After yesterdays down pours the warm weather is very welcome. I spent the afternoon meeting people in Kingscourt and on and around the edges of the Common.
I love meeting poeple and its good to hear about the things that matter to them. Again the Community Hall on Butterow West was discussed and also the situation surrounding Fromehall Park.
I was also asked about what brought me into politics in the first place… How long have you got!… I’ve blogged this one before but its nice to be asked these sort of questions.
Tomorrow I reprise my role as a Software Test Analyst. (So I can actually have a rest!) before facing the rigours of Full Council (Stroud Town Council)
All good fun!
Is it climate change? Or is it just winters last gasp?…
Well I braved the weather in Rodborough this afternoon. I was knocking on doors and trying not to get too cold… Unsuccessfully!
I got a good response and issues were raised including the proposed expansion of the Community Hall at Butterow West. (Consultation ends on Monday the 31st March)
Dog poo and littering also featured in many peoples priorities for things to sort out.
I’m going to be busy!
Does it ever stop?
Well it might for a day or too after May 1st…. Maybe?… Please!
I like it all really. Meeting new people and touching base with familiar faces. Discovering and doing things for residents…. yep its what keeps me going…
Tonight I have just returned from an interesting evening at a ‘Coffee Discussion’ with the Green Party… Mental Health was the topic and it was good to see other peoples perpectives and ideas. I would have added my 2 Euros worth but my voice has almost completely dried up….just a croaking along at the moment!
Thats my day. Tomorrow I’m back on the ol’ trail…. knocking on doors and stuffing bits of paper through lettterboxes… Yippee!…
How many times have I heard this? Its true that our current system of local government doesn’t always encourage the brightest and the best to public service… (I’m the exception of course!)
But which council are we talking about? the Parish? The Town? (Which town?) the District or the County?
Most ‘normal’ people just want their public servants to ‘get on with it’ and represent their interests.
Needless to say I take my duties very seriously
So many people have mentioned this during the last few days. I’ve been out and about in Rodborough meeting people and asking their opinions on local issues. One thing that virtually everybody mentions is Traffic and Speeding.
Sometimes I think this issue is more about ‘Driver Calming’… But yes, having lived in one of the rat runs in question, I know where people are coming from.
I can see a battle developing between the residents (who quite rightly want to see a solution to this problem) and the County Council (who will claim to have no money… ‘The Floods’…!)
I will do my best!… watch this space…
The good citizens of Bhutan (spelling?) have come out in droves to vote in the first elections to be held in that mountian kingdom.
Some voters have traveled hundreds of miles to get to the polling stations. That’s humbling!
As a Liberal Democrat I would like to see 100% turnouts in elections. I’m not sure about compulsory voting but would instead point out that in many parts of the world men and women are literally dying for the ritght to vote.
With the events in Tibet in mind perhaps potential voters in the Stroud District should consider themselves lucky to be free to make the decision of who should be running things… without fear of death or imprisonment.
For many Christians around the world Easter is a time for new hope.
For me my politics is all about hope. I joined the Liberal Democrats because they ‘gave me hope’. Our positive view of human nature, and our proactive approach to the challanges facing our society, still inspire me.
I have experienced some very dark moments in my life. There have been times when I have lost control of my life, and hope of any kind was a luxury I could not afford. Most people experience the hard times, and I think my love of liberty and desire for justice comes from my these moments. That why I am a Liberal
Whether or not the ’spirit of Easter’ means anything to you I would urge you all to be optimistic for the future.
No I’m not talking about Labour’s appalling economic performance or the credit crunch (which has claimed another victim…) but rather the latest batch of opinion polling…
Yep in ICM’s history (dating from 1984) Labour has never been so low. 29% compared to the Lib Dems on 21% with the Tories at 43%
I wouldn’t want to be a Labour candidate in May’s local elections!… Or a backbench Labour MP in a marginal seat for that matter…
Now that’s a good government cutback!
Sorry folks but I’ve been busy settling into a new job and I’ve neglected my duties in Bloggworld….
Back to the point. I think a hundred or so 5 member constiuencies based on the old counties of England, Wales and Scotland would be fantastic… All elected by STV-PR (As used in local elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland)
So a saving of £30 Million just by doing that? Not bad.
I like the other ideas coming from the Liberal Democrats in that a option (opt in by the voter at election time) for £3 of taxpayers money to fund a particular political party is a good move.
And making the political levy to go to the individual Trade Unionist’s party of choice… ie not all to the Labour Party!… That won’t be popular!
I also think an upward cap on individual donations is a good move also.
So less MPs and move state funding.
Quality not Quantity…. discuss!
Just heard about the new Lib Dem idea of bringing the government, industry and ordinary people together in a new alliance to tackle social and environmental problems.
