It's been a while coming, but at last there was good news this week on the economy.
Monday saw the figures published for tax revenues collected by the government during January, and while the tax take from ordinary working people was down, the very good news is that the tax take from business was sharply up, meaning that January saw the first fiscal surplus for over two years.
The reason that this is such good news is what lies behind the headline figures. Corporation tax is paid on the profit that companies make, the fact that the amount of tax paid by our companies has risen sharply indicates that company profits are again rising after several years where profits have fallen rapidly or have disappeared altogether. January saw a balance where the tax take was £2.5 billion higher that expenditure, and that £2.5 billion is the first step towards a situation where the country once again lives within its means.
Companies that are making profits and expanding will employ more people and pay better salaries to their staff, these new jobs in the private sector will take up the rising band of unemployed people leaving jobs in the public sector, this re-balancing of our economy is not only desirable but is essential for our long term survival.
The previous government had embarked on a policy that depended on the financial sector earning squillions of pounds every year, from dodgy dealing in the money markets, to pay for a bloated public sector and welfare state. Their spending plans were completely unaffordable when the inevitable financial crisis hit, and the steps taken by the coalition are designed to remedy this, and the initial report has to be that Boy George seems to have got his sums correct.
There are deficit deniers in the Labour party, including our own Chris Inchley, who seems to have embarked on a policy of criticising the cuts in public spending, without having any sort of plan of his own. This week even the US treasury announced that it supports George Osborne's plan to reduce the nations' debt. Inchley is in direct opposition to his own former chancellors plans for public spending reductions. I hope he has filled out the permissions form from Ed Balls before he goes into print about financial matters, I'm sure he wouldn't want the heavies from head office knocking on his door for being publicly outspoken without getting it cleared first, that would never do, would it.?
It really sticks in the throat to listen to these apologists for the old discredited Labour government who were complicit at the very least in causing the recession, and who were spending more than they were taking in tax even at the height of the boom. They should all hang their heads in shame rather than spout in public!
Friday, 25 February 2011
Friday, 18 February 2011
The Delusional Mrs Hudson
So another interesting week at the coal face comes to an end. So what shall I talk about this time, the budget at Mendip District Council, the budget at Somerset County Council, the planned increase of EU contributions or the delusional Mrs Hudson, mmmmmmmmm how about all four? Well OK then!
Wednesday evening saw the annual meeting to set the MDC budget for the coming year. Several members arrived late due to the overrun of the County Council budget meeting during the day, however we got underway eventually, and for a while all seemed fine.
We were told that the Lib Dem group would support our budget, their leader, the delusional Mrs Hudson, said before the meeting that they did not intend to oppose the detailed, comprehensive and finely balanced budget that had taken over twelve months and hundreds of hours to fine tune. A budget that had to take into account the 14.19% cut in government grant, zero rise in council tax and 4% inflation. A budget despite all this, that fits the corporate priorities going forward, does not involve plunging the organisation into chaos or debt, and fully meets all the challenges it faces.
This show of unity did not last long. As is the norm, the financially illiterate Lib Dem spokesman for finance then tried to play politics with the proposal, using his own unique style of rambling and mumbling, without ever once getting to grips with reality.
His delusional leader couldn't keep a straight face; she spent the entire time trying to keep herself from collapsing into hysterics at the sheer futility of it. Then like a stage illusionist he produced the Lib Dem "alternative budget" like a rabbit out of a hat, we held or breath, could this be after eight years, a viable alternative for once, after eight years where the Lib Dems have produced nothing worth noting, they have they finally got to grips with the issues and come up with a choice for the electorate. But sadly dear reader the answer is no, all we got was an amateurish revenue and cost statement on one side of A4, supposedly the blueprint for a business with a budget of over £13 million, what a shambles!
So the Conservative budget was passed, sound financial management during the past year means that we even found a little extra for the voluntary sector bodies like CAB who provide such valuable services within the district. Tough choices had to be made, and we were not able to support everything that we have supported in the past, but in the end I think we have made a very good job of a very difficult position.
