That is what most lower and middle income tax payers will be if Nick Clegg and Vince Cable get their way.

 The plan is to raise the lower threshold for income tax to £10,000 and re-coupe the money by closing tax loopholes on higher earners.

Sounds good to me. 

Liberal Democrats also would scrap the 2.5% reduction on the rate of VAT.  It wastes £12.5 Billion on a measure that barely touches the economic crisis we are in.  Instead the Lib Dems would use the money to insulate hospitals and schools, build up public transport and boost the Green economy.

Ken Clarke actually made a rather interesting point today.  He often does, altthough not always to the benefit of the Conservative Party.  This morning the former Chancellor rattled on about how MPs are perceived by the general public.  He was right in saying that our national respresentatives are held in extremely low esteem. I do agree with that sentiment that a few ’rotten apples’ should not cause everyone to be tarred.  (I’m mixing metaphors I’m afraid!)

Westminster has to get its collective act together. 

Local Politics is a slightly different matter.  Different in that the sums of money are much reduced for one thing.   If I had remained on the Town Council I would now be entitled to just under 50 pence a mile travel allowance.  Even if I walked!  yes this is about it (financially speaking that is)  Some things are just too silly.

How people of my age (mid thirties) cope with the demands of a regular employment and a career in local government si a wonder.  I thing it is true to say that if someone puts aside time to serve their community they should not be overly punished in a financial sense.  I’m not in it for money, and I think most local politicians are the same, but if ‘we’ are to achieve a representative balance on our local authorities we need to have realistic allowances for councillors 

Food for thought?

I have just been watching the BBC news and I notice that President Obama has had some success at the Nato summit.

What I don’t understand is the ‘naked violence’ of the protests that have accompanied this meeting.  What do these people hope to achieve?  I not opposed to peaceful demonstrations but disagreement with a policy does not justify rioting. 

Back to the positive news from the summit.  Barack Obama has managed to get some support for his Afghanistan policy.  Lets see if it works… I hope some solution can be found for the problems of that troubled part of the world. 

 Also I am encrouraged by US attempts to limit the spread of Nuclear Weapon Technology.  Indeed Obama wants to rid of the weapons entirely.  Lets see how far he gets.

I have just heard that the Chief Medical Officer is recommending a minimum price per unit of alcohol of 50p (England and Wales only.  Scotland is thinking of a minimum of 40p)

Alcohol, when abused, causes all sorts of damage to peoples lives and the communities they live in.  Young people in their 20’s and 30’s are now recieving medical treatment that is normally associated with people 50+ in age.

 So is a minimum cost per unit a good idea?  I think so.  But it is only part of the answer.  I think tackling the discounting in supermarkets and off licences has to be a priority as well.

 There is nothing wrong with going out for a drink and we should not demonise people who do this responsibly.  However alochol is one of the more dangerous legal drugs and we need to respect its protency.

I’m a simple soul at heart and things like getting my photo in the local rag make me rather happy.

 All I had done was respond to an article in the ‘Stroud Life’ about one of the Vacancies on Stroud Town Council.  Particularly relevant to me because I had stood down in December from the Council causing the vacancy.  So why did I do resign? 

2008, for me, was a year of extremely hard work.  Both in my public and personal life I had been going flat out for most of the year.  I had been taken ill towards the end of this period and I felt I had fallen behind at work.  The Credit Crunch came along and I had to concentrate on getting things right in my main employment.  Something had to give and unfortunately it was my council work. 

I love public service and, sort of, regret standing down.  It had to be done at the time and I will be back just as soon as I can!

The photo (by the way) was taken sometime last year at the ‘Post Office’ march in Central Stroud. 

Well I am back.

 Sorry I have taken so long to renew my Blog but I’ve been occupied…

Work has been hectic and I have had the misfortune of being ill for a couple of weeks.

That said I have still been more active than the many of my fellow STC members!…

 So back to the topic in hand.  I have been asked to speak on the subject of debt and mental illness at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth hosted by MIND.  I will be, hopefully, taking part in a round table discussion.  I am not sure of the exact format but it should be relevant to many sufferers and friends and family. 

I have been in debt many times in my life but lucky to be able to hold down difficult jobs and pursue a political career despite an acute mental disorder.  I am a survivor.  I also have a fantastic credit history.  But so many people, able-minded and mentally ill have got themselves into financial trouble.

I hope to learn from Doctors and Politicians at conference but really it is the real experts, the mentally ill I want to listen too.  

Debt has to be tackled.  The Banks get away with a lot.  So I will speak out, and I encourage anyone reading this who has a similar story to speak out as well.  

Lets make a difference. 

Vince Cable MP predicts a sharp drop in house prices.

He also calls for ‘Social Landlords’ to increase the scale their property assets by taking on unsold housing.  With major house building corporations facing financial meltdown this could help to shore up some of the damage to the economy whilst providing hope to the 1.7 Million people on housing lists.

What is clear is that the country has been ill prepared for this Recession.  And the man how is to blame for that lack of preparation is Gordon Brown.  He presided over an unprecedented debt bubble.  The man who had claimed to have ‘No more boom and bust’ has taxed, borrowed and spent on such a scale that has never been seen before in this country. 

And we are going to suffer for it…

I spend a lot of time staring at monitor screens.

I test software for a living, which means I deal with all kinds of ‘Computer related’ issues. 

PCs consume an inordinate amount of energy.  But we need them!  So how do we use our technology sustainably?

 Not leaving machines on over night (even over weekends…) can help cut down the carbon footprint.  Use of lower energy equipment and recycle as much as possible.

Also manufacturers need to consider disposal of any component that can not be reused.

 Other things that spring to mind are the fact that certain rare metals used in Personal Computer construction come from Central Africa and an ethical import policy is therefore required to ensure the workers in the mines are not exploited.

 But Technology brings great benefits to our society.  And Technology can help in both the battle for Climate stabilisation and the Credit Crunch.   With the use of remote networking technology it is possible for office workers to ‘work from home’  thus reducing the carbon footprint and employers costs. 

And that has to be a good thing…

I hope the reopening of the Canal (Which Stroud Liberal Democrats support) will bring the prospect of growth in both the “new” Service sector and also more traditional manafacturing.

 Brimbecombe and Wallbridge are the too main Centers which will benefit from the restoration Project.  The former was once the site of boat buildng and a revival of old crafts and skills could really become a possibility.

Wallbridge is the gateway to Stroud and with the prospect of the a ‘Wallbridge Basin’ opening up again lcoal traders will benefit. 

With careful planning this will encourage business to move into the Stroud area.  I can see in the near future the 5 valleys and the Vale thriving with light industry combined with arts and carfts.

 But it will need All parties and groups to agree to support this vision. 

So don’t play short term gesture politics…  (You know who you are!) 

So Labour got a hiding in Henley.

And David Cameron has another acolyte elected .

 I do understand why people might want to get rid of Labour and / or Gordon Brown.  The Labour party has not prepared for the lean times we now face despite 10 years of record growth.  We are heading for a steep down turn and who was it who said “No more Boom and Bust!”…?

But I grew up under a Tory Government and I remember what they are really like.  Underneath that ‘Spray on’ compassion lurks the ‘Inner Tory.’  The shear ruthless malice of thatcher will be reborn in a Cameron Government… they will cut and savage the fabric of society again just as they did in the 1980’s…

So please think carefully for whom you cast your vote.  But you really shouldn’t need me to tell you that