “extra care” homes for the elderly on the old Avenue school site has been axed by the Con-Dem coalition. It’s a cut that doesn’t make any sense, as it is a one …
I think her final point about the debt from the 2nd world war is particularly true.
As the local press has spotted I’ve put a motion in to the council calling on the Royal Mail to reconsider it’s decision to phase our most bike deliveries. As a cyclist myself I know that cycling can be the most efficient, cheap and environmentally friendly way to get about …
The Institute for Fiscal Studies is a well known, quite staid but very respected think tank. They’ve done their own analysis of the budget and have concluded that the “overall impact of the budget is regressive”. The conclusion is on p20 of the link It’s bad enough to make the …
My instant reaction – this budget is consistent with what we’ve already seen from this government – short term, blaming everything on other people and good for their friends (Cheshire is the least affected area in the country, and where is Osborne’s constituency?). There are some specific policies I am …
I was at the Reading faith forum earlier this week and it struck me just how little the very people you would expect to be keen on the Big Society – the faith groups that do such great voluntary work, seemed taken with the idea of the council and government …
There are two straws in the wind. And to show I’m not just being negative I’ll start with the positive news. I’ve never made a secret that I think that the last Labour administration was too nervous of confront vested interests and sort out unfairness in the tax system, if …
So the Conservatives have managed to persuade the Lib Dems to enter a coalition in Reading as well as nationally. I could see the logic nationally. Of course I didn’t like it, any more than I liked the fact that the Conservatives got more seats than Labour – but that is democracy and it …
What’s going on? I was just checking the website address for a local resident who is interested in joining the party and got told the server was busy. That’s NEVER happened before. I’m assuming it’s the chance to vote in the leadership elections that has caused this flurry, but it …
I’ve been elected as Whitley ward councillor. Some very varied results across the country. Locally of course I’m really disappointed by the General election result but surprised and pleased by the Reading borough council elections. Net impact is Labour are still on 19, Conservatives have lost a seat while the …
No great shock then. However with the local elections in Reading being on 6th May this is really good news for everyone, with the possible exception of the returning officer and count staff. It will mean that there will be higher turnout as people will have 2 elections to vote …
Of course a sad day for Labour and progressive politics in general with the death of Michael Foot. what a life he had, from the childhood in a family of Llyod George-style Liberals to Oxford to his journalism, political careers and long marriage he was a man who seems to …
John Ennis has details. The prospect of becoming a mum is a serious business and many teenage mums do a great job. However lets be honest I think the vast majority of 17 year olds should be having fun and starting a job or getting an education – not changing …
Gordon Brown has backed Reading’s bid for city status and in his comments specifically mentions the area’s community spirit. I second that. Over the last few days I’ve been fortunate enough to attend 4 different meetings that show the community spirit. Firstly there was ‘governor’s day’ at my local primary …
Below are photos from this weekend’s events in Whitley. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf Cllr John Ennis has also posted hist thoughts on the conference on his blog – he gives a more detailed report than me, as he was there in an official capacity.
It was great to see so many members, MPs and union members to Whitley (Hilton Hotel on Kennet Island to be exact). There was a really positive atmosphere and good discussions. Quite a few of them also came out to knock on doors and chat to Whitley residents and I …
I’m getting increasingly frustrated about the “debate” on the future of social care. Of course I expect people with different political views to me to disagree on the solution but for goodness sake – the problem is obvious. We have an aging population, (which is one one level is great …
Use of computers and broadband is so widespread now that many teachers set homework which requires students to use the computer. My husband for example produces lots of revision and study resources for his students that he puts on line. However there are a few students in all schools who …
Quite a lot if you are one of the people who needed an operation last year rather than in, say 1996. Interestingly number of people waiting has increased in the last year, which people who know about about medicine than I do say is a result of the recession (less …
As anyone who has been looking at Whitley News will have seen there is some great news on the funding for new council houisng to be built on the old site of the Avenue school: 40 units of top quality homes for over-55s. My opinion is that council owned and …
Just watched the news and saw the boiler scrappage scheme is starting today. Looking out of the window as the snow falls and £400 subsidy from the government to replace inefficient boilers looks attractive (we saved up for a new boiler last year already) This has got to be a …
I’m on a Christmas break now but Martin Salter MP has asked me if I’d like to post up his comments on the recent snow… I pretty much agree with him: – it’s nice and simplistic to blame one group or organisation for everything that isn’t totally smooth in life …
I’m sure there will be lots of people continuing to pick over the pre-budget report in greater detail over the next couple of days. For what it’s worth my impression watching it was that overall the emphasis right; making sure that economic recovery isn’t choked off by reckless cuts while …
I spotted this and thought what a shame. I obviously want people to vote for me when I stand for the council but even more important is that people can vote at all! I am a sad individual and really like being able to vote, it reminds me of the …
Last week on Helston Gardens I was asked by 3 young girls “What’s the Labour party? Does it mean when women have babies”. The conversation continued: “Labour means work”. “My Dad works”, “My mum AND my dad work”. “Well the Labour party was set up so that people who do …
Sounds like we didn’t need to worry that Nick Griffin would look good on question time. I didn’t stay up for it, and the only reason I would have done is if I wanted to hear what the BNP were all about or if I felt like car crash TV. …
I’ve just got home from a parent’s evening at the primary school that I am a governor for. I was giving out teas and coffees to parents and chatted with them, the children and the teachers. I came home to the news being dominated by the appearance of Nick Griffin …
Press release from Reading labour party. I’m a school governor at a primary school so this is close to my heart. Labour: “We have invested over £100M in Reading’s schools” Since Reading took education from Berkshire in 1998, Labour has invested over £100M in new schools – the John Madejski …
I’m at the Labour party conference this week having taken some holiday from work.Lots of ideas and a real buzz!One thing that I particularly was pleased to hear at a fringe meeting on flooding is that there are firm plans for a new bill in the next few months to address …
… I’m off work with what is apparently swine flu (TBC by a swab sent off to a mysterious organisation called the ‘respiratory virus unit’) . But sitting in my dressing gown after having checked my work emails I saw this story and it made me feel a lot worse. …
Surely by now everything that can be said on expenses has been said? I thought it would have been by now and I’ve been calming down over it before I said anything. However it seems to me that there is a major point that lots of people have missed. Like …