The budget at the County Council has also been approved, the county if anything had a more difficult task in front of them than we did, having to cope with huge cuts in government grant, frozen council tax, inflation and a huge debt mountain. I am so relieved that Mendip does not have to face debt repayments on top of everything else. Again tough choices had to be made, any loss of service will be sorely missed by those affected, but we have to learn to live within our means, and nobody ever said that these cuts would not be noticed. Just as an aside, did you know that the £1.1 million saved by the changes made to the library service, will only pay for one week of the county's Lib Dem debt repayment. Scary isn't it?
At the end of Wednesday's council meeting, I proposed a motion that the council should demand that both of our MP's should fight against any increase in this year’s contribution to the EU. The motion that was seconded by Jim Baron of Glastonbury highlighted the fact that the government is planning to increase our EU contribution by 2.9% this year at the same time as cutting the grant to local authorities. We are seeking to redress the balance in this situation and believe that the EU contribution should be frozen at least, and cut ideally, in line with all other government department spending commitments. We expect our MP's to act on this motion and fight to ensure the views of their local elected representatives are represented at the highest level.
The motion was carried, with all Conservative members voting in favour, what was noticeable and entirely predictable was the fact that all of the Lib Dems voted in favour of INCREASING our contributions to Europe in a time of austerity, talk of being out of touch!
Finally more good news on the blog front. After finding out that our local rabble rouser is a regular reader last week, it appears his leader has also joined our ranks. True to form the delusional Mrs Hudson has written her tale of woe to the local press, slagging me off as usual and trying to pretend that all is well within her ranks.
Well rather like the wife of a man who is having an affair behind her back is always the last to know, the leader of a group that is falling apart around her ears is similarly ill informed.
If she were to talk to her back benchers, she will find a very unhappy crew, two have jumped ship already citing irrevocable differences, the body language on Wednesday night spoke volumes. Much shaking of heads from the once loyal troops when the front bench were speaking, once again reduced to the bare bones in numbers when the Street contingent left without even saying good night, the front bench look more isolated by the day. On top of that it looked for a while that we were going to get a full scale domestic in the council chamber when the acting chairman (her husband) told her to stop interrupting on a couple of occasions. If only looks could kill!!! I bet he wishes he had that amount of control all the time, oh to be a fly on the wall when they got home!
Her letter praises the efforts of her mudslinging Shepton Mallet councillor during the Library debate. I suggest she asks the decision makers how much impact his photo calls and film creation efforts made in forming their opinions. I have asked, and I know the answer. He has a great ability to jump on other peoples bandwagons, he hi-jacked the library public meeting in Shepton that was organised by the Town Council for his own political ends, he had nothing to do with the organisation of it, he had nothing to do with any formal representations to the County Council, and his film came out after the decision had been taken. My comment that he sits on the sidelines and throws rocks is entirely accurate. I see now he has to pass on idle tittle tattle about the market to the local paper as hot off the press news, things must be really desperate.
Kennedy had an ample opportunity to make a contribution to the budget process on Wednesday night, either in support or with a thoughtful alternative. Yet again he had absolutely nothing to offer, not one word was uttered on the subject. He is like the playground bully, very brave when hiding behind his mates, or in his case behind his American website, but frightened to death when it comes to the crunch. Perhaps he agrees with Abraham Lincoln who once said, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt".
In fact the only thing he said all evening was that we should look at increasing member allowances in the future. True to Lib Dem philosophy, spending more of tax payers’ money is the only thought process.
Wednesday evening saw the annual meeting to set the MDC budget for the coming year. Several members arrived late due to the overrun of the County Council budget meeting during the day, however we got underway eventually, and for a while all seemed fine.
We were told that the Lib Dem group would support our budget, their leader, the delusional Mrs Hudson, said before the meeting that they did not intend to oppose the detailed, comprehensive and finely balanced budget that had taken over twelve months and hundreds of hours to fine tune. A budget that had to take into account the 14.19% cut in government grant, zero rise in council tax and 4% inflation. A budget despite all this, that fits the corporate priorities going forward, does not involve plunging the organisation into chaos or debt, and fully meets all the challenges it faces.
This show of unity did not last long. As is the norm, the financially illiterate Lib Dem spokesman for finance then tried to play politics with the proposal, using his own unique style of rambling and mumbling, without ever once getting to grips with reality.
