Andrew Fisk

I was knocking on doors in Rodborough the other day and a number of residents expressed views on the Canal Restoration.

Most supported the idea.  But some were concerned with the possible loss of habitat for various creatures and the impact of economic development along the ‘Canal Corridor’

I hear what they are saying.  But I don’t necessarily agree with their, genuine, conclusions. 

Done properly the Stroudwater Navigation and the Severn and Thames Canal will be an excellent environment for all kinds of life.  There will be disruption while the Canal is constructed but if the Kennet and Avon Canal (and many other waterways across the country) shows that wildlife quickly return and thrive.

There will be economic benefits to communities along the length of the canal.  It is the responsibility of civic leadership to ensure that the right kind of development occurs and that the opportunity for the stroud area is not missed. 

Just caught this bit of news from the BBC, The European Parliament has voted to allocate £110 million from the ‘European Union Solidarity Fund’ for part of England hit by the summer floods.

This is for infrastructure repairs.  Roads and Bridges etc…..

Which could be good news for the Canal? 

Watch this space…..

Nick was talking about Mental health today in PMQs (Prime Ministers Questions) and raised the good point that some patients wait 3 or more years to get a therapist.

Well I agree this is wrong and Labour has done an inadequate job of improving the Mental Health provision in the NHS.  Same old story, not enough money and not in the right places. 

Many sufferers (1 in 6 of us will be affected by Depression of some kind) could benefit from CBT (cognitive Behavioural therapy) but its expensive! and many GPs are not able or not willing to refer patients.  And the waiting lists are so long anyway (see previous point)

It also true to say that many patients need the pills.  I don’t believe this latest study paint a true picture of the situation with the anti-depressants.  The Drugs do a job.  Please don’t stop taking them untill your doctor says you can! 

My circle of friends and family include people who have suffered from poor mental health.  The older I get the more my awareness of these issues increases, And as I have mentioned in previous posts I have personal insight into this area.  

But that is another story…

The Police don’t want to do it anymore…. apparently and the local District does not look after it either… A bit of yellow paint would solve it… but the County doens’t have the money…?! (for a bit of paint?)

Well if its not Parking its Speeding, traffic humps, dog do, broken lights and if I look at another drain…Yarg!…. yep good old Community Politics is alive and well in Rodborough.

I love it really.

Well not the dog do…..!

So the Speaker of the House of Commons doesn’t think MPs should discuss Britain’s future in the European Union….

As I said last time this is the real question we must debate!

I’m not bothered about legal technicalities in this or that Treaty.  We have Parliament for that job.  Referendums need to be clearly defined. 

So lets have the debate Labour and Tories don’t want.  Are we ‘in’ or ‘out?’

Are we internationally involved in the world or are we ‘Little Englanders’ stuck in some introverted time-warp?

The Environment, world poverty, terrorism, crime, economy… the list goes on and on.  We need Europe so why can’t we debate the ‘Real European Question’ in this country?

Ok I won’t rant on and on (and on…!) I’ll be back on this topic soon though!

Should we have a referendum on the European issue?

Well it depends on ‘which issue’ 

Charles Kennedy committed the Liberal Democrats to support a public vote on the ‘European Constitution’… the French and the Dutch killed that Treaty stone dead.

And now we have a new treaty called the ‘Amending Treaty.’ Is it the same as the previous one? Should we vote on it? (No and Yes… trust me I’m a politician!)

In 1993 the Tories refused to have a referendum on the Maastricht Treaty (Which established the ‘European Union’, ‘European Citizenship’ and the single ‘European Currency’) That piece of paper was much more significant to us in Britain that the ‘Amending Treaty.’

 So, the Tories now want referendums on Europe (As does UKIP) But so do the Lib Dems! but on the much clearer question of ‘do we stay in the European Union or do we leave?’  That’s the underlying issue. 

The Tories and UKIP are scared of the real debate.  They don’t care about legalistic ‘red lines’ they want us out!  

I made a slight error in my last post.

if a perfectly proportional system of voting had applied at the last UK General Election the Greens would have 1.2 MPs…

Hopefully you get my point that if you want to tackle climate change vote ‘Liberal’ not ‘Green’… and something might actually happen (I’m being sarcastic… sorry!)

Ralph Nader has announced he will be running for the US Presidency….

I have nothing against the Green Party of America except the same issue I have with the UK Green Party…  They can’t win.

And they ‘take’ votes away from Parties that can and ‘would have’ made a difference.

Mr Nader wants to change his country and the world, but in 2000 his votes in Florida denied the Democrats the White House.  If you are a Green or like me ‘just green minded’ then would you rather have had in the last 8 years a President called Al Gore or one called George W Bush…. Bit or a ‘no brainer’ that one!

So a vote for Green then meant that Conservatives got in…. Great result for the environment. (I’m being a little sarcastic as you can probably detect!)

Many Greens in the UK are lovely people with principles I can respect and even agree with sometimes (after all I nearly joined the ‘Green Party’) but they can’t win.  They don’t stand a chance.  Even with a fairer voting system they are still so small a party they would not make a difference. (Their result at the last General Election would not have got them a single MP even if the most proportional system had been used…)

Enough Green bashing.   I believe the challenge we face in the UK and the USA is to change the system.   The parties placed to do this in Westminster (Lib Dem) or Washington (Democrat) are the ones who can ‘implement’ policies to tackle climate change….. Not just talk about them

What is the cost of Alcohol? 

Every Friday and Saturday the NHS is swamped with what I call ‘alocohol abusers’… People in their 20’s are being treated for liver disorders caused by Alcohol.  A whole generation is being scarred by this ‘recreational drug.

I am a Liberal and I do believe in choice, but sometimes the state has to step in.  I drink very little of ‘The Stuff’ nowadays but yes I have binged in the past.  I understand the social pressure that people are under, the so called ‘cultural differences’ that seemingly justify ‘alcohol abuse.’

So what kind of choice will we have in 20 or 30 (or 10?) years time?  And the cost financially will be prohibitive.  Yes I know the Government get upward of £30 Billion a year from the drinks industry, which kind of explains why not much is being done about the problem.

Tax on Alcohol needs to go up. Period.

Supermarkets must be subject to restrictions on discounting of Alcohol.  Strict Licenses for the sale of Alcoholic drinks must be introduced and much more effort must go into educating the public on the dangers of Mankind’s oldest drug.

And we need to introduce labels on all Alcoholic products along the lines of Cigarettes…. Then we can give people a real choice.  Live or Die?…. Discuss!

The economy is on a downer and half the world is starving…

Well sometimes it seems that it can’t get any worse.  Darfur, Kenya, Serbia…. just a few places that are not on my holiday list. 

What strikes me about how the world is today is the fact that although our country has its problems they are trivial compared with the places mentioned above (And plenty of others)