This is the sort of ‘big idea’ that brought me into politics in the first place. Combined with Nick Clegg’s ideas for battle the ‘powers that be’ (my quotation marks) it gives a revolutionary ambiance to the Liberal Democrats.
Climate change needs the estential Liberal approach to international coorperation and also localism. That said, we have to unlock the powers of Business and the creative energies of the free market if we are to counter the ‘real threats’ our soceity faces. (And carry the public with us… it really doesn’t work without people voting for it… sort of obvious really!)
So good start, Nick. Keep up the good work…
So the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference has backed Nick Clegg’s plans for NHS reform.
The current government is obsessed with Top Down micro managment. It does not work and it wastes vast amounts of taxpayers’ money.
The New Lib Dem guarantee will ensure patients get treated even if the NHS cannot provide the service at the required level.
It is literally a ‘Guarantee‘ not an ‘Opt Out’ such as the Tories patient’s passport scheme…
The reforms will also replace PCTs with elected Health Boards (well ok 1/3 will be councillors… sort of elected!) and some patients will get their own budgets (particularly in the case of mentally ill patients)
All good stuff. I’m looking forward to hearing what else the Party has come up with at Conference.
The Post Office (read ‘Government’) wants to shut 2500 Post Offices across the county…
The last Post Office in Rodborough closed years ago but still many people in the area use nearby Offices. Many vulnerable people still need the service provided by Post Offices.
The Government claims that cuts are needed to make the remaining network ’sustainable’… What they don’t say is that both Labour and Tory governments have systematically undermined the Post Office with the withdrawal of facilities and services…
Would the Lib Dems be different?
Yes because we are not ‘Westminster Driven’ we are a party of localism. We want to invest £2 billion into the Post Office and start to rebuild the damage done by the ‘Lab Cons’…
I refuse to accept that the case for the Post Office is lost. I would give up on pensioners, people without bank accounts, disabled and other vulnerable people or just citizens who want a local facility in their community…
The Post Office not just a business but also a vital Service!
So a Mori poll has asked over a 1000 people whether they want a referendum on Britains membership of the European Union or just on the Lisbon Treaty itself.
18% want a vote only on the Lisbon Treaty but 38% supported a referendum on the ‘In or out‘ question… Pretty conclusive and yes it’s good to know that the party is the only one in touch with the public mood…
Liberal Democrats sometimes like to put policy into nice little boxes, roughly corresponding to government departments.
Other parties do this too, but sometimes it is necessary to ‘think outside the box’ as it were.
With the growing environmental awareness in soceity these days the Party has tried to link its ‘green credentialls’ with the whole gamut of policies. (From Transport, Crime through to Foreign affairs and many other issues) Its true to say that every part of policy has a envrionmental aspect and it is right for the Lib Dems to recognise this.
One such area is ‘Health.’
The magazine of the ‘Green Liberal Democrats’ produced an article on this subject. People living near motorways have an increased chance of heart attack. Modern urban living environments increase stress and poor mental health.
The answer to these problems isn’t Rocket Science. The Netherlands has 600 ‘care farms’, places where sufferers of Depression can recover and feel better. The mental charity MIND talks about ‘ecotherapy’
So being a ‘Green Party’ is not just about Wind Turbines and Solar Heating. Its a much broader approach…
Its the time of year when things start to happen.
I was walking through various streets in Rodborough the other day and I noticed that the number of unfilled potholes had shrunk quite considerably… Not all my doing I should add!
If your pothole is 2 inches or more in deepth then Glos County Council will (maybe) fill it in… Otherwise no chance mate.
The A46 has some ’shockers’ as any road user in the area will probably know… So Monday I’ll be on the phone to ‘Highways’… Don’t hold your breath though…!
Well its about time the council tax was ‘done in’
Nicol Stephens is calling on the SNP (Scottish Nationalists) to work together with the Liberal Democrats and dump the unfair council tax once and for all.
Don’t get too excited though. If this agreement (which hasn’t yet been agreed!) goes ahead only Scotland will get the benefits.
I’m not going to moan because I believe in devolution and the transfer of decision making downwards to the lowest practical level.
On that point I should say that some Tories and Labourites (well I can’t call them socialists anymore can I?) and indeed UKIP believe that develuton means giving more powers to the centre (’Brussells!) Utter rubbish!…double speak and newthink!
I want Westminster to do less than it does now but I want powers drawn down to Regional, Local and Neighbourhood levels… Indeed some powers that the EU currently have should come back but not to those C**ks in The house of Commons!
What does that mean for Stroud? local tax raised locally and on the ability to pay. More Planning decisions taken locally. (stop those Nuke Plants) more powers for the parish councils… and maybe sub-parish bodies set up for concerned residents … The Liberal Democrats in Stroud have argued for local devolved solutions for many years.
So Let the Scots have their fairer taxes, and let us learn from their example and build a new kind of partnership across the spectrum of politics and get the right things done…