His delusional leader couldn't keep a straight face; she spent the entire time trying to keep herself from collapsing into hysterics at the sheer futility of it. Then like a stage illusionist he produced the Lib Dem "alternative budget" like a rabbit out of a hat, we held or breath, could this be after eight years, a viable alternative for once, after eight years where the Lib Dems have produced nothing worth noting, they have they finally got to grips with the issues and come up with a choice for the electorate. But sadly dear reader the answer is no, all we got was an amateurish revenue and cost statement on one side of A4, supposedly the blueprint for a business with a budget of over £13 million, what a shambles!
So the Conservative budget was passed, sound financial management during the past year means that we even found a little extra for the voluntary sector bodies like CAB who provide such valuable services within the district. Tough choices had to be made, and we were not able to support everything that we have supported in the past, but in the end I think we have made a very good job of a very difficult position.
The budget at the County Council has also been approved, the county if anything had a more difficult task in front of them than we did, having to cope with huge cuts in government grant, frozen council tax, inflation and a huge debt mountain. I am so relieved that Mendip does not have to face debt repayments on top of everything else. Again tough choices had to be made, any loss of service will be sorely missed by those affected, but we have to learn to live within our means, and nobody ever said that these cuts would not be noticed. Just as an aside, did you know that the £1.1 million saved by the changes made to the library service, will only pay for one week of the county's Lib Dem debt repayment. Scary isn't it?
At the end of Wednesday's council meeting, I proposed a motion that the council should demand that both of our MP's should fight against any increase in this year’s contribution to the EU. The motion that was seconded by Jim Baron of Glastonbury highlighted the fact that the government is planning to increase our EU contribution by 2.9% this year at the same time as cutting the grant to local authorities. We are seeking to redress the balance in this situation and believe that the EU contribution should be frozen at least, and cut ideally, in line with all other government department spending commitments. We expect our MP's to act on this motion and fight to ensure the views of their local elected representatives are represented at the highest level.
The motion was carried, with all Conservative members voting in favour, what was noticeable and entirely predictable was the fact that all of the Lib Dems voted in favour of INCREASING our contributions to Europe in a time of austerity, talk of being out of touch!
Finally more good news on the blog front. After finding out that our local rabble rouser is a regular reader last week, it appears his leader has also joined our ranks. True to form the delusional Mrs Hudson has written her tale of woe to the local press, slagging me off as usual and trying to pretend that all is well within her ranks.
Well rather like the wife of a man who is having an affair behind her back is always the last to know, the leader of a group that is falling apart around her ears is similarly ill informed.
If she were to talk to her back benchers, she will find a very unhappy crew, two have jumped ship already citing irrevocable differences, the body language on Wednesday night spoke volumes. Much shaking of heads from the once loyal troops when the front bench were speaking, once again reduced to the bare bones in numbers when the Street contingent left without even saying good night, the front bench look more isolated by the day. On top of that it looked for a while that we were going to get a full scale domestic in the council chamber when the acting chairman (her husband) told her to stop interrupting on a couple of occasions. If only looks could kill!!! I bet he wishes he had that amount of control all the time, oh to be a fly on the wall when they got home!
Her letter praises the efforts of her mudslinging Shepton Mallet councillor during the Library debate. I suggest she asks the decision makers how much impact his photo calls and film creation efforts made in forming their opinions. I have asked, and I know the answer. He has a great ability to jump on other peoples bandwagons, he hi-jacked the library public meeting in Shepton that was organised by the Town Council for his own political ends, he had nothing to do with the organisation of it, he had nothing to do with any formal representations to the County Council, and his film came out after the decision had been taken. My comment that he sits on the sidelines and throws rocks is entirely accurate. I see now he has to pass on idle tittle tattle about the market to the local paper as hot off the press news, things must be really desperate.
Kennedy had an ample opportunity to make a contribution to the budget process on Wednesday night, either in support or with a thoughtful alternative. Yet again he had absolutely nothing to offer, not one word was uttered on the subject. He is like the playground bully, very brave when hiding behind his mates, or in his case behind his American website, but frightened to death when it comes to the crunch. Perhaps he agrees with Abraham Lincoln who once said, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt".
In fact the only thing he said all evening was that we should look at increasing member allowances in the future. True to Lib Dem philosophy, spending more of tax payers’ money is the only thought process.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
The cracks are showing.
I think I should start this week by countering the completely hyped headline in this week’s newspapers that councillors are to get a £600 per year rise. The local press rarely let the facts get in the way of a good headline, especially in the run up to an election; however this one is completely irresponsible.
The truth of the matter is that an INDEPENDENT advisor has recommended that all of Mendip's councillors should get a large increase, however this has not been voted on by full council yet, and I'm very sure that the Conservative majority will fight tooth and nail to prevent any increase.
I'm aware that the Lib Dems in South Somerset recently voted themselves a hefty increase, then embarked on a project to cut services, Conservatives have higher morals than that and we take the views of the people that pay their taxes into account, we don't rub their noses in it.
More good news this week, we have an addition to the thousands of people who read this blog. It seems our local Lib Dem rabble rouser has become a regular visitor, true to form he twists everything that has been written to suit his own particularly slanted view of the world, but hey, at least he gets to read the truth once a week, it must make a nice change to reading the fictitious garbage pumped out by his own party machine!
The last two months has seen a period where all local politicians have been united in their campaign to save local libraries, for my part it has been very encouraging to see local councillors of varying flavours, working together for the common good. Cllr Kennedy was conspicuous by his absence from that process, preferring to sit on the sidelines and throw rocks rather than getting involved with careful negotiation. Now it seems that Cllr Kennedy has succeeded in alienating himself from the mainstream and his Lib Dem colleagues by trying to play party politics with local libraries.
At Wednesday night’s meeting of Mendip District Council, Cllr Kennedy, supported by his group leader Cllr Hudson, proposed a motion that would see Mendip District Council demanding further concessions from Somerset County Council, citing evidence provided by The Friends of Glastonbury Library and the former chief executive of Waterstones.
This motion may well have met with the approval of the meeting if Cllr Kennedy had actually provided this evidence; he singularly failed to do this simple thing, leaving the meeting with no evidence to base an opinion on. This motion, hastily cobbled together at the eleventh hour because his original politically motivated motion criticising the closure of Shepton Mallet and Glastonbury libraries, had become a victim of events, when the County Council announced that they would not be closing after all. This ill-conceived scheme was doomed to failure from the start, and most of his Lib Dem colleagues realised this fact.
Despite pleas from his backbenchers to drop the motion because they could see the political damage it would cause them, he arrogantly soldiered on, only to find himself isolated as his colleagues deserted him en-masse. As they were leaving the meeting his own group were saying that they were appalled by his intransigence.
By the time the meeting came to vote on his motion, only six of the twenty elected Lib Dems remained in the chamber, all of the others had either declared an interest or had gone home, preferring that option to actually voting against him.
It is clear that the Mendip Lib Dems are in disarray, a spate of recent defections followed by this public display of petulance points to a party where all is far from well. Cllr Kennedy has embarked from the start, on a spiteful campaign of vitriolic attack, deceit and spin. It is now clear that even his own fair minded friends can no longer stomach his methods and are deserting him; it won’t be long before he is a group of one.
The Wednesday Council meeting of was primarily called to discuss arguably the most important document produced in recent years, namely the Draft Local Development Framework.
This document, the replacement for the old Local Plan, has taken four years to produce and has cost at least £750,000 to date. It lays out in some detail where development will be permitted up until 2026, the levels of development that will be allowed, and the overall strategy that will be followed for business and housing expansion throughout the Mendip District.
You would have thought that a document of such importance, and planning is probably the most important function of a District Council, would attract input from every elected member, especially relating to the proposals in his or her own ward. It is therefore very surprising that a huge number of the Mendip Liberal Democrat Group decided to stay away rather than engaging in the process.
All councillors are supposed to represent all of the people that elect them, how can you possibly do this if you fail to turn up to crucial meetings and provide your input?
Wednesday evening saw Mendip Lib Dems reduced to just over half of their elected members. As I stated before, two Lib Dem councillors had already resigned from the party prior to the meeting and now sit as Independents, but even allowing for this schism, what had happened to the rest? The decisions taken as a result of the consultation will shape the district for the next fifteen years; it would not be unreasonable to expect elected members to contribute.
Is it any wonder that the public view all politicians with cynicism when they see such a poor example set locally? I would urge members of the communities impacted by this shocking lack of care to contact their local councillor and ask why he or she abdicated their responsibility.
The truth of the matter is that an INDEPENDENT advisor has recommended that all of Mendip's councillors should get a large increase, however this has not been voted on by full council yet, and I'm very sure that the Conservative majority will fight tooth and nail to prevent any increase.
I'm aware that the Lib Dems in South Somerset recently voted themselves a hefty increase, then embarked on a project to cut services, Conservatives have higher morals than that and we take the views of the people that pay their taxes into account, we don't rub their noses in it.
More good news this week, we have an addition to the thousands of people who read this blog. It seems our local Lib Dem rabble rouser has become a regular visitor, true to form he twists everything that has been written to suit his own particularly slanted view of the world, but hey, at least he gets to read the truth once a week, it must make a nice change to reading the fictitious garbage pumped out by his own party machine!
The last two months has seen a period where all local politicians have been united in their campaign to save local libraries, for my part it has been very encouraging to see local councillors of varying flavours, working together for the common good. Cllr Kennedy was conspicuous by his absence from that process, preferring to sit on the sidelines and throw rocks rather than getting involved with careful negotiation. Now it seems that Cllr Kennedy has succeeded in alienating himself from the mainstream and his Lib Dem colleagues by trying to play party politics with local libraries.
At Wednesday night’s meeting of Mendip District Council, Cllr Kennedy, supported by his group leader Cllr Hudson, proposed a motion that would see Mendip District Council demanding further concessions from Somerset County Council, citing evidence provided by The Friends of Glastonbury Library and the former chief executive of Waterstones.
This motion may well have met with the approval of the meeting if Cllr Kennedy had actually provided this evidence; he singularly failed to do this simple thing, leaving the meeting with no evidence to base an opinion on. This motion, hastily cobbled together at the eleventh hour because his original politically motivated motion criticising the closure of Shepton Mallet and Glastonbury libraries, had become a victim of events, when the County Council announced that they would not be closing after all. This ill-conceived scheme was doomed to failure from the start, and most of his Lib Dem colleagues realised this fact.
Despite pleas from his backbenchers to drop the motion because they could see the political damage it would cause them, he arrogantly soldiered on, only to find himself isolated as his colleagues deserted him en-masse. As they were leaving the meeting his own group were saying that they were appalled by his intransigence.
By the time the meeting came to vote on his motion, only six of the twenty elected Lib Dems remained in the chamber, all of the others had either declared an interest or had gone home, preferring that option to actually voting against him.
It is clear that the Mendip Lib Dems are in disarray, a spate of recent defections followed by this public display of petulance points to a party where all is far from well. Cllr Kennedy has embarked from the start, on a spiteful campaign of vitriolic attack, deceit and spin. It is now clear that even his own fair minded friends can no longer stomach his methods and are deserting him; it won’t be long before he is a group of one.
The Wednesday Council meeting of was primarily called to discuss arguably the most important document produced in recent years, namely the Draft Local Development Framework.
This document, the replacement for the old Local Plan, has taken four years to produce and has cost at least £750,000 to date. It lays out in some detail where development will be permitted up until 2026, the levels of development that will be allowed, and the overall strategy that will be followed for business and housing expansion throughout the Mendip District.
You would have thought that a document of such importance, and planning is probably the most important function of a District Council, would attract input from every elected member, especially relating to the proposals in his or her own ward. It is therefore very surprising that a huge number of the Mendip Liberal Democrat Group decided to stay away rather than engaging in the process.
All councillors are supposed to represent all of the people that elect them, how can you possibly do this if you fail to turn up to crucial meetings and provide your input?
Wednesday evening saw Mendip Lib Dems reduced to just over half of their elected members. As I stated before, two Lib Dem councillors had already resigned from the party prior to the meeting and now sit as Independents, but even allowing for this schism, what had happened to the rest? The decisions taken as a result of the consultation will shape the district for the next fifteen years; it would not be unreasonable to expect elected members to contribute.
Is it any wonder that the public view all politicians with cynicism when they see such a poor example set locally? I would urge members of the communities impacted by this shocking lack of care to contact their local councillor and ask why he or she abdicated their responsibility.
